Download The Cold War

A CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES
1945-1990
POTSDAM CONFERENCE
July 1945
• Nazi leaders tried as war
criminals at Nuremburg
• Korea divided
• Unconditional surrender
of Japan
• Stalin told on July 24 of
our Atomic bomb test
• Germany to be
administered as single
economic unit by Allies,
but Stalin sealed all land
access to East Germany
Churchill, Truman, Stalin
THE UNITED NATIONS
• Symbolized the hopes for peace
many countries had at the end of
WWII.
• Established as a peacekeeping
body in June, 1945.
• Made an effort to
proclaim “the equality
of all nations,” but in
reality, there were 2
countries much
stronger than all the
others…
THE WORLD “SUPER POWERS”
The Soviets had a massive
military.
The U.S. had more
military & economic
power than most of the
nations of Europe
combined.
THE DOMINO THEORY
Communism appealed to the poor &
desperate
Leaders feared one nation falling to
Communism would weaken others
around it, causing them to fall.
This idea came to be called “The
Domino Theory.”
Fear of communist expansion was a
driving force of U.S. foreign policy
during the 50s & 60s.
AND THEN OUR FEARS BEGAN TO BE
REALIZED…
1946
• Stalin installed
Communist gov’ts
in several countries
near the USSR.
• Feb. 9 - Stalin made
a hostile speech
saying that
communism &
capitalism were
incompatible.
AND THEN OUR FEARS BEGAN TO BE
REALIZED…
1946
• Feb. 10 - Churchill
visited Truman &
argued a hard line
response—oppose
Stalin!
• Mar. 5 - Churchill's
speech at Fulton,
Missouri - an "iron
curtain" has
descended on
Europe.
THE IRON CURTAIN
Soviets, fearing conflict
with western nations,
formed pro-soviet
Communist gov’ts in
areas they had
“liberated” during the
war.
The term Iron Curtain
Nations came to apply to
nations of Europe that
were loyal to &/or
controlled by the Soviet
Union.
CONTAINMENT
• U.S. established a policy of trying to
prevent extension of communist rule to
other countries.
• In other words… “contain”
communism where it exists, but don’t
let it spread!
• First place the US attempted to stop the
spread of Communism was in Greece
& Turkey…
TRUMAN DOCTRINE
“I believe that it must be the policy of
the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures."
•Congress gave about $400 million in aid to
Turkey & Greece to prevent a Communist
takeover
THE MARSHALL PLAN
• Proposed by Sec. of State
George Marshall
• Said the U.S. should
provide aid to all
European nations that
needed it, as a move
against the “hunger,
poverty, desperation, &
chaos,” that existed in
Europe after WWII.
• U.S. also offered aid to the USSR & its allies,
but Stalin refused, saying he thought the plan
was a trick.
• Marshall plan was in line with
the Truman Doctrine & the
policy of containment.
• By the early 1950s, Western
Europe was flourishing & the
Communist party had lost much
of its appeal.
•The Marshall Plan also
benefited the American
economy.
An emblem used to
identify goods sent
to Europe under the
Marshall Plan
DIVIDING GERMANY
• End of WWII,
Germany
was divided
into 4 zones,
occupied
by the U.S.,
Great
Britain, &
France in
the West, &
USSR in the
East.
DIVIDING BERLIN
• Berlin was also
divided into 4
zones
• It was located in
the Soviet Zone
• 1948, Britain,
France, & the U.S.
decided to unite
their 3 zones into
one city (West
Berlin)
• The USSR had other
ideas
BERLIN BLOCKADE
• Western Powers were to have
access to Berlin along a
highway & air corridor
• 1948, the Soviets closed down
all roads into Berlin. It was a
blockade to see if the US
would give up Berlin.
• No food, fuel, or other
important supplies could
reach the people of West
Berlin by highway.
• 2.1 million residents were in
danger of starving.
BERLIN AIRLIFT
• U.S. & British officials flew
food & supplies into West
Berlin
• Lasted 327 days
• More than 278,000 flights
• 2.3 million tons of supplies,
including food, fuel,
medicine, & presents.
UNCLE “WIGGLY WINGS”
Gail Halvorsen was
known as the Candy
Bomber, because he
used to drop special
treats for the children.
"They called me the 'Candy
Bomber,‘ but the kids in Berlin
called me 'Uncle Wiggly Wings.'
That's because I wiggled the
wings of the airplane when I
came in over Berlin."
NATO
NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION
• Established in April, 1949 between the US & its
western European allies
• Military alliance in which the U.S. placed all its
allies under its formal protection, & all
member nations agreed to act together if any
member was attacked
TWO POINTS OF VIEW
• We saw NATO as a
reasonable
response to what
we felt was the
threat of a Soviet
invasion. It was a
defensive alliance,
the 1st ever the US
had entered into
during peacetime.
• Soviets saw NATO
as further proof that
Western nations
wanted to destroy
them. It was an
aggressive political
threat!
THREE PART PLAN
Truman
Doctrine
Political Policy:
U.S. will seek to
resist the
spread of
communism…
policy of
Containment.
Marshall
Plan
NATO
Economic Policy: Military Policy:
Communism has
Allies of U.S.
appeal to the
pledge military
poor, so rebuild
support in
western
event of a
economies
threat by the
quickly to avoid Soviet Union or
the appeal
other
communists
COMMUNISM SPREADS TO CHINA
Following WWII, China continued to struggle with a
civil war. The two sides were:
The
Communists
The
Nationalists
Led by Mao
Zedong
Led by
Chiang Kaishek
Ruled
Northern
China
Supported by
the USSR
Ruled
Southern &
Eastern China
Supported by
the U.S.
Mao & the Communists won!
KOREA & COMMUNISM
• Fall of China to Communists was only
one part of Communist takeover
worldwide
• Korea also faced a Communist
takeover in the North
• End of WWII, Japanese Army north of
38th Parallel surrendered to the USSR,
south of the line surrendered to the U.S.
North & South Korea
-
USSR created Communist
Gov’t in the north
-
U.S. created democracy
in the south
-
Korea became two
nations, neither being
happy
-
Both claimed to be “the”
Korea, wanting the right
to govern a “whole”
nation
INVASION!
•Military cutbacks followed
WWII & the U.S. pulled out all
but 500 troops from South
Korea
•USSR concluded that the
U.S. would not fight to
support South Korea, &
supported a North Korean
invasion to reunify the
nation under a Communist
gov’t.
THE KOREAN WAR
• June, 1950, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel &
invaded South Korea
• U.S. sent troops to assist South Korea
• Gen. Douglas MacArthur & President Truman
disagreed about how to proceed: aggressively end
the stalemate or continue where they were & avoid
making the war even bigger?
TRUMAN VS. MACARTHUR
Soon, Truman & MacArthur
had a huge “fall out.”
MacArthur appealed to the
people for their support.
Warned that he had no
authority to make policy &
told to “be quiet & obey
orders,” MacArthur refused,
continuing to speak out &
criticize Truman.
Truman got angry & fired
MacArthur!
Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
THE KOREAN WAR
• General Matthew Ridgeway replaced MacArthur as
the American leader in Korea
• North & South fought, eventually arriving at a
stalemate where neither side had won anything
• The war ended in July, 1953
• 5 million soldiers & civilians died
• A “police action”, not a war
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
• As the “Super Powers” fought for superiority
in the world, an arms race developed
• Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb
in 1949
• The USA then developed the deadlier
Hydrogen Bomb
• We exploded the first H-bomb in 1952. Less
than a year later, the Soviets exploded their
own thermonuclear weapon.
BRINKMANSHIP
Practiced under President
Eisenhower
Massive Retaliation!
•The idea was to promise to
defend your allies with
“everything.”
•You threaten to go to war, or even
to use the “big one”, & hoped that
your enemy did not consider the
cause worth war or even nuclear
confrontation.
General turned
President,
Dwight
Eisenhower
BOMB SHELTERS
For most Americans, life went on & the threat of
nuclear war wasn’t a big deal. Others prepared for
disaster by building bomb shelters in their
backyards.
MCCARTHYISM
Early 1950s, Sen. Joseph
McCarthy led a campaign
to find & “eliminate”
Communists from high
positions in the U.S. gov’t.
He claimed he had a list of
over 200 high gov’t
officials who were procommunist, but really he
was just trying to get rid of
political rivals.
• With the Korean War
going badly, &
everything happening
in China & Eastern
Europe, Americans
were terrified of
Communists getting into
the USA & taking over.
• McCarthy was
appointed the head of
a committee designed
to seek out Communists
in America.
• All over the US there
was a “witch hunt,”
trying to find Russian
spies!
“Are you now,
or have you
ever been a
member of the
Communist
party?”
HUAC
• Agencies such as the
House Un-American
Activities Committee were
also involved in the hunt for
Communists.
• Authors, actors, Hollywood
film directors, & even army
officers got accused!
• Eventually McCarthy & the
spy-hunting got too carried
away, & people began to
disbelieve. Few trusted
McCarthy after that.
HOLLYWOOD 10
• Motion picture
producers, directors, &
screen writers who
refused to answer
questions about their
affiliation to Communism
& Communist influence
in the motion picture
industry
• They were jailed &
blacklisted in Hollywood
Charles Chaplin, although he
had never been in the
Communist Party, was accused
anyway & not allowed to reenter the U.S. until 1972.
Humphrey Bogart was
blacklisted for sympathizing
with his fellow actors who
had been called
Communists. In order to
clear his name, he was
required to publish an
article in a fan magazine
confessing, "I'm no
Communist," just an
"American dope."
Actor & future president Ronald
Reagan kept in touch with the
FBI about "disloyal" actors.
SPY CASES!
• Alger Hiss — accused of passing gov’t documents
to the Soviets, & convicted of perjury pertaining to
statements about being involved in espionage.
• Julius & Ethel Rosenberg — found guilty in 1951 &
sent to the electric chair in June 1953, the first U.S.
citizens executed for espionage.