The Cold War:The Cold War:1940s – 1950s1940s – 1950s

Mr. BachHudson High SchoolUnited States History

Cold War Chess GameCold War Chess Game

• The Cold War is much like a game of chess.

• One side makes a move and the other side makes a strategic decision to counter that move.

• Chess is game that can take hours to play; the Cold War will last through five decades.

So Let’s Begin the So Let’s Begin the Game!Game!

• To review what we have covered so far in the Cold War, we will play the Cold War Chess Game.

• See if you can remember the moves and countermoves for each side.

19451945

• American Move #1– Americans detonate atomic bombs

over Hiroshima and Nagasaki– Powerful weapon is threatening to

the Soviets given the hard anti-communist stance of the Americans.

• Soviet Countermove #1– Soviets use spies within the United

States to obtain atomic secrets.

19461946

• Soviet Move #1:– Iron Curtain descends on Eastern Europe– Soviets ignore American requests for free

elections; install puppet governments– Justification: Buffer zone needed because

of World War I and II.

• American Countermove #1:– George Kennan’s Containment Policy– Truman Doctrine (Greece and Turkey)– Marshall Plan (Western Europe)

19481948

• Soviet Move #2:– Soviets block supply routes into

West Berlin

• American Countermove #2:– Berlin Air Lift– Within one year, Soviet Union backs

down

19491949

• American Move #3– United States heads a new military

alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

• Soviet Countermove #3– Soviet Union heads a new military

alliance, the Warsaw Pact (1955)

19491949

• Soviet Move #3– Soviet Union detonates an atomic

bomb.– China falls to communism

(communist nations’ population is now more than double that of the NATO alliance)

• American Countermove #3– Second Red Scare– Loyalty Oathes– Spy Cases (Rosenbergs Executed)– McCarthyism

19501950

• Soviet Move #4– Kim Il Sung’s North Korean

Communists invade Democratic South Korea

• American Countermove #4– The United Nations declares a

“police action” to expel the North Korean invaders from South Korea

The UN Security The UN Security CouncilCouncil

5 nations with permanent veto power

The Korean WarThe Korean War

Truman vs. MacArthurTruman vs. MacArthur

North Korea TodayNorth Korea Today

Cease fire in effect since July 27, 1953

Leadership Change in Leadership Change in 19531953

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Premier Nikita Khrushchev

Spy vs. SpySpy vs. Spy• Americans

develop the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

• Soviets develop the Committee for State Security (KGB)

The Arms RaceThe Arms Race

Americans Soviets

October 1952

Hydrogen Bomb

August 1953

December 1957

ICBMs August 1957

January 1958

Satellite October 1957

Brinkmanship added to Containment under Eisenhower

Reaction to Reaction to SputnikSputnik• National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) formed in 1958

• National Defense Education Act (1958)

Eisenhower’s Farewell Eisenhower’s Farewell AddressAddress

A Warning – “The Military-Industrial Complex”