World Civilizations How Did Life Change for Americans After WWII

How did life change for Americans after WWII? Labor unions merged, which led to Americans who bought more consumer goods with credit, leading to a technology boom Communism An economic system where people share work fairly and are paid equally (USSR) Capitalism An economic system where a business is privately owned and money is used to make more money (US) Cold War Cold War was tense and rivalry but no fighting between the US and the Soviet Union. Two superpowers were the US and the USSR. What was decided at the Yalta Conference? Germany would be divided and the USSR would control a government in Eastern Europe. Two military alliances during the Cold War Warsaw Pact = USSR and NATO = USA Events Yalta Conference, Korean War, Creation of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, and the Destruction of the Berlin Wall What did the Iron Curtain divide? The iron curtain divided Western and Eastern Europe and divided democracy and communism Policy of Containment A policy to stop the spread of communism. President Truman was its leading supporter Marshall Plan A plan to give aid to help the European countries to rebuild after WWII. To stop the spread of communism. President Truman was its leading supporter Why did the United States get involved in the Korean War? North Korea invaded South Korea. The US believed North Korea was repeating what the Axis powers did in the 1930s. To stop the spread of communism How did the Korean War end? Ended in a stalemate and remained divided Why was the Berlin Wall built? To separate East and West Berlin. To stop people from moving to West Berlin which was noncommunist, from East Berlin, which was communist Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis considered a “crisis” in the USA? Cuba is not that far from the US. A Soviet nuclear attack on the US was possible. The event was the closest we had come to nuclear warfare President Kennedy’s response to nuclear missiles in Cuba Ordered a blockade surrounding Cuba to limit trade and access the Soviet Union’s supplies End of the Cuban Missile Crisis The Soviet Union removed missiles from Cuba as a response to the blockade US involvement with Vietnam North Vietnam attacked the South. Domino theory: the fear that if one country becomes communist, they will all eventually fall to communism End Result of the Vietnam War The US signed a cease-fire in 1973, and by 1975 North Vietnam took over the South and Vietnam became a unified communist country Was the decision to divide Berlin a smart decision made by the Allied powers at the end of World War II? Explain. Although the Allied powers had divided Germany into multiple sections, ultimately, the decision to divide Berlin at the end of World War II was not a smart decision because it led to the Soviets taking total control and isolating Berlin, Berlin Wall, the suffering of people under Soviet control. The Soviets originally wanted Germany to pay war reparations to help the Soviets recover from the war, so putting so much control and restrictions on Berlin could've been their way of revenge or punishment. The Soviets had eventually isolated Berlin completely, trying to prevent the people from going in or out... completely controlling the people's lifestyle. The Berlin wall was created as another way to isolate Berlin and keep it under Soviet/Communist control. This is exactly what the Allies did not want because they feared the spread of communism and didn't want Berlin to fall to it. After the Soviets blocked off all access through land and sea not letting anyone in or out, the people inside of Berlin had no access to needed supplies to survive such as food, water, and medicine. This caused more problems for the Allies when they had to send supplies to Berlin by air and by sea, trying to get the supplies to the people inside. Overall, the decision to divide Berlin was not a wise one for the Allied powers to make. How did Cold War tensions shape events in the Middle East between 1945 and 1979? Although Cold War tensions had major effects on other areas of the world, ultimately, they affected the Middle East greatly between 1945 and 1979 because the SALT plan fell through causing the two superpowers to resort back to weaponry, a need for more resources causing conflict in Iran, and a war along with many issues with Israel and Palestine when the British took control. After SALT fell through, the US and Soviet Union's tensions rose once again causing them to eventually resort back to creating more weaponry and get involved in more battles. The US and Soviet Union had both decided to get involved in the Middle East in order to gain resources and for the US, prevent further spread of communism. Now that the tensions between the two superpowers had returned, they needed new resources to fuel their weaponry. Once they discovered Iran's oil, they immediately got involved and caused major conflict in Iran. Britain had also taken control of Israel and Pakistan and lost the peace in the process. The more that the British had done to try and solve the problem such as creating the White Papers failed and made the issues worse. This caused major wars to occur and also caused Palestine to not be a state and this issue is still present today. Overall, the tensions that occurred in the Cold War had disastrous effects on the Middle East and shaped many events and wars that occurred there.