THE USA AND CONFLICT 1941-2016

TEST 1: Comment on the following sources

Stage 1: introduction - Presenting the documents
Similarities: Both documents deal with US-USSR relations at end of WWII (1939/41-1945).
Differences: The first doc is a propaganda poster by ... from … published in ... and showing nations fighting united while the speech by Winton Churchil, the wartime UK Prime Minister, which took place in … on ... warns Americans of 2 dangers.
Announce structure: In a 1st part I'll use the poster to see the alliance between the USA &n the USSR and in a 2nd part I will analyse how the USA & the USSR became enemies thanks to the speech.

Stage 2: Analysing the documents

DESCRIBING - What you see (docs)
 INTERPRETING - What you know (notions)
1. USA-USSR united : the end of WWII (poster)

In the middle: main scene
- many flags (UK, USA, USSR) floating in the wind
+ black smoke & orange flames: war
+ grey navy ships at full speed & line of war planes
At the top & bottom: the slogan
Union to fight for liberty

- War of liberation (def)
- All-out, total, dissymmetric war (defs)
2. USA-USSR opposed : the start of the Cold War (text)
Paragraph 1. 1st threat : war
- A new international organisation is working to protect peace
- but it mustn’t be given the secret of the US atomic bomb - too dangerous
Paragraph 2. 2nd threat : tyranny
Europe now divided in two. In the eastern part, countries are under the control of the USSR. Russia doesn’t want war but to expand communism => USA & UK must protect democratic countries from it

- WMD, war of annihilation


- 2 models, 2 blocs, domino theory, CW, TD (defs)

Stage 3: Concluding
Assess docs (reliable/biased justified): To conclude, both reliablereliable (official poster & full references) but biased (from a UK & US -not Axis, not Soviet, point of view).
Sum-up ideas Both documents show how US-Soviet relations evolved from alliance against fascism in WWII to distrust at the start of CW. + Nuance/opening Berlin crisis 1948-1949.