Cold War terms
•Capitalism
•Communism
•Arms race
•Germany
•Domino Effect
•Cold War
•Hot Spots
Anoverviewof theCold War
How can a war be‘cold’?
What were theHotspots of theCold War?
After World War 2 the Cold Warbegan and caused tensionthroughout the world.
•The USA and the USSR werethe two world Superpowers.
•The USA was a capitalistsociety with a democracy.
•The USSR was a communistcountry with a dictatorship.
•Both wanted to be the mostpowerful nation in theworld.
Capitalism
•Economic system where property andbusinesses are privately owned
•People have freedom to succeed or fail
Communism
•Government provides everything for thepeople
•More security but less choice and freedom
Nuclear tensions
•The USA had shown its atomic powerwhen it exploded the A-bombs onHiroshima and Nagasaki at the end ofWorld War 2.
•The USSR was also developing atomicweapons/bombs.
•The USA and the USSR were incompetition with each other to have thebest, most powerful weapons in the world– this was called the Arms Race.
After World War 2, theworld changed!
•Many countries became communist afterWorld War 2 including:
-North Korea (1945)
-Poland (1947)
-Hungary (1947)
-Czechoslovakia (1948)
-China (1949)
-Cuba (1959)
Germany - divided
•Germany, which had beenruled by Hitler and the Nazisuntil their defeat in 1945, wassplit in two.
•The western side becameWest Germany and theeastern side became EastGermany.
•East Germany becameanother communist country.
The domino effect
•The USSR had a lot of influence overmany of the new communist countries(especially those in Europe).
•The USA was very worried that theUSSR’s influence over these countries wasmaking the USSR and communism morepowerful.
•The USA did not want communism tospread any further – they were worriedabout the domino effect (one countrybecomes communist, then another, thenanother, etc.)
Cold War?
•The tension and rivalry between the USAand the USSR was described as the ColdWar (1945-1990).
•There was never a real war between thetwo sides between 1945 and 1990, but theywere often very close to war (Hotspots).
•Both sides got involved in other conflictsin the world to either stop the spread ofcommunism (USA) or help the spread(USSR).
The Korean War1950-1953
The Berlin Wall 1961
The Cuban Missile Crisis1962
The Vietnam Warc.1963-1975
