"The Cold War was a period of heightened military and political tensions between the United States and its allies on one side and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other" - Staff Writer

1. THE COLD WAR

2. • Who?
The superpowers = the USA and the USSR
• Where?
It began in Europe and spread to other parts of the world.
• When?
1945 – 1989
• How?
The conflict between the USA and the USSR was not open or direct.
It was fought through proxy wars and liberation struggles where vulnerable
states were manipulated to further ideologies and extent the sphere of
influence of the 2 superpowers.

3. CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR
• World War 2 widened the rift between the USA and USSR.
• The USA and the USSR were the 2 superpowers that had influence in the
world.
• Stalin encroached on Eastern Europe and his army reached Berlin first.
• The USSR occupied Poland
• Germany was split into 4 zones, the Allies could not reach a consensus.
• Nuclear weapons deepened the suspicion and rivalry.
• This resulted in the development of deadly weapons of destruction and the
arms race.
• Rival ideologies (Communism vs. Capitalism) increased suspicions.
• There was rivalry between Truman and Stalin due to rival ideologies.

4. • Stalin promised to allow free elections in Eastern Europe.
• Instead he installed communists governments
• This was because he wanted to protect the USSR from possible
invasion from the west.
• This increased the tension and suspension between the USA
and the USSR.

5. WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION

6. THE LEADERS

7. USSR: JOSEPH STALIN

8. THE USA: HARRY S. TRUMAN

9. ENGLAND: ATTLEE

10. HOW GERMANY WAS DIVIDED: 1945

11. BERLIN CRISES 1948-1961
• After World War 2, Germany was divided between the Allies (Britain, France, USA
and USSR).
• It was divided into East and West Germany.
• Britain, the USA and France had control over West Germany.
• The USSR had control over East Germany.
• Berlin, which is the capital city of Germany is located in West Germany.
• Although it is located in West Germany, it was also divided into East and West
Berlin.
• The USSR had control over East Berlin while the USA, France and Britain had
control over West Germany.

12. • In 1946: The USA, France and Britain combined their zones to form West Berlin.
• In 1948: currency reform was introduced in West Germany to uplift the economy.
• Stalin wanted the West to withdraw from West Berlin and hand over their zones to the
USSR.
• The current reform in Berlin led to an improvement of the economy and defects left for
West Berlin.
• Stalin blockaded access routes such as roads and railways to West Berlin.
• Not wanting to risk outright war with USSR, the West introduced airlifts to provide food,
medical and fuel supplies to West Berlin.
• This lasted for 11 months until August 1949 when Stalin lifted the blockade and reopened
the routes.
• West Germany became known as the German Federal Republic (GFR).
• East Germany became known as German Democratic Republic (GDR).

13. AIRLIFTS SENDING FOOD AND OTHER
SUPPLIES TO WEST GERMANY

14. CONSTRUCTION AND DESTRUCTION OF
THE BERLIN WALL

15. THE BERLIN WALL
• The standard of living in GDR was poor or low.
• This led to migration to West Germany and strikes.
• Walter Ulbricht = The leader of the of the GDR
• Walter Ulbricht closed the boarder between East and West Berlin
in August 1961.
• Soldiers erected a wall (over 155 km). It has guard towers and
armed guards to stop defectors.

17. EVENTS THAT LED TO THE END OF THE
COLD WAR:

18. THE FAILING SOVIET SYSTEM
• During the cold war, the Soviet union was a closed political and
economic system.
• It became clear in the late 1960’s that the economic
performance of the USSR was failing.
• During the 1970’s its industry stagnated and its agriculture
regularly failed.
• Technological advances in the West left the Soviet Union and its
Allies lagging behind.

19. MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

20. • A 54 year old lawyer and General Secretary of the Communist party of
the Soviet Union.
• He was elected as the new Soviet leader in 1986.
• His plan was to reform the Soviet system and eventually preside over
the break-up of the political system.
• His plans were constrained by 2 main factors:
• The dire state of the Soviet economy
• The increasingly restless situation in Eastern Europe

21. WHAT LED TO THE END OF THE COLD WAR?
• The USSR had a centralised state-run economy
(Socialist/Communist) with an autocratic one-party governance
system.
• This means that the co-ordination and control of all economic
activities were under the authority of the government.
• This resulted in the national economic performance suffering
due to inefficiency.

22. • As Gorbachev’s policies were implemented, and hardship followed,
civil unrest broke out between various groups in the Caucasus and,
later, in the Baltic region.
• As old forms of nationalism emerged in these countries, the demands
for independence from the Soviet Union grew.
• Following Gorbachev’s attempt to establish a Federation of States, in
1990, several of the Soviet states declared their independence from
the Soviet Union.
• 25 December 1991: The USSR was dissolved after 74 years.
• Each of its 15 states became independent

26. REFERENCE LIST:
• Ewart, D. (2012) Cold war Brrrrrr…… Available from SlideShare at Cold war, pt 1 (slideshare.net)
• University of Agriculuture Faisalabad. (2019) Bismillah-hir-rahman-nir-raham. Available from
SlideShare at Cold war (1945-1)990) (slideshare.net)
• LeeniOr. (2021) The origins of the cold war. Available from SlideShare at The Cold War Powerpoint
Slides (slideshare.net)
• Magoleng, F. (2014) The Cold War. Available from SlideShare at Cold War in Germany (slideshare.net)
• Florencio, J. (2012) The cold war: Origins to 1960 Available from SlideShare at: Cold war-1945-1960
(slideshare.net)
• Mrmarr. (202) Reaasons the Cold War ended – role of Mikhail Gorbachev. Available from SlideShare at
Reasons the Cold War ended - role of Mikhail Gorbachev (slideshare.net)