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The Cold War
1945-1989
What is the Cold War
It was an intense rivalry between
the United States and Russia –
between West and East and
between capitalism and
communism that dominated the
years following WW II.
Words of Wisdom
Winston Churchill;
“Germany is finished.
The real problem is
Russia. I can’t get
Americans to see it.”
-- 1945
Cold vs. Hot
It is called the
“Cold” War
because there
was never any
direct attack
made by the U.S.
or Soviet Union
on each other.
Yalta ConferenceThe Big Three meet –Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
Divided Germany into four zones
Problem: Poland!Roosevelt wanted a guarantee of free elections and Stalin wanted complete control of Poland
The issue of Poland would not go away
The United NationsThe Big Three all agreed on establishing this international peace keeping organization following WWII
Goal: to promote justice and cooperation
Permanent headquarters established in New York in 1953.
FDR dies; Truman Takes
Command
FDR died on April
12, 1945
Truman, his Vice
President for only a
few months,
became the leader
of our country
Conflicting Postwar
GoalsAmericans: wanted democracy and economic opportunities for the countries of Europe and Asia
Soviets: Wanted to rebuild their nation in order to protect their own interests. They wanted to establish satellite nations, countries controlled by the Soviets along the western boundaries of the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted to overthrow capitalism around the world and install Communist governments.
Satellite Nations
Like dominoes, one
by one countries in
Eastern Europe fell
to Stalin and
communism
Poland, Romania,
Bulgaria, East
Germany,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Albania.
The Iron Curtain
A phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 it refers to the division between Communist and non-Communist nations
Became symbol of division between East and West
ContainmentU.S. policy developed
by George Kennan
The U.S. could not do
anything in Eastern
Europe where Russia
already took over, but
that it should attempt
to stop the formation
of Communist
governments any
where else in the
world.
There’s
communism
in there!
Don’t let it
out!!
The Truman Doctrine
“I believe that it must be the policy of the U.S. to support free peoples who are resisting (conquest) by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” –President Truman, 1947
And what outside pressure
are we talking about?
The Marshall Plan
U.S. wanted to help war-torn nations recover so they could create stable democracies.
Seventeen nations applied for aid. Total aid given from 1948-1952 = $13 billion
Germany: A Land Divided
By 1949 there were two
Germany’s in
Europe:
1. West Germany:
democratic
2. East Germany:
communist
The capital of Berlin was
also later divided –
by a wall!
Berlin Airlift
Many Eastern Europeans who did not like living under Soviet communist rule fled their homes and escaped to West Berlin.
Stalin wanted to stop this escape route by forcing the Western Powers to abandon West Berlin.
Stalin blockaded all Allied shipments to West Berlin through East Germany.
This threatened severe shortages of food and other needed supplies in West Berlin.
Truman did not want a
war with the Soviets,
nor did he want to
give up West Berlin.
During the next 15
months both British
and U.S. aircraft
delivered food, fuel,
etc. by plane to the
city.
The Soviets finally
gave up in 1949 and
ended the blockade.
Berlin Airlift Map
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty
OrganizationBecause the Soviet Union used its veto power to block any action that stopped communism in the United Nations, the West needed another way to deal with Soviet aggression.
In 1949 12 nations formed NATO. The guiding principle of NATO is; “an armed attack against one or more…shall be considered an attack against them all.”
This is an example of collective security-mutual military assistance among nations.
Current Members of
NATO
The Soviet Union responded to the
formation of NATO by creating the
Warsaw Pact, a military alliance with
its satellite nations in Eastern Europe.
NATO WARSAW
PACT
UN
The Arms Race
The greatest area
where the Soviet
Union and the U.S.
compete for world
domination was in
the arms race - the
struggle to gain
weapons superiority.
China Falls To
CommunismA civil war had existed between the Nationalists and Communists in China since the 1920s.
1949: Mao Zedong and the Communists won and established the People’s Republic of China.
The Nationalists fled to Taiwan and claimed to be the legitimate government of China, establishing the Republic of China. The U.S. and UN recognized this Republic as the true government of China.
Many Americans wanted Truman and the government to focus not only on Europe but also on Asia in their policy of containment.
Chairman Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolution
Poster: 1949
Korean War
After WW II Japan was forced to give up control of Korea.
The Soviets accepted the surrender above the 38th parallel and the U.S. accepted it below that line.
Division was never the goal but became a reality: a communist controlled north and a democratically controlled south.
Map of Korea
Conflict in Korea
Citizens on both
sides of the parallel
wanted to reunite
their country.
War breaks out
when North Korean
troops came across
the 38th parallel to
try to unite the
country by force.
May., 1950
Sept., 1950
Sept.-Nov., 1950
Nov 1950-
Jan 1951
Jan 1951 -
1953
The Korean Conflict
The Forgotten War
The UN (mostly American) sent troops to Korea
The UN troops do well initially but are driven back close to the original 38th parallel.
The war becomes a stalemate and in 1953 an armistice is signed agreeing to keep Korea divided.
The Cold War at Home
There was a great
emphasis on loyalty to
America during the
Truman administration.
He vowed to find people
who were not loyal,
especially anyone with
ties to communism.
I LOVE
America! I
swear!! I
would NEVER
be communist!
Oh yeah!?
Prove it!
or else!
His administration instituted
FBI background checks for
government employees and
the Loyalty Review Board
to hear evidence about
anyone in the government
participating in suspicious
activities
The Rosenbergs
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were Americans and members of the Communist party.
They were accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during WW II.
They were convicted of spying and were executed in 1953.
Did anticommunist
hysteria play a role?
Hmmm…
McCarthyism: The Height of Cold War
Hysteria
Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin made himself famous by accusing hundreds of people inside the government of having ties with communists.
He set off a second period of anti-communist hysteria
He had little to no evidence to support his accusations and after a few years lost all credibility.
Joseph McCarthy
HUACThe House Un-American
Activities CommitteeHUAC was created by the House of Representatives in 1938 to investigate disloyalty before WWII.
In 1947 they began to investigate the movie industry, claiming it supported communist ideals.
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”
The Hollywood Ten refused to answer and were cited for contempt and sentenced to jail.
Studios compiled a blacklist of directors, actors, and writers who should not be allowed to work because they seemed subversive or refused to cooperate with HUAC or refused to honor the blacklist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-1pPMliSck&feature=related
The Majestic movie trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSk2vW1po0
The Majestic movie clip
Cold War and Space
In 1957 the Soviet Union proved that they were ahead of the U.S. in the technology war when they launched Sputnik into space.
Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.
Problem: The rocket
used to launch Sputnik
could just as easily
carry a nuclear bomb to
America’s shores!
US Response: created
NASA in 1958 and
increased spending on
science and math in
America’s school.
Sputnik
Cuba
1959 Fidel Castro Takes power in Cuba
and when he developed ties to the
USSR American officials feared that
Cuba could become an example for
revolutionary upheaval through all of
Latin America.
Bay of Pigs
Kennedy’s 1st foreign crisis!
Eisenhower had approved a plan in
1960 to overthrow Castro
CIA was training a group of Cubans to
invade Cuba and overthrow Castro
JFK and his advisers believed the people
of Cuba would join in to help the defeat of
Castro ----- THEY DID NOT!
Bay of Pigs
April 17, 1961
Airstrike failed to destroy Cuba’s air force
Cuban troops were more than a match for
the 1,500 invaders
Rather than increase forces Kennedy chose
to accept defeat
US lost prestige and faced anger from other
countries. JFK’s ability as President was
questioned.
Berlin Wall
Soviet attempt to cut off access to Berlin in
1948 failed because of the Berlin Airlift.
SOVIETS ATTEMPT AGAIN!
They demanded a peace treaty that would
make division permanent in order to stop
flow of East Germans into west Germany
through Berlin.
Kennedy feared this would lead to a larger
invasion of Europe.
Berlin Wall
Kennedy responded by increasing military
and military spending
“We do not want a fight – but we have fought
before!” JFK 1961
Aug. 1961 – Soviets built the wall to divide
Communist & Non-Communist Berlin
Soviets avoided war by stopping the flow out
of East Germany
Wall became a symbol of the Cold War
Cold War and Cuba
In October of 1962 U.S. spy
photography revealed that the Soviet
Union was building missile bases on
Cuba.
What followed, the Cuban Missile Crisis,
is the closest the world ever came to
nuclear war.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets placed
these missiles in
Cuba, 90 miles from
the U.S., to counter
the missiles the U.S.
had in Turkey – very
close to the
U.S.S.R.
These missiles in
Turkey were old and
probably wouldn’t
work – but the
U.S.S.R., under
Nikita Khruschev,
did not care about
that detail.
Kennedy Decides
After much deliberation, president Kennedy decided to use a U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba to prevent any Soviet ships carrying weapons into Cuba
Disaster Avoided
After some secret negotiations the U.S.
agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey
while Russia would remove their missiles
from Cuba.
It appeared that if Russia either broke the
quarantine or refused to remove their
missiles, Kennedy would have used nuclear
weapons on Cuba and maybe the Soviet
Union directly!!!
Conclusion
The Cold War was a tense time and a time of
great uncertainty and fear
No one knew if the Soviets or the U.S. would
use one of their many weapons of mass
destruction -- they came close but never did!
The Cold War ended when the U.S.S.R.
collapsed and communism failed to make the
people happy or meet their basic needs.
Berlin Wall
falls: 1989
SU breaks
apart: 1991
Modern Day Arms Race: Pakistan
and India