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Truman and the Cold War
CHA 3U
Guiding Questions?
• When did the Cold War ‘start’?
• Was it avoidable?
• Was it inevitable?
• What are the key underlying causes?
• Who were the key players (countries and
individuals?
Roots of the Cold War
•
Philosophical Differences
Soviet Union: communism, totalitarian dictatorship
United States: free-enterprise, capitalism, republic
•
WWII Conflicts
Allies during war, but not friends
Soviets wanted British/Americans to open second European front earlier in the war
U.S. atomic bomb plans worried Soviet Union
•
Post War Conflicts
Soviet Union refused to let Eastern Europe hold elections as promised at Yalta
Conference
United States resisted Soviet expansion
‘Iron Curtain’
• Stalin wanted to retain political and
economic control over Eastern
Europe
• Soviets managed to install
Communist governments
throughout Eastern Europe
• Stalin outlawed political parties or
newspapers that opposed
Communists
• Soviets jailed or killed opponents
• Soviets fixed elections to ensure
success of Communists
• Churchill attacked Soviet Union for
creating “Iron Curtain”
How does the U.S. respond?
Containment
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
• Policy stated that
U.S. should resist
Soviet attempts to
expand its power
• Said that United
States would help
people fight
against oppressors
• Containment
included economic
aid, sanctions, and
military force
• Truman wanted to
send aid to Greece
and Turkey to help
them fight Soviet
pressure
• Aid program to
rebuild economies
of European
countries to create
stable conditions for
democracies
• Congress agreed
to send millions of
dollars to Greece
and Turkey
• 17 countries
received $13.4
billion dollars in aid
• Helped build strong
political support in
Western Europe
Berlin
• Soviets planned to keep their
German zone under
Communist control
• British, Americans, and French
began to take steps to set up
free, democratic government
w/in their German zones
• British, Americans, and French
set up democratic government
in West Berlin
• Soviets unhappy w/ idea of
Western-style government and
economy in middle of Soviet
zone
Berlin Airlift
• June 1948 - Soviets
announced they would block
any road, rail, or river traffic
into West Berlin
• West Berlin’s residents were
cut off from food, coal, and
other products essential to
survival
• West Berlin was not
completely cutoff because it
had airstrips
• British and American planes
began making deliveries
• Continued until Soviet Union
lifted its blockade on May 12,
1949
NATO
• 1949 - U.S. and 6 other
nations joined Belgium,
France, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, and U.K. to
form NATO
• Armed attack against one
would be considered an
attack against all
• Later expanded to include 26
countries
So how did politicians respond
in the US?
Election of 1948
• Many Democrats
compared Truman
unfavorably to FDR
• Republicans began to
attack Truman before
1946 congressional
elections and gained
majority in Congress
• Made it difficult for
Truman to put his
programs into place
The Election of 1948
• Southern democrats opposed to
Truman’s support for civil rights
program
• Proposed end to racial segregation
and integrate armed forces
• Nominate South Carolina Governor
Strom Thurmond
• Other democrats feared Truman
was antagonizing Soviet Union
• Nominate former V.P. Henry
Wallace
• Truman had lost support from both
the right wing and left wings of his
party
The Election of 1948
• Republicans nominate Governor
of N.Y. Thomas Dewey
• Truman’s sinking popularity and
three way split in Democratic
Party meant that Dewey
appeared unbeatable
• Dewey avoided risk, controversy
and was vague about what he
would do as president
• “Agriculture is important. Our
rivers are full of fish. You cannot
have freedom without liberty. Our
future lies ahead.”
Political Cartoon
Election of 1948
• Truman aggressive on campaign trail
• Ordered Republican Congress back and
challenged them to pass civil rights legislation,
health and education reform
(all part of the Republican platform)
• Republican Congress did little to enact its own
legislation
• “Do-nothing, good for nothing Republican 80th
Congress”
The Election of 1948
• Truman crosses country
on whistle-stop tour
• Brief speeches from
back on private train car
that carried Truman
from one town to the
next
• “Give ‘em hellHarry!”
• (popular slogan shouted
at stops)
The Election of 1948
• Final days of campaign only
Truman believed he would win
• His wife doubted he could pull out
upset
• Not a single reporter travelling on
his campaign thought he would win
• Many newspapers/magazines were
so confident of Dewey's victory
they wrote articles to be printed the
morning after election speculating
about new "Dewey Presidency “
The Election of 1948
The Election of 1948
• Truman won
California, Illinois, and
Ohio by less than 1%
• Totaled 78 electoral
votes and difference
in election
• Chicago Tribune went
to press with headline
• “Dewey defeats
Truman”
Why did Truman win?
• Victory attributed to many
factors:
• Aggressive and populist
campaign style
• Dewey's complacent approach
to campaign
• His failure to respond to
Truman's attacks
• Public approval of Truman's
foreign policy and support for
Berlin airlift
• Widespread dissatisfaction w/
Republican controlled
Congress
• Strong economy in 1948 and
fear that recession would
return if Republicans won
• Third party candidates did not
hurt Truman as much as was
predicted
• Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrats
carried only four Southern
states
• Henry Wallace's Progressives
received only 2.4% of national
popular vote - well below their
expected vote total
• Civil rights platform helped
Truman win large majorities
among black voters in
populous Northern and
Midwestern states
Growing Fear of Communism
Soviet Atomic Weapons
Communist China
• 1949 - Soviet Union detonated
an atomic bomb
• Communists in China had
gained control of mainland
• Shock – America no longer
had monopoly on the bomb
• Nationalist government of fled
to Taiwan (Chiang Kai-shek)
• Truman began to strengthen
nation’s military against
possible Soviet nuclear threat
• China was in hands of
Communist Party (Mao
Zedong)
• Americans worried that China
increased Communist threat to
U.S.
Spy Rings
• Alger Hiss—convicted of being
spy for Soviets
• Klaus Fuchs—a Manhattan
Project scientist who gave
atomic bomb information to
Soviets
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg—
convicted of passing secrets to
Soviets
• Executed
Communism at Home
• House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
investigated full range of
radical groups in U.S.
• Truman created plan to
investigate all federal
employees
• Those disloyal to United States
were barred from federal
employment
• Employees forced to take
loyalty oaths
• Investigations turned up little
evidence of disloyalty
Communism at Home
• Smith Act - made it crime to call for
overthrow of government
• Truman charged leaders of Communist
Party in U.S. under act, including
Eugene Dennis – General Secretary of
CP USA
• Convicted, convictions were upheld in
Dennis v. United States
• Found that Dennis did not have right
under 1st Amendment to exercise free
speech, if it was part of a conspiracy to
overthrow government
HUAC
•
HUAC explored possible
Communist influence in film
industry
•
Hollywood Ten – former members
of the Communist Party who
refused to answer HUAC
questions about their beliefs or
those of their colleagues
•
Blacklisted
•
Many others in Hollywood stars,
writers and directors named
names of suspected communists
•
In doing so they stayed off
blacklist
Joseph McCarthy
• 1950 - U.S. senator claimed
205 known Communists
working for U.S. Department of
State
• Cartoonist dubbed McCarthy’s
tactic of spreading fear and
making baseless charges
“McCarthyism”
• Claims rarely backed up w/
any evidence
• Gained reputation as nation’s
top Communist fighter
• McCarthyism spread into other
branches of government,
universities, labor unions, and
private businesses
Korea
• After WWII, Japanese-occupied
Korea was temporarily divided into
northern and southern parts
• Soviet Union controlled Korea
north of 38th parallel
• U.S. controlled Korea south of 38th
parallel
• Soviet Union established a
communist government in North
• In South Korea, United States
promoted a democratic system
Start of the Korean War
• June 25, 1950 - North Korea invaded South Korea
• American troops stationed in South Korea since WWII
had recently completed their withdrawal
• U.S. not well prepared to fight in Korea; however,
decision to fight was made quickly
• Truman decided that the United States would take a
stand against Communist aggression in Korea
• United Nations Security Council voted unanimously in
favor of the use of force in Korea
The Korean War
Role of the United States
Role of the United Nations
• South Korea was where the
United States had to take a
stand against Communist
aggression
• The UN Security Council
supported the use of force in
Korea
• Truman ordered American
naval and air forces to support
Korean ground troops
• Truman asked United Nations
to approve the use of force to
stop North Korean invasion
• Truman sent ground troops to
Korea
• The troops sent to Korea were
to be a United Nations force
• Instead of calling this a war,
the whole effort was referred to
as a UN police action
Inchon
•
Truman appointed General
MacArthur to command all UN
troops in Korea
•
UN forces made an amphibious
landing behind North Korean lines at
Inchon
•
MacArthur’s surprise attack worked
•
September 1950 invasion at Inchon
was key victory
•
Offensives from Inchon and Pusan
resulted in destruction/surrender of
huge numbers of North Korean
troops
•
By October 1950 all of South Korea
was back in UN hands
Retreat
• MacArthur refuses to halt
- carries war into north
• Action threatens
Communist China
• October 1950 – 260 000
Chinese troops joined
North Koreans forcing UN
forces to retreat to Seoul
• Longest fallback in U.S.
military history
• MacArthur - "an entirely
new war"
Truman and MacArthur
• MacArthur believed UN faced choice
between defeat by Chinese or major
war
• Wanted to expand war by bombing
Chinese mainland, perhaps even w/
atomic weapons
• U.S./ U.N. stopped Chinese and
pushed them back to the 38th parallel —
w/out needing to expand the war
• MacArthur disagreed w/ President
Truman about direction of fighting and
challenged authority of president
• Truman fired MacArthur
The Korean War
• 1952 – Truman popularity at
all-time low
• Announces he will not seek
another term as president
• Dwight D. Eisenhower runs as
a Republican — promised to
end the war— is elected
president
• An armistice agreement was
finally reached on July 27,
1953
• Left the map of Korea looking
much as it had in 1950
Legacy of Truman
• Left office most unpopular
president in history
• 22% approval rating
• 1965 – Lyndon Johnson
signed Medicare into law
• Gave Truman first
Medicare card
• Honor his fight for
government healthcare
as president
Legacy of Truman
• Died in December of 1972
• Emerged as a folk hero
after his death
• Exemplified integrity and
accountability
• “The buck stops here”
• Routinely ranked as one of
the greatest presidents