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The Cold War
1945- 1989
I. Truman and Containment
A. Key Points
1. Containment was a foreign policy
designed to contain or block Soviet
expansion.
2. Containment was the primary U.S.
foreign policy from the announcement of
the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to the fall of
the Berlin wall.
B. Role of George Kennan
1. George Kennan was a American diplomat
and specialist on the Soviet Union.
2. Kennan wrote an influential article
advocating that the United States focus its
foreign policy on containing the spread of
Soviet influence.
C. The Truman Doctrine
1. President Truman was determined to
block the expansion of Soviet influence
into Greece and Turkey
2. On March 12, 1947, Truman asked
Congress for $400 million in economic aid
for Greece and Turkey.
C. The Truman Doctrine continued…
3. Truman justified the aid by declaring
that the United States would support “free
peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugations by armed minorities or by
outside pressures.”
This sweeping pledge became known as
the Truman Doctrine.
D. The Marshall Plan
1. World War II left Western Europe
devastated and vulnerable to Soviet
influence.
2. The Marshall Plan was a program of
economic aid designed to promote the
recovery of war- torn Europe while also
preventing the spread of communist
influence.
D. The Marshall Plan continued…
3. The Marshall Plan was an integral part of
Truman’s policy of containment. Here is an
excerpt from Truman’s speech justifying the
Marshall Plan:
“ Our policy is directed not against any country or
doctrine, but against hunger, poverty,
desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be
the revival of working economy in the world so
as to permit the emergence of political and
social conditions in which free institutions can
exist… Any government that is willing to assist in
the task of recovery will find full cooperation, I
am sure, on the part of the United Sates
government.”
E. The NATO Alliance
1. Ten western European nations joined
with the United States and Canada to form
a defensive military alliance called the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
2. The NATO alliance marked a decisive
break from America’s tradition of
isolationism.
F. The Berlin Airlift
1. Fearing a resurgent Germany, the
Soviet Union cut off Western land access
to west Berlin, located deep within the
Soviet zone.
F. The Berlin Airlift continued…
2. President Truman orders a massive airlift
of food, fuel, and other supplies to
beleaguered citizens of West Berlin.
3. The Berlin Airlift marked a crucial and
successful test of containment.
II. The Cold War in Asia: China,
Korea, and Vietnam
A. The “Fall” of China
1. Lead by Mao Zedong, the
Chinese Communists defeated the
Chinese Nationalists and declared
the People’s Republic of China both
an independent and a Communist
nation.
The “Fall” of China continued…
2. The collapse of nationalist China was
viewed as a devastating defeat for America
and its Cold War allies. The “fall” of China had
the following consequences:
 The United States refused to recognize the new
government in Beijing.
 The United States interpreted the Chinese
Revolution as part of a menacing Communist
monolith.
 The “fall” of China contributed to the antiCommunist hysteria in the United States.
B. The Korean War
1. The United Sates and Korea
The Korean War began when North Korean
invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.
President Truman took advantage of a
temporary Soviet absence from the United
Nations Security Council to obtain a unanimous
condemnation of North Korea as an aggressor.
The Korean War thus marked the first collective
military action by the United Nations.
It is important to note that the Korean War was
fought under U.N. auspices. In contrast, the
Vietnam War was not fought under U.N.
auspices.
The Korean War continued…
2. A limited War
 The Korean War was a limited war that
extended the containment policy to Asia.
Stung by criticism that the Democratic Party
had “lost” China, Truman was determined to
defended South Korea.
The Korean War continued…
3. Truman’s Firing of MacArthur
 The Chinese entered the war when the U.N.
forces approached the strategic Yalu River.
General MacArthur disagreed with
President Truman’s policy of fighting a
limited war. MacArthur publicly favored a
blockade of the Chinese coast and
bombardment of Chinese bases. Truman
responded by relieving the insubordinate
MacArthur of his command.
The Korean War continued…
4. Peace Agreement
 The combatants finally signed an armistice in
July 1953.
The Armistice set the border between North
and South Korea near the 38th parallel at
approximately the prewar
boundary.
The Korean War continued…
5. Truman's Integration of the Armed Forces
 Prior to the Korean War, African Americans
fought in segregated units.
President Truman ordered the racial
desegregation of armed forces. The Korean
War marked the first time
American forces had
fought in integrated units.
C. The Vietnam War
1. Containment and Vietnam
Following WWII, the United States adopted a
policy of containment to halt the expansion of
Communist influence.
American involvement in Vietnam grew out of
the policy commitments and assumptions of
containment.
The Vietnam War continued…
2. The French Withdrawal
Following WWII, the French continued to
exercise influence and control over Indochina.
Led by Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh defeated
the French at a pivotal battle of Dienbienphu.
Following their defeat, the French withdrew
from Vietnam in 1954.
The U.S. refused to sign the Geneva Accords
and soon replaced France as the dominant
Western power in Indochina.
The Vietnam War continued…
3. The Domino Effect
The U.S. believed that if one nation fell under
Communist control, nearby nations would
inevitably also fall under Communist
influence.
The Vietnam War continued…
Here is how Secretary of State Dean
Rusk explained the domino effect: “If
Indo- China were to fall and if its fall led
to the loss of all South Asia, then the
U.S. might eventually be forced back to
Hawaii, as it was before the Second
World War.”
III. Key Cold War events during the
Eisenhower Administration
A. Sputnik
1. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957,
Sputnik was the first Earth- orbiting
satellite.
2. Sputnik stunned America, prompting
President Eisenhower to establish the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA).
Sputnik continued…
3. Sputnik made education an issue of
national security. Congress responded by
passing the National Defense Education Act.
The legislation significantly expanded federal
aid to education by funding programs in
mathematics, foreign languages, and the
siences.
B. Diplomatic Crises
1. Egypt seized the Suez Canal
2. Castro gained control over
Cuba.
3. The Soviet Union shot down an American
U- 2 spy plane.
IV. The Rise and Fall of
McCarthyism
A. Background
1. Joseph McCarthy was a relatively
unknown U.S. senator from Wisconsin
who catapulted to national attention by
making sensational accusations that the
U.S. Sate Department was “thoroughly
infested with Communists.”
2. McCarthyism is the making of public
accusations of disloyalty without sufficient
evidence.
B. The Rise of McCarthyism
1. The following factors contributed to the
rise of McCarthyism:
Fears raised by the “fall” of China to
Communism and the emergence of Mao
Zedong as the leader of the People’s Republic
of China
Fears raised by the Soviet Union’s
development of an atomic bomb
More factors of the rise of McCarthyism:
Fears raised by President Truman’s emphasis
on a foreign policy designed to contain Soviet
expansion
Fears raised by revelations that Soviet spies
had infiltrated sensitive agencies and
programs in the United States
2. The first case involved a former Sate
Department official named Alger
Hiss. It is interesting to note that a
young California congressman
named Richard Nixon played a
key and highly publicized role in the
investigation of Hiss.
3. The second case involved Ethel
and Julius Rosenberg.
The Rosenberg's were executed
for secretly giving information to
the Soviet Union about the U.S.
Atomic Bomb project.
C. McCarthy’s Tactics
1. McCarthy directed his attack at alleged
Communists and Communist Sympathizers
2. Senator McCarthy played on the fears of
Americans that Communists had infiltrated the
State Department and other federal agencies.
3. McCarthy’s accusations helped create a
climate of paranoia as Americans became
preoccupied with the perceived threat posed by
the spread of Communism.
C. McCarthy’s Tactics continued…
4. As a result of McCarthy’s antiCommunist “witch hunt,” millions of
Americans were forced to take loyalty
oaths and undergo loyalty investigations.
5. Senator McCarthy cynically used the
climate of fear for his own political
advantage.
C. McCarthy’s Tactics continued…
6. The fear of Communist infiltration even spread
to the motion picture industry. Hollywood
executives instituted a “blacklist” of about 500
entertainment professionals who were denied
employment because of their real or imagined
political beliefs or accusations.
The blacklist ruined the
careers of many actors,
writers, and directors.
D. The Fall of Joseph McCarthy
1. In 1954, Senator McCarthy accused the U.S.
Army if being infiltrated by Communist
sympathizers.
2. A huge national audience watched the ArmyMcCarthy Hearings. McCarthy’s boorish
conduct and lack of evidence turned public
opinion against him. A few month later, the
Senate formally condemned him for “conduct
unbecoming a member.”
3. McCarthy died three years later of chronic
alcoholism.