Hi, my name's Mr. Williams, and I'm going to be your history teacher for today.

This lesson is part of a unit on the origins of the Cold War from 1941 to 1958.

I'm really looking forward to teaching you today, so let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the Cold War developed and then intensified between 1945 and 1958.

There are five keywords essential to understanding today's lesson.

They are Cold War, a period between 1945 and 1991 of intense rivalry and tension between the USA and the USSR, ideology, a set of beliefs or ideas, satellite state, a country that is dominated by another country, arms race when countries compete with each other to build up military strength, and containment, using American influence and military resources to prevent the spread of communism into non-communist countries.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts.

In this first part, we're going to be examining early tensions between East and West.

Let's start by reminding ourselves what the term Cold War means.

So the Cold War was a period of intense rivalry and tension between the USA and the USSR from 1945 until 1991.

It was characterised by political, economic, and military competition.

And unlike in a hot war, there was no direct armed conflict between the USA and the USSR.

In 1941, the leaders of the USA, the USSR, and Britain formed the Grand Alliance to defeat Nazi Germany and World War Two.

The leaders of these countries were known as The Big Three.

The Grand Alliance was formed to defeat a common enemy, but there were tensions between the USSR and the USA from the beginning.

Part of the reason for these tensions was the fact that the two countries had very different ideologies.

The USSR was a communist country.

Let's take a look at what that means.

In terms of politics, there was only one political party, which has all the power, the Communist Party.

People were unable to change their government.

In terms of the economy, there was no private ownership.

Major industries and resources were owned by the government to ensure equal distribution of wealth.

And finally, in terms of rights, the rights of all workers were considered to be more important than individual rights.

By contrast, the USA was a capitalist society.

Politically, this meant that there were many political parties, and people could decide which political party had power by voting in democratic elections.

From an economic point of view, individuals and private companies own most businesses and resources and compete to make profit.

And in capitalist societies, there is often a big difference between rich and poor.

Finally, in terms of rights, greater emphasis is placed on the rights of the individual, particularly in contrast to communist societies.

Let's take a moment to check your understanding.

Which three countries united to form the Grand Alliance? Was it A, Britain, France, and the USA, B, Britain, the USA, and Germany, C, Britain, the USA, and the USSR, or D, the USA, the USSR, and France? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay.

Very well done if you said that the correct answer is C, the Grand Alliance consisted of Britain, the USA, and the USSR.

The leaders of the Grand Alliance, The Big Three, met three times during World War Two.

The first time was at Tehran in November 1943.

They then met again at Yalta in February 1945.

Both of these conferences took place before Germany surrendered in May 1945.

The Big Three met for the third and final time at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945.

Importantly, this conference took place after the Germans' surrender.

Another key difference between the Potsdam Conference and Yalta and Tehran, was the fact that there had been a change in leadership in the USA and in Britain.

In the USA, Roosevelt had died and been replaced by Harry S.

Truman, and in Britain, Churchill had lost the election and been replaced by Clement Attlee.

Between 1944 and 1945, The USSR's Red Army liberated many countries in Eastern Europe from Nazi occupation.

Stalin refused to give up control of these countries, and by the Potsdam Conference, the USSR was in control of most of Eastern Europe.

Stalin believed that control of Eastern Europe was essential to protect the USSR from future invasion from the West.

Between 1945 and 1949, the USSR turned most Eastern European countries into satellite states.

Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe significantly increased tension between the USSR and the USA.

Let's focus on Poland for a moment, as an example of how the USSR turned an Eastern European country into a satellite state.

Stalin believed control of Poland was essential for the security of the USSR.

However, many Poles hated and feared the USSR, so Stalin realised that a government which was friendly to the USSR could not be elected in Poland and would have to be imposed.

A coalition government was established in June 1945, which contained Soviet-backed communists.

And in January 1947, rigged elections were held to ensure the election of a totally communist government.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

What had changed between the Yalta Conference, February 1945, and the Potsdam Conference, July 1945? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, well done for your efforts on that question.

A lot have changed between Yalta and Potsdam, and in your answer, you could have covered the following.

Truman replaced Roosevelt as US President, Germany had surrendered, the USSR was in control of most of Eastern Europe, and Stalin had broken his promise to allow free elections in Poland.

Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe caused considerable tension between the USA and the USSR.

Another serious cause of tension was the USA's development of the world's first atomic bomb.

The timeline on the screen provides an overview of the key events.

You can come back to this timeline if you need to later in the lesson.

The success of the Manhattan Project meant the USA became the world's first country to develop nuclear weapons.

On the 16th of July 1945, the USA tested the world's first atomic bomb.

And then in August, the USA dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force the Japanese surrender and end World War Two.

Stalin believed that the USA had used the atomic bombs against Japan to demonstrate American's power and threaten the USSR.

Stalin became more determined to protect the USSR by developing satellite states in Eastern Europe.

The development of the atomic bomb by the USA marked the beginning of an arms race with the USSR.

Let's just do a quick check of your understanding.

In what year did the USA develop the first atomic bomb? Was it A, 1943, B, 1944, C, 1945, or D, 1946? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said the correct answer is C.

The USA developed the world's first atomic bomb in 1945.

By 1946, due to the Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe, and the American developing use of the world's first atomic bombs, tensions between the USA and the USSR were running extremely high.

In 1946, Truman and Stalin asked their embassies to report on attitudes in one another's countries.

The US diplomat, George Kennan, sent the so-called Long Telegram to Truman in February.

Novikov, a Soviet official in Washington, sent a similar telegram to Stalin later that year, the Novikov Telegram.

In the Long Telegram, Kennan argued that the USSR was an aggressive power that wanted to destroy capitalism.

He argued that the spread of communism could only be prevented if the USA took firm action.

In the Novikov Telegram, Nikola Novikov stated that the USA wanted to use their immense military power to dominate the world.

Novikov claimed that the American people were no longer interested in working with the USSR, and would support their government even if this meant war.

The two telegrams increased tension between the USA and the USSR.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

On the screen are four events, and I want you to put them in chronological order by numbering them one to four, with one as the earliest.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that task.

You were asked to place the four events in the correct chronological order, and the correct order is as follows.

Number one, the USA became the first country in the world to successfully test an atomic bomb.

Number two, the USA dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Number three, the USSR extended its control by turning most Eastern European countries into Soviet satellite states.

And finally, number four, Stalin and Truman asked their embassies to report on attitudes in one another's countries.

Very well done, if you got that correct.

We're now ready to attempt the first practise task of today's lesson.

I'd like you to write a narrative account analysing the key events that increased tension between the USA and the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1946.

You should aim to write about three key events, and may wish to write about the following: the development of the atomic bomb, the establishment of Soviet satellite states, and the Long and Novikov Telegrams. Pause the video now, attempt the question, and press play when you're ready to go through a model answer.

Okay, really well done for your hard work on that first practise task.

You were asked to write a narrative account analysing the key events that increase tension between the USA and the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1946.

And your answer may include, in July 1945, the USA became the first country in the world to successfully test an atomic bomb.

In August, the USA dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force Japan to surrender and end World War Two.

Stalin felt threatened by the development of American nuclear weapons, and it led to the start of an arms race, as the USSR increased their efforts to develop their own atomic bomb.

The development of the American atomic bomb also meant that Stalin became even more determined to take control of Eastern Europe to help ensure the security of the USSR.

For your second paragraph, your answer may include from 1945, the USSR extended its control over Eastern Europe by turning more eastern European countries into Soviet satellite states.

Stalin believed that Soviet control of Eastern Europe was essential to protect the USSR from future invasion from the West.

As a result, the USSR supported communists to take power in countries like Poland.

Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe increased fears in the USA about the spread of communism, and significantly increased tensions.

This increase in tension led to Stalin and Truman asking their embassies to report on attitudes in one another's countries in 1946.

For your final paragraph you could have written, in February 1946, George Kennan sent a Long Telegram to Truman, arguing that the USSR was an aggressive power that wanted to destroy capitalism.

Kennan said that the spread of communism could only be stopped if the USA took strong action.

Several months later, Nikola Novikov sent a similar message to Stalin.

The Novikov Telegram argued that the people of USA were hostile to the USSR, and may even support going to war against them.

Both telegrams revealed an increasing level of suspicion and mistrust between the former allies, and significantly escalated tensions.

Really well done for your hard work on that first practise task, and well done if your answer looks similar to the one that we've just gone through.

In this second part of the lesson, we're going to be learning about how the Cold War developed, as the USA committed itself to a policy of containing the spread of communism.

After World War Two, millions of people in Europe were hungry, unemployed, and suffering.

Truman was concerned that communism would spread quickly in these conditions, because communism could seem attractive to poorer people since it involved taking wealth from the richest in society and sharing it more evenly.

In 1947, Truman gave a speech to Congress, which committed the USA to a policy of containment.

This would involve the USA using its economic and military strength to prevent communism from spreading to non-communist countries.

The ideas in Truman's 1947 speech became known as the Truman Doctrine.

To support his policy of containment, Truman introduced a major economic aid package, called the European Recovery Plan, the ERP, but it was more commonly known as the Marshall Plan.

Truman believed that if the USA could support European countries to recover from World War Two, people would be less likely to support communism.

Between 1948 and 1952, the USA therefore provided $12.

7 billion of aid to countries of Western Europe.

Let's take a moment to check your understanding.

The paragraph contains some mistakes, and is therefore incorrect.

I want you to identify and correct the mistakes.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the corrected paragraph.

Okay, well done for your hard work there.

You were asked to identify and correct the mistakes in the paragraph, and the corrected paragraph should read as follows.

After World War Two, millions of people in Europe were suffering and living in poverty.

Truman believed communism would spread quickly in these conditions.

The Truman Doctrine committed the USA to a policy of containment.

Truman introduced a major package of economic aid, known as the Marshall Plan, to help Europe recover and stop the spread of communism.

Well done if you identified and corrected all of those mistakes.

Let's do another quick check.

Between 1948 and 1952, how much aid was sent to Western Europe as part of the Marshall Plan? Was it A, $1.

27 billion, B, $12.

7 billion, or C, $127 billion? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said the correct is B, the USA sent $12.

7 billion of aid to Western Europe as part of the Marshall Plan.

Stalin viewed the Marshall Plan as a form of dollar imperialism.

In 1947, Stalin established a Communist Information Bureau, or Cominform, which was to coordinate and control communist parties across Europe.

Cominform members were encouraged to trade with other members and minimise contact with non-communist countries.

Cominform members voted to reject Marshall Plan aid.

Let's do a check of your understanding.

The statements below about Cominform are incorrect.

Identify and correct the mistakes.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to go through the corrected statements.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that task.

You are asked to correct the mistakes in the statements, and the corrected statements should read as follows.

Number one, Cominform was established in 1947.

Number two, Cominform members were encouraged to minimise links with non-communist countries, and number three, Cominform members rejected Marshall Plan aid.

Well done if you got those correct.

In this next section of the lesson, we're going to focus on one of the first major crises of the Cold War.

The Berlin Crisis of 1948 to 1949, tested Truman's commitment to containment, and significantly increased tensions between the USA and the USSR.

After the Potsdam Conference, Germany and Berlin had been divided into four zones.

Stalin was determined to force the Western Powers to abandon Berlin to Soviet control.

Stalin knew that the Western occupied zones of Berlin were vulnerable, because they were surrounded by Soviet-occupied territory.

Stalin thought that if he could stop the Western powers from supplying West Berlin, they would be forced to abandon the city.

On the 24th of June 1948, Stalin closed all land routes into West Berlin.

This has become known as the Berlin Blockade.

The Berlin Blockade was a direct challenge to Truman's commitment to containment.

The USA could not lose control of West Berlin, but they did not want to risk war by breaking the blockade.

The USA and Britain responded to the Berlin Blockade by organising an airlift to keep West Berlin supplied.

Between June 1948 and May 1949, the Berlin Airlift allowed the Western allies to beat the Soviet Blockade, and on the 12th of May 1949, Stalin ended the Berlin Blockade.

Let's take a moment to check your understanding.

The Berlin Blockade was a failure for the USSR.

Is this true or false? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answer was true, the Berlin Blockade was a failure for the USSR, but we need to be able to justify our answer.

So on the screen are two justifications, A says the blockade was a failure, 'cause the Western allies took control of the Soviet-controlled zone in Berlin, and B says the blockade was a failure, 'cause Stalin did not achieve his aim of forcing the Western allies to abandon Berlin.

Which of these justifications is correct? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said justification B was correct, the Berlin Blockade was a failure, because Stalin failed to achieve his aims of forcing the Western allies to abandon Berlin.

The Berlin Crisis was one of the first major crises of the Cold War, and it had some significant consequences, which is summarised on this timeline.

Take a moment to look through the timeline, and if you need to come back to it later in the lesson, then you can do.

After the Berlin Crisis, Germany was divided into two new states.

The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in May 1949 and became known as West Germany, and the German Democratic Republic was founded in October 1949 and became known as East Germany.

In April 1949, the USA, Britain, and France joined 12 other Western nations to create the North Atlantic Treaty organisation, or NATO.

The aim was to prevent Soviet expansion through collective security, which meant members would protect one another if they were attacked.

The creation of this formal military alliance was seen as a threat by the USSR, and increased tensions.

Let's take a moment to check your understanding.

NATO was a military alliance that was established to prevent the spread of communism.

True or false? Pause the video now, press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that was correct, but we need to be able to justify that answer.

So on the screen are two justifications.

A says NATO members pledged to invade the USSR and force the country to become a democratic capitalist society, and B says NATO members would stop the spread of communism by defending one another if any of them were attacked.

Which of those justifications is true? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you selected justification B, NATO members pledged to stop the spread of communism by defending one another if any of them were attacked.

This was known as the principle of collective security.

We are now ready for the second practise task of today's lesson.

And for this I want you to complete the table by briefly explaining how each of the events increased tension between the USA and the USSR.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to go through a model answer.

Okay, excellent efforts on that second practise task.

You were asked to complete the table by explaining how each of the events increased tension between the USA and the USSR.

Let's go through them now.

The Truman Doctrine increased tension, because it committed the USA to a policy of containment, and therefore increased the risk of conflict with the USSR.

The Marshall Plan increased tension, because the USSR considered it to be an example of dollar imperialism, and felt threatened by the USA increasing their influence in Europe.

The Berlin Crisis significantly increased tension.

The USA and USSR came close to conflict over Berlin.

It resulted in the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, and the German Democratic Republic, East Germany, as well as the founding of NATO.

And finally, the founding of NATO increased tensions, because the establishment of a formal military alliance that aimed to prevent the spread of communism led to the USSR feeling threatened.

Well done if your completed table looks similar to the one on the screen.

We're now ready to move on to the third and final part of today's lesson.

And in this final part of the lesson, we're going to be learning about how the Cold War intensified during the 1950s.

By 1953, both the USA and the USSR had new leaders.

Eisenhower took over from Truman as US president, and Khrushchev replaced Stalin as leader of the USSR.

Hopes that this would lead to an improvement in relations did not last, and from 1953 onwards, the arms race between the USA and the USSR intensified.

During the arms race, the USA and USSR competed to develop powerful nuclear weapons.

By 1953, each of the superpowers had successfully tested a new and more powerful type of weapon, hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs.

The timeline on the screen provides an overview of some of the key events in the early stages of the arms race between the USA and the USSR.

As we've learned, the USA became the first country in the world to develop the atomic bomb in July 1945, which led to the USSR redoubling their efforts to develop their own atomic bomb, which they achieved in August 1949.

As a consequence, the USA developed a hydrogen bomb, which they successfully tested for the first time in November 1952.

Shortly after, in August 1953, the USA had developed their own hydrogen bomb.

Let's check your understanding.

The USA developed the first hydrogen bomb in November 1952.

When did the USSR develop their first hydrogen bomb? Was it A, August 1952, B, August 1953, or C, August 1954? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said it was August 1953.

Less than a year after the Americans had developed the world's first hydrogen bomb, the USSR had developed their own.

The arms race escalated in the latter part of the 1950s.

By 1957, the superpowers had developed intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, which could fire nuclear weapons across continents.

The development of ICBMs marked a new and more dangerous phase of the arms race.

The USA developed their first ICBM in June 1957, and the USSR developed their first in August 1957.

Improvements in missile technology led to the arms race extending into space, and the USSR shocked the world by launching Sputnik 1 in October 1957.

In October 1957, the USSR used missile technology to launch Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.

The launch of Sputnik 1 raised concerns in the USA about Soviet technological superiority, and as a consequence, Eisenhower responded by increasing US spending on missiles by 20%, expanding training programmes for scientists and engineers, and founding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, in 1958.

Let's do a check of your understanding.

Why did the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 lead to an escalation in the arms race? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to go through a model answer.

Okay, your answer could include the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite, escalated the arms race because Eisenhower became concerned that the USA was falling behind the USSR, particularly with regard to the development of missile technology.

As a consequence, Eisenhower increased US military spending on missiles by 20% and established NASA.

Well done if your answer looks similar to the one on the screen.

As well as the arms race, there were other events that led to the intensification of the Cold War during the 1950s.

In May 1955, the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, was allowed to join NATO.

This led to the USSR feeling threatened, and in response, Khrushchev established the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of communist countries led by the USSR.

The establish of two rival alliance systems, NATO in the West, and the Warsaw Pact in the East, significantly raised Cold War tensions.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of these countries were members of the Warsaw Pact? A, the USA, B, the Soviet Union, C, Hungary, D, Britain.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answers were B, the Soviet Union, and C, Hungary.

The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance of communist countries led by the USSR.

Another event that significantly increased tension, and led to an intensification of the Cold War during the 1950s, was the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.

This began on the 23rd of October 1956, when Hungarians protested a lack of freedom and poor living standards.

In an attempt to stop the protest, Khrushchev installed Imre Nagy as leader of Hungary and supported his reforms. When Nagy announced that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact, Khrushchev ordered Soviet troops to invade Hungary.

The Hungarians received no help from the USA or NATO, and the USSR swiftly and brutally crushed the uprising.

The USA, however, did condemn the invasion, which worsened relations with the USSR.

True or false? The Hungarian Uprising decreased tensions between the USA and the USSR.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that that was false, but as ever, we need to be able to justify our responses, so on the screen are two justifications.

A says the Hungarian Uprising increased tensions, because the USA sent military assistance to support the Hungarians.

And B says the Hungarian Uprising increased tensions, because the USA condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

Which of these justifications is true? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct justification was B, the Hungarian Uprising increased tensions between the USA and the USSR, because the USA condemned the Soviet invasion of Hungary.

We're now ready for the third and final practise task of today's lesson.

As you did in task B, I want you to complete the table by explaining how each event increased tension between the USA and the USSR.

Pause the video now, complete the table, and press play when you're ready to go through a model response.

Okay, fantastic effort on that final practise task.

You were asked to complete the table by briefly explaining how each of the events led to an increase in tension between the USA and the USSR.

Let's go through them now.

So the arms race increased tension, because the USA and the USSR competed to develop more powerful weapons, including H-bombs and ICBMs, and this increased fears of nuclear war.

The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union shocked the USA, who were concerned that they were falling behind in the arms race.

And it increased tensions, because it led to an increase in US spending on missiles by 20%, which led to an escalation in the arms race.

The founding of the Warsaw Pact in 1955 increased tensions, because the establishment of a Soviet-led military alliance was a threat to the USA and NATO, and it meant that most European countries were members of rival military alliances, which increased the division between East and West.

And finally, the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 increased tensions, because the USSR crushed the uprising, showing that they would not allow the Warsaw Pact to be threatened, and the USA condemned Soviet actions.

Well done for all of your hard work on that final practise task, and well done if your table contains an explanation similar to the ones that we've just gone through.

We're at the end of our lesson now.

So it's a good opportunity for us to recap our key learning points.

Different ideologies meant that there were tensions between the USA and the USSR, even when they were allies during World War Two.

The Cold War developed from 1945, with the Soviet creation of satellite states in Eastern Europe and the US development of the atomic bomb, increasing tensions between the superpowers.

In 1947, Truman committed the USA to a policy of containment, and the Marshall Plan was introduced to try and stop the spread of communism in Europe.

In 1948, the Berlin Crisis significantly increased Cold War tensions, and the Cold War intensified during the 1950s as the arms race escalated, and the Soviet invasion of Hungary damaged relations.

Well done for all of your hard work in today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to teach you, and I look forward to teaching you again in the future.