2. Rebuilding the Post War World
• Although soldiers on both sides wanted
friendships to be strong between the US
and USSR, problems had been building
between the two nations before and
during the war
• Main problems
– The two countries political and economic
systems were incompatible
– Resentment had been building up over past
events
3. Former Allies Clash
Soviet system of
communism
– State controlled all
property and
economic activity
– Totalitarian
government where
opposing parties
are not allowed
American system of
capitalism
– Private, individuals
controlled property
and economic
activity
– People elected
president and
congress
4. Former Allies Clash
• U.S. was furious that Stalin signed the
non-aggression pact with Hitler and
although they become Allies when Hitler
breaks the pact they often did not see
eye to eye
• Stalin had wanted the Allies to invade
Europe earlier than 1944 and their delay
in doing so made Stalin distrust them
• U.S. kept atomic bomb development a
secret furthering the tension between
the two
5. Former Allies Clash
• Hopes for peace were high at the end
of the war especially with the
establishment of the U.N.
• However both sides are going to use the
U.N. as an arena to spread their
influence over other countries
• Wait there’s more conflict to come…
6. Former Allies Clash
• Potsdam Conference
– Big Three Meet (Truman, Stalin and Churchill)
– At Yalta Stalin had agreed to hold free
elections in Poland and other European
countries after the war
– In 1945 the Soviets prevented free elections
in Poland and banned democratic parties
leaving Poland in the hands of a pro-Soviet
government
7. Former Allies Clash
• Soviets refusal to allow free and open
elections was a violation of the citizens rights
of self-determination
• With the Soviets occupying Eastern Europe
there was little the West could do
• This event leads the U.S. to confirm that the
U.S. and Soviets goals are different
• Truman strongly believed in spreading
democracy and that nations had the right of
self-determination guaranteed by free
elections
Name three reasons that led to
the build up of tension between
the U.S and the U.S.S.R after
WWII
8. Former Allies Clash
• Stalin also wanted to strip Germany of
all its industry, using the equipment to
rebuild his war torn economy
• U.S. and G.B. opposed this, at Potsdam
it was agreed that each country could
only take from their section of Germany
• U.S. had an economic stake in
spreading democracy…
9. Former Allies Clash
• Economic Stake in Spreading Democracy
– In contrast to the war-torn countries of Europe
and Asia the U.S. had no ruined factories or
bombed out cities
– U.S. industry boomed during the war making
the U.S. the economic leader of the world
– To continue growing, American businesses
wanted access to raw materials in Eastern
Europe and they wanted to sell goods to
Eastern European countries
10. Former Allies Clash
• Soviets felt justified in staying in Eastern
Europe
• Suffered 20 million deaths and extensive
damage during WWII and felt
vulnerable to attack from the West and
wanted to be surrounded by communist
countries
11. Former Allies Clash
• Satellite Nations
– Countries dependent upon and dominated
by the Soviet Union
– Stalin installed communist governments in
Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Poland, and Romania
– Stalin seized the industrial assets of these
countries to rebuild his own
12. Former Allies Clash
– Stalin announces that communism and
capitalism were incompatible and another
war was inevitable so he would focus on
producing weapons
– U.S virtually takes this as a declaration of war
– Faced with the threat of communism
Truman says:“It’s time to stop babying
the Soviets!”
13. Former Allies Clash
• 1946 George F. Kennan Establishes
Containment Policy
– effort to block the Soviets’ attempts to
spread their influence by creating alliances
and supporting weaker countries
– This policy will guide the Truman
administration
14. Former Allies Clash
• Churchill travels to the U.S and gives a
speech which will be known as the Iron
Curtain Speech
“A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so
lately lighted by Allied victory… An iron
curtain has descended on the continent.
Behind that line lie all the capitals of the
ancient states of Central and Eastern
Europe… All those famous cities and the
populations around them lie in the Soviet
sphere and all are subject in form or
another, not only to Soviet influence but a
very high and increasing control from
Moscow.”
17. What Both Sides Wanted
• United States wanted to
– Encourage democracy in other countries to
prevent the rise of new totalitarian
governments
– Rebuild European governments to ensure
stability to create new markets for
American goods
– Reunite Germany believing that Europe
would be more secure if Germany were
productive and not bitter about defeat
18. What Both Sides Wanted…
• The Soviets Wanted…
– To encourage communism in other countries as
part of the worldwide struggle between
workers and the wealthy
– Transfer industrial equipment of Eastern Europe
to the Soviet Union to help rebuild its war torn
economy
– Control Eastern Europe to balance the U.S.
influence in Western Europe
– Keep Germany divided and weak since the
Germans had waged war against Russia twice
and had caused 20 million deaths in WWII
19. So What Is Going On??
You Tell Me
Describe the situation after World War II.
What did both sides (U.S. and U.S.S.R.)
want out of the postwar world?
20. Group Activity
• With your group create a 2-3 minute
presentation on your assigned topic
– Truman Doctrine
– Marshall Plan
– Containment Policy and Domino Theory
– NATO and Warsaw Pact
– Berlin Airlift
