POST WORLD WAR II

THE COLD WAR

UNITED NATIONS

• Replaced the League of Nations

• Guaranteed the security of member nations

• Fostered good will through equal rights

• Encouraged economic, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation

NATIONAL POLICIES

• Western allies wanted to achieve security by strengthening democracy

• Soviets wanted to establish pro-soviet governments in Eastern Europe

• The “iron curtain”, a soviet-made barrier that split Europe into communist and non-communist countries, developed

• The U.S. implemented a policy of “containment”

KEY EVENTS OF THE COLD WAR

The Berlin Blockade

• The soviets blocked allied supplies from entering Berlin (West Germany) from June 1948-May 1949

Korean War

• A fight to halt the spread of communism in Korea

• A civil war attempting to reunite Korea, fought by opposing regimes (the North backed by Soviet forces and the South backed by U.S. forces)

• June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953

Bay of Pigs

• Unsuccessful attempt by American-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro

• April 1961 (three months after John F. Kennedy took office as president)

• Further strained U.S. – Cuban relations

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• The Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba as a threat to the U.S. and to offset U.S. missiles placed in Turkey.

• 1962

Vietnam War

• A fight to halt the spread of communism in Viet Nam

• North Vietnam backed by communist allies were opposed by the South Vietnamese rebels backed by U.S. forces

• U.S. military advisors first arrived in 1950• U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s

and combat units were deployed beginning in 1965

• A peace treaty was signed in 1973 by all parties• 1975 Saigon fell to North Vietnam

Detente

• A relaxation of tensions between the U.S. and Soviets

• 1972