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Learning to Lead our Lives
Truman on Trial who was to blame for the Cold
War?
Skill Working with others/Citizenship
NGfLUSA 1929 -1990
All images/ cartoons are believed to be in the
public domain. Many of the images were sourced
from the internet encyclopedia wikipedia at
http//en.wikipedia.org
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Who are these people? What do they do?
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The defendant in the court case you are about to
be involved in is Harry S. Truman, the President
of the United States of America, 1945-1952. The
crime he is accused of is Starting the Cold
War. What was the Cold War? Could just one man
start a war? How?
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During this lesson, you will have to use the
skills of a lawyer to prove whether Truman is
innocent or guilty of starting the Cold War.
Truman is on trial! Set up some scales using a
double page of your book like this Truman on
Trial who was to blame for the Cold War?
Skill Presenting a case
Evidence that Truman was guilty
Evidence that Truman was guilty
The next slide shows you 6 reasons why the Cold
War started. Guess what the reasons are from the
pictures.
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Different ideologies (ideas) of US and USSR
Ideas
In 1917, Communists took power in Russia. America
and Russia were very different countries with
very different beliefs. Use your own knowledge
or these picture clues to work out how they were
different.
Ideas
Wikipedia, public domain
The Comintern An organisation set up in 1919 to
spread communism across the globe!

• How would these different ideas make a Cold War
  more likely to happen?
• Does this evidence show that President Truman
  (President 1945-1952) was innocent or guilty of
  starting the Cold War?

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What then do these two men represent?
Vs.
How does this show blame for the Cold War?
Wikipedia, public domain
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How does this show blame for the Cold War?
Guess the expression. How is it related to the
Cold War?
1945
1947
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How does this show blame for the Cold War?
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How does this show blame for the Cold War?
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How does this show blame for the Cold War?
Ideas
Ideas
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Use the information sheets to add more detail
to your scales. Then prepare a speech for or
against President Truman!
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The leaders Truman
Truman had very little foreign policy experience.
The President before Truman, FDR, hadnt given
Truman much experience of dealing with other
countries. Truman lacked knowledge of other
countries and how to deal with their
statesmen. Truman and Stalin attended a
conference in Potsdam in August 1945. At the
conference, Truman heard that American scientists
had developed an atomic bomb. Truman smugly
informed Stalin that America had a powerful
weapon. Truman ended the conference quickly so
that he could inspect the bomb. Stalin left the
conference with the impression that he had been
given permission to permanently include Eastern
Europe in Russias sphere of influence. Truman
authorised the dropping of the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Truman was
alarmed by the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe
1945-7. In February 1946, Churchill made a
provocative speech in which he stated that an
iron curtain had descended across Europe.
Truman was sitting right next to Churchill when
he made this speech. In March 1947, in a speech
given to Congress, the President outlined the
Truman doctrine. This doctrine stated that the
US must support free peoples who are resisting
attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures. I believe that our help
should be primarily through economic and
financial aid. Truman wanted to contain the
USSR to make sure that the USSR didnt spread
communism to any other countries. The Truman
Doctrine inspired the Secretary of State, George
Marshall, to draw up a plan to provide aid to
Western Europe in the form of 12.5 billion of
money and goods. The Marshall Plan was designed
to make sure that Western Europe stayed stable,
and didnt become communist.
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The leaders Stalin

• Stalin was the dictator of Russia from 1926 to
  1953. In 1941, the
• German army invaded Russia. Stalin oversaw the
  victory of the Russian
• Army over Germany. During the Second World War,
  the Soviet Union
• worked with America to defeat the Germans.
  However, at least 10
• million Russians died. Stalin was desperate not
  to let Germany invade
• Russia again.
• To do this, Stalin wanted to take over Eastern
  Europe. Germany would have to go through Eastern
  Europe if it wanted to invade Russia again, and
  so less Russians would die. After World War 2,
  Russian troops stayed in some Eastern European
  countries. Between 1946 and 1948, the
  governments of the rest of the Eastern European
  countries were forced to become Communist. By
  1948, Russia controlled Eastern Europe.
  According to Winston Churchill, an iron curtain
  had been drawn across Europe, dividing the East
  From the West.
• All the governments of Eastern Europe had to obey
  Russia. The people of Eastern Europe were denied
  the freedom of speech or the freedom of the
  press. Communist economic policies were enforced
  upon some countries.
• Stalin was extremely suspicious of the West. He
  didnt trust Truman. He believed that America
  wanted to control the world. West Berlin was
  controlled by the Americans, British and French.
  In 1948, Stalin ordered that all land routes to
  West Berlin should be cut off, so that the
  Western powers would leave West Berlin. Truman
  ordered that millions of tons of food should be
  flown in to West Berlin. After a year, Stalin
  called off the Berlin Blockade.