Oklahoma Academic Standard 6. The student will analyze the origins of international alliances and efforts at containment of Communism following World War II.

Objective 6.1  Analyze the origins of international alliances and efforts at containment of Communism following World War II.  

  A. Identify the origins of the Cold War confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States including the leadership of President Harry Truman, the postwar division of Berlin, the Berlin Blockade and Airlift, the Iron Curtain, and the Marshall Plan.

  B. Describe the roles and consequences of the spheres of influence created by the formation of the United Nations and NATO by the United States and the formation of the Warsaw Pact by the Soviet Union. 

In a Nutshell

This objective focuses on student understanding of the root causes of the Cold War and the subsequent hostilities that developed between the United States and Soviet Union, including their respective alliances. Although an alliance with the Soviet Union was successful during wartime, the Red Army's movement across Europe posed an immediate concern to Western  democracies Students should understand the attempts made to counter the spread of communism, including the Marshall Plan and the formation of new international organizations. Understanding the beginnings of these spheres of influence can assist student comprehension of the more recent challenges faced by nations formerly under communist dominance.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students to analyze the impact of laws, treaties, and international agreements, in order to maintain national and international order. 

• Provide opportunities for students to evaluate the impact of the structure and powers exercised by national institutions on public policy. 

• Evaluate how multiple, complex events are shaped by unique circumstances of time and place, as well as broader historical contexts.

• Evaluate the extent to which political and economic decisions have had significant historical and global impact on various places and regions. 

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• containment as a geopolitical strategic foreign policy; influence of George F. Kennan

• response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge its communist sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Southeast Asia

• primary goals of containment: national security, secure global stability, balance of power

• Truman Doctrine; support to nations resisting Communist influence or takeover; economic aid, diplomatic pressure, military aid 

• Some students examine the Cold War era as purely a conflict between opposing political systems, neglecting to fully comprehending the ideological roots affecting economics and human rights.  

Instructional Resources