Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Slide 2 The Cold War The Cold
War Definitions Periodization: The Cold War is typically dated from
1945 until 1991, although its key tensions began to emerge during
the war. Bipolar Globe: The Cold War is described as being a
bipolar period where countries felt compelled to side with the U.S.
and NATO, or the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact on the other
side. Cycles of Increasing Tension and Relative Calm: The Cold War
was characterized by cycles of increasing tension followed by
relative calm. Some of the most tense moments were the Berlin
Blockade (1948-49), the Korean War (1950-53), the Cuban Missile
Crisis (1962), and the the Vietnam War (1959-1975). Nonaligned
States: By 1961, a movement of non-aligned states was founded by
leaders of Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Egypt, Ghana, and India to try to
create a space outside of the Cold War dynamic. 2 Slide 3 Chapter
Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Origins of the Cold War Origins of the
Cold War Sources of Soviet-American Tension Americas Postwar
Vision: FDR wanted to see the world outlined in the Atlantic
Charter of 1941 emerge: nations avoiding traditional military
alliances and spheres of influence in favor of democratic
international bodies as mediators. Soviet and British Conservatism:
While both the U.K. and U.S.S.R. had signed the Atlantic Charter,
both were suspect of its full implications. Britain was uneasy
about what self- determination would mean for its massive empire,
while the Soviets wished to carve out a traditional sphere of
influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Both Churchill and Stalin
saw the postwar world more in terms of the traditional European
balance of power. 3 Slide 4 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War Origins of the Cold War Wartime Diplomacy
Casablanca Conference: In Jan. 1943, FDR and Churchill met in the
Moroccan city of Casablanca to discuss strategy. They refused to
meet Stalins chief demand of opening a new front (Stalin did not
attend), but did promise not to negotiate a separate peace with
Hitler. Tehran Conference: In late Nov. 1943, Stalin, Churchill,
and FDR met for the first time in Tehran, Iran. Stalin promised to
enter the war against Japan at the end of the European war, while
FDR promised to open a new European front within six months.
Poland: Tensions between FDR and Churchill on one side and Stalin
on the other began to grow over the future Polish government: FDR
and Churchill supported the pro-Western government-in-exile in
London, while Stalin favored a pro-communist government. 4 Slide 5
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War 5 Teheran Conference, Nov. 28
Dec. 1, 1943 Slide 6 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Origins of
the Cold War Origins of the Cold War The Yalta Conference United
Nations Established: In this meeting in the Soviet city of Yalta in
the Crimean peninsula in Feb. 1945, FDR, Stalin, and Churchill
agreed on a plan for a new international organization that would
include a Security Council consisting of the five permanent powers
U.S., Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and Chinaeach with veto
power. The U.N. Charter was ultimately drafted at a conference in
San Francisco with fifty nations attending in April 1945.
Disagreements over Poland: Stalins armies reoccupied large parts of
eastern Poland by 1944, and had set up a pro-communist government
in the city of Lublin, Stalin favored the Lublin government over
the government-in-exile in London. Stalin promised free and
unfettered elections to resolve the issue, but these did not happen
for 40 years. 6 Slide 7 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Yalta
conference, Feb. 1945. 7 Slide 8 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War Origins of the Cold War The Yalta
Conference Germany: The Yalta conference did not yield a solid plan
for Germany either; FDR wanted a reconstructed and reunited
Germany, while Stalin wanted a divided nation laden with heavy
reparation payments. Ultimately, a plan dividing Germany into zones
of occupation was devised, whereby Great Britain, France, the U.S.,
and the Soviets each would each occupy their own piece of German
territory, while Berlin itself would also be divided into four
occupation zones. Problems of the Yalta Accords: The accords were
loose agreements that side-stepped the most controversial issues,
making vague promises about the establishment of democratically
elected governments. In the weeks that followed, FDR was alarmed to
see the Soviets set up pro-communist governments in many central
and eastern European states they occupied. FDRs Death: Taking a
vacation at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, FDR suffered a
sudden massive stroke and died on April 12, 1945. 8 Slide 9 Chapter
Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The Collapse
of the Peace Harry S. Truman Little Experience: The new president
had limited experience in foreign affairs. He also did not share
FDRs belief that Stalin could bend on certain issues, and often
viewed him with contempt. The Failure of Potsdam Getting Tough:
Just days after taking office, Truman called the Soviet minister in
and chastised him for violations of the Yalta Accords. Limited
American Leverage: But with the Russians occupying most of Eastern
and Central Europe and Germany already divided, American
negotiating leverage was poor. Still fighting Japan, the U.S. was
not willing to open up a new front of war. Truman first conceded on
Poland, recognizing the Warsaw government after Stalin made a few
small concessions to the London Polish government. 9 Slide 10
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The
Collapse of the Peace The Failure of Potsdam Potsdam Conference:
Truman met with Churchill (who was replaced by Clement Attlee as
prime minister during the talks) and Stalin at Potsdam in
Soviet-occupied Germany just outside of Berlin from July 17 to Aug.
2, 1945. Disagreement: Truman allowed for the redrawing of the
Polish- German border that Stalin wanted, but refused reparation
being paid from Allied zones of Germany. This stance all but
guaranteed that Germany would remain divided, with the Allied zones
united under a pro-western government and the Russian zone with a
pro-Soviet, communist government 10 Slide 11 Chapter Twenty-Seven:
The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The Collapse of the Peace
The China Problem and Japan Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975): U.S.
foreign policy planners had vision of open world policed by major
powers including a strong China; this vision was made problematic
by an unpopular and corrupt Chinese nationalist government under
Chiang Kai-shek who battled communists under Mao Zedong and
received funding from the U.S., even as Chiangs defeat began to
look inevitable. But Truman was not willing to send troops to save
Chiang. Japan Restored: Because of the Chiangs governments
weakness, the U.S. sought to create a revitalized, pro-West Japan
by encouraging industrial development and lifting trade
restrictions, reversing the strict policies that followed World War
II. 11 Slide 12 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of
the Peace The Collapse of the Peace The Containment Doctrine
Containment: The U.S. no longer sought a unified open world, but
rather pursued a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. The
idea of a vigilant containment was developed by the influential
American diplomat, George F. Kennan (1904-2005). Truman Doctrine:
In a March 1947 speech to Congress, Truman sought aid for those
forces in Turkey and Greece opposing takeovers by Communist forces
under Soviet influence. Congress approved $400 million for this
purpose. Opposition to Containment Progressive Critique: Some
progressives saw containment as overly belligerent and responsible
for deteriorating U.S.-Soviet relations. Conservative Critique:
Some conservatives saw the need to roll back communism, not just
contain it. Neither of these views was mainstream. 12 George F.
Kennan Slide 13 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War 13 At the
present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose
between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a
free one. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority,
and is distinguished by free institutions, representative
government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty,
freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political
oppression. The second way of life is based upon the will of a
minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror
and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and
the suppression of personal freedoms. 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. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out
their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help
should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is
essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.
Excerpt from Trumans Speech to Congress March 12, 1947 Slide 14
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The
Collapse of the Peace The Marshall Plan Rebuilding Europe:
Secretary of State George Marshall (1880- 1859) put forth a plan in
June 1947 to provide aid to all European nations for humanitarian
reasons, to rebuild and create markets for U.S. goods, and to
strengthen pro-U.S. governments against communist threats. Russia
and eastern European countries rejected it. Economic Cooperation
Administration: Congress passed a law creating this agency in April
1948 to channel billions of dollars to aid economic revival in
Western Europe. Results: For three years, the plan pumped $13
billion in aid into Western Europe, industrial output rose 64
percent, and communist parties had been weakened considerably. 14
Marshall at a U.N. General Assembly in Paris in 1948 Slide 15
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Divided Europe after World War
II 15 Slide 16 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of
the Peace The Collapse of the Peace Mobilization at Home Readiness:
The U.S. maintained wartime military levels, and established Atomic
Energy Commission to continue nuclear research. The National
Security Act of 1947: This law signed in July restructured the
military by creating a Department of Defense (initially called the
National Military Establishment until 1949) to combine all armed
services, create the National Security Council in the White House,
and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to collect information. It
gave the president expanded powers over the military. The
Department of Defense was housed in the Pentagon, which was
completed in 1943. 16 Slide 17 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
The Collapse of the Peace The Collapse of the Peace The Road to
NATO West Germany: Truman negotiated with France and England to
merge the German Western zones into one in early 1948, and planned
for a new country that would also include the western zones of the
city of Berlin, which lay deep within Russian- occupied eastern
Germany. Berlin Airlift: Stalin responded to the merger in June
1948 by blockading Western Berlin; this blockade lasted until March
1949. Truman responded with an airlift to re-supply inhabitants.
The USAF and RAF flew over 200,000 flights and delivered 2.5
million tons worth of materials, keeping 2 million people alive. 17
Slide 18 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the
Peace The Collapse of the Peace 18 A U.S. C-54 flying in supplies
to Tempelhof Airport in Berlin during the Airlift, 1948- 49. Slide
19 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The
Collapse of the Peace The Road to NATO Two Germanies: The western
Federal Republic of Germany was declared in May 1949; the
Democratic Republic of east is founded in October 1949. NATO
Created: On April 4, 1949, the U.S. and the United Kingdom, Canada,
France, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium,
Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed an agreement creating the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Soviets eventually
responded in 1955 by creating the Warsaw Pact. 19 Slide 20 Chapter
Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Collapse of the Peace The Collapse
of the Peace Reevaluating Cold War Policy Soviet Bomb: In September
1949, the Soviet Union exploded an atomic weapon. Communist China:
Nationalist resistance collapsed in in China 1949, leading to the
declaration of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1; the U.S.
refused to recognize the new regime. Containment Expanded: In this
atmosphere of escalating crisis, Truman ordered a reevaluation of
the containment strategy. The reportknown as NSC-68called for a
more aggressive stance: the U.S. could not rely on other countries
to fight against communist around the globe, and itself must be
ready to fight against communist expansion anywhere it might occur
around the globe. The report recommended that U.S. expand its
military power, and spend almost four times more on defense. 20
Slide 21 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War America after the War
America after the War The Problems of Reconversion No Return to
Depression: Contrary to some predictions, the U.S. did relatively
well economically after the war due to pent-up consumer demand and
a $6 billion tax cut. GI Bill: The Servicemens Readjustment Act of
1944 provided subsidies for housing, education, and job-training.
But its funds were not available to women, and the local
administration of the law meant that discriminatory practices
against African Americans persisted. Inflation and Labor Unrest:
Problems arose with high inflation prices rose as much as 15
percent a yearand strikes by unions in the mining and railroad
industries, and displacement of some minorities and women because
of returning soldiers to the workforce. With the national railroad
strike, Truman threatened to use Army troops to man the rails,
which led to a quick resolution. 21 Slide 22 Chapter Twenty-Seven:
The Cold War America after the War America after the War The Fair
Deal Rejected Fair Deal: After the Japanese surrender Truman,
proposed a Fair Deal to enact liberal reformsincluded raising
minimum wage, enacting a permanent Fair Employment Practices law,
expanding Social Security, and creating a nation health insurance
plan. Opposition: The Fair Deal legislation was opposed by
Republicans who gained majority in both Houses of Congress in the
1946 elections using the slogan, Had Enough? They sought to reduce
government spending and economic controls, cut taxes for wealthy,
and refused to raise wages. Taft-Hartley Act: Republicans wanted to
decrease the power of unions gained in the 1935 Wagner Act by
passing 1947 Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley Act); it
made closed shops illegal and limited efforts to help those not yet
organized, especially in the South and West. It also allowed states
to pass right-to-work laws. 22 Slide 23 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The
Cold War America after the War America after the War The Election
of 1948 Divided Democratic Party: Truman sought to make re-election
about liberal reforms, but many Democrats saw him as a weak
candidate. States Rights Party: Angered by Trumans civil rights
efforts, many Southern Democrats broke away to form the States
Rights Party with candidate Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.
Progressive Party: A group of progressive Democrats broke away to
form the Progressive Party with Henry Wallace of Iowa as their
candidate. Americans for Democratic Action: A coalition of
anti-communist liberals tried to convince Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
as a Democrat, but he refused to do so; only then did this group
agree to support to Truman. Thomas Dewey: The confident and
competent Republican candidate seemed to be in strong position to
win. Trumans Stunning Victory: Intense campaigning by Truman and
his platform to reduce inflation and help the common person allowed
him to win reelection. Democrats also won both houses of Congress.
23 Slide 24 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War Election of 1948 24
Truman holding up the famously erroneous headline in the Chicago
Tribune Slide 25 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War America after
the War America after the War The Fair Deal Revived New Democratic
Congress: The New Democratic Congress allowed for minimum wage
increase and Social Security expansion, but was hostile to Fair
Deal programs expanding education aid, national healthcare, and
civil rights. Renewed Federal Commitment to Civil Rights: Truman
did end government hiring discrimination, desegregated the armed
forces; the Supreme Court in Skelley v. Kraemer rules community
covenants preventing blacks moving into neighborhoods as
unenforceable by courts. 25 Slide 26 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold
War America after the War America after the War The Nuclear Age
Film Noir, Popular Culture, and Atomic Propaganda: Nuclear weapons
viewed with fear because of the threat from Soviet Union, which
permeated pop culture like film noir, and government propaganda
like the famed Duck and Cover films showing how to prepare for a
nuclear attack. Atomic Optimism: Much of the public remained awed
by technological potential of nuclear power, with dreams of
prosperity and unlimited and cheap electricity. 26 Slide 27 Chapter
Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Korean War The Korean War The
Divided Peninsula Syngman Rhee (1875-1965): Both U.S. and Soviet
troops had been in Korea during WW II fighting the Japanese. When
these troops pulled out, the Soviets left a well armed
pro-Communist government in the north. In the south, the
pro-Western government was led by anti- communist strongman Rhee,
who relied on political repression but commanded a relatively weak
army. The territory of the two governments was split at 38 th
parallel, about 30 miles north of Seoul. Invasion: North Korea
invaded the South on June 25, 1950, in effort to reunite countries
under communist rule; the U.S. sent troops won a U.N. resolution
calling for support of South Korean armies (Russia was unable to
veto because it was boycotting the Security Council at time because
of the U.N.s failure to recognize the new communist government of
China). 27 Syngman Rhee Slide 28 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
The Korean War, 1950-1953 28 General MacArthur during the invasion
of Inchon Slide 29 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Korean
War The Korean War From Invasion to Stalemate U.S. Policy: In
Korea, the U.S. sought not just to contain communism, but roll it
back to the Chinese border. China Intervenes: General MacArthur,
head of U.N. forces, was able to advance far into North, but the
new Chinese communist government feared the encroachment of
American forces and entered the conflict in late 1950. Retreat:
With the Chinese onslaught, U.N. armies were forced to retreat to
38th parallel and a long stalemate ensued until 1953.
Truman-MacArthur Controversy: Truman wanted peace and not a new
world war with China; Gen. MacArthur publicly opposed peace effort
and even called for the use of atomic weapons; he was relieved of
command by Truman in 1951, which was very unpopular with much of
the American public. 29 Slide 30 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
The Korean War The Korean War Limited Mobilization Limited
Mobilization: Truman created the Office of Defense Mobilization to
combat rising inflation and police union demands for higher wages
(which he viewed as inflationary); he threatened to have the
federal government seize railroads and steel mills during strikes
in 1951 and 1952, and tried to increase government spending to
stimulate the economy. Rising Insecurity and Frustration: After
winning WWII, people wondered why the U.S. was stalemated in Korea
with 140,000 American dead and wounded. The inability of the U.S.
to quickly end a small war led to fears that something must be
wrong at home, feeding anxiety about communist subversion. 30 Slide
31 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Crusade Against
Subversion The Crusade Against Subversion HUAC and Alger Hiss Red
Scare: Anxiety prompted by fear of Stalin and the Soviet Union and
its new atomic capacity, as well as Communist expansion (loss of
China and Korean), led many to blame a U.S. communist conspiracy.
HUAC: Between 1938 and 1944, this was a special investigative
committee in the House chaired by Texas Democrat, Martin Dies. In
1945, Congress made the House Un-American Activities Committee a
permanent standing committee, and in 1947, it began investigations
about supposed communist subversion in many high profile American
institutions and organizations. 31 Slide 32 Chapter Twenty-Seven:
The Cold War The Crusade Against Subversion The Crusade Against
Subversion HUAC and Alger Hiss The Hollywood Ten: Argument was made
that communists had infiltrated Hollywood and filled films with
propaganda; when suspected writers and producers were called to
testify, some were sent to jail for contempt when they refused to
discuss their political beliefs or those of colleagues; several
were also blacklisted. Screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and Ring Lardner
Jr. were among the ten. Alger Hiss (1904-1996): In 1948, former
communist agent and conservative editor at Time magazine, Whittaker
Chambers (1901-1961), told HUAC that Hiss, an influential former
diplomat who was after 1946 the president of the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace, had been involved in passing along State
Department secrets to the Soviets in the late 1930s. Chambers
produced evidence, and although the statute of limitations had
passed on the espionage charges, Hiss was convicted on perjury
charges. The Hiss trial did trigger a wave of paranoia about
communist infiltration of the federal government. 32 Alger Hiss
Slide 33 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Crusade Against
Subversion The Crusade Against Subversion The Federal Loyalty
Program and the Rosenberg Case Federal Loyalty Program: Partly to
protect himself from Republican attacks, Truman began in 1947 a
program to determine loyalty of federal employees; by 1951, 2,000
had been forced to resign and 212 were dismissed. The FBI under J.
Edgar Hoover (1895-1972)investigated and harassed alleged radicals.
McCarran Internal Security Act: In 1950 Congress passedover Trumans
vetothe McCarran Internal Security Act forcing communist groups to
register with the government and open their records and restricted
other subversive activities. 33 J. Edgar Hoover on the cover of
Time magazine in 1949 Slide 34 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
The Crusade Against Subversion The Crusade Against Subversion The
Federal Loyalty Program and the Rosenberg Case The Rosenbergs: The
explosion of atomic bomb by Soviets led to an investigation of how
they acquired the technology must faster than expected.
German-British scientist Klaus Fuchs (1911-1988) revealed that he
had delivered atomic secrets to the Soviets. The trail from Fuchs
led to a New York couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were found to
have conveyed information from Ethels brother, David Greenglass,
who was a machinist at Los Alamos, to Fuchs. Both Rosenbergs were
executed on June 19, 1953, while Greenglass served ten years in
prison (hes still alive). Growing Fear of Subversion: HUAC, the
Rosenberg trial, the Loyalty program, Hiss ordeal, and the McCarran
Act all lead to national anticommunist paranoia at national, state,
and local levels by the early 1950s. 34 Slide 35 Chapter
Twenty-Seven: The Cold War The Crusade Against Subversion The
Crusade Against Subversion McCarthyism Wheeling Speech: Joseph
McCarthy (1908-1957), an undistinguished senator from Wisconsin who
had won election in 1946 with much red- baiting, narrowly defeating
his incumbent opponent in the primary, progressive but isolationist
Republican Robert M. La Follette, Jr. But he leapt on to the
national stage with a speech he gave on Feb. 9, 1950, in which he
charged that 205 communists were harbored in the State Department
(he later revised the number to 57, and rarely used the same number
twice). He soon leveled similar charges against other agencies.
McCarthys Soaring Popularity: After 1952, when the Republicans
controlled the senate, McCarthy was put in charge of a subcommittee
that was at the fore of the anticommunist fervor and partisan
politics. He claimed the Democrats had been responsible for twenty
years of treason, and almost no one dared challenge him, although
he never backed his accusations with conclusive evidence. Many saw
him as a crusader. 35 Slide 36 Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Cold War
The Crusade Against Subversion The Crusade Against Subversion The
Republican Revival Democratic Defeats: The Korean stalemate and
anticommunist anxiety led to widespread Democratic defeats in 1952.
Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965): Democrats nominated this cerebral
governor of Illinois, who many viewed as liberal and weak on
Communism; Republicans nominated popular General Dwight D.
Eisenhower and vice- presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon
(1913-1994); Eisenhower talked of Korean peace, while Nixon talked
of fighting communist subversion. Nixon had risen to fame during
the Congressional investigation of Alger Hiss. Eisenhower Elected:
Eisenhower won election by huge margin and Republicans gained
control of both Houses of Congress. Ike won 55 percent of the
popular vote to Stephensons 44 percent, and 442 electoral votes to
Stephensons 89. Checkers Speech: Nixon allayed concerns about
financial improprieties with his famed televised Checkers speech,
in which he admitted his family dog had been a gift from
supporters, but he was giving all other gifts back. 36
