Want to create interactive content? It’s easy in Genially!

Get started free

The Cold War Begins

HS: High School

Created on April 1, 2026

Start designing with a free template

Discover more than 1500 professional designs like these:

Historical Presentation

Human Rights Presentation

Memphis Presentation

Blackboard Presentation

Florida Neon Presentation

Genial Storytale Presentation

Psychedelic Presentation

Transcript

The

Cold War

Begins

Unit 11, Lesson 1

Learning Goals

Essential Question

Objectives

Summarize the difference in ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union

What divisions and tensions led to the Cold War?

Important People, Places, Things, and Events

Identify sources of tension between the Soviet Union and Western powers

containment, domino theory, Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine

Identify ideas that shaped the US's Cold War policies

Vocabulary

Command economy: a system where the government has a lot of control over the economy

Satellite state: a state that depends on another country economically and politically

Superpower: a country with a large amount of global influence

Two Competing Superpowers

At the end of WWII, the US and Soviet Union emerge as the word's superpowers, holding a large amount of global influence

Competing Ideologies

Tensions During the World Wars

Russia/the USSR fight with the Allies in both World Wars, but do not trust the Western powers

Britain, France, and the US did not support the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution

The Western powers feared communism and wanted Russia to remain in WWI

Tensions in 1945

At the Yalta Conference, Stalin advocated for a Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe

The US offers the USSR territory in exchange for free elections in Eastern Europe

By the Potsdam Conference, Stalin controlled much of Eastern Europe and refused to allow elections

Truman reveals that the US has the atomic bomb, deepening mistrust

Cold War Policies

March 1947: US President Harry Truman issues the Truman Doctrine, stating that the US would provide financial support to Greece and Turkey in their struggle against communism

Cold War Policies

The Truman Doctrine was based in two ideologies:

Domino theory: if one country became communist, communism would spread to neighboring countries

Containment: a policy meant to keep communism from spreading and check Soviet influence

Cold War Policies

1948: The US enacts the Marshall Plan, which provided financial aid to countries rebuilding after WWII

The US hopes the plan will prevent economic upheaval and the spread of communism

The Soviet Union and its dependent satellite states refuse Marshall Plan aid

Learning Goals

Essential Question

Objectives

Summarize the difference in ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union

What divisions and tensions led to the Cold War?

Important People, Places, Things, and Events

Identify sources of tension between the Soviet Union and Western powers

containment, domino theory, Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine

Identify ideas that shaped the US's Cold War policies