Harry Truman promises a “Fair Deal” to Americans

Related Lessons

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  Lesson Plan / History & Social Studies

  Lesson 1: Sources of Discord, 1945–1946

  The fact that the United States and the Soviet Union successfully cooperated in defeating the Axis Powers did not necessarily mean that the two countries would continue to get along in the postwar world. This lesson will examine the U.S.–Soviet disagreements regarding Germany and Eastern Europe.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources
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  Lesson Plan / History & Social Studies

  Lesson 2: The Strategy of Containment, 1947–1948

  The unwillingness of the Soviet Union to allow the creation of independent and democratic states in Eastern Europe, and the failure of East and West to reach a compromise on Germany, left many Americans puzzled. Why were the Soviets acting as they did? Moreover, how should the United States respond? This lesson will consider containment through the use of original documents, mostly from the Truman Presidential Library. They will study what it meant in theory, and then examine the first two major instances of its application—the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources
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  Lesson Plan / History & Social Studies

  Lesson 3: The Formation of the Western Alliance, 1948–1949

  In the spring of 1948 Stalin provoked the first serious international crisis of the Cold War by announcing a blockade of West Berlin. This lesson will trace the Berlin blockade and airlift of 1948–49 and the establishment of NATO.

  • The Lesson
  • The Basics
  • Resources

The National Audubon Society founded