COLD WAR ERA STARTING

==CAPITALISM VS COMMUNISM==

^^What is capitalism?^^

  • Citizens are allowed to have their own businesses and make their own money
  • It revolves around something called free markets, in which companies and business people can buy and sell products and services, depending on what customers and the public want, with little or no government control
  • Usually, there are multiple political parties that stand for different parts of society
  • Governments are chosen in democratic elections, in which citizens have their say on who they want to be in charge
  • People's rights and freedoms are an important part of life, including being able to say what they feel
  • The press enjoys freedom of speech too and is not controlled by the state

^^What is communism?^^

  • Businesses are owned by the state and any wealth from them is controlled by the people in power

  • There is one political party in charge

  • There is no opportunity for citizens to vote for who they want to be in charge or change the government

  • It is more important to serve the state and be obedient to those in charge than it is to have personal freedoms

  • The media is controlled by those in power

^^START OF COLD WAR^^

  • As World War II dragged to an end in 1945, the leaders of the “Big Three” allied powers—the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain—met in Potsdam, Germany, to hash out  terms to conclude the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen.
  • Soldiers of the Soviet Union and the United States did not do battle directly during the Cold War.
  • But the two superpowers continually antagonized each other through political maneuvering, military coalitions, espionage, propaganda, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars between other nations.
  • The great powers split Germany into occupation zones, recognized a Soviet-backed government in Poland, and partitioned Vietnam, monumental decisions that shaped the postwar global order.
  • The talks were meant to forge a lasting peace, but within 18 months, a Cold War began that lasted more than four decades.
  • One of the most important moments at Potsdam was not captured in a memo or proclaimed at a press conference.
  • Late in the conference, U.S. President Harry Truman took aside Soviet premier Joseph Stalin to share some explosive news: The U.S. had just successfully tested a weapon of “%%unusual destructive force.%%”
  • It was a nuclear weapon capable of destroying entire cities, the most dangerous and powerful armament the world had ever seen.
  • Within weeks, the U.S. used the atomic bomb to force Japan’s surrender.
  • With a devastating and proven weapon in its armory, the U.S. suddenly had the upper hand among the powers who were allies in the war. 
  • The Cold War lasted nearly half a century. 
  • The term “cold war” had existed since the 1930s, when %%guerre froide%% was used in France to describe increasingly fraught relationships between European countries.