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The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War
1945- A Critical Year
 US and Soviet Union were Allies as a temporary
arrangement during WWII.
 At the Yalta Conference- Feb. 1945: Roosevelt,
Churchill, and Stalin met to discuss the
arrangements of Germany and Poland Post WWII
including free elections.
 Churchill and FDR rejected Stalin’s demand that
Germany pay 10 billion in war damages
 Disputes over Poland caused
stress on US & Soviet relations
The United Nations
 The United Nations was a
new international
peacekeeping organization.
 League of Nations failed
because the United States
refused to join
 UN stated they were going
to try and stop wars from
starting, end the ones that
broke out, and settle
differences peacefully
 Members included; US, SU,
GB, China, and France
Truman takes Command
 FDR passed away in April
1945, VP Harry Truman
took over as president
 Truman met with Stalin at
the Potsdam ConferenceJuly 1945. Occupation
Zones were determined
post WWII and Truman
mentioned the new Atom
Bomb that had just been
tested in New Mexico,
which instilled fear in
Stalin.
Postwar Goals
 US fought to bring democracy and economic
opportunity to the conquered nations of Europe
 Soviet Union wanted to rebuild after loosing a
tremendous amount of people.
Soviets Tighten Hold
 Satellite Nationscountries subject to
Soviet domination on
their borders.
 Soviets took over
Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Romania,
and East Germany.
 Stalin installed
communist
governments in all
nations while he
slowly took power.
IRON CURTAIN
Winston Churchill gave an “Iron Curtain”
Speech.
An Iron Curtain laid across the continent
dividing communism from capitalism and if
nothing was done communism would take
over all of Europe. American was called
on to help
Stalin’s speech and Churchill’s speech set
tone for the COLD WAR
COLD WAR
Cold War- competition that developed
between the United States and the Soviet
Union for world power.
Lasted for over forty years until1991 the
collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rivalry stopped just short of a hot war
between the two nations.
Containment
American policy for
resisting further
expansion of
communism
around the world
(George Keenan,
American
Diplomat)
The Truman Doctrine
 A declaration by
president Truman that
the United States
would support nations
that were being
threatened by
communism.
 The Truman doctrine
is a policy of
containment which
gave the US power
and dominance
Marshall Plan
 Secretary of state George Marshall created this
plan which called for all European nations to
draw up a program of economic recovery from
the war and the US would then support the
program with financial aid.
 The plan would help European economic
recovery and create strong democracies while
opening new markets for American goods.
 Soviet Union refused to participate
 Marshall Plan was the turning point in the war!!!
 Marshall Plan – European Recovery Program
Molotov Plan
1949 Soviet Union plan of economic aide
to Eastern Europe. Established a new
organization COMECON- Council for
Mutual Economics Assistance
Named after Soviet Union foreign Minister
Vyacheslav Molotov
Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift
 Stalin was not going to allow
the reunification of West
Germany, so western allies
prepared to merge
 Soviets created East Germany
 West=capitalists
East= Communist
 Stalin cut off supplies with a
BLOCKADE which created
severe shortages of food and
supplies for 2.5 million people
 Berlin Airlift- Truman moved
supplies into West Berlin for
15 months by plane and
soviets finally gave up
blockade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqHqsYiUEwY&feature=related
NATO
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)association of the democratic peace-loving
states and “an armed attack against one or
more of the nations, shall be considered an
attack against them all.
 Canadian Foreign Minister St. Louis St. Laurent
 Countries include; United States, Canada,
Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and
Portugal
 Collective security- principal of mutual military
assistance
Warsaw Pact
Soviet Union responded to NATO and
created the Warsaw Pact- a military
alliance with satellite nations in Eastern
Europe
Communist Advances
 Truman announced that “we have evidence that within
recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the
USSR.”
 This was scary for the American people they could not
imagine the thought of Hiroshima or Nagasaki on
American soil.
 Americans started to make advances in nuclear
weapons (hydrogen bomb) which was many times more
destructible than the atomic bomb
 1952 hydrogen bomb tested and declared US the worlds
leading nuclear power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkvfcAlujZ0
 People were planning how to survive a nuclear attack!
(bomb shelters)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0K_LZDXp0I
The struggle in China
 China fell to communism under
leadership of Mao Zedong
 Chiang Kai-shek- Leader of Chinese
government and the Nationalists
 Mao Zedong- Communist leader in China who
overthrew their government
 1949- US did not aid and China’s capital,
Beijing, fell to communist.
 Chiang and followers withdrew to a small island
of China’s mainland, Taiwan and continued
practicing democracy as the Republic of China.
 (There was a fear of China and the SU becoming allies)
The Cold War at Home
 A new Red Scare- many people had
joined the communist party but with
increasing distrust in Stalin many
people quit
 People who had been remotely
involved in a communist party were
swept up in the wave of persecution
 Loyalty Program- Truman headed
this program so that all employees
hired by the federal government were
to be investigated with suspicion of
overthrowing the government
HUAC
 House Un-American
Activities Committeeinvestigate disloyalty of
Communist infiltration of
government agencies and
the Hollywood movie
industry b/c movies had
strong influence of the
public
 Hollywood ten- actors,
writers, directors, and
producers cited for
contempt of congress and
were blacklisted where
other employers would
not hire them.
McCarran-Walter Act
 Congress passed 1952
McCarran-Walter Actwhich discriminated
against potential
immigrants from Asia,
Southern and central
Europe.
 The President vetoed the
bill- stated “one of the
most Un- American acts
he had ever witnessed”
Spies
 A real communist threat in
the United States
 Alger Hiss- high ranking
government official
convicted of perjury for lying
in slander case.
 Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg - (a married
couple) were members of
the communist party were
accused of passing atomic
secrets to the soviets.
They were convicted of
espionage and executed in
1953.
Korean War
 South Korea- had a proAmerican government
formed (US occupied)
 North Korea- had a
Communist regime
(USSR occupied)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnnqTAsS48&feature=related
 In June 1950 the Korean
War broke out when
North Korean troops
streamed across the 38th
parallel- latitude line
dividing the two nations
 North Korea was aiming
at unification by force
Douglas MacArthur
 Anti-communist general
chosen to lead UN forces
in Korea by Truman
 MacArthur helped
establish Japan’s new
democratic constitution
 Successful in
implementing democracy
in South Korea
 Disliked by politicians but
loved by the public and
military!
The Cold War 1950’s
 1953 Eisenhower became president succeeding Truman
 Eisenhower had kept his promise to bring the Korean
War to an end and the sudden death of Stalin helped the
war come to an end in March of 1953.
 In Southeast Asia a conflict developed in Vietnam
(French Colony in SouthEast Asia that had fallen to
Japan during WWII)
 Ho Chi Minh, head of Vietnamese Communist Party
declared Vietnam’s Independence after Japan fell in
1945.
 France rejected Vietnam’s independence and an ugly
war began to unfold
Domino theory
Domino Theory is a belief by Eisenhower
which held that if any one country fell to
communists, its neighbors soon would
follow (like a row of dominos).
By 1954 US was providing aid to help with
the war
Vietnam Divided
Just like Korea, Vietnam was divided into
communist North and Anti Communist
south.
The US provided aid to South Vietnam but
resisted any greater involvement
The Middle East
 1930’s anti-Semitism in Germany and Eastern
Europe forced Jews to seek safety in Palestine.
 Arab and Jewish conflict turned to the United
nations for the creation for a Jewish state called
Israel (1948).
The Middle East Continued
 The Suez crisis- Egypt ruler,
Nasser, sought soviet support,
US and Britain cut off their aid.
 Nasser seized the British
owned Suez canal, a vital
waterway for oil to reach
Europe
 Eisenhower Doctrine- the US
would use force to safeguard
the independence of any
country or group of countries
in the Middle East requesting
aid against Communistinspired aggression
Latin America
 US exercised power in Central and Latin
America
 After WWII US feared spread of
Communism to Latin American Countries
 Rio Pact- regional defense alliance
between 18 countries in Latin America
 OAS- Organization of American States
which increased cooperation with states in
the Western Hemisphere
 Crisis began when Fidel Castro overthrew
the Cuban Dictator in 1958. US did not
support Castro because his movement
was infiltrated by Communism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL4cb0zuoFg
 Castro seized Cuba (American property),
US cut off all aid and supplies, and Castro
turned to the Soviet Union for aid.
The Arms Race
 Arms Race- The struggle to gain
weapon superiority
 Whenever one side would seem to
be gaining the upper hand in the
cold war the other would respond
with new programs and policies
 The growth of Nuclear Arsenals was
increasing in US and Soviet Union.
 1953 US exploded their first
thermonuclear device and at the
same time the Soviet Union
successfully tested a hydrogen
device of its own.
 Between 1954 and 1958 US
conducted 19 hydrogen bomb tests
at Bikini Island in the Pacific
 This explosion was 750 times more
explosive than the atomic bomb
Brinkmanship
 Brinkmanship- is the policy of
risking war to protect the nations
interests (Russian roulette with
the life of our nation)
 MAD- Mutual Assured
Destruction- combination of
deterrence and willingness to
use nuclear weapons, may have
helped prevent the cold war
from turning hot.
 Soviet Union used ICBM’s
(Intercontinental Ballistic
missiles)- long range rockets as
their delivery system
 US lagged behind soviet Union
in Missile development
Sputnik
 First artificial satellite to
orbit Earth launched by
the Soviets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbAXkWPasYw
 This scared Americans
 US tried to launch a
satellite and it came
tumbling down
 U-2 incident- shooting
down of American Spy
plane by the soviet’s
with a guided missile