4.11  Cold War—Beginnings


British rescue workers searching through wreckage after bombing
The defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the World War II had a dramatic effect on the power of most European nations. European countries at the centre of the conflict were crippled physically, militarily, and economically. Although the USSR had lost about 20 million people during the war, it still remained relatively strong, second only to the United States. It was strong enough that history has defined the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as the only two world superpowers following World War II. The development of nuclear weaponry and the growth of national armies continued to add superpower status to both the United States and the Soviet Union.


Please watch the following video explaining The Cold War Begins:

 


Before World War II, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi government had adopted an expansionist ideology. Hitler's army attacked and controlled many countries around Germany. Nations around the world formed an alliance and fought against the German regime.

The end of World War II introduced a new regime on the world scene. Communism threatened liberal democratic and capitalist ideologies. Allies that had fought side by side during the war became enemies in a new kind of war, a war that was based on ideological differences between communism and capitalism.

During World War II, the USSR and the United States formed an alliance of necessity and joined to defeat fascism. However, when the common enemy had been defeated, old opinions about communism and capitalism resurfaced.




Starting in 1945, this ideological conflict created the Cold War — a war between liberal capitalism and totalitarian communism that remained largely without any shooting between the superpowers. However, the level of tension and lack of accommodation between the ideologically opposed superpowers was such that a "hot" war (shooting) could break out at any time. The immensely dangerous situation behind the Cold War was that it could erupt into a nuclear war, potentially destroying all human civilization.

Please watch the following video explaining The Terrifying  True Scale of Nuclear Weapons:

 

Please watch the following video explaining What was the Cold War:

 

Adapted from base map © Map Resources
Map of Germany shows allied occupation zones: British, Soviet, American, and French. The city of Berlin was also divided into similar zones, but the city was located inside the Soviet zone of occupation.

Soviet Expansionism

As World War II was ending  it became obvious that Germany would be defeated. World leaders had to decide on the future of government in Europe. Conferences were held by the Big Three (Britain, Soviet Union, and United States) at Yalta and Potsdam to determine the future of Europe. Germany became the centre of the expansionist disagreements. At the Potsdam Conference in 1945, Germany was split into four occupation zones or spheres of influence and each of the "Big Three" plus France occupied their respective areas during the de-nazification (removal of all aspects of Nazi practices). Located in the heart of Germany, Berlin was a major industrial centre during the war. It was also the centre for the Nazi regime. Stalin wanted control of this area because the Soviet Union lacked modern industrial knowledge.

The leaders of the Allies after World War II agreed to divide Berlin as they divided Germany. Berlin was divided into four sections controlled by France, United States, Great Britain, or Soviet Union. The allied forces insisted that Berlin be divided despite the fact that the city was clearly in Soviet territory as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference.


Adapted from base map © Map Resources

Many nations in Western Europe were concerned about Soviet expansionist policies. World War II began by the spread of fascism by Nazi forces as they expanded their territory. During the Nazi expansion period, the world had stood by and watched.

 Western Europe was now anxious to avoid a similar spread of communism, and they were anxious about any new nations coming under the Soviet sphere of influence.

In 1946, US President Harry S. Truman invited Winston Churchill, former prime minister of Great Britain, to speak in the United States.

Churchill shocked and worried Americans when he said an iron curtain had descended across Europe; that is, an ideological line had been drawn like a curtain between the communist countries and the liberal democratic countries in Europe.

Click here for an excerpt of Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech to the American people in 1946.


Read "Expansionism" on page 189 in your textbook, Understandings of Ideologies. This page will further your understanding of the concept of ideological conflict with liberalism.

You should make notes, either on paper or on your computer, about what you have read. You may want to read the tutorial How to Make Notes. When you are finished the tutorial, return here to continue this unit.