Download Cold War: The Early Years

Cold War: The Early Years
Chapter 26 Section 2
The Long Telegram
 Long Telegram – American Embassy in
Moscow attempt to explain Soviet b/h
 Written by George Kennan – explained his
views of Soviet goals
 Long Telegram stated:
– Soviet views came from a traditional Russian
sense of insecurity and fear of the West
– Intensified by the ideas of Lenin and Stalin
– B/l they were in a long term struggle against
capitalism
– It was impossible to reach any permanent
settlement w/ the Soviets
The Long Telegram
 Kennan proposed what b/c the basic American
policy throughout the Cold War
– A long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of
Russian expansive tendencies
– If the US could keep the Soviets from expanding their
power it was only a matter of time until the Soviet
system would fall apart
 Communism could be beaten w/o going to war
 The Long Telegram gave rise to the policy of
containment
– Containment – keeping communism w/i its present
territory through the use of diplomatic, economic, and
military actions
The Truman Doctrine
 March 1947 – Truman went b/f congress to
ask for $400 million to fight Communist
aggression in Greece and Turkey
 Goals of the Truman Doctrine
– Aid free peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or by outside
pressures
– Immediate effect – to stabilize the Greek govt.
and ease Soviet demands in Turkey
– Long run effect – it pledged the US to fight
communism world wide
The Marshall Plan
 June 1947 – Secretary of State George C.
Marshall proposed the European Recovery
Program
– B/c known as the Marshall Plan
 Marshall Plan
– Give European nations American aid to rebuild their
economies after the destruction of WWII
 To prevent them from b/c communist out of desperation
– Soviet Union and it’s satellite nations in E. Europe
rejected the offer and developed their own economic
program
 While America pumped money into Western Europe
– Western Europe’s recovery weakened the appeal of
communism and opened new markets for trade
The Formation of West Germany
 The US, Britain, and France announce they were
merging their zones of Germany and allowing the
Germans to have their own govt.
 They also merged their zones in Berlin
– Which was located in the Soviet zone of Germany
 New nation – Federal Republic of Germany
– B/c known as West Germany
– Economy completely separate from the SU zone
– Not allowed to have a military, but other than that it was
independent
 The Soviet zone of Germany b/c known as East
Germany
The Berlin Crisis
 June 1948 – Stalin cut all road and rail traffic to
West Berlin
– The creation of West Germany had convinced Stalin
that he would never get the reparations he wanted
– Truman then sent long-range bombers w/ atomic
weapons to bases in Britain
 The challenge – to keep West Berlin alive w/o
provoking war w/ the Soviet Union
 June 1948 – Truman ordered the Berlin Air Lift to
b/g
– For 11 months cargo planes supplied Berliners w/ food,
medicine, and coal
– Stalin finally lifted the blockade in May of 1949
– America was determined to stand by Berlin
The Creation of NATO
 Berlin blockade convinced many Americans that
the Soviets were bent on conquest
 April 1949 – agreement to create the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
– A mutual defense alliance
 NATO members agreed to come to the aid of any
member who was attacked
– 1st time America had committed itself to maintaining
peace in Europe
– 6 years later NATO allowed West Germany to rearm
themselves and join its organization
Soviet Response to NATO
 Allowing West Germany to rearm and join
NATO upset the Soviets
 The Soviet Union responded by organizing
the Warsaw Pact
– Alliance b/w Czechoslovakia, East Germany,
Hungary, Poland, Romania, etc
– Now Europe was once again divided into hostile
alliances
The Korean War
 At the end of WWII US and Soviet forces entered
Korea to disarm the Japanese troops stationed
there
 Korea was divided at the 38th parallel line of
latitude
– The Soviet Union controlled the North
 North Korea had a communist govt.
– The US controlled the South
 South Korea had an American-backed govt.
– Both govt. claimed authority over all of Korea
 June 25, 1950 – N. Korean troops invaded S.
Korea
– They quickly drove back the poorly equipped S. Korean
forces
Korean War: US Intervenes
 Truman saw the invasion of S. Korea as a test to
America’s containment policy
– Truman ordered the US navy and airpower into action
– Truman then called on the UN to act
 He succeeded b/c the Soviet delegate was boycotting the
Security Council
 Under the leadership of General MacArthur,
American troops were sent from Japan to the
Korean peninsula
– The troops fought the N. Koreans back across the 38th
parallel and beyond all the way to the border w/ China
Korean War: China Enters
 The Chinese saw the advancing UN troops as a
threat and warned forces to halt their advance
– UN troops ignored the warning
 China launched a massive attack across the
border driving the UN forces back across the 38th
parallel
 MacArthur then demanded approval to expand the
war against China, he asked for…
– A blockade against Chinese ports
– The use of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces
– Bombing of Chinese cities w/ atomic weapons
Korean War: MacArthur is Fired
 Truman refuses MacArthur’s demands b/c
he did not want to expand the war into
China or to use the atomic bomb
– MacArthur publicly criticized the president
– Truman fires MacArthur for insubordination
 Truman remained committed to limited war
– Such as containing communism
The Korean War: Cools down
 Truman chose General Matthew Ridgway to
replace MacArthur
 By mid 1951, UN forces had pushed the
Chinese and N. Korean forces back across
the 38th parallel
– The war settled into a series of small battles
 November 1951 – peace negotiations b/g
but an armistice would not be signed until
July 1953
Armistice Finally Signed
 When Eisenhower becomes president in
1953 he was committed to ending the costly
and unpopular war in Korea
– Ike quietly let the Chinese know that the US
might continue the war “under circumstances of
our own choosing”
 A hint at nuclear attack – Ike’s use of brinkmanship!!!
Korean War: The Ending
 July 1953 – negotiators sign an armistice
– The battle line b/w the two sides b/c the border
b/w N. and S. Korea
 Very near the prewar boundary
– A demilitarized zone separated them
 There was no real victory but…
– The war had stopped the spread of communism
in Korea
 The goal of containment is reached!!!
The Korean War: Effects
 33,600 American soldiers died in action
 2,800 American soldiers died from accidents
or from disease
 The Korean war…
– 1st time the US went to war to contain
communism
– After the Korean war the US b/g to buildup the
military
– Expanded the Cold War to Asia
– American aid b/g to flow to the French forces
fighting Communist guerillas in Vietnam