Chapter 27 Development of the Cold War

The BIG Idea: Competition Among Countries

A period of conflict known as the Cold War developed between the United States and the

Soviet Union after 1945, dividing Europe.

What is a “Cold War?”• Once the Axis powers were defeated, the differences between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. became clear. Stalin still feared the West and America feared the U.S.S.R. At the core of this difference were the two countries’ different political & economic systems.

The U.S.A’s system was generally capitalist. Capitalism is a system where the government of a country tries to let business run themselves, and people’s wants and needs determine what is made and sold.

The U.S.S.R.’s system was generally communist. Communism is a system where the government of a country determines who an economy will run and what is made and sold.

Confrontation of the Superpowers• After World War II, the U.S.S.R. was not willing to give up its control over western Europe for security reasons.• At the same time, the United States had gained prestige with the rest of the world, and were not willing to give up any of its influence in Europe. • In 1949, the United States and its European allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to strengthen its alliances in Europe. This organization is now today as NATO.• In Reaction to NATO, the U.S.S.R. and its European allies formed the Warsaw Pact in in 1955.

N.A.T.O Countries & Warsaw Pact Countries

Blue Countries are members of NATO

RED Countries are members of the Warsaw Pact(the darker the color, the earlier they joined)

Confrontation of the Superpowers• The first are of disagreement was Eastern Europe. The U.S. and Great Britain believed that the newly liberated nations of that area should vote for whatever type of government they wanted.

• Stalin feared that if the countries of Eastern Europe would become anti-Soviet, and so the Soviet Army which had freed Eastern Europe from the Nazis, stayed in Eastern Europe.

Civil War in Greece & The Truman Doctrine• A civil war in Greece also contributed to tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. • In 1946 Great Britain and the west supported the anti-Communist forces against the Communists, but Britain was unable to continue to pay for support since they were still rebuilding after WWII

• American President Harry Truman was scared by the possibility of the U.S.S.R. expanding even further into Europe and Truman asked congress for $400 million to give to aid Greece & Turkey.

Civil War in Greece & The Truman Doctrine• Although Truman’s request was specifically for money to aid Greece & Turkey, he also established a policy known as the Truman Doctrine. This guideline stated that the U.S. would provide aid to other countries threatened by Communist Expansion.

“ It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation

by armed minorities or outside pressures” – Harry Truman

March 12, 1947

The Marshall Plan• In addition to the Truman Plan, which would send money to foreign countries at danger of a Communist take-over, the U.S. also had wanted to help it allies to rebuild Europe after WWII.• The Marshall Plan, which was named after U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall, provided $13 Billion to war-torn countries in Europe to promote stability. • Marshall believed that the countries in the worst financial states, would be the ones that would be most vulnerable to Communism, and that giving aid to those countries would stop the spread of communism.

C.O.M.E.C.O.N.• In response to the Marshall Plan, the Soviet Union developed an economic assistance program of its own.

• The plan the Soviet Union came up with was the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, also known as COMECON.

• COMECON was intended to provide aid to the countries of Eastern Europe, but unlike the Marshall Plan, COMECON was not successful because the Soviet Union was not able to provide enough financial aid to the countries of Eastern Europe.

Contaiment• Along with the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, the United States enacted a third policy in 1947 known as a policy of containment.• George Kennan, a U.S. diplomat who was an expert in Soviet affairs, recommended that the U.S. should work to keep communism within its existing boundaries and prevent more Soviet expansion. • To Review the three U.S. Cold War Policies were:• The Truman Doctrine: the U.S. would send aid to countries facing the threat of Communist takeover.• The Marshall Plan: the U.S. would send aid money to its European allies to rebuild and stabilize the region• Policy of Containment: prevent more Communist states.

The Division of Germany• How to deal with Germany after WWII also became a major issue of conflict between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.• At the end of the War the Allied Powers had divided Germany into four zones, one each occupied by the U.S., Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union • The city of Berlin, which was in the Soviet Union’s zone, was also divided into four zones.

The Division of Germany

• The U.S.S.R. would not work with the other countries to create a treaty with the Germans so France, Great Britain and the U.S. went ahead and united their three zones of Germany.

Here is a map of Berlin which was also divided. Note that Berlin was surrounded by East Germany which was under U.S.S.R. control on all sides.

The Division of Germany• The U.S.S.R. was opposed to the creation of a Western German state. They attempted to prevent it by mounting a blockade of West Berlin. • Soviet forces allowed neither trucks, trains nor barges to enter Berlin’s three Western zones. Food and supplies could no longer get in to the Western zones 2.5 Million people in those parts of Berlin.• To deliver goods to West Berlin, without starting another ground war, the Western Allies air-lifted food and supplies to West Berlin in what is now known as The Berlin Airlift. • The U.S.S.R. also wanted to avoid war, and so they ended the blockade.• Eventually Western Germany became the Federal Republic of Germany (or West Germany) and the U.S.S.R. controlled areas became the German Democratic Republic (or East Germany.)

The Cold War Spreads• Starting in 1949 a series of events caused the tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to escalate.• In 1949 Chaing Kai-shek and the Nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War and the Communist Mao Zedong announced that China was now a Communist Country• Also in 1949 the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.• In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first human-made space satellite to orbit the earth. Many Americans feared that the U.S.S.R. was ahead of the U.S. in technology and missile production.

The Cold War Spreads• The Increase in tensions between the two powers led to two new policies. The first was a strengthening of Alliances.

• The United States and Canada formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with its European Allies (Great Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, etc.) to provide mutual help if any country was attacked. • In response to NATO, the Soviet Union joined with Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Romania and Poland to form the Warsaw Pact, which was named after Poland’s capital. The purpose was to form a military alliance just as the Western Powers had.• The alliances then spread to the rest of the world, and in the 1950’s the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. both began to become involved in the Korean Conflict.

N.A.T.O Countries & Warsaw Pact Countries

Blue Countries are members of NATO

RED Countries are members of the Warsaw Pact(the darker the color, the earlier they joined)

The Cold War Spreads• In addition to the Alliances that both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. were forming, both countries were also spending massive amounts of money to build up their militaries. • Both sides came to believe that an arsenal of nuclear weapons would actually prevent war. Why would they think more weapons would prevent war?• According to this policy known as deterrence, neither side could risk using their massive supplies of weapons for fear that the other side would retaliate and devastate the attacker.

A Wall in Berlin• Nikita Khrushchev who became the new leader of the Soviet Union in 1955, took advantage of the American fear over missiles to solve a problem for the Soviets in West Berlin. • West Berlin was a “Western Island” in the middle of poverty-stricken East Germany and many escaped into West Berlin. • To stop the prevent East Germans from defecting to West Berlin, Khrushchev had the East German Government build a wall separating West Berlin from East Berlin.• Eventually the Wall became a massive barrier with barbed wire, flood lights, minefields and dog patrols.

A Wall in BerlinThis photograph was taken during the construction of the Berlin Wall.

This map shows the divided Berlin with the Checkpoints.

A Wall in Berlin

The Cuban Crisis Missile Crisis• Another issue that caused tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was Cuba. • In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro was being supported by the U.S.S.R . •President John F. Kennedy felt that having a country with Communist Contacts so close to the U.S. was a threat to the security of the United States, but he knew that a public move would anger the Soviets who might retaliate.

Fidel Castro

John F. Kennedy

The Cuban Crisis Missile Crisis• Kennedy approved a CIA plan to have exiled Cuban fighters invade Cuba to cause a revolt against Castro. • The invasion, now known as the Bay of Pigs which was the beach that the Americans landed on, was a disaster, and by the third day all the exiled fighters were had either been killed or had surrendered.• After the Bay of Pigs, Khrushchev sent advisors to Cuba and made plans to place nuclear missiles to counteract U.S. missiles that had been placed in Turkey.• The U.S. was not willing to allow nuclear weapons so close to its country, and in 1962 Kennedy ordered a blockade to prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba.

The Cuban Crisis Missile Crisis• While the Soviet ships were blockaded, Khrushchev and Kennedy worked out an agreement: The Soviets would turn back and not place missiles in Cuba, and the United States agreed not to invade Cuba. • Years later, Soviet officials revealed that the rockets headed to Cuba were intended to be used against U.S. troops if they tried to invade Cuba. • The fact that the world came so close to being destroyed by nuclear war, had a great affect on the way the two powers did business and a hotline between Moscow and Washington D.C. was installed in 1963.

Vietnam and the Domino Theory• By the mid-1960’s the United States had been drawn into another struggle that had an impact on the Cold War: the Vietnam Conflict• In 1964 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent more and more troops to Vietnam to try to prevent the Communist government of North Vietnam from invading South Vietnam.

Vietnam and the Domino Theory

Vietnam and the Domino Theory• The U.S. policy makers saw the Vietnam Conflict as part of the Domino Theory. The argument was that if Communist succeeded in South Vietnam, that other countries in Asia would fall like dominos to communism.

• As you know from American History 2, The North Vietnam Communists were successful. Despite their success, the domino theory was proved to be unfounded as Communist China and the U.S.S.R. broke off their relations and it became clear that there was no single one form of communism being directed by the U.S.S.R.