Précis #1 (Chapter 7)
• United States and Soviet Union continue conflict in Europe with the fight between Democracy and Communism as prominent world political powers.
• The Iron Curtain “descends” and conflict between US and SU superpowers spreads to conflict globally- especially within Asia.
• The Cold War breaks out and breaks up replacing the fear of world end via nuclear weapons and resilient political parties with reassuring the global people of peace.
2. The United States and the Soviet Union continuing conflict within Europe regarding individual ideas of the Yalta agreement and the political superpowers of democracy and communism is a largely important tipping off point for Chapter 7. The Yalta agreement, created to regain trust between the two world powers and provide for the basis of world peace, fails and creates exactly what it is set out to end. By competing for political domination, the rest of the world outside of Europe is eventually dragged in. By including continents such as Asia, the United States is forced to fight despite lack of support on the home front. The “Iron Curtain Descends” is the first headline, which I feel is important to the chapter because it illustrates the collapse of the grand alliance via miscommunication of the Yalta agreement. The descending of the iron curtain split Europe in two and leads to important documents such as the Truman Doctrine (gave money to countries threatened by communism), the Marshall Plan (rebuild war torn Europe), and the NATO Pact (mutual assistance). These documents served as national security interests. The Iron Curtain splitting Europe into two isolated the Soviet Union and its dependent allies in Europe from non-communist states. The other side of the curtain, non-communist states marked the strength of the Cold War. The Cold War breaking out between Washington and Moscow lead to a