9.2 The Cold War

The Iron Curtain divides Europe

After WWII, Europe split into opposing blocs. The Soviet Union imposed satellite states with communist governments across Eastern Europe, while the United States used the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe and contain communism. Winston Churchill described this division as an Iron Curtain, symbolizing the ideological and physical split between East and West.

Alliances and flashpoints

Military alliances formalized the divide: NATO (Western democracies) versus the Warsaw Pact (Soviet bloc). Berlin became a key flashpoint — the Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-49) and the Berlin Wall (1961) symbolized Cold War tensions. Proxy conflicts and crises, like the Cuban Missile Crisis, threatened to escalate the Cold War into direct nuclear confrontation.

Superpower competition and détente

The US and USSR competed economically, technologically (Space Race), and militarily, relying on nuclear deterrence (mutually assured destruction). Periods of tension alternated with détente, easing relations through arms control agreements like SALT. Europe's fate was largely shaped by decisions made outside it, reducing traditional European powers to secondary roles in global affairs.

Key terms

Iron Curtain

Churchill's term for the ideological and physical division between communist Eastern Europe and the democratic West.

Marshall Plan

US economic aid program to rebuild Western Europe and curb the spread of communism after WWII.

NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

NATO: Western military alliance led by the US. Warsaw Pact: Eastern military alliance led by the USSR.

Berlin Wall

Built in 1961 by East Germany to stop emigration to the West; symbol of Cold War division.

Détente

A period of reduced Cold War tensions between the US and USSR, marked by arms control talks like SALT.

Try an AP-style question

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was…

1. a peaceful transition
2. successful in ending communism
3. supported by NATO troops
4. crushed by Soviet troops