Junior Cert History

1. The Cold War
• Following World War II the United Nations
was founded
• This was a follow up to the League of Nations
but had far more agencies such as UNICEF and
the UNHCR
• It was intended that the United Nations would
help resolve disputes and have peace keeping
forces when required

2. The Cold War

3. The Cold War
• The United States had been allied with the Soviet
Union during the war but now that it was over
they had little in common
• The allied powers decided to divide Germany into
4 regions under their control
• This also applied to Berlin despite it being in the
Soviet region
• The Soviets were quick to set up communist
governments in areas they had freed such as
Poland

4. The Iron Curtain

5. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAyXXepUgrE

6. The Cold War
• The soviets and the allies were now pitted
against each other in a battle for Europe
• The first area of conflict arose in Berlin
• The American president under the Marshall
plan had granted money to countries in
Europe to halt the rise of communism
• Stalin viewed this as an attempt to stop Soviet
influence and so began the Berlin blockade

7. The Berlin Blockade

8. The Berlin Blockade
• The Soviets cut off Berlin from the allied
powers
• They were able to achieve this as it was well
inside the Soviet region of control
• The only way the allies could supply Berlin was
through the air
• This was a huge undertaking and would cost
millions to carry out

9. The Berlin Blockade
• The airlift was named Operation Vittles and
was mostly paid for by the Americans
• The operation lasted from June in 1948 to
May in 1949
• The amount of flights going into west Berlin
was so great that a third airport had to be
built
• The operation moved 2.3 million tonnes if
supplies at a cost of over £220 million

10. The Berlin Blockade

11. The Berlin Blockade
• The soviets were forced to lift the blockade as
it was not working
• They were never in a position to fire on the
allied aircraft as the Americans still had the
advantage of the atomic bomb
• The allies in particular the United States had
won the first significant engagement in the
Cold War

12. Results of the Blockade
• After the blockade was lifted the western
powers decided to join their regions to form
West Germany
• The Soviets countered this by declaring their
region to be a separate country which was
commonly known as East Germany
• NATO was formed in 1949 by America and its
allies
• NATO was a military alliance under which all
members agreed to block Soviet expansion

13. Results of the Blockade
• In response the Soviets formed the Warsaw
Pact
• This was a military alliance of communist
states to counter NATO
• Communism would not be restricted to just
Europe however
• The Cold War would be fought out in other
regions such as Asia and the Americas