THE COLD WARTHE BERLIN AIRLIFT AND THE FORMATION OF NATO

Objectives for Today

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify the terms NATO, Iron Curtain, and Berlin Airlift.

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to describe and analyze the events of the Berlin Airlift.

Fill in all BLUE information on your notes outline!

Quick Review of Concepts

Volunteers to share….

What is capitalism?

What is communism?

What was the Iron Curtain?

Europe After WWII (1945)

Europe was destroyed!

The two powers that were still powerful were the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

Since the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were so different they tried really hard to influence the different countries in Europe.

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

The U.S. and the Soviet Union both wanted to spread their influence overseas.

U.S. -> Helped to spread capitalism, democracy, and individual freedoms

Soviet Union -> Helped to spread communism, dictatorship, and equalization in society

The Geography of the Iron Curtain

The U.S. was able to influence Western Europe.

The U.S.S.R. was able to influence Eastern Europe.

An “Iron Curtain” divided Europe!

What was Western Europe

like?

What was Eastern Europe like?

COLD WAR

The Cold War was not a war where soldiers fought. It was a war to see who, the U.S. or the U.S.S.R., could influence more countries!

If you were either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. how would you try to influence a country to become a capitalist or communist country?

Stop COMMUNISM!!!

The U.S. did a lot to try to stop the spread of communism!

EXAMPLE: When Germany lost the war, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, split Germany in half

The Western Europe was......?

The Eastern Europe was....?

Berlin

The capital of Berlin was split in half too!

The Western part of Berlin was controlled by the U.S. (Capitalism)

The Eastern part of Berlin was controlled by the Soviet Union (Communism)

Divided Germany

• Germany was split into two• West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) ->

Democratic & Capitalist (influenced by the U.S.)• East Germany (German Democratic Republic) ->

Communist (influenced by the Soviet Union)

• Capital of Berlin was also divided into East Berlin & West Berlin

Notice that Berlin is located in Eastern Germany!Why is this hard for capitalist West Berlin?

GET OUT!!!

The Soviet Union wanted to take control of all of the city of Berlin in June of 1948

The U.S.S.R. wanted Western Berlin to become communist!

The Soviet Union didn’t like that there was a part of Eastern Germany that they didn’t control and that wasn’t communist!

Berlin Blockade

The U.S.S.R. blocked the train tracks and the roads from delivering supplies and food to West Berlin.

The goal was to make West Berlin give up so that they would let the Soviet Union come in and control them.

What did the Soviet Union want to do with West Berlin?

U.S. and the Berlin Blockade

West Berlin didn’t want to become Communists like the Soviet Union wanted!

The U.S. is trying to stop the spread of Communism, so what do you think they did to help the people of West Berlin stay Capitalist?

Remember, the only reason they may have to become Communist is because the blockade is preventing them from getting supplies.

Fly it in! (Berlin Airlift)

The U.S. flew supplies into Western Berlin on airplanes so they did not have to give in to the communists (Soviet Union)!

Berlin Airlift

They delivered food, clothing, and supplies to live!

Berlin blockade!

BLOCKADE ENDS!

The Soviets knew the blockade was not doing any good if the U.S. was delivering supplies to Western Berlin by air!

The Soviets ended the Berlin Blockade in May of 1949!

The U.S. and capitalism won this battle of the Cold War!

How was this battle different than other battles we have studied this year?

BERLIN WALL

Shortly after the Berlin Airlift, the Soviet Union realized that they were not going to be able to make West Berlin into a communist region.

Therefore, to separate West Berlin from the Communist part of East Berlin, the Soviet Union built a big wall on August 15, 1961 so that people couldn’t travel back and forth without a pass.

People in West Berlin and East Berlin lived totally different lives.

How do you think people’s lives were different on the different sides of Berlin?

East vs. West Berlin

Neighborhoods were split into two - relatives that lived on opposite sides of the city couldn’t see each other. Berlin was split!

East Berlin:

Communist - Government controlled most everything!

West Berlin:

Capitalist - free press, business, speech.

BERLIN WALL

NATO

The U.S. and the other Capitalist countries set-up a new military alliance to protect themselves if a communist country tried to force communism on them or they went to war with the U.S.S.R.

The alliance of capitalist countries was called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The goal was to stop the spread of communism.

Most countries in West Europe were part of NATO.

WARSAW PACT

• The U.S.S.R. and its seven satellite nations created their own alliance of communist countries called the Warsaw Pact. Its goal was to protect communist countries from NATO.

• The Warsaw Pact agreed that all member nations would setup a unified military command under the control of the U.S.S.R .

• Warsaw Pact remained intact until 1991 when the U.S.S.R collapsed.

Conclusion

After World War II, The Cold War broke out between the U.S. (Capitalism) and the Soviet Union (Communism).

Both Capitalist and Communist countries tried to spread their way of life around the world.

An Iron Curtain separated the Capitalist (West) and Communist (East) part of Europe

The Berlin Airlift stopped the Soviet Union from spreading communism to all of Berlin!

NATO and the Warsaw Pact was created.