Read and Respond: Post WWII Europe

Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences using the RACE Writing Strategy.

THE HOLOCAUST
As part of Hitler’s plan to conquer the world, he began the systematic killing of every Jew—
man, woman, or child—under Nazi rule. The Nazis imprisoned Jews in certain sections of cities, made
them wear special identifying armbands, and separated them from their families. This was only the
beginning. Hitler’s “Final Solution” plan was to have Nazis build concentration camps and send Jews
from the cities by railcar to these camps. When the Jews arrived, their heads were shaved and a number
was tattooed onto their arms. Many were immediately herded into showers, which were nothing more
than gas chambers. In such places, as many as 2,000 people could be killed at one time. Thousands died
from forced labor, little food, and exposure to the summer heat and winter cold. By the time World
War II was over, as many as 6 million Jews were dead. Other groups were Hitler’s victims as well. He
targeted anyone he felt was inferior: political prisoners, the mentally ill, and the disabled. Genocide, the
planned killing of a race of people, became a crime when the United Nations passed the Genocide
Convention in 1948.

At the end of World War II, when the Allies gained control of the camps, the survivors of the
Holocaust had no place to go. Many had no living family members. They were trapped in the country
of their oppressors. The Jews wanted a state in Palestine, their ancient homeland in the Middle East. In
1947, the United Nations divided Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, Israel. Israel officially
opened its borders to Jews in 1948.
1. What was the Hitler’s “Final Solution”? Hitlers final solution is to kill every Jewish
person.(P1)
2. What is Genocide? Genocide is the planned killing of a race of people. (P1)
3. How did the Holocaust lead to the creation of Israel?
The Holocaust lead to the creation of Isreal because Jews had no where to go.
THE COLD WAR
Beginning in 1945, the Cold War was a period of distrust and misunderstanding between the
Soviet Union and its former allies in the West, particularly the United States. The Soviet Union was a
communist country that believed a powerful central government should control the economy as well as
the government. This idea was very different from the democracy and capitalism found in the United
States. The United States believed that business should be privately owned. After World War II, Soviet
dictator Joseph Stalin placed most of the Eastern European countries under communist control. These
countries became known as the Eastern Bloc. The United States led the Western Bloc countries of
Western Europe. The line separating the two was called the “Iron Curtain.”

Another problem of the Cold War was the division of Germany. At the end of the war, the Allies
divided Germany into four sections to keep it from regaining power. The United States, Great Britain,
France, and the Soviet Union each controlled a section. In 1948, the Western Allies wanted to reunite
Germany, but the Soviets disagreed. The Soviets declared their section of the country “East Germany;”
the reunited sections became West Germany. Even the capital of Berlin in East Germany was divided
into East and West. Tensions grew. In 1961, communist leaders built the Berlin Wall. It separated the
communist part of the city from the free sections. Some countries under communist rule tried to break
away from the Soviet Union, but the Soviets sent the military into these countries to keep them in line.
 Each side in this Cold War thought the other was trying to rule the world. Neither side gave up,
and people lived in fear that another world war might erupt. People worried that if such a war
happened, it would be a nuclear war. Such a war would be a disaster for everyone on the earth.
Countries formed new alliances to protect themselves. In 1949, (NATO). The eastern countries signed
the Warsaw Pact.
4. What was the “Iron Curtain”? The iron curtain was a wall that separated east and west
Germany.
5. Why was Germany separated into East and West Germany? Germany was separated into
west and east Germany because of the west was controlled by the democratic and east was
controlled by communist.
6. What fear did many people have about WWIII? People feared of WWIII because it could
be a nuclear war
7. What was NATO and the Warsaw Pact? NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The Warsaw pact was a collective defense treaty between the Soviet Union and the western
European countries plus the United States and Canada .
RISE OF THE SUPERPOWERS

As the Cold War continued, the United States and the Soviet Union increased their area of
influence. More countries allied with each. The United States and the Soviet Union had the ability to
influence world events and project worldwide power. The countries were evenly matched. The world
took sides, communist or democracy, socialist or free market.

The Soviets had a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. They influenced other
communist countries and dictatorships around the world. The Soviets occupied the largest country in
the world. The Soviet Union had the third-largest population in the world and the second-largest
economy. The Soviets had military and space technology, a worldwide spy network (the KGB), and
one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world.

The third-largest country in the world, the United States also had a permanent seat on the UN
Security Council and strong ties with Western Europe and Latin America. The fourth most populated
country, the United States supported undeveloped countries and developing democratic ones. The
United States had powerful military support from NATO, the largest navy in the world, and bases all
over the world, even bordering the Warsaw Pact countries. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
spent money to spy on the Soviet Union. The United States had a large reserve of nuclear weapons.

8. Create a Double Bubble Thinking Map and compare the two superpowers.

End of the Cold War

The Soviet Union communism economically could not compete with the United States capitalism
economically. This led to the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Communism’s death knell came in 1989 with the destruction of the Berlin Wall. The wall stood for
nearly three decades, not only as a literal divide between West and East Berlin but also as a symbolic
divide between the divergent ideologies of the East and West. With the fall of the Berlin Wall,
democratic ideals spread into communist territories and weakened communist political control.
With the Soviet Union no longer capable – politically or financially – of maintaining a presence in East
Germany, the East and West Germany were reunified into a single German state in 1990. One year
later, the Soviet Union itself was dissolved and the Cold War came to an end with Russia becoming the
largest country formed from the former Soviet Union.
9. What led to the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe? The
Soviet Union communism economically could not compete with the United States capitalism
economically. This led to the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Communism’s death knell came in 1989 with the destruction of the Berlin Wall.
10. What event was the death of Communism?
The Soviet union communism economically could not compete with the united states .
11. What two countries were unified into one country in 1990? East Germany, the East and
West Germany were reunified into a single German state in 1990.
12. What was the largest country formed from the former Soviet Union?
Russia becoming the largest country formed from the former Soviet Union.