After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union went from being allies to adversaries. The Soviets took control of eastern European countries, while the US established military and economic alliances with western Europe. In eastern Europe the Soviet Union ruled with an iron fist. Germany was divided between east and west, and in 1961 Berlin was cut in two by the Berlin Wall. The Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949 and during the 50’s and 60’s, the US and Soviets competed in the nuclear arms race. In 1962 the US and the Soviet Union came dangerously close to nuclear controntation with the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, the Soviets agreed to take their missiles out of Cuba. Communism was triumphant in China in 1949, with the sucess of the Chinese Revolution. Communists also held sway in North Korea and North Vietnam. The US fought communism in both the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1965-1975). Communist expansion declined in the 1980’s as the Soviet Union faced economic problems in competing with the West. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, uniting east and west Germany into one democratic country. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, ending communist rule and the USSR’s domination of eastern Europe. The Cold War was over.
Presentations:
Reading:
- Ch15sec1 - The Cold War Unfolds
- Ch15sec2- Industrialized Democracies
- Ch15sec3- Communism Spreads -Revolution in China
- Ch15sec3- Communism Spreads - The Korean War
- Ch15sec5 - The End of the Cold War
- 19.1 The Industrialized Nations After the Cold War
- Ukraine Reading
Activities:
- Map of Europe During the Cold War
- Nuclear Arms Race InfoGraphic
- Nuclear Arms Race InfoGraphic Questions
- Causes of the Cold War Activity - BBC
- Map of the Cold War in Asia
- Ukraine Worksheet
Video
- Brainpop The Cold War
- The Cold War from Truman the PBS American Experience
- British Film on the Berlin Airlift
- The Berlin Airlift
- The “Candy Bomber” of the Berlin Airlift
- The Berlin Wall Documentary
- The Cuban Missile Crisis video
- The Cuban Missile Crisis - animated video with John D. Ruddy
- Mao’s Revolution - One Man’s Revolution by the BBC
- Chinese Communist Revolution - Crash Course
- Vietnam War Music Video from History Channel’s History Rocks
- Saigon Falls Music Video from HistoryChannel’s History Rocks
- The Fall of the Berlin Wall Music Video - from History Rocks by History Channel
- PBS Video on arming Ukranians against Russia
Review Activities