Unit 20: Early Cold War

• Capitalism vs. Socialism & Communism

  • Capitalism
  • Socialism & Communism
• Capitalism


  • Private ownership of property
  • Profit motive
  • Free market competition
• Role of government in capitalism

  • Laissez-faire
  • Break apart monopolies
• Socialism & Communism


  • Response to the injustices of capitalism
  • Class struggle: Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
  • Redistribution of wealth
• Role of government in socialism & communism

  • Government control of all economic activity
  • "Dictatorship of the proletariat"
• Communism vs. Socialism


  Communism is a more extreme form of socialism where the state controls all economic activity
• Allied Powers in WWII

  • U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union)
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
• The Big Three


  • Stalin (Soviet Union)
  • Churchill (United Kingdom)
  • Roosevelt (United States)
• The Big Three Conferences

  1. Yalta (Soviet Union): February 1945

  2. Potsdam (Soviet-controlled Germany): July-August 1945
• The U.N. Security Council has 5 permanent members (U.S., UK, Soviet Union/Russia, France, China) who all have veto power
• The U.S. and USSR blocked each other's actions during the Cold War in the U.N. Security Council
• Winston Churchill: '"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an 'iron curtain' has descended across the Continent." (1946)'
• Between 1945 and 1949 Stalin created a Russian empire in Eastern Europe that included Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany
• Division of Germany


  1. East Germany & East Berlin (U.S.S.R)

  2. West Germany & West Berlin (U.K., France, U.S.)
• Berlin Blockade & Airlift, 1948-1949


  Soviets block roads to West Berlin, U.S. planes delivered aid to stop spread of communism
• The Berlin Wall was built by the Soviets in 1961 and became the best-known symbol of the Cold War
• Containment

  U.S. policy to stop further spread of communism, not to bring rapid defeat of Soviets
• Capitalism vs. Socialism & Communism

  • Capitalism
  • Socialism & Communism
• Capitalism


  • Private ownership of property
  • Profit motive
  • Free market competition
• Role of government in capitalism

  • Laissez-faire
  • Break apart monopolies
• Socialism & Communism


  • Response to the injustices of capitalism
  • Class struggle: Bourgeoisie vs. Proletariat
  • Redistribution of wealth
• Role of government in socialism & communism

  • Government control of all economic activity
  • "Dictatorship of the proletariat"
• Key people and documents

  • Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776
  • Friedrich Engels & Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto, 1848
  • Das Kapital, 1867
• Adam Smith: '"Every individual… intends only his own gain, and he is in this… cases… led by an invisible hand to promote… the public good."'
• Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels: '"Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains."<|>"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."'
• Allied Powers in WWII

  • U.S.S.R. (Soviet Union)
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
• The Big Three: Conferences

  • Yalta (Soviet Union): February 1945
  • Potsdam (Soviet-controlled Germany): July-August 1945
  • United Nations, but… Increasing Tension
• Issues discussed at the Big Three conferences

  • Self-determination (esp. Poland)
  • Division of Germany
  • German reparations
  • War against Japan
  • Communist vs. capitalist economic systems
• U.N. Security Council


  • Permanent members: US, UK, Soviet Union/Russia, France, China
  • All have veto power
  • US/USSR blocked each other's actions during Cold War
• Winston Churchill: '"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an 'iron curtain' has descended across the Continent." (1946)'
• Satellite States


  Between 1945 and 1949 Stalin created a Russian empire in Eastern Europe including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany
• Division of Germany


  • Finalized at the Potsdam Conference, July-August 1945
  • East Germany & East Berlin: U.S.S.R
  • West Germany & West Berlin: U.K., France, U.S.
• Berlin Blockade & Airlift, 1948-1949


  1. Soviets block roads to West Berlin

  2. U.S. planes delivered aid

  3. Stopped spread of communism
• Berlin Wall


  • Soviets begin building wall in 1961
  • Best-known symbol of the Cold War
• Containment


  • George F. Kennan, presidential advisor
  • Containment Policy: U.S. cannot bring rapid defeat of Soviets, U.S. should stop further spread of communism
  • Foundation for all Cold War foreign policy
• NSC-68


  • National Security Council Report #68
  • Containment through military superiority
  • Would require military spending greater than 20% GDP
• Truman Doctrine, 1947


  • U.S. aid to countries which resist Soviet influence
  • Greece
  • Turkey
  • Containment
• Sources of Soviet Conduct

  • State Department official George Kennan, using the pseudonym "Mr. X," article entitled "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" in the July 1947 edition of Foreign Affairs
  • Focused on Kennan's call for a policy of containment toward the Soviet Union and established the foundation for much of America's early Cold War foreign policy
• Marshall Plan, 1947


  $20B distributed by country to aid European recovery after WWII
• National Security Act, 1947


  • New "Department of Defense"
  • Creation of C.I.A. from O.S.S.