The Cold War

The Effects of the Cold War

on the American Psyche

The Mass Media Brings Fear

• Devastation brought on by Germany was seen “first hand” by the mass public

• http://eleweb.nist.ac.th/2007-2008/Classes/Year6/6KE/WhoMadeItHappen/SongIl/images/World%20war%202%20start.jpg

The Soviet Union• Originally allied with Hitler • Then, Hitler ordered a slash and burn

campaign inside Soviet Union• Soviet Union aligns with US and

Great Britain• Countries Included: Russia, Kazakhstan,

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

World War II

Allies (The Big 3)

-- Great Britain

-- United States (1942)

-- USSR (came later)

Axis Powers

Italy (rebuild Roman Empire)

Germany (fascism)

Japan (control SE Asia)

The Atomic Bomb…

• Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1942

• Third Reich (Germany) collapses in 1944

• Japanese refusal to surrender

• USA drops Atomic Bombs (Fat Boy and Little Man) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Japanese finally surrenders

The Mass Media Brings Fear

• Devastation brought on by Germany was seen “first hand” by the mass public

• http://eleweb.nist.ac.th/2007-2008/Classes/Year6/6KE/WhoMadeItHappen/SongIl/images/World%20war%202%20start.jpg

Create Partners

Background on the Cold War

Communism sets in:

• a system where the government plans and owns the economy

• collective ownership of property and gov’t organization of labor

The Cold War Begins

• USSR Territories–Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia,

Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

What happened at the end of World War II?

Formation of the Eastern bloc

What happened at the end of World War II?

Division of Germany –Building of the Berlin Wall–East – part of Eastern Bloc

(communist)–West – independent nation

Fear Sets In

Competition during the Cold War

• The Nuclear Standoff

• The Space Race

How did all of this affect the fears of the American Public?

Write It!

In your journal, describe the fears that Americans had after WWII and during the Cold War.

What is Science Fiction?

1950s – Science Fiction becomes popular

How might Science Fiction

be linked to the Cold War?