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The Cold War

Published on Feb 13, 2016

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

The Cold War

Origins

Ideological

Leaders like Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin (pictured) and Joseph Stalin bought into the concept that industrialized societies were bound to have a revolution of the working class. Lenin and Stalin worked to manufacture that revolution, when in reality it was a historical concept of the philosopher Marx and was meant to happen naturally.

Political

America and Russia liberated parts of Germany at the end of World War 2, leading to a political power struggle between the two superpowers. Germany and Berlin were divided and those areas under Soviet control fell behind the Iron Curtain. The symbol of this is the Berlin Wall, though it was not built until 1961
Photo by pollenoid

Cold War Battles

With both sides realizing they could not immediately win a war, they settled into an era of tension known as a Cold War. A typical "battle" occurred in Berlin in 1947. Stalin, hoping to gain control of Germany, sealed off Berlin from the Allies. To retain Berlin and avoid war, Harry Truman decided to airlift supplies into the city, breaking the blockade. The image shown pays homage to the "Candyman", a pilot who spent his trips dropping candy such as Hershey's chocolate for the children of the city.
Photo by Kaecyy

Proxy Wars

Another way to fight a Cold War is to fight the allies of your enemy without actually engaging the enemy, known as a proxy war. The U.S. engaged in this in 1950 when they became involved in the Korean War, helping democratic South Korea fight off the invasion of communist North Korea. The war ended in a stalemate that lasts to this day.
Photo by qnr

Arms Race

Yet another style of Cold War fighting included the threat of nuclear weapons. Both nations achieved a stockpile capable of destroying the world by the mid 1950s. Dwight Eisenhower created the policy of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) to deal with the threat. This policy made it known that the U.S. would use all nukes in its arsenal in the event of war. The idea was no one would be that crazy. This policy created massive uneasiness in American culture, leading to artifacts such as the Daffy Duck cartoon, "Duck Dodgers". You may view a piece of this cartoon at the following link...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M9Q1QDhqAU
Photo by Mark Gilmour