The Cold WarAP Exam

PreparationMrs. Boyea

Some fundamental differences -Cold war- different views by the SU and US regarding

Eastern Europe-hostility but no direct fighting-two superpowers- lasted from 1945-1991-each one trying to spread military influence around the world

Capitalism vs. Communism -U.S.-angry that the Soviets signed the non-aggression pact

w/Hitler -Soviets-angry that the U.S. hadn’t recognized the new

communist gov’t until 16 years after revolution, kept secret of the atomic bomb from them, hadn’t invaded Europe until 1944, even then did not come to the aid of Soviets

Potsdam Conference -July 1945- Truman,

Stalin and Churchill met at Potsdam-Truman pushed Stalin to allow free elections in Poland, but Stalin refused- Soviet Army occupied Eastern Europe

Conflicting views over Europe -America wanted to have access to the

markets and natural resources of Eastern Europe because their factories didn’t need to rebuild-full steam ahead

Soviets- wanted to continue to occupy Eastern Europe-lost 20 million people during WWII, and they had twice been invaded from the west-needed to have friendly neighbors

Satellite Nations -countries of Albania,

Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Poland- satellite nations-communist gov’ts put into place by Stalin-who dominated them and took over their industries- devoted to building military weapons-instead of consumer goods, which weren’t compatible w/communism-seemed to be preparing for war in the eyes of the U.S.

Containment -1946-George Kennan-proposed a policy of

containment-stop the Soviets from spreading their influence by creating alliances and supporting weaker countries

-Churchill called the satellite nations an iron curtain-Stalin saw as a call to war

Truman Doctrine It became impossible for a rebuilding Britain to keep sending

funds to prevent Greece and Turkey from going communist Truman asked Congress for $400 million in aid for Greece

and Turkey Truman went on to say that U.S. should support free people

throughout the world who were trying to resist communist takeover-known as the Truman Doctrine

-some objected- U.S. might spread themselves too thin, should not help any dictator, even those who said they were anti-communist, others, shouldn’t intervene in other countries affairs

Marshall Plan Post-war Europe was in a state

of disarray- rebuilding, many deaths, economies were in shambles, millions were living in refugee camps waiting for resettlement

In response- Secretary of State George Marshall proposed the Marshall plan- aid to all countries that needed aid, but had to remove trade barriers- even open to satelitte nations

Stalin wouldn’t let them take the funds, but, kept other European countries from turning communist

Berlin Blockade and Airlift After WWII, Germany divided into 4

zones, occupied by GB, US and France in West, and SU-East

1948-had united the 3 parts into one nation

Soviet Union retaliated by withholding water, highway, railroad travel into W. Berlin –no supplies could get in- faced starvation

To end the blockade, America and Britain initiated the Berlin Airlift, which brought in food and supplies-able to survive

May of 1949- Soviets lifted the blockade-realized unsuccessful-May of 1949-3 western zones- Western Germany-capital in Bonn; Soviet Union-East Germany- communist-capital- East Berlin

NATO and the Warsaw Pact in response to the Berlin blockade-North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (NATO) formed-included the U.S., Britain, Denmark, France, Belgium, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Portugal- defensive military alliance-an attack on one-attack on all

1st time the US had entered into an alliance during peacetime

Soviets in return formed the Warsaw Pact, but it wasn’t exactly a coalition of the willing

Communist Revolution in China Chiang Kai-shek- corrupt dictator-taxed those

during a famine, and opened fire on protestors-Communists, led by Mao Zedong, gave land back to the peasants led to the peasants supporting communists-in the 1950s-all forced to work on collective farms

America was very upset that Mao gained control of China- saw containment as a failure

Many believed that if U.S. had gotten more involved, China wouldn’t have fallen to communism

Korean War Japan took over Korea and controlled it until 1945- at the end of

WWII, Japanese in Korea North of the 38th parallel-surrendered to the SU, South, to the Americans

-industry in the North, agriculture in the South-operating as 2 separate nations democratic in the South, communist in the North-each claiming the right to rule the entire country

-June 25, 1950-North Korea started the Korean War by attacking South Korea-scared the U.S.-yet another Asian country would fall to communism-Truman responded by taking military action-UN-approved the U.S. resolution to support South Korea- SU-boycotting UN refused to recognize communist China, and China was not present to vote against it

-16 nations sent troops, w/ 90% of them from U.S.-under the command of General Douglas MacArthur

Truman and MacArthur MacArthur-counterattacked North

Koreans-very successful- then UN recommended that MacArthur cross the 38th parallel to reunite the country- but China- would attack if MacArthur did so-China did- and pushed the allies back 75-100 miles behind the 38th parallel-fighting went on for 2 years to maintain the position

-MacArthur wanted to blockade China, drop the atomic bomb on them, use Chiang’s troops to invade China- Truman refused-if attacked China- WWIII- they had a treaty w/ SU-instead-lead an advance and got back to the 38th parallel

-MacArthur went to newspapers, magazines and Republican leaders

Truman-enraged and fired MacArthur

Stalemate in Korea July 1953-both sides

signed a peace agreement ending the war-stalemate-communism was contained, but still 2 separate countries

52,000 Americans killed in the Korean War- defeat led many Americans in 1952 to vote for the Republican Dwight Eisenhower

Brinkmanship Acquisition by each side of hydrogen bomb;

subsequent nuclear arms race Doctrine of "massive retaliation"; "mutually

assured destruction (MAD)" Advanced by John Foster Dulles,

Eisenhower’s Secretary of State U.S. should be willing to go to the brink of

war to avoid going to war

Hungary and The U-2 Incident (no, this time it doesn’t involve Bono) Nikita Khruschev takes over after Stalin’s

death Through Radio Free Europe, the US

encourages Hungary to revolt against Soviet Union…it doesn’t end well

U-2 Spy plane…Francis Gary Powers is caught over the Soviet Union doing…a weather mission

Questions about U.S. supremacy Sputnik 1957 National Defense Education Act 1958

Guatemala Jacobo Arbenz sought to

nationalize land owned by United Fruit Company (roughly 90% of the country) and distribute to the people

Sounds like communism, looks like communism…CIA coup, Arbenz is removed from power…leads U.S. to think Cuba will be just as easy

36 year Civil War ensued, with about 200,000 casualties

Eisenhower Doctrine U.S. would intervene if interests were at

stake in the Middle East Would give aid to countries that were

opposed to communism Fearful that the Soviet Union would gain

control of the oil reserves in the Middle East Iran