Download Did You Know

Did You Know? A newspaper columnist, Walter Lippmann
argued that the policy of containment could not work because he
did not think the U.S. could contain the Soviet Union everywhere.
He published his columns about containment in a book he titled,
The Cold War. Lippmann came up with the term Cold War to
describe a kind of war that did not include bloodshed.
I.
Confrontation of the Superpowers (pages 631-633)
A.
The division between Western Europe and Soviet-controlled Eastern
Europe was the beginning of the Cold War. The Soviet Union feared the
capitalist West. The United States feared communism.
B.
After World War II, the United States and Great Britain wanted the
Eastern European nations to determine their own governments. Stalin
feared that the Eastern European nations would be anti-Soviet if they
were allowed free elections.
C.
In early 1947 President Harry S Truman issued the Truman Doctrine,
which stated that the United States would give money to countries
threatened by Communist expansion. As stated by Dean Acheson, the
U.S. secretary of state, the United States was concerned that
communism would spread throughout the free world if left unchecked.
D.
In June 1947, the European Recovery Program, better known as the
Marshall Plan, began. This program was set up to rebuild war-torn
Europe.
E.
The Soviet Union and its economically and politically dependent Eastern
European satellite states refused to participate in the Marshall Plan.
F.
In 1949, the Soviet Union set up the Council for Mutual Assistance
(COMECON) as a response to the Marshall Plan. COMECON was
established to help the economies of Eastern European states.
G.
In 1947, the United States adopted the policy of containment to keep
communism within its existing boundaries and prevent further Soviet
aggressive moves.
H.
By 1948, Great Britain, the United States, and France worked to unify the
three western sections of Germany and Berlin and create a West
German government. The Soviets opposed the creation of a West
German state, so they tried to prevent it by setting up a blockade of West
Berlin. The United States and Great Britain set up the Berlin Air Lift to fly
in supplies to West Berlin. The Soviets ended the blockade of West Berlin
in May 1949.
I.
The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, was formally
created in September of 1949. A month later, the German Democratic
Republic was set up by the Soviets. Berlin was divided into two parts.
287
Discussion Question
What were several causes of the Cold War? (The Soviet Union feared the capitalist
West. The United States feared communism. After World War II, the United States and
Great Britain wanted the Eastern European nations to determine their own governments.
Stalin feared that the Eastern European nations would be anti-Soviet if they were
allowed free elections. In early 1947 President Harry S Truman issued the Truman
Doctrine, which stated that the United States would give money to countries threatened
by Communist expansion. In June 1947, the Marshall Plan was set up to rebuild war-torn
Europe. The Soviets saw the Marshall Plan as an attempt to buy the support of
countries. In 1949, the Soviet Union set up the Council for Mutual Assistance
(COMECON) to help the economies of Eastern European states. In 1947, the United
States adopted the policy of containment to keep communism within its existing
boundaries and prevent further Soviet aggressive moves. By 1948, Great Britain, the
United States, and France worked to unify the three western sections of Germany and
Berlin and create a West German government. The Soviets tried to prevent it by setting
up a blockade of West Berlin. The United States and Great Britain set up the Berlin Air
Lift to fly in supplies to West Berlin.)
II.
The Spread of the Cold War (pages 633-635)
A.
Chinese Communists took control of the government of China in 1949. As
a result of the fall of China to communism and the Soviet Union's
explosion of its first atomic bomb in 1949, the Soviet Union and the
United States began an arms race, in which both countries built up their
armies and weapons.
B.
In April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed.
This military alliance, which included Great Britain, France, other Western
European nations, and the United States and Canada, agreed to provide
mutual help if any one of them was attacked.
C.
In 1955, the Soviet Union and Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East
Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania formed the military alliance
called the Warsaw Pact.
D.
The Korean War began in 1950 when the Communist government of
North Korea, allied with the Soviet Union, tried to take over South Korea.
As a result, the United States extended its military alliances around the
world. By the mid-1950s, the United States was in military alliances with
42 nations.
E.
The United States, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, Thailand, the
Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand formed the Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization (SEATO) to stop the Soviet expansion in the East.
Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Great Britain, and the United States formed
the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) to stop Soviet expansion to the
south.
288
F. In 1957, the Soviets sent Sputnik I, the first man-made space satellite, to orbit the
earth. Americans feared there was a missile gap between the Soviet Union and
the United States.
G. In August 1961, on the order of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the East
German government began to build a wall between West Berlin and East Berlin
in order to stop the flow of East Germans escaping into West Berlin.
Discussion Question
What military alliances formed as a result of the Cold War? (The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) was formed. This military alliance, which included Great Britain,
France, other Western European nations, and the United States and Canada, agreed to
provide mutual help if any one of them was attacked. The Soviet Union and Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania formed the
military alliance called the Warsaw Pact. By the mid-1950s, the United States was in
military alliances with 42 nations. The United States, Great Britain, France, Pakistan,
Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand formed the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization (SEATO) to stop the Soviets expansion in the East. Turkey, Iraq, Iran,
Pakistan, Great Britain, and the United States formed the Central Treaty Organization
(CENTO) to stop Soviet expansion to the south.)
III.
The Cuban Missile Crisis (page 635)
A.
In 1959, President Kennedy approved a secret plan for Cuban exiles to
invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs and revolt against the Soviet-supported
Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro. The invasion failed.
B.
The Soviet Union sent arms and military advisers to Cuba. In 1962
Khrushchev began to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to counteract U.S.
nuclear weapons placed in Turkey, close to the Soviet Union.
C.
In October 1962, President Kennedy found out that Soviet ships carrying
nuclear missiles were headed to Cuba. So he ordered a blockade of
Cuba to stop the ships from reaching Cuba.
D.
Khrushchev agreed to send the ships back and remove nuclear missiles
in Cuba if Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba. Kennedy agreed.
E.
The Cuban missile crisis brought the world close to nuclear war.
289
Discussion Question
What caused the Cuban missile crisis, and how was it resolved? (President Kennedy
had approved of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. The invasion was a disaster, but
afterward Soviet leader Khrushchev sent arms and military advisers to Cuba. In 1962
Khrushchev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba to counteract U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey.
The United States did not want nuclear weapons so close to the mainland, so Kennedy
ordered a blockade of Cuba. Khrushchev agreed to turn back the ships carrying missiles
if Kennedy promised not to invade Cuba. Kennedy agreed.)
IV.
Vietnam and the Domino Theory (pages 635-636)
A.
The Vietnam War had an important impact on the Cold War. Its purpose
was to keep the Communist government of North Vietnam from gaining
control of South Vietnam.
B.
U.S. policy makers applied the domino theory to the Vietnam War.
According to this theory, if South Vietnam fell to communism, then other
countries in Asia would fall like dominoes to communism.
C.
An antiwar movement escalated in the United States as a result of the
growing number of American troops sent to Vietnam and the mounting
destruction of the war, which was brought into American homes by
television.
D.
President Johnson decided not to run for reelection because of public
opinion against his handling of the war. Former Republican vice-president
Richard M. Nixon won the election with the promise to end the war and
reunite the American people. In 1973, Nixon reached an agreement with
North Vietnam allowing the United States to withdraw its troops. Within
two years, Vietnam was forcibly reunited by Communist armies from the
North.
Discussion Question
How did the Vietnam War disprove the domino theory? (Even though the United
States was unable to stop communism in Vietnam, a split between Communist
China and the Soviet Union put an end to the idea that there was a single form of
communism directed by Moscow. Under President Nixon, U.S. relations with
China were resumed. Other nations in Southeast Asia were able to avoid
Communist governments.)
290