→ Understand what occurred at the Yalta Conference, including who was present at this meeting
-“How do we deal with defeated or liberated countries of Eastern Europe after the war?
-Pushed for interim government authority that represents a democracy
-USSR would join the war against Japan when Germany is defeated
→ Claimed they would hold free elections in places freed from Nazi Germany, these free elections did not happen
*Memebers present*: FDR (U.S), Churchill (U.K), Stalin (U.S.S.R)
→ Understand what was discussed at Potsdam, including who was present at this meeting and why that is important. Who is the consistent person at both conferences?
→ Post-War Germany→ What to do with it?
-Confirmed plans to demilitarize Germany and split it into 4 occupied zones
-Nuremberg trials tried Nazi’s for war crimes
-Potsdam Declaration
→ Threatened massive attack on Japan unless they surrendered and laid out non-negotiable terms for peace
→ How did they split Germany? How did they split Berlin?
-Split Germany into 4 occupation zones (France, U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R)
→ Split Berlin into 4 zones, giving the U.S.S.R the majority since Berlin lays in their zone of occupation
→ Berlin Wall splits Capitalism to the West and Communism to the East
Capitalism vs. Communism (Week 10, 4/13: “Capitalism vs. Communism Packet.”)
→ Understand the fundamental differences between Capitalism and Communism
→ What major countries are Communist or Capitalist?
Communism: USSR, China, North Korea, Vietnam
Capitalist: Everyone else (U.S., France, G.B, South Korea)
→ What is the goal of both economic systems?
→ Communism: Eliminate social classes, create a classless/moneyless society
→ Private property is nonexistent, everything is public
→ Capitalism: Create a free market where individuals have the ability to make their own money and have independence to make their own economic decisions
→ Private property fuels the capitalist system
Arms Race (Week 11, 4/20. “Arms Race PPT Reading”, “Arms Race PPT Dropbox”)
→ What is an “Arms Race?” Who participated in this “Race?”
When two or more countries increase the size of military resources to gain military/political superiority over each other
→ U.S and U.S.S.R are the countries participating in this Arms Race
→ Start of the Cold War?
→ Dropping the nuclear bomb officially started the Arms Race
→ What type of Arms were being produced by major world powers?
Nuclear weapons, ICBMs
→ How does an Arms Race affect the world/humanity in the world?
MAD
→ If everyone is producing more powerful weapons this puts the world at risk for the possibility of Nuclear War.
→ If one launches a missile/drops a bomb then the other country retaliates until the world is basically over
*The world is at a constant state of fear of the possibility of the unknown and potential end of the war*
Space Race (Week 11, 4/22: “Space Race Primary Source Chart”)
→ What does the “Space Race” imply? Who is racing to space?
-Who can get to Space first? The U.S or Soviet Union
→ Started with the race to space, developed into the race to the moon once the USSR reached space first… U.S reached the moon first
→ How did the Space Race affect U.S and Soviet Union relations?
Greatly intensified Cold War tensions and the constant battle for superiority in any/every way possible for the US and USSR
→ Led to a greater technological race and a superiority aspect of it for both countries which further increased the need for national defense and funding for specific programs (NASA)
Korean War (Week 11, 5/24: “Korean War Webquest”, Week 12, 4/27: “Korean War Textbook Analysis” )
→ Who fought in the Korean War? Why was there a conflict in Korea?
North Korea, the USSR, and China (communists) vs. South Korea and U.S
→ Korea used to be under Japanese influence until the end of WWII where it got split up at the 38th parallel by the US and USSR
→ The war started by the North invading the South and pushing them back to as far south as they could go before the U.S got involved and pushed them back to the 38th parallel and then some
→ Amercia feared that communism would continue to spread throughout the rest of the Asian continent
→ What is the legacy of the Korean War today? What is the dividing line between the two Koreas today?
North Korea is still communist, South Korea is still capitalist
→ DMZ (demilitarized zone) at the 38th parallel that is still present today
→ Nobody won the war, both sides lost?
→ Forgotten war
→ Too many casualties
→ How did the Korean War symbolize the overall theme of the Cold War?
This showed how the United States and Soviet Union were at a constant battle with one another and how there is the global struggle between communism and capitalism
→ Also demonstrated how concerned the United States was with the possible spread of Communism outside of the Soviet Union and how they would do anything to stop the spread
Cuban Revolution (Week 12, 4/28: “Cuban Revolution Readings/Guided Questions.”)
→ Who was the Dictator of Cuba before Castro? Why did he have good relations with the United States?
-Castro started to move away from U.S businesses and work more closely with the USSR who supported him. After the Cuban Revolution, the USSR was extremely supportive to Castro and the Cubans
→ When Castro came to power, how did Cuban relations with the U.S change? How did this change affect the Cuban relationship with the U.S.S.R?
-Castro started to move away from U.S businesses and work more closely with the USSR who supported him. After the Cuban Revolution, the USSR was extremely supportive to Castro and the Cubans
→ Because the U.S openly disliked Castro and were not fans of him due to the change in American business AND the fact that Cuba was turning into a communist nation.
→ Castro nationalized land and businesses that were owned by the U.S which hurt their economy
-Because of the strained relationship with the United States, this strained their relationship and strengthened the relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union
Bay of Pigs (Week 12, 5/1: “Bay of Pigs Packet”)
→ What was the “Bay of Pigs?” Who initiated this invasion? What was the overall goal of the United States by carrying out this plan? Was it successful?
-Bay of Pigs was a failed attempt by the United States to overthrow Fidel Castro
-They trained Cuban exiles who opposed Castro’s government to stage an uprising planned by the CIA
→ Goal was to overthrow Castro and put their own leader in control to benefit U.S business interest
*Not successful* Invasion lasted 2 days and this pushed Cuba even closer to the USSR and made Castro look even stronger in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis (Week 13, 5/4: “Cuban Missile Crisis Primary Source Worksheet”)
→ What is the “Cuban Missile Crisis?” How did tensions rise so high to almost reach a nuclear war?
The U.S had missiles (ICBMs) in Italy and Turkey, close enough to fire at the USSR. The Soviet Union had missiles stationed in newly communist Cuba, 90 miles off the coast of Florida. The threat of a Nuclear War was as close as it ever was because nobody knew when a missile would launch, or who would be the one to launch it.
→ The U.S put a blockade on Cuba, which to the USSR seemed like an act of war. This increased the tensions between the two countries of who would “blink first”
→ Where did the U.S have missiles? Where did the U.S.S.R have them?
U.S: Italy and Turkey
USSR: Cuba
Vietnam War (Week 13, 5/8. “Vietnam War Intro Notes”, Week 14, 5/11: “Vietnam War Stations Activity”)
→ Understand who was fighting on behalf of North and South AND the roles of both fighting parties supporting the North and South Vietnamese, respectively.
The United States fought with South Vietnam, sending several million men to fight. The U.S was much more direct in the conflict, providing materials, strategy, men, and other equipment
-The USSR did not send as many troops to fight with North Vietnam, but they did provide military aid (weapons), and military/logistical support
→ Main goal was to spread communism more in Asia
→ What was the significance of the Gulf of Tonkin AND the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and how that affected United States involvement in the Vietnam War?
The Gulf of Tonkin is in North Vietnam. U.S. destroyers got attacked, allegedly by the North Vietnamese which gave President Johnson the justification to enter the Vietnam War
-Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was the response by President Johnson to enter the war without an official declaration of war approved by Congress
→ This led to the draft of 18-26 year old male citizens
→ Why was the Tet Offensive significant to the Vietnam War? How did this affect how people in the United States viewed the Vietnam War as a whole?
North Vietnamese and Communist “Viet Cong” soldiers attack the South, giving heavy losses to them. Public support is going down significantly in the United States since this was the first televised war, showing the people at home how horrible the truths of war really are and how it is not being won by the U.S like the President is saying
→ Understand what a PROXY WAR is and the DOMINO THEORY and how it relates to the Cold War relations of the U.S and U.S.S.R.
Proxy War is a conflict where a country supports other groups, often people not in the country, to fight a war against a common enemy without directly engaging into the conflict itself
→ These supported groups (Korea, Vietnam) can recieve military aid, funding, or training
→ Goal is to exert influence
→ EXAMPLES: Korea and Vietnam
Domino Theory
→ The theory that if one country falls to communism then a surplus of others will fall to communism. This is a fear of the United States trying to prevent communism from spreading all over the world, putting their global dominance at risk
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