prezi presentation on cold war

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Origins of the Cold War

The struggle between superpowers.

• Toward a new world order

What was the Cold War?

How did the cold war end, why was the cuban missile crisis such an important event in the cold war.

• What was Harry S. Truman's reaction to communist North Korea's attempt to seize noncommunist South Korea in 1950?
• Should the United States maintain the embargo enforced by John F. Kennedy against Cuba?

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• Table Of Contents

The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II . This hostility between the two superpowers was first given its name by George Orwell in an article published in 1945. Orwell understood it as a nuclear stalemate between “super-states”: each possessed weapons of mass destruction and was capable of annihilating the other.

The Cold War began after the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, when the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other started to fall apart. The Soviet Union began to establish left-wing governments in the countries of eastern Europe, determined to safeguard against a possible renewed threat from Germany. The Americans and the British worried that Soviet domination in eastern Europe might be permanent. The Cold War was solidified by 1947–48, when U.S. aid had brought certain Western countries under American influence and the Soviets had established openly communist regimes. Nevertheless, there was very little use of weapons on battlefields during the Cold War. It was waged mainly on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and lasted until 1991.

The Cold War came to a close gradually. The unity in the communist bloc was unraveling throughout the 1960s and ’70s as a split occurred between China and the Soviet Union . Meanwhile, Japan and certain Western countries were becoming more economically independent. Increasingly complex international relationships developed as a result, and smaller countries became more resistant to superpower cajoling.

The Cold War truly began to break down during the administration of Mikhail Gorbachev , who changed the more totalitarian aspects of the Soviet government and tried to democratize its political system. Communist regimes began to collapse in eastern Europe, and democratic governments rose in East Germany , Poland , Hungary , and Czechoslovakia , followed by the reunification of West and East Germany under NATO auspices. Gorbachev’s reforms meanwhile weakened his own communist party and allowed power to shift to the constituent governments of the Soviet bloc. The Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, giving rise to 15 newly independent nations, including a Russia with an anticommunist leader.

In the late 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were developing intercontinental ballistic missiles . In 1962 the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba to launch attacks on U.S. cities. The confrontation that followed, known as the Cuban missile crisis , brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles.

The conflict showed that both superpowers were wary of using their nuclear weapons against each other for fear of mutual atomic annihilation. The signing of the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty followed in 1963, which banned aboveground nuclear weapons testing. Still, after the crisis, the Soviets were determined not to be humiliated by their military inferiority again, and they began a buildup of conventional and strategic forces that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years.

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Cold War , the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The Cold War was waged on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and had only limited recourse to weapons. The term was first used by the English writer George Orwell in an article published in 1945 to refer to what he predicted would be a nuclear stalemate between “two or three monstrous super-states, each possessed of a weapon by which millions of people can be wiped out in a few seconds.” It was first used in the United States by the American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch in a speech at the State House in Columbia, South Carolina , in 1947.

A brief treatment of the Cold War follows. For full treatment, see international relations .

Following the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 near the close of World War II , the uneasy wartime alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other began to unravel. By 1948 the Soviets had installed left-wing governments in the countries of eastern Europe that had been liberated by the Red Army . The Americans and the British feared the permanent Soviet domination of eastern Europe and the threat of Soviet-influenced communist parties coming to power in the democracies of western Europe. The Soviets, on the other hand, were determined to maintain control of eastern Europe in order to safeguard against any possible renewed threat from Germany, and they were intent on spreading communism worldwide, largely for ideological reasons. The Cold War had solidified by 1947–48, when U.S. aid provided under the Marshall Plan to western Europe had brought those countries under American influence and the Soviets had installed openly communist regimes in eastern Europe.

The Cold War reached its peak in 1948–53. In this period the Soviets unsuccessfully blockaded the Western-held sectors of West Berlin (1948–49); the United States and its European allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a unified military command to resist the Soviet presence in Europe (1949); the Soviets exploded their first atomic warhead (1949), thus ending the American monopoly on the atomic bomb; the Chinese communists came to power in mainland China (1949); and the Soviet-supported communist government of North Korea invaded U.S.-supported South Korea in 1950, setting off an indecisive Korean War that lasted until 1953.

From 1953 to 1957 Cold War tensions relaxed somewhat, largely owing to the death of the longtime Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953; nevertheless, the standoff remained. A unified military organization among the Soviet-bloc countries, the Warsaw Pact , was formed in 1955; and West Germany was admitted into NATO that same year. Another intense stage of the Cold War was in 1958–62. The United States and the Soviet Union began developing intercontinental ballistic missiles , and in 1962 the Soviets began secretly installing missiles in Cuba that could be used to launch nuclear attacks on U.S. cities. This sparked the Cuban missile crisis (1962), a confrontation that brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles.

The Cuban missile crisis showed that neither the United States nor the Soviet Union were ready to use nuclear weapons for fear of the other’s retaliation (and thus of mutual atomic annihilation). The two superpowers soon signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty of 1963 , which banned aboveground nuclear weapons testing. But the crisis also hardened the Soviets’ determination never again to be humiliated by their military inferiority, and they began a buildup of both conventional and strategic forces that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years.

Throughout the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct military confrontation in Europe and engaged in actual combat operations only to keep allies from defecting to the other side or to overthrow them after they had done so. Thus, the Soviet Union sent troops to preserve communist rule in East Germany (1953), Hungary (1956) , Czechoslovakia (1968) , and Afghanistan (1979) . For its part, the United States helped overthrow a left-wing government in Guatemala (1954) , supported an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba (1961), invaded the Dominican Republic (1965) and Grenada (1983) , and undertook a long (1954–75) and unsuccessful effort to prevent communist North Vietnam from bringing South Vietnam under its rule ( see Vietnam War ).

Cold War BUNDLE- (World History) Guided Notes, Prezi, Teacher Guide, Assessments

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Products in this Bundle (4)

Description.

This is everything you need for an entire unit on the Cold War! Focusing on a World History perspective, this resource is complete with Guided Notes, a Prezi Presentation (a fun alternative to PowerPoint!), a Teacher Guide, and Assessments. The Guided Notes are Google 1:1 Compatible! Looking for a Cold War bundle aligned with a US History course? Click here ! All of these resources are also available separately in my store. With this bundle, you will receive:

GUIDED NOTES :

These Cold War Guided Notes have students embracing the note-making process! These are perfect for your visual learners, and are organized in a manner to benefit all students. 1:1 Google Classroom compatible AND loaded with higher level thinking questions that encourage students to dive into historical discussion. This is available to print in color or in greyscale.

- A Cover Page to use in student binders

- A Table of Contents

- Thought-provoking analysis questions

- Fun graphics and pictures

- Maps and map “skill-building” opportunities

- Organized content that is chunked and organized

PREZI PRESENTATION :

This Cold War Prezi offers a fun alternative to PowerPoint! This presentation is easy to use, creates opportunities for engaging discussion, and presents the Cold War in an interesting and new way. This Prezi is embedded with short video clips, links to resources, and stunning visuals that will have your students engaged and excited. **I have also included a PDF of the Prezi- which works much like a PowerPoint- if the Prezi file is not accepted on your device. You can also EMAIL ME at: [email protected] so that I can give you access to the online presentation. Using the full Prezi presentation over the PDF is definitely the way to go. It is VERY fun!**

TEACHER GUIDE :

Great for substitutes and teachers alike! The Cold War unit Teacher Guide provides everything that you need to offer instruction in an effective way. This resource will provide you with page by page talking points, discussion prompts, activities (with answer keys), and useful links to videos and online resources.

- An organized plan of implementation (Teacher Guide is organized according to the Guided Notes ‘Table of Contents’ for ease).

- Talking points are offered to enhance discussion as students take notes

* Example: Berlin Wall Fun Facts

- Activities that can be used for whole class instruction, or printed for individual student use, such as:

* A Communism/Capitalism Match-Up

* A Cold War Timeline with ‘term bank’

- An option for a project- “Nuclear Weapons Awareness”

- Links to videos and online sources that enhance learning

* Marshall Plan video

* Chinese Civil War Video

* ’13 Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis’ Website

* The Collapse of the Soviet Union Video

ASSESSMENTS:

This Cold War Assessments Package is aligned with all Cold War resources from The Mad Historian! All assessments are completely editable and adjustable. Assessment formats range from multiple choice questions, to written responses. Topics on this assessment include (but are not limited to) the Partition of Germany, the Creation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Containment, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

- Test: with 16 multiple Choice questions, and three constructed response questions based on documents.

- Test: Answer Key

- End of Unit Homework (acts as a study guide for the Test)

- A DBQ with constructed-response questions and a long response/essay prompt

Topics Covered in this Unit:

- Post-WWII events and the UN

- Partition of Germany

- US Containment

- NATO and Warsaw Pact

- Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan

- Arms Race and Space Race

- The Korean War

- The Cuban Missile Crisis

- Détente and S.A.L.T.

- Soviet- Afghanistan War

- Gorbachev- Perestroika and Glasnost

- The Collapse of the Soviet Union

**Please provide feedback (and you will earn TpT $$!), and ‘Follow Me’ so that you are the first to get updates and new products!

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