1. Unit 3: Postwar United States
The Cold War
Guiding Questions:
• What were the main quot;flashpointsquot; between the Soviet Union and the United States?
• How did U.S. leaders respond to these flashpoints? What policies did they implement?
• Based on your understanding of these flashpoints, why do you think caused the Cold War?
• How would you characterize the Cold War through 1949?
• What is containment?
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2. How do you think about WAR?
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4. Joseph Stalin Harry Truman
U.S.S.R. U.S.A.
quot;To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plan quot;I would rather have peace in the world than be
minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and President.quot;
then to go to bed. . .there is nothing sweeter in the
world.quot; quot;The American people desire and are determined
to work for, a world in which all nations and all
quot;This war is different from all earlier ones; the peoples are free to govern themselves as they see
conqueror of a region imposes his own social fit, and to achieve a decent and satisfying life.quot;
system on it.quot;
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6. Flashpoint #1: Eastern Europe
U.S. Response:
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7. Flashpoint #2: Greece & Turkey (1947)
U.S. Response: Truman Decision
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8. Flashpoint #3: Western Europe
U.S. Response: Marshall Plan
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9. Flashpoint #4: Berlin
U.S. Response: Berlin Blockade
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10. Causes of the Cold War
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11. Containment Policy: 1947 ‐ 1949
How would you define this policy?
What are the pros and cons?
Were there alternatives?
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