Stalin and the Cold War

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Stalin and the Cold War
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Stalin

• After the death of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin
  took power of the Soviet Union (1922-1953).
• Stalin was a very harsh dictator.
• Millions died under Stalins rule and the whole
  country lived in fear of him.

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"SUPERPOWERS"

• After WWII, the Soviet Union and the United
  States were the worlds two strongest countries
  and people called them superpowers.
• The relations between the two countries was very
  tense.
• This time of tension without actual war, is
  called the Cold War and lasted roughly from 1945
  until 1991.

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Causes of the Cold War

• 1. During WWII, The Soviet Army moved west to
  capture Berlin. As they advanced, they freed
  Eastern European countries Germany had conquered.
  After the war, the Soviets force these countries
  to become Communist. This was called the Iron
  Curtain because it divided Europe into East and
  West.

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IRON CURTAIN

• THE TERM IRON CURTAIN CAME FROM A SPEECH GIVEN
  BY WINSTON CHURCHILL ON MARCH 5, 1946 AT
  WESTMINSTER COLLEGE IN FULTON, MO.

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Cause of Cold War

• The Soviets tried to spread Communism beyond
  Eastern Europe. The United States was determined
  to stop this.
• The superpowers also built powerful weapons to
  use against one another, this was called the
  arms race.

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BERLIN WALL

• The Berlin Wall was a physical barrier separating
  West Berlin from the East Berlin. This came to
  symbolize the Iron Curtain between Western
  (democratic) and Eastern (communist) Europe
• The wall separated the two German states for 28
  years. Construction began on August 13, 1961
  until it was dismantled beginning in late 1989,
  and was considered to be a longtime symbol of the
  Iron Curtain.
• When the East German government announced on
  November 9, 1989, that citizens could visit West
  Germany and West Berlin, crowds of East Germans
  climbed onto and crossed the wall, joined by West
  Germans on the other side in a celebratory
  atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, parts of the
  wall were chipped away by a euphoric public and
  by souvenir hunters industrial equipment was
  later used to remove almost all of the rest of
  it.
• The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for
  German reunification which was formally concluded
  on October 3, 1990.

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