Saturday, July 25, 2015

What is the legacy of the Cold War?

Essential Question: What is the legacy of the Cold War?

Causes and Effects of the Cold War
The Cold War began after World War II ended in 1945. Even though the Soviet Union was an important member of the Allied Powers, there was tension between them and the Allies.  The Allies were worried about the rule of Joseph Stalin and the spread of Communism. The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This was an extremely long war that was fought using power and technology. During the Cold War, there was the Arms Race, the Space Race, and Proxy Wars.

The Cold War had many effects of society. In Russia, military spending was cut leaving many people unemployed because most adults worked in the military-industrial area.







Map of the countries behind the Iron Curtain




 Click the map to visit www.datesandevents.org for timeline of The Cold War


Soviet Union- 1945 has control of Eastern Europe, beginning of the Cold War
                        1991 end of the Soviet Union
Germany-1945 Potsdam Conference partitioned Germany into four zones
                1961 Construction of the Berlin wall
                1990 Germany reunited
Czechoslovakia- 1948 Communist takes over Czechoslovakia
                            1989 Communist government falls in Czechoslovakia
Russia-1949 tested its first bomb
Korea-North Korea invaded South Korea equipped with Soviet weapons
Vietnam-North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam which falls to Communist forces
Poland-becomes independent in 1989
Hungary-become independent in 1989
Bulgaria- Communist governments fall in 1989
Romania- Communist governments fall in 1989

Lithuania-becomes independent in 1990

Analysis of the events in the Free World (photographs or images of important events and brief significance of each)

The Cold War touched many parts of American social and cultural life, including the civil rights movement, Hollywood, and universities. The nuclear threat and the Communists behind it brought about the National Defense Education Act, interstate highway system, and doubt of the government by liberals and conservatives. In some ways obvious, and some not so obvious, the Cold War left its mark on everything from art and poetry to movies and comic books. Sporting events also became big places of rivalry.

Hollywood example:

James Bond first appeared in 1953 and they were vaguely based on the Cold War. The Bond movies followed the political climate of the time in their descriptions of Soviets and "Red" Chinese. Although Bond films often used the Cold War as a backdrop, the Soviet Union itself was almost never Bond's enemy, that role being more often left to fictional and apolitical criminal organizations.


The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show 1960's cartoon for children and adults was popular. In the show, the villains are Boris and Natasha, who were both Soviets.

Sports examples:
1972 Summer Olympics :


The USSR defeats the United States in men's basketball in a very talked about game!