Term 2

• Russia fought alongside Britain, France and their allies in World War I
• Russia had high number of deaths and food shortages in World War I
• Russia had a disconnected royalty and political leaders
• The Russian Revolution of 1917 established Russia as the first Communist state
• The Russian royal family (Czars) were executed in late 1917
• The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) was established in 1922 after the Civil War ended
• The USSR suppressed any opposition and became a dictatorship by 1939
• The USSR fought with Allied forces AGAINST Germany in World War II
• Tsar/Czar


  Emperor of Russia (Romanov family)
• Capitalism


  • System of government is democratic
  • Property is privately owned
  • Driven by free enterprise
  • Wealth distributed unevenly
  • Education and health care provided by private entities
  • Defined by Classes - upper, working, lower
  • Focus is on the individual and his/her own progress in life
• Communism

  • System of government is totalitarian
  • Property is owned by the state
  • No free enterprise is allowed
  • Wealth distributed equally
  • Education and health care provided by the state
  • Press controlled and owned by the state
  • Classless society: all members of society are considered to be equal
  • Focus is on the progress of the community as a whole
• After World War II, the world was divided ideologically into Capitalist (Western European Countries and United States) and Communist (USSR and Eastern European countries)
• The United States and the Soviet Union worked together during World War II

  But it was an uneasy alliance
• Totalitarianism


  A form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens
• Reasons for mistrust between the US and Soviet Union

  • Opposing ideologies and aims
  • The US and its Western allies supported capitalism and democracy, while the Soviet Union supported communism and totalitarianism
• Ideologies vs Reality


  • Capitalism: Ideology - Everyone can have the opportunity to improve their lives, Reality - Often ends with many people living in extreme poverty
  • Communism: Ideology - Everyone is treated equally and has what they need, Reality - Usually becomes a dictatorship where people have few rights and are oppressed
• They set aside their differences

  Because they faced a common enemy - Hitler
• The Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany


  After Hitler broke his non-aggression pact with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1941
• Japan signed a treaty with Germany and Italy (Axis Powers)
• The United States offered assistance to the Soviet Union

  In the form of weapons and supplies through the Lend-Lease Act passed in 1941
• Japan bombed Pearl Harbour - US Naval Base in Hawaii - which brought fighting to the Pacific and East
• Cooperation between the US and the USSR broke down

  After Nazi Germany was defeated
• America lost many ships and soldiers in the Pacific
• Disputes emerged over various postwar issues

  Particularly over the fate of Poland
• Germany surrendered to Allied forces on 7 May 1945
• Mistrust deepened between the US and USSR

  Leading to Winston Churchill's warning of an "iron curtain" descending through the middle of Europe
• VE Day - 8th May - End of WWII in Europe celebrated
• Cold War


  The US and the Soviet Union were not involved in a direct confrontation or "hot war" with each other, but continually antagonized each other through political maneuvering, military coalitions, espionage, propaganda, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars between other nations
• Fighting in the Pacific continued after the end of WWII in Europe
• Stalin created a "buffer zone" of Eastern European countries

  That were supposed to have free elections under an agreement with the US and Great Britain at the Yalta Conference in 1945
• How WWII really ended

  1. 6 August 1945 - Aircraft Enola Gay dropped first atomic bomb on Hiroshima

  2. 9 August 1945 - Americans dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki

  3. Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945
• Stalin broke this agreement

  By installing communist regimes in these Eastern European countries between 1945 and 1948
• US President Harry Truman countered Stalin's expansionist move


  With a policy of containment
• Atomic Bomb "Little Boy"


  Dropped on Hiroshima, 90% of the city was destroyed
• Containment


  A strategy in which the Soviets would be prevented – militarily if necessary – from using force to export their ideology abroad
• In 1939, Einstein and other German scientists warned that Nazi Germany was working on atomic bombs
• Actions resulting from the policy of containment


  • The US offering economic recovery assistance to Western Europe through the Marshall Plan in 1948
  • The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) between the US, Canada, and other Western European countries
• Stalin attempted his own form of containment

  In response to what he perceived as a threatening Western takeover of Germany in 1948
• The US started the nuclear program called "Manhattan Project" led by Robert Oppenheimer
• Truman (American President) dropped the atomic bombs to avoid more Allied forces dying in the Pacific