Download The Cold War Begins

After World War II Ended, tensions arose between the Soviet Union, US, and Britain about how much
freedom the Soviets were going to allow in areas they controlled.
The Cold War- era from 1946 to 1990 of confrontation between the US & USSR.
A. WWII Era Distrust Over USSR in Europe
The Yalta Conference
2. Declaration of Liberated Europe-
• TWO WEEKS LATER –the USSR pressured King of Romania to appoint a communist government
there
• USSR seemed unwilling to allow free elections in Poland either & FDR complained to them before he
died.
Different Goals After the War
1. USSR was concerned about its own security
• KEEP GERMANY WEAK AFTER THE WAR
• Keep countries between Germany & USSR are under Soviet control—
”satellite nations” with communist governments.
2. USSR thought communism was best economic system & should replace
capitalism
3. The US wanted to promote democracy & free enterprise (individual
property rights & low government intervention)
• When Harry Truman became president in April 1945—he intended to
stand up to the Russians.
• President Truman met with the USSR ambassador & demanded Stalin
keep promises made at Yalta
The Potsdam Conference
By July of 1945, the war against Japan was still raging.
• President Truman met with Stalin in Potsdam, Germany
• Truman was convinced Germany should be allowed to recover its economy
through industry.
• Stalin wanted war reparations from Germany
Agreement:
1. Truman offered Stalin some industrial equipment from US, Britain, &
French zones in Germany
2. Truman would accept German-POLISH border set up by USSR
• Truman hinted to Stalin that the US had developed a new weapon (he did not
mention that it was the A-bomb)
Actions by the USSR DURING & AFTER THE WAR IN Europe
• Pro-Soviet communist governments were set up in Eastern Europe
• “satellite nations”—controlled by the USSR & Friendly to USSR
• “Iron Curtain”—nations of Eastern Europe & USSR
• 1946– British Prime Minster Winston Churchill announced that an “iron
curtain had descended upon Europe”.
CONTAINMENT
Containment
George Kennan
Long Telegram
• Containment will be US policy for the entire Cold War
President Truman and Containment
The Iran Crisis
• USSR refuses to remove troops out of Iran after WWII
• USSR wanted access to Iranian oil
• US worried USSR wanted to spread to Middle East
• Truman administration sent a tough letter to Stalin
• Truman sent USS Missouri to eastern Mediterranean
• USSR withdrew its troops but, Iran promised a Soviet-Iranian Oil Co. in future
The Crisis in Greece & Turkey
The Truman Doctrine
• To aid free people who are resisting subjugation by communists
• US will give money & supplies to people fighting against communism around the world
The Marshall Plan
• Goal
George Marshall-
The Berlin Crisis
The Berlin Airlift
Cold War Alliances/Organizations Form
1. NATO (NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION
• 1ST TIME THE US EVER PROMISED TO DEFEND ANOTHER COUNTRY IF ATTACKED
2. The Warsaw Pact
• Alliance of Communist countries in Eastern Europe led by USSR
* NATO & the Warsaw Pact are intact for the whole COLD WAR ERA
The Chinese Revolution
Chiang Kai-shek
US Reaction to China
Mao Zedong
During WWII, China had been an ally of the US. China’s communist revolution
shocked Americans into changing their relationship with Japan.
US-Japanese Policy Changes
• Gen. Douglas MacArthur was put in charge of Japan after the war
• MacArthur helped them create a democracy & economic reforms
• US began to encourage the rapid economic recovery of Japan after the war.
The Korean War Begins
During WWII, US & Soviet forces divided up Korea at the 38th parallel ; North Korea
under control of USSR & South Korea under US control.
• After the war ended, the plan was to unify all of Korea but, the Cold War prevented
that.
• North Koreans were supported by the USSR & built an army
• June 25, 1950– North Korean troops invaded South Korea & drove back the poorly
supplied South Korean Army.
• All of Korea seemed poised to go Communist
The Pusan Perimeter
• US & South Korean troops were pushed to this area & resisted surrender.
• Gave MacArthur time to get troops to Korea
The Inchon Invasion (Sept. 1950)
• US troops led by Gen. MacArthur landed in Korea behind the enemy lines at Inchon.
• Forced the North Koreans back across 38th Parallel to the Yalu River (border with China).
limited war
Changes in US Policy
• The Korean war settled into a battle for small hills & land
• Nov. 1951- peace negotiations started
• Because of the war in Korea—the US BEGAN A HUGE MILITARY BUILDUP.
• SEATO– military alliance of US, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, & Philippines.-
HOW DID THE COLD WAR EFFECT AMERICAN SOCIETY?
The “RED SCARE”• Two “Red Scares” in US History– the first after WWI and the second one after WWII.
The Post-WWII Red Scare Begins
• In 1945- a clerk named Igor Gouzenko left the Soviet embassy in Canada & defected
(escaped communist control).
• Gouzenko had documents which showed how the Soviets were trying to infiltrate the US
government to get info on how to make the Atomic Bomb.
The Loyalty Review Program
• US government program established by President Truman to screen all federal government
employees for evidence of communist activity.
• This program only increased fears that communist spies were among us
• 1947-1951– 6,000 US federal government employees were screened for their loyalty.
• 212 employees fired for “questionable loyalty” with no evidence against them.
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
• Committee created in 1938 to investigate fascist & communist activities in the US
• 1947- FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover requested HUAC hold public hearings to expose communists &
friends of communists.
• Most notable member of HUAC– Richard Nixon (Rep. of California)
Hollywood on Trial
• 1947- HUAC focused on the movie industry because it was a cultural force in the US
• Hollywood actors, directors, producers, screenwriters and others were publically questioned before
the committee.
• The ”Hollywood Ten”- 10 screenwriters who used their 5tth Amendment right to remain silent;
these writers were “blacklisted”.
The Alger Hiss Trial
• Alger Hiss (former member of FDR’s cabinet) was accused of being a Communist in 1948.
• Hiss sued his accuser for libel.
• His accuser produced documents he had hidden in hollowed out pumpkin as evidence “The
Pumpkin Papers”.
• Hiss was convicted of perjury (lying under oath).
The Rosenberg's
• NY couple accused of selling US atomic secrets to the Soviets.
• 1950- FBI arrested them & charged them with spying
• Executed the Rosenberg's June 1953
Project Venona
• SECRET PROJECT Created in 1946- US & British cryptographers broke the secret Soviet code
• Read 3,000 Soviet messages
• Proved the existence of Soviet spies in the US trying to steal US nuclear secrets.
State & Local Governments Look for Communists
• States, local governments, universities, churches, unions, began looking for communists in the US
• University of California- required 11,000 employees to take an ‘oath of loyalty” & fired 157 who
refused.
• 1947- Taft-Hartley Act- required union leaders to take oaths of loyalty
By 1950, many Americans felt that America was falling behind the Soviets
Senator Joseph McCarthy
• Feb, 1950- stated that he had a list of 205 State Department workers who were Communist spies.--he never produced the list.
• McCarthy known for making charges of communist activity with no real evidence.
• Accused Sec. of State as a communist sympathizer.
• 1952- McCarthy was named chairman of the Senate subcommittee on investigations.
• Used his power as chairman to force government officials to testify.
• “witch-hunt” –a search for disloyalty based on flimsy evidence.
• “McCarthyism”- his practice of damaging reputations based on unfounded charges.
• 1954- McCarthy began televised investigations into the US Army; led to his downfall.
• McCarthy was censured by the Senate; he died in 1957.
The Red Scare & the spread of atomic weapons had a great impact on American society
• 1949- The Soviets tested their own Atomic Bomb
• 1953- the Soviets tested the H-Bomb (Hydrogen Bomb); more powerful than the A-Bomb.
Americans Prepare
• Schools set aside “bomb shelters” & held “duck & cover” drills.
• Some families built backyard “Bomb Shelters” also.
• “Fall Out”- radiation from a nuclear attack would kill 4 of 5 who survived the initial blast.
The Cold War Influenced US Culture
• Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” – Broadway play about the 1640’s Salem Witch Trials
• John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”– a book of firsthand accounts of six survivors of the Hiroshima
Blast.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
The Election of 1952
• Americans are ready for new leadership because Pres. Truman’s foreign policy seemed not to halt
Communist expansion.
• Democrats- nominated Adlai Stevenson (Gov. of Ill.)
• Republicans – nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower.
• Eisenhower WON
Eisenhower’s Cold War Policies
• He believed a strong US economy and military would key to winning the Cold War
• Believed “conventional warfare”- massive numbers of US troops was too expensive.
• Nuclear weapons were the best option– “more bang for the buck”
• Best way to stop Communism from spreading was to threaten nuclear war– Massive Retaliation
• Brinkmanship - willingness to go to brink of nuclear war to force another side to back down; this is
what opponents of Eisenhower's Massive Retaliation called it.
The Korean War Ends
• North Korea
• South Korea
The Taiwan Crisis
The Suez Crisis
• Eisenhower’s goal in the Middle East was prevent Arab nations from aligning with USSR.
• US promised Egypt money to help build a dam on the Nile River- US withdrew offer after Eygypt
bought weapons from a communist nation.
• Next, Egyptian troops seized the Suez Canal (built & controlled by Britain-French).
• British & French troops invaded Egypt
• USSR threatened rocket attacks on Britain & France
• US nuclear forces placed on high alert
• US pressure Britain & France to end their invasion
** Arab nations soon get aid from Soviets
covert operations
CIA
Nikita Khrushchev
The Eisenhower Doctrine-
CIA
Sputnik
U-2
Gary Powers