Timeline: Post WWII-Korean War

Before students are introduced to the Cold War, it's important for them to have at least a basic understanding of what happened between the end of World War II and the initial hostilities between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Have students use a timeline to outline and define events immediately following the end World War II. Students will be able to explain and analyze what events led to the beginning of the Cold War, and how hostilities developed.

Teachers may pre-select events, conferences, or actions for students to use; recommended timeline ideas include:

• The Yalta Conference
• The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• The Potsdam Conference
• The Truman Doctrine
• The Berlin Airlift
• The Warsaw Pact

This will allow students to see initial attempts at Soviet and American negotiations, as well as how the Cold War begins to heat up.

For an alternative to the timeline layout, have students create a timeline poster to incorporate into a presentation or gallery walk. You can add more than one template to this assignment to give students lots of options!

Extended Activity
Have students further analyze how both superpowers became even further alienated from each other by exploring who was involved in the alliance organizations: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Students should identify how both groups geographically separate communist controlled satellite nations from democratically influenced nations of western Europe.