Download Cold War - Gracie Magyar

USHC Standard 7: The student will demonstrate an
understanding of the impact of World War II on the
United States and the nation’s subsequent role in the
world.
USHC 7.5: Analyze the impact of the Cold War on
national security and individual freedom, including
the containment policy and the role of military
alliances, the effects of the “Red Scare” and
McCarthyism, the conflicts in Korea and the Middle
East, the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, the Cuban
missile crisis, and the nuclear arms race.
Cold War: the tension between the United States
and the Soviet Union that dominated both
nations’ foreign policies and which many feared
would lead to actual war
•These mutual suspicions grew out of their basic
ideological, economic and political differences and
from their differences over the strategies of WWII
Although the US and the USSR were allies in
WWII, they had different strategic priorities
• The US and Great Britain felt strongly that the
Allies should not occupy the territories they
conquered during WWII
• The Soviets had suffered great losses in terms
of life and property and they were determined
not to be invaded again
Stalin decided that he must maintain control
over eastern Europe in order to keep a buffer
between the Soviet Union and the nations of the
West
The European continent now stood divided
between western democracies and Soviet satellite
nations
•Nations answering to and representing the
views of the USSR
Winston Churchill stated, “A shadow has
fallen…an iron curtain has descended across the
continent”
•“iron curtain” became the common term used
to refer to the dividing line between eastern
and western Europe
“Iron Curtain”
The United States adopted a strategy of
“containment” in the beginning of the Cold War
•Containment: eastern Europe was firmly in
Soviet hands and could not be saved, so the US
and the West should focus on containing
communism to those countries which already
existed, and not let it spread any further
President Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine
shortly after
•Truman Doctrine: stated that the US would not
hesitate to intervene and aid nations overseas
to resist communism
Containment Policy
The Truman Doctrine featured a financial plan to build
up Europe worked out by Secretary of State, George
Marshall
•The Marshall Plan: provided nations in war-torn
Europe with much needed financial support from the
United States
•The Soviet Union did not receive any aid under the
Marshall Plan, which increased the tension between
the US and USSR
The Marshall Plan went a long
way towards preventing Soviet
advancements in Western
Europe, since communist
revolutions often started due
to economic hardships within a
society
• George Marshall won a
Nobel Peace Prize in 1953
There were several causes of the Cold War from
WWII
•The Soviets were suspicious of the US and Great
Britain’s hesitation in opening a second front in
the west
•Eventually the US and Great Britain invaded
Normandy, France
•Before the US decided to use the atomic bomb,
they wanted the Soviet Union’s help
•The Soviets invaded Korea
•After the US dropped the atomic bomb, and Japan
surrendered, the Soviets withdrew from Korea, but
they left a communist government in place
•As a result, at the end of the war Korea was divided,
as were Germany and Berlin
Germany (West Germany and East Germany)
• After WWII, the Allies divided Germany
among themselves
• Great Britain, the US, the USSR and France
held portions of Germany
• The capital, Berlin, was also divided between
the western Allies and the Soviets (West Berlin
and East Berlin)
• Great Britain, the US and France viewed this
as temporary, with an independent
democratic Germany in the future
• Stalin refused to give up his territory
•Great Britain, the US and France unified their
territories into the Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany)
•The USSR established the German Democratic
Republic (East Germany) under communist rule
•As a result, thousands of people fled to West
Berlin to escape communism
•Stalin decided to force the West to surrender its
portion of Berlin
•He instituted a blockade of the city
•Blockade: not allowing any needed supplies to
reach the people of West Berlin
•In response, President Truman authorized the
Berlin Airlift
•Over a 15 month period the US and British planes
delivered needed supplies to West Berlin
•The Soviet Union finally gave up in May of 1949
•The bitterness of the conflict served to fuel the
fires of the Cold War
China
•After WWII, hostilities between communist rebels
and the nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek escalated
•The US decided to send aid to Chiang Kai-shek, in
order to prevent a key country from falling to
communism
•The Soviets sent aid to the Communist forces of Mao
Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)
• Mao Zedong and his forces won control of the
mainland and forced the Nationalist troops to
the island of Formosa (Taiwan)
• The Communists now clearly ruled China, but
the US and the UN refused to formally
recognize the new government
Korea
•Korea was one of the countries liberated from
the Japanese during WWII
•It was split between the US and the Soviet Union,
because they were both influential in its liberation
•The northern half, or North Korea, established a
communist government
•The southern half, or South Korea, established a
pro-US democracy
•June 1950, the Korean War began when North
Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel into South
Korea
•The United Nations decided to come to South
Korea’s aid, and the United States provided most of
the financial support and troops
•This was at the urging of the Truman administration
•The conflict was never declared a war, but a UN
police action
•The UN forces pushed back the North Korean troops
almost to the Chinese border
•The Chinese wanted to maintain a communist regime
in North Korea, so they sent troops
•This resulted in a stalemate
•American public opinion turned against the war
during the stalemate
•After two more long years of fighting, both sides
signed a truce in 1953
•Formal peace negotiations ended with North
Korean forces contained above the 38th parallel
•The country was divided at almost the same
point as before the North Korean invasion
•This was a victory for containment at a cost of
34,000 American lives