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WW II: Behind Closed Doors

Stalin, the Nazis and the West

Causes of the Cold War

Objectives

  1. Examine the tensions between the western democracies and the Soviet Union during World War II and evaluate their impact on the start of the Cold War.
  2. Determine how the Cold War could have been avoided and why it wasn’t.

Introduction

The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from the World War II to displace Western Europe as the world’s superpowers. However, with the defeat of their common enemy, their primary bond was broken. Their differences, most notably their visions of a postwar Europe, drove the allied nations into an ideological conflict that would span 45 years, force most nations to choose sides, and bring the world to the brink of destruction. But could the Cold War have been avoided? For this activity, students consider the major factors stemming from World War II that led to the Cold War and develop a plan that could have brought the victors of the world together.

Main Task

  • Review the main causes of the Cold War.
  • Develop a narrative that details a course of events–both during and immediately after the war that could have defused the tensions and avoided 45 years of discord.
  • Produce a presentation that creatively outlines your main points.

Brief Process

  1. As a class, discuss the tensions during and immediately after World War II that ultimately played a role in causing the Cold War. These include:
    1. Stalin’s mistrust of Churchill and Roosevelt, especially their refusal to open a second front in France until 1944
    2. The Soviet loss of life compared to losses suffered by Great Britain and the United States
    3. The desire for a buffer between the Soviet Union and western Europe
    4. The issue surrounding Poland and Eastern Europe after the war
    5. The US development of the atomic bomb
    6. The American Marshall Plan

      Please Note: While most of the major tensions between the United States and Soviet Union surfaced during World War II, some of the roots of the conflict stretch back even further. This lesson ONLY discusses World War II and its immediate aftermath.

  2. Divide the class into groups of two to four students for the project.
  3. Give students time to research the background of the topics listed in step one, including how each topic created tension between the two nations.
  4. Have each group determine potential solutions to each individual topic and the overarching mistrust that developed as a result of such a larger group of factors.
  5. Each group should then create a narrative that outlines and explains what steps the United States and Soviet Union should have taken to avoid the Cold War.
  6. Have each group develop a creative presentation of their narrative. If possible, students should utilize a multimedia tool using images and available video. Potential online tools include:
    1. Voicethread
    2. Jumpcut
    3. Comiqs
    4. Google Docs
  7. Have the groups present narratives to the class. Have the class select the best solution.
  8. Discuss as a class the problems associated with all of the solutions and why these tensions ultimately could not be defused.

Resources