Download THE COLD WAR Chapter 28

THE COLD
WAR
Chapter 28
"He that answers a matter
before he hears it, it is folly and
shame to him. . . . He that is
first in his own cause seems
just; but his neighbor comes
and searches him out." How
does this ancient proverb relate
to the story of the Cold War of
the 20th Century?
Adam Ulam,
Harvard
Historian
• The inability of the U. S.
and the Soviet Union to
communicate in the
absence of a common
enemy; a frozen, mutual
unfriendliness; both
were convinced of the
other's aggressive intent
and designs
Warren I. Cohen (left),
former Michigan State
University's Center for Asian
Studies Director
• A confrontation between the
U. S. and U. S. S. R. which
became an anti-Communist
crusade
• Dr. Cohen presently is the
Distinguished Professor of
History at Dr. Cohen
presently is the
Distinguished Professor of
History at the University of
Maryland in Baltimore he
University of Maryland in
Baltimore
Stalin’s Traits
and
Characteristics

•
•
•
•
A realist
Cunning
Cautious
Furtive
He intended to
rebuild Russian
industry with
German reparations
The Major
Components of
the Cold War
• Ideology—not the most important
element
• Geopolitical Considerations--notions of
power and countervailing power, the
existence and/or disturbance of power
and power positions
• Atomic Weaponry
Adam Smith &
Capitalsim
• Adam Smith’s
Wealth of Nations-the Bible of laissezfaire capitalism and
the free market
economy--formed the
foundation on which
Western economic
growth progressed
Marx, Lenin, &
Communism
• Karl Marx’s
Communist
Manifesto, published
in the mid-19th
century provided an
alternate view.
• In Russia, Lenin was
the first European to
put Marxist to
practical use.
Liberal-CapitalistDemocratic vs.
Soviet-CommunistStalinist-Totalitarian
• Both side invoke anti-Imperialism
• Both parties feel their ideology
has a universal validity
• George Kennan (right)—U.S.
ambassador to Soviet Union;
believed Stalin feared being
encircled by hostile capitalist
nations; that the U.S. should
contain aggressive Soviet action
by applying counterforce at
strategic points
Geopolitical
Considerations-notions of power and
countervailing power
• Many American
theorists characterized
the Cold War as a
struggle for power.
• Foremost among these
was Hans Morgenthau.
• The war is over concerns
of Balance of Power, raw
materials, collective
security, self-protection.
Robert Tucker of
Princeton
University
• Power prompts expansion,
especially to fill power
vacuums when major power
centers are destroyed
• Any government, regardless of
ideology, is interested in
security of state
• the Cold War becomes a
nature, predictable event
• Given Soviet security needs
Russia saw Eastern Europe as
a buffer state"
Atomic
Weaponry
• The existence of atomic weapons
heightened the insecurities
resulting from 2. above
• It created frustration because
insecurity could not now be
reduced by going to war, which was
too destructive to contemplate as a
rational solution
• situation has engendered new
concepts: limited war, escalation,
deterrents, co-existence, i.e., to
avoid nuclear war and incite/justify
wars of national liberation
MINOR
CONSIDERATIONS
• The decrease in
Western Europe's
power heightened
insecurity in the U. S.
• Uncertainties of the
political affiliations
and allegiances in
3rd World nations
• The 1949 Communist
victory in China
• The Berlin Blockade
The Berlin crisis marked
the end of the initial
phase of the Cold War.
June 20,1948—Russia cuts off all
rail and highway traffic to Berlin
Truman responds to Berlin
Blockade by massive shipments
of food, fuel, and supplies by
airlift into Berlin
By early 1949, the Soviets
conceded victory to the U.S.
Truman’s resolute leadership
through the crisis gave him an
unexpected edge in the 1948
presidential election
HISTORIOGRAPHY of
the COLD WAR
• Traditional View of the 1950s
• Revisionist View of the 1960s
• Post Revisionist View of the 1970s
The Traditional
View
• A highly nationalistic view
• An aggressive, expansionist Soviet Union bent
on world domination was solely to blame
• A view rooted in applying the lessons of the
1930s—the folly of appeasing Hitler—to the
post-World War II era
• U.S. was the protector of the free world
• The belated U.S. response to Soviet expansion
fit America’s traditional isolationist history in
1917 and 1941
Traditionalist
View
• Sees communism as monolithic and under
Moscow's control
• The Cold War is the fault of Russia, who
exploited the opportunity provided by the war
by promoting subversion
• The U. S. was without alternatives--had little
choice but Containment and the use of
economic power in self-defense, i.e., the U. S. is
blameless
Walt W. Rostow
• Leading adviser to
Robert McNamara
during the Vietnam War
• Economic historian at
University of Texas
• Stalin consciously
exploited opportunities
to expand; the power
vacuum in Eastern
Europe
Winston Churchill in
Fulton, Missouri
delivering the famous
Iron Curtain Speech
• His goal was wishful thinking at
Gallipoli, and responsibility that
others put on him for this failure
• He was also keen on preserving the
Empire by securing the
Mediterranean area
• His “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton,
Missouri in March 1946 came a
month after a speech by Stalin
condemning the warlike nature of
capitalism—he used this speech to
veil his true motives
•Churchill was a Cold War Warrior from way back, a “diehard” anti-Communist who pushed for intervention in 19171919
The Revisionist
View
• The U.S. provoked the conflict in an effort to establish a post1945 Pax Americana
• An escalation of U.S. involvement in Vietnam after 1965
spawned a mood of doubt as well as generating public dissent
• Tensions were a product of the transition from the diplomatic,
experienced FDR to the foreign policy novice Truman who
antagonized the Russians by challenging the Soviet concerns in
Eastern Europe(concessions that FDR was willing to make0
• Truman used the atomic bomb to intimidate the Russians
• America’s challenge of Soviet control in Eastern Europe was
part of a U.S. capitalist drive to dominate world markets and
expand economic influence overseas
Revisionist View
• U. S. aggressiveness provoked Russia
• Anti-Soviet motives behind the use of the
A-bomb
• The European Left reflected the
malleable state of post-war Europe--it
was ignored by the U. S.
• The U. S. made a drive for worldwide
capitalist hegemony--was against selfdetermination and wanted to subordinate
the weaker nations
The Atomic Bomb
and the Nuclear
Dilemma
The intensity of the Cold War conflict is in
large part explained by “the existence of
a new weapon of vast destructive power
[that] added an unknown element to the
international arena. . . . Hiroshima not
only ended the Second World War; it also
created the unstable diplomatic climate
that gave rise to the Cold War.”
Revisionists see Eastern
European expansion as
part of the legitimate,
minimal security needs
of the Russians
• Stalin’s determination to extract
reparations—the systematic
removal of plants and factories
from areas of postwar Soviet
control—from defeated Germany
was partially based on the
American withdrawal of lend-lease
shipments in May 1945
• He no doubt felt entirely justified
against the immediate backdrop of
the 15-20 million Russians who had
lost their lives during the course of
World War II
Russian Security
Need: A
Charitable View
• Brzezinski (left, a.k.a.,
“Ziggy”) was National
Security Adviser, 19771981
• The move into Eastern
Europe came only after
the U. S. exhibited
disinterest in the area
and Anglo-French
impotence became
evident
Russia only wanted
friendly--not necessarily
Communist-governments
• Her move into Eastern Europe
came only after Britain
retreated and the U. S. moved
into Turkey and Greece
(Harvard’s Ernest May, left)
• Richard J. Barnet, Co-Director
of Institute for Policy Studies in
Washington, D. C. argued that
the Soviets had little to do with
Communism in Eastern
Europe
Gabriel Kolko from
York University in
Toronto, Canada
• The U. S. was out to re-create the world in its
own image, committed to post-war U. S.
dominance through an Anglo-American
alliance even before December 7, 1941
• She had the need for unhindered expansion and
used the opportunities the war presented to
gain this
• Her goals were worldwide in contrast to limited
Soviet ones (what about the Comintern?).
U. S. Treatment
of the British
Alternate Views
• FDR gave Britain the atomic secrets hoping to
keep her in the role of a Great Power
• U.S. wanted British cooperation with the U. S.
after the war
vs.
• U. S. wanted to de-imperialize the British
Empire, to break down the Imperial Preference
System
Post-Revisionist
View of 1960s
• Took a broader view that explained the Cold War as
inevitable
• In the confusing aftermath of World War II, the U.S. mistook
Stalin’s security needs as Hitlerian expansionism and designs
of world conquest
• Truman introduced a policy of “Containment” to preserve
the balance of power in postwar Europe
• There ensued a vicious cycle with each nation perceiving the
actions of the other as threatening
• There must be shared responsibility for the Cold War
The Middle Ground -John L. Gaddis: The
underlying the Cold
War
• Economic forces
• Domestic politics
• Bureaucratic
rivalries
• Personality quirks
• Perceptions of the
intentions of the
opposition
“Cold War
Warrior”
• Gaddis is a
traditional Cold War
historian, a "safe
liberal"
• He takes a
comprehensive view
of the causes
underlying the Cold
War
Who to
Blame?
Neither side is solely
responsible, but Stalin and
the Soviets had more
flexibility in policy and are
thus more responsible
University of
Chicago historian
William McNeill
• Suggested that the postwar
alienation of allies in was
commonplace in history
• Soviet expansion into
Eastern Europe was a
logical filling of the power
vacuum created by the
removal of Hitler’s
Germany
• U.S. was bound to object to
such a development
The Truman
Doctrine
“The Truman Doctrine marked an informal
declaration of cold war against the Soviet Union.
Truman used the crisis in Greece to secure
congressional approval and build a national
consensus for the policy of containment. . . . The
American commitment to oppose communist
expansion, whether by internal subversion or
external aggression, placed the United States on
a collision course with the Soviet Union around
the globe.”
Steps Leading to U.S.
Policy of Containment
American policy during the Truman administration;
aimed at preventing expansion of communism beyond its
existing boundaries
• March 1946 U.S.
Intervention in
Greece and Turkey
• June 1947
Marshall Plan—a
war without bullets
• April 1949 NATO
Greece, 1947
was the 1st test
of Containment
• A small communist minority supported by
communists in neighboring nations wage civil
war against the Greek government
• Britain supplies the Greek monarchy with aid,
but serious problems in Britain and at home,
plus her support of Turkish resistance to the
U.S.S.R. demands changes
• Spring 1947, Britain announces she can no
longer render aid to Greece or Turkey
SIGNIFICANCE
of GREECE
• March 12, 1947--the U. S. takes over with President
Truman addressing Congress and laying down the
basic tenants of the Truman Doctrine
• The lesson of Appeasement had been learned; the U. S.
decided to stand up against the Soviet challenge to
prevent eventually facing a choice between surrender
and World War III; she perceived the Soviets acting
just as Hitler, Mussolini, and the Japanese had done
earlier and realized if the democracies failed to act, it
would only encourage continuing expansion
The Marshall Plan
Differing Views
• Marshall Plan did much good for
Europe; it sent her to new, dizzying
heights of prosperity
• U. S. invited Russia to join the
Marshall Plan and did so in good
faith
• Program likely prevented another
war in the wake of WW II
• With its economic overtures to
Eastern Europe amounts to neoimperialism in hopes of gaining
political leverage on the weakening
grip of the Soviets
Soviet Response
to the Marshall
Plan
• Refusal to allow any nation controlled by the
Soviets to participate
• A tightening of controls by the U.S.S.R. over
any nation within her "orbit"
“The division of Europe was an inevitable aftereffect of World War II. Both sides were intent
on imposing their values in the areas liberated
by their troops. The Russians were no more
likely to withdraw from Eastern Europe that
the United States and Britain were from
Germany, France, and Italy.”
North Atlantic
Treaty
Organization
• Conceived as a defensive
shield against Soviet
aggression
• NATO was seen as an
aggressive tool aimed at the
Soviets; would pressure those
not obeying the dictates of the
Anglo-American bloc
• the U. S. bomb monopoly
encouraged the Soviets to be
pushy until 1949 when they
got the bomb; then, the U. S.
response was NATO
National Security
Act of 1947
• Established a Department of Defense headed
by a civilian of Cabinet rank—he presided over
the army, navy, and air force
• Created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
to coordinate intelligence-gathering among
various government agencies
• Established a National Security Council (NSC)
to advice the president on matters of national
security
NSC-68
• The Policy Planning Staff drew up a statement
defining a national defense policy
• assumed that the Soviet Union aimed at
imposing its authority worldwide
• proposed an increase in defense spending from
$13 to $45 billion a year
• became a symbol of Truman’s determination to
win the Cold War at all costs
Election of 1948
• Truman barnstormed
the country denouncing
the “do-nothing”
80thCongress
• Dewey failed to
campaign aggressively
• Dewey did not challenge
Truman’s foreign policy
• Truman reminded voters
of the Democratic help
they received during the
Depression
THE KOREAN
WAR—1950-1953
• On June 25, 1950, the army of
North Korea invaded South
Korea precipitating the Korean
War
• The UN Security Council
declared North Korea the
aggressor and called for
member nations to implement
collective security action
• The war concluded on July
27,1953 leaving the Korean
peninsula divided as it had been
at the start of hostilities
The “Red Scare”
& McCarthyism
• A national anxiety about
communism abroad and
5th column infiltration
at home
• The Soviets gained
atomic power in 1949
• The Rise of Joe
McCarthy and His Four
and a Half Year Crusade
Effects of
McCarthyism
• Impaired effectiveness of the U. S. government and relations
with both friends and allies
• Made U. S. government the object of suspicion in the eyes of
the world; it appeared it was trying to combat totalitarian
methods by totalitarian means
• Made the U. S. government the laughingstock of Communist
governments
• Instituted a reign of terror among officials and employees of
the U. S. government—no one was above attack as this smear
campaign made "Communist" an all-encompassing label to
discredit anyone who was otherwise quite credible
• The cry of "Wolf!" obscured the location of the real threats
• Critics of McCarthy said he put the U. S. on a collision course
with the Soviets
Communism in
the Far East
• Chiang’s Nationalists
(the KMD) controlled
Southern China
• He had U.S. political and
economic backing
• He had official Soviet
recognition
• Widespread corruption
in the KMD contributed
to high rates of inflation
and the devastation of
the middle class
Mao Tse-Tung
• Mao’s Communists
controlled Northern
China
• He used tight discipline
and patriotic appeals to
gain a strong hold on the
Chinese peasantry
• Mao’s army drove the
Nationalists out of
Manchuria in late 1948
Hungary, 1956
• October-November
1956, the Hungarians
revolt against Soviet
rule
• The U. S. S. R. uses
its veto power in the
Security Council to
block intervention
and after 7 days, the
revolt is crushed
Cuban Missile
Crisis in 1962
• Soviet missile
installations in Cuba in
the fall of 1962
• Precipitated a highly
tense exchange that
eventually is resolved by
withdrawal of the
weapons
• JFK’s handling of the
Missile Crisis has
become a model of
effective decisionmaking
Czechoslovakia
in 1968
• The Czechs revolted
in 1968 in hopes of
overturning the
Soviet sponsored
regime in their
homeland
• As in 1956, the
Soviets respond with
brutal repression to
subdue the revolt
End of the Cold
War
1973?
By this time, most of the key questions were resolved

The German question

The East-West division

The U.S. détente with Russia begins

There is a weakening of NATO
Western Europe has lost its fear of Soviet invasion
1989?
President Reagan adopted a hard line and beefing up of
U. S. military forces which eventually drove the Soviets
toward economic ruin. They could not have guns and
butter too
Final Thoughts
“Although the United States emerged from
the war more powerful than at any time
in the nation’s history, it faced a
seemingly endless struggle against a
determined and dangerous foe. . . . It was
a contest that was bound to affect every
aspect of American life in the postwar
era.:”