01 - Emergence of Bipolarity after 1945

Hwa Chong Institution (College) Paper 1 Theme I: Understanding the Cold War, 1945 -1991 Why and when did the Cold War start? 1   Objectives:  Analyse the origins of the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union  Evaluate the causal relationships that underpinned the continu ed discord between the two superpowers Why and when did the Cold War start? What was the Cold War? Let’s try and work it out using the sources below: Political cartoon published in Canada in 1949 When you look at this political cartoon, what comes to mind? Questions about the source should include the following: Who wrote this? What is he/she trying to say? When was this written? Where was it written? Why was this written? How accurate is this? Information and interpretation of the political cartoon: This political cartoon was drawn by John Collins, a cartoonist for the Gazette, a conservative English-Canadian paper.1 It was published in 1949 and reflects the change in relations between the East and the West from 1945 to 1949. The supposed overture of friendship by the Western Powers has clearly been rejected by the East, as depicted in the cartoon by the arm wrestling of the two sides, where the USSR has apparently failed the test of friendship and created the tense, competitive situation in 1949 – the Berlin Blockade. The Atlantic Pact, written on the “West” side refers to the agreement that established the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Iron Curtain written on the “East” side is a demonstration of their defence of the strength of communism.                                                               1 http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=11&elementid=82__true&contentlong

Hwa Chong Institution (College) Paper 1 Theme I: Understanding the Cold War, 1945 -1991 Why and when did the Cold War start? 2   The following is an excerpt from US President Harry S. Truman’s address to Congress on 12 March 1947. The Truman Doctrine, as it came to be known, was th e first implementation of the containment foreign policy. “At the present moment in world history nearly every nation mus t choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, f reedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elec tions, and the suppression of personal freedoms. I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that our help should be primarily through econo