AP_欧洲历史AP_European_History_The_Cold_War.pdf

The Cold War (1947–1980) After the defeat of Germany, the Grand Alliance (Big Three) of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union failed to hold together. Once again, Europe became the battleground of a new war—the Cold War. The origins of the Cold War stemmed from the ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union, and disputes over Eastern Europe. By 1950, the Iron Curtain was in place and Western and Eastern Europe were going their separate ways. Despite efforts to coexist with the West after the death of Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union maintained a firm grip on Eastern Europe and crushed any efforts at freedom by these satellite countries, establishing an empire in Eastern Europe that served as a buffer against any attacks. The split between the Soviet and Western Blocs influenced policies in other parts of the world, and the tensions of the Cold War led to the creation of a nuclear weapons system that cost billions of dollars and raised the fear of nuclear disaster. Battered Europe recovered quickly and successfully with the aid of the Marshall Plan and economic cooperation among Western European nations regulating the coal, iron, and steel industries. The European economic miracle was also made possible because European nations coordinated the distribution of American aid so that barriers to European trade were quickly dropped. By the 1970s, a revitalized West Germany sought to bring about reconciliation between Eastern and Western Europe. These efforts achieved some success. The devastating effects of World War II also contributed to the decline of European empires. England and France were too weak to hold on to their colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The changes that affected Europe’s growth and the decline of her imperial empires foreshadowed the winds of change that swept across Europe in the 1980s and ultimately led to the end of the Cold War and the collapse of Communism in Europe. The Cold