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Chapter 18
Cold War Conflicts
I. Origins of the Cold War
A. Former Allies Clash
1. The U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were
Allies at the end of World War II.
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
2. Problems had been developing
between these two nations both
before and during World War II.
a. The economic and political
systems were incompatible.
1) The USSR practiced Communismthe government owned all property
and industry, no opposition was
allowed to the government, personal
freedom was restricted.
2) The US believed in Democracyprivate ownership of property and
businesses, free elections, personal
freedoms guaranteed.
b. The USSR had signed a
nonaggression pact with Germany in
1939.
c. The US did not officially recognize
the existence of the USSR until 16
years after the Communist
revolution.
d. The leader of the USSR distrusted
the other Allies. (the US had kept the
atomic bomb a secret)
3. In April of 1945 representatives
from 50 nations met in San Francisco
and agreed to form an international
peacekeeping body.
a. the charter of the United Nations
was approved in June of 1945 .
b. The UN headquarters was built in
New York City.
c. The UN became a forum where
both the US and the USSR tried to
spread their influence to other
nations.
B. The Potsdam Conference
1. Truman’s first meeting with world
leaders after he became president
was a wartime conference of the Big
Three at Potsdam, Germany:
a. Great Britain-Clement Atlee
b. US-Harry Truman
c. USSR-Joseph Stalin
2. At Potsdam, the US and GB
demanded that the Soviet Union allow
free and democratic elections in
Poland and other Eastern European
nations.
3. Soviet armies already occupied
those countries so Stalin refused.
4. Stalin began to take control of the
governments in these nations.
5. These countries became known as
Soviet satellite nations dependent
upon and dominated by the Soviet
Union.
6. Stalin turned Soviet industry to
production of weapons because he
believed a war between
Communism and capitalism was
inevitable. (USSR and US)
C. The Policy of Containment
1. American officials adopted a policy
of containment against Communism.
2. Containment meant to block the
spread of Communist influence by
forming alliances and supporting
weaker nation.
3. Winston Churchill, former prime
minister of GB, said in a speech that
an iron curtain had descended across
the continent of Europe.
4. Behind the iron curtain the
nations in Eastern Europe had fallen
under the domination of the Soviet
Union.
5. Stalin called Churchill’s
statement a call to war.
D. The Cold War
1. The term Cold War refers to the
increasing state of tension and
hostilities between the two world
superpowers-the US and USSR.
2. These hostilities often stopped
short only of military confrontation.
3. The Cold War lasted until the
breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991
and dominated world affairs.
4. The US created several programs
to try to stop the spread of Soviet
domination.
a. The Truman Doctrine stated that
the US should support free people
throughout the world who were
resisting takeovers by outside
pressures.
b. The Marshall Plan provided
billions of dollars in aid to provide
stable governments in Europe to
resist Communism.
E. The Struggle over Germany
1. At the end of World War II, Germany
was divided into four zones, each zone
occupied by an allied nation. (France,
GB, US, USSR)
2. In 1948, France, GB, and the US
joined their three zones into one
nation.
3. Berlin, the capital city was deep
within the Soviet zone of occupation,
and had also been divided into four
zones.
4. When the Allied zones rejoined,
the Soviet Union cut off all highway,
water and rail traffic into their zone.
5. Democratic West Berlin was now
totally cut off from the rest of the
world by the Soviets.
a. no supplies could get in or out and
the city faced starvation.
b. Stalin believed this would force
the Western nations to give control of
the city to the Soviets.
6. West Berlin contained 2.1 million
people and would have run out of food
and fuel within five weeks.
7. American and British officials began
the Berlin Airlift in an attempt to break
the blockade.
a. every day for 327 days, American
and British supply planes flew
supplies, food, and medicine to West
Berlin.
b. a supply plane landed every three
minutes 24 hours a day.
8. American prestige around the
world rose and Soviet prestige
dropped.
9. In May of 1949, the Soviets gave up
and lifted the blockade.
10. The western part of Germany
formed its own nation called West
Germany with its capital of Bonn.
11. The Soviet Union turned its zone
into East Germany with Berlin as its
capital.
F. NATO is formed.
1. The Berlin blockade increased
Western Europe’s fear of Soviet
aggression.
2. Ten of these nations joined with the
United States and Canada in April of
1949 to form a mutual defense
agreement. (NATO)
a. Belgium
b. Denmark
c. France
d. Great Britain
e. Iceland
f. Italy
g. Luxembourg
h. the Netherlands
i. Norway
j. Portugal
3. Members of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) promised
that an attack on any one member
would be considered an attack on all.
4. This was the first time that the US
had entered into a military alliance
during peacetime.
II. The Cold War Heats Up
A. Civil War in China
1. A Civil War had started in China
over Communism.
2. They stopped their civil war in 1937
and united to fight the Japanese.
3. After the war the country
separated again:
a. North-Communist led by Mao
Zedong (Tse-tung)
b. South-Nationalists (Democratic)
led by Chiang Kai-shek.
4. The US supported the Nationalists
because they were fighting
Communism.
5. Eventually the Nationalists were
driven from China and fled to the
island of Formosa and formed the
country of Taiwan.
B. War in Korea
1. When World War II ended Korea
was occupied by both the Soviets and
the Americans.
2. The Soviets occupied territory
north of the 38th parallel and the
Americans south of the 38th parallel.
3. Both the US and the Soviets
created new governments in their
territories:
a. North Korea-Communist-Kim Sung
Lee-Pyongyang.
b. South Korea-Democratic-Syngman
Rhee-Seoul
4. In 1949 both the Soviet Union and
the US withdrew their troops from
Korea.
5. In 1950 North Korea invaded
South Korea starting the Korean War.
6. President Truman ordered
supplies and naval and air support to
prevent South Korea from falling to
Communism.
7. The UN also voted to send troops
and other forms of aid to South
Korea.
a. 16 nations sent troops but the US
provide 90% of the forces.
b. The UN and South Korean forces
were commanded by General
Douglas MacArthur.
C. The US Fights in Korea
1. The North Korean Army was
unstoppable at first.
2. They pushed the UN forces back
into a small zone around Pusan in SE
South Korea.
3. In September of 1950 MacArthur
launched a counterattack trapping
North Korean troops between two UN
forces.
4. Half of the North Korean army
surrendered and the other half fled
back across the38th parallel.
5. The UN forces had to decide
whether to invade into North Korea to
unify the country
6. The UN told MacArthur to advance
into North Korea and reclaim the
country. (as far as the Chinese
border)
7. Chinese leader Zhou Enlai warned
that China would not let Americans
advance that far.
8. In November of 1950 300,000
Chinese troops crossed the border
forcing UN forces to retreat.
9. For the next two years the Korean
War was a stalemate fought around
the 38th parallel.
10. General MacArthur called for the
US to extend the war to include China:
a. to invade into southern China.
b. to blockade Chinese ports.
c. use atomic bombs on Chinese
cities.
11. President Truman did not want to
invade China-they had an agreement
with the Soviet Union-attacking China
could set off World War III.
12. MacArthur wrote to newspapers,
magazines, and Republican leaders in
an attempt to gain support for war
against China
13. Truman with unanimous approval
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff relieved
MacArthur of command.
14. In November of 1951 the Soviet
Union suggested a cease-fire.
15. Truce talks to end the war lasted
two years and had two main points:
a. location of a cease fire line. (38th
parallel)
b. creation of a demilitarized zone
between the two countries.
16. Results of the Korean War.
a. Korea is divided into North Korea
and South Korea.
b. 54, 000 Americans were killed.
c. US still has 37, 000 troops
stationed in South Korea.
III. The Cold War at Home.
A. Fear of Communist Influence.
1. In the late 1940s and early 1950s
an anti-Communist hysteria gripped
the US.
2. This widespread fear of Communists
or “Reds” became known as the Red
Scare or the Great Fear.
3. In response to the Red Scare,
President Truman created the Loyalty
Review Board which investigated
government employees and dismissed
those found to be disloyal to the US
government.
4. The House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC) also
investigated disloyalty to the US.
5. The HUAC became famous for its
investigations into Hollywood’s movie
industry.
6. The HUAC subpoenaed 43
witnesses from the film industry.
7. Most of these were considered to be
“friendly” witnesses-they cooperated
with the investigation and agreed that
Communists had infiltrated the film
industry.
8. Ten witnesses were termed
“unfriendly”-they refused to answer
the committees questions because
they believed the investigations was
unconstitutional.
9. These ten became known as the
Hollywood Ten and were sent to
prison.
10. In all over 500 actors, writers,
producers, and directors were found
to have a Communist background and
blacklisted.
B. Spy Cases in the US
1. During this period two cases of
spying in the US added to the fear of
Communism.
2. The first case involved a former
State Department official named Alger
Hiss.
a. a former Communist spy accused
Alger Hiss of selling secret
documents to the Soviet Union.
b. Hiss could not be tried for
espionage but he was convicted of
perjury and sent to jail.
c. Congressman Richard Nixon
gained national fame for pursuing the
charges against Hiss.
3. The second case was intensified by
international event.
4. In September of 1949, the Soviet
Union exploded an atomic bomb.
5. Experts predicted that this was 3-5
years ahead of what they should be
able to do.
6. Most people believed the Soviets
had stolen secrets of how to build the
bomb from the US.
7. This suspicion was confirmed in
the Rosenberg case.
a. a British physicist admitted giving
the Soviet Union information about
the American atomic bomb.
b. he implicated Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg who belonged to the
American Communist Party.
c. they were found guilty and given
the death penalty.
d. they were executed in the electric
chair in 1953 becoming the first US
civilians to be executed for espionage.
C McCarthy’s Witch Hunt
1. The most famous anti-Communist
activist was Senator Joseph
McCarthy.
2. McCarthy use fear of Communism
as an issue to be reelected in 1952.
3. McCarthy made one accusation
after another about Communists
taking over the government.
4. These attacks on suspected
communists became known as
McCarthyism.
5. He accused government officials
and especially the Democratic Party of
being Communist.
6. He never produced any evidence to
support his charges.
7. A televised Senate investigation
cost him public support and he was
condemned by the rest of the Senate.
IV. Two Nations on the Edge.
A. Brinkmanship Rules US Policy
1. After the Soviet Union successfully
exploded an atomic bomb in 1949, the
US began work on a more powerful
weapon.
2. The H-bomb or hydrogen bomb
would be 67 times more powerful than
the atomic bomb dropped on
Hiroshima.
3. Within one year after the first
successful US H-bomb, the Soviets
had developed one of their own.
4. The arms race had begun.
5. The US developed a policy of
brinkmanship to deal with the
possibility of nuclear war.
6. The US would promise to use all of
its force including nuclear weapons
against any aggressor.
7. We would be willing to go to the
brink of war if necessary to keep
peace.
B. Other Important Events, Terms,
People of the Cold War.
1. CIA-Central Intelligence Agency
created to gather information about
governments abroad.
2. Warsaw Pact-agreement between
the Soviet Union and its satellite
nations.
3. Nikita Kruschchev-head of the
Soviet Communist Party during the
Cold War.
4. 1957-the Soviets developed ICBMsIntercontinental ballistic missiles
capable of traveling great distances.
5. 1957-the Soviets launch the first
satellite into orbit-Sputnik I.
6. U2 incident-in 1960 an American U2
spy plane was shot down 1300 miles
inside of Soviet territory-The American
pilot Francis Gary Powers was
captured by the Soviets.