Download Chapter 36 Part II

Chapter 36 Part II
Origins of the Cold War
Dividing up Post-War Germany and the
Division of the East and West
Dropping the Iron Curtain
The Cold War
The Founding of the United Nations
 The conference to establish the United Nations opened at the San Francisco War
Memorial Opera House on April 25, 1945.
 Established to replace the League of Nations which was ineffective at preventing
WWII.
 FDR wanted to establish this new international peace organization before the end
of the war.
– Wartime spirit of cooperation
– Avoid the divisive issues that might occur during the peace settlement.
 Attended by representatives from 50 nations.
 Created a Security Counsel dominated by Big Five powers (U.S., Britain, USSR,
France, and China)
 Created an Assembly that could be controlled by smaller countries.
The Founding of the United Nations
 The conference to establish the United Nations opened at the San Francisco War
Memorial Opera House on April 25, 1945.
 Established to replace the League of Nations which was ineffective at preventing
WWII.
 FDR wanted to establish this new international peace organization before the end
of the war.
– Wartime spirit of cooperation
– Avoid the divisive issues that might occur during the peace settlement.
 Attended by representatives from 50 nations.
 Created a Security Counsel dominated by Big Five powers (U.S., Britain, USSR,
France, and China)
 Created an Assembly that could be controlled by smaller countries.
Defining the Cold War
A Battle of National Interest
As the two largest super powers to emerge
from WW II the governments of the United
States and the Soviet Union often found
themselves at odds competing for the
betterment, growth, and preservation of their
respective nations.
A Battle of National Interest
 Competing for Trade and Natural Resources
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Obtaining export markets for manufactured goods.
Obtaining import markets for various commodities.
Agricultural and mining products, especially oil.
Unfinished materials.
 Competing for International Status.
– Being perceived as “the most powerful nation” has its
advantages.
– Influencing political negotiations.
– Influencing trade negotiations.
– Bolstering citizenry’s support of the government.
The Origins of
American – Soviet
Tensions
• Pre-WW II Tensions
• WW II Tensions
• Post WW II Tensions
WW II Tensions
Delaying Lend-Lease aid to the Soviets.
• When the Nazi’s invaded the Soviet Union Stalin
immediately called out for aid.
• The U.S. started issuing Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union
3 months later.
• The initial sentiment that permeated in the U.S. was to
let these two nations mutually destroy each other.
WW II Tensions
The Opening of the Second Front
– Stalin felt betrayed in the delay of opening the
second front in Europe.
– Promises by the U.S. and Britain to open the
Eastern Front were delayed twice for the invasions
of North Africa and Southern Europe.
– The Soviet Army was left alone in Europe to fight
the Nazi’s for over 2 years.
– The Soviets suffered tremendous casualties.
WW II Tensions
The Atomic Bombing of Japan.
– Truman gives the orders to bomb Japan just days
before the scheduled Soviet entry into the war.
– The Soviet response was to immediately invade
Japanese held Manchuria.
Post WW II Tensions
Excluding the Soviets from the Development of the Atomic Weapons.
– Distrustful of the Soviet Union, the U.S. and Britain hid the Manhattan
Project from their wartime ally.
Ending Lend-Lease to the Soviets.
– On May 11th, 1945 the U.S. government stopped the Lend-Lease
program.
– This was just 3 days after the German surrender.
Denying Postwar Aid to the Soviets.
– Soviet request for a reconstruction loan was denied while a similar
loan to Britain was approved.
• Soviets requested a $6 billion loan.
• Britain received a $3.75 billion loan.
The Beginning of the Cold War
The Conference at Yalta, February 1945.
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Allied Leaders: Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin.
Plans were made for the final assault on Germany.
Germany was to be divided into four occupation zones.
The German capital of Berlin would also be divided into four zones.
Germany is to pay reparations.
A 'national unity' government is to be set up in Poland, comprising
both communists and non-communists.
– Free elections in the formerly German occupied countries of Eastern
Europe.
– Stalin would enter the war against Japan three months after the
German surrender.
The Beginning of the Cold War
The Construction of the
“Iron Curtain”.
– With East Germany solidly in the grip
of the Soviet Union, attempts by the
Western Allies for reunification were
fruitless.
– Communist governments were
formed in several Eastern European
countries creating satellite states of
the Soviet Union.
– Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania.
– Stalin essentially creates a buffer
zone of “friendly countries” between
the Soviet Union and the West.
The Berlin Airlift.
• On June 27th, 1948, the Soviets cut off all rail and
highway access to the internationalized city
located deep within the Russian occupation zone.
– Controversy over currency reform.
• President Truman ordered a massive air lift to keep
the city supplied.
– Two million tons of supplies in 270,000 flights.
• The Soviets eventually lifted the blockade on May
12th, 1949, but the airlift continued for a few more
months.
– Berlin became a symbol of the United States resolve
to stand up to the Soviet threat without being
forced into a direct conflict.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO).
• The treaty was signed on April 4th, 1949, and approved by the
Senate on July 21st, 1949.
• U.S. involvement in this coalition would serve three purposes:
– Strengthen the policy on containing the Soviet Union.
– Allow for the reintegration of West Germany.
– Ensure Europe that the U.S. has shed its Isolationist past.
• This mutual defense pact included the U.S. and 11 other European
nations.
– An attack on one would be viewed as an attack on all.
– Greece and Turkey joined in 1952, and West Germany in 1955.
The Cold War in the Truman Era
The “Containment Doctrine”.
• Originally outlined in the 1946 “Long
Telegram” sent to the U.S. State Department
by American diplomat and Kremlin specialist
George F. Kennan.
– Russia was relentlessly expansionist.
– Soviet power could be thwarted by “firm and
vigilant containment”.
• Truman embraces this theory and adopts a
“get-tough-with-Russia” policy in 1947.
The Truman Doctrine.
• Truman learned that Britain could no longer
afford to defend Greece against communist
pressures.
– If Greece fell to communism Turkey was likely
follow, leaving the eastern Mediterranean in the
control of the Soviets.
• On March 12th, 1947 He went before Congress
and requested $ 400 million to support Greece
and Turkey.
– It must be U.S. policy to support free people
resisting subjugation from armed minorities or
outside pressures.
• Truman’s critics felt he overreacted.
– Supporting any despot that claimed to be
resisting “Communist Aggression”.
– This needlessly polarized the world into proSoviet or pro- American camps.
The Marshall Plan
•
Western Europe faced many economic hardships in the immediate postwar years.
– France, Italy, and Germany were hit the hardest.
– Communist parties in these countries were exploiting these hardships and gaining ground.
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On June 5th, 1947Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a join plan for
European economic recovery in a Harvard commencement address.
– Substantial financial assistance from the U.S.
– European countries would work together towards recovery.
•
The plan called for $12.5 billion to be distributed over four years to sixteen
cooperating countries.
– Congress was reluctant but passed the legislation in April 1948, after the fall of Czechoslovakia
to communism.
– Most countries managed to exceed their prewar output within 3 years.
– The strong communist movements in Italy and France were abated.
•
The Marshall Plan would steer Western Europe into forming the European
Community which would eventually lead to the formation of the European Union.
The Marshall Plan