Cold war1

Chapter 27:

The Cold War Farina, Airene, Charlyn

(Period 1)

Origins of the Cold War

• Soviet Union vs. United States

• Atlantic Charter 1941 (first vision):

o both nations would abandon beliefs in military

alliances

o they could only affiliate with each other through

democratic procedures

o an "intermediary" (international organization) would

regulate agreements and conflicts and secure all

nations' self-determination

• Great Britain vs. Soviet Union (second vision)

o GB and USSR did not comply to the Atlantic

Charter

o GB= NO self-determination ; USSR= expand to

European territories

Sources of Soviet-American Tension


• Teheran Conference 1943: o Churchill and Roosevelt wanted the Axis powers to

completely surrender

o America stayed out of USSR's battle against

Germany; USSR assisted US in war of the Pacific;

Roosevelt agreed to second front in Western Europe

• Fight for Poland:

o Roosevelt & Churchill- government-in-exile

o Stalin- communist exiled government

Wartime Diplomacy


• United Nations (former League of Nations):

o General Assembly

o Security Council

o every nation allowed to veto and are represented

equally; United States charter was passed by

Senate

• Poland- government was divided- pro-communist & pro-

Western

• US imposed high reparations on Germany; Berlin was

split into 4 sections- each controlled by a member of the

United Nations

• R.I.P Roosevelt (April, 12, 1945)

Yalta (1945)

The Collapse of the Peace

• Potsdam/ Berlin Conference

• President Harry S. Truman was not much

aware of US international relations

o permitted Polish-German boundary to be adjusted

o Russia not allowed to get reparations from the

United Nations

o "Get Tough" Policy depicted divided Germany

between United Nations and Russia

The Failure of Potsdam


• Chiang Kai-shek

(nationalist)- led a poor and

immoral government of

China that was challenged

by Mao Zedong's communist

ideals

• Civil War- US assisted

Chinese with armaments

and $$$ (communist=

victorious)

• US resorted to Japan-

helped strengthen economy,

cancelled restrictions on

industrial manufacturing

The China Problem

The Collapse of the

Peace

• containment- control/prevent Soviet Union

expansion instead of uniting the world

• Truman Doctrine- March 12, 1947: stop

Stalin from taking over Europe countries;

stop communists from overruling the pro-

Western government

The Containment Doctrine


• Secretary of State George C.

Marshall

o United Nations would financially

support European nations

• Czechoslovakia became a

Soviet-dominated communist

country after being attacked

• Economic Cooperation

Administration managed the

Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan

The Collapse of the

Peace

• revived Selective Security System of 1948-

military draft

• Atomic Energy Commission of 1946-

managed nuclear weapon research and

development

o hydrogen bomb

• National Security Act (NSA) of 1947:

o Department of Defense

o National Security Council

o Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Mobilization at Home


• 4 western zones of Berlin

• Stalin's blockade around

Berlin

• West: Federal Republic

• East: Democratic Republic

• North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO)

• Warsaw Pact

The Road to

NATO

The Collapse of

Peace

• Sept 1949: Soviet's 1st drop of

atomic weapon

• Chiang Kai-Shek's attempt to

spread communism in

Formosa (Taiwan)

• US relied to Japan to prevent

communism in the rest of Asia

• 1950: National Security

Council Report (NSC-68)

o US's self-reliance to stop

global communism

Reevaluating Cold War Policy

Post-War American Society and Politics

• Bombing of Hiroshima + Nagasaki

• Servicemen Readjustment Act of 1944 o "GI Bill of Rights"

• John L. Lewis: led United Mine Workers out

on strike (Apr 1946)

• Reconversion hurt women and minorities

Problems of Reconversion

• 21-point domestic

program that dealt with

social issues

• Robert Taft unhappy

with Truman's Fair Deal

• Taft-Hartley Act (slave

labor bill) o in response to Wagner Act

Fair Deal Rejected



• Truman was re-nominated for another

term.

• Nominated Governor Strom Thurmond

of South Carolina - States' Rights

("Dixiecrat").

• Henry A. Wallace - Progressive Party

• Thomas E. Dewey - re-nominated

(Republican Party).

The Election of 1948


The Election of 1948

Truman reigned victorious with 49.5% of the popular vote and an electoral margin of 303 to 109.


The Fair Deal Revived

• The Congress partially approved

some of Truman's Fair Deal.

• Truman battled several forms of

racial discrimination.

• The Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)


The Nuclear Age

• Birth of atomic

bomb

• The Twilight

Zone - portrayed

the aftermath of

nuclear war.

• America was a

nation filled with

anxiety.

The Korean War

• US x USSR intersection at Korea

• North Korea wanted to invade South Korea o S. Korea not within US's "defense perimeter"

• Pres. Truman appealed to United Nations ->

US gave assistance to S. Korean

government

• Gen. Douglas MacArthur commanded UN

operations in Korea

• Sept 1950: Surprise American invasion at

Inchon -> pushed N. Koreans to 38th parallel

The Divided Peninsula

The Korean War

• Dec 1950: Americans vs. Chinese divisions

• Mar 1951: Return of Americans -> stalemate

• MacArthur's letter to Joseph W. Martin:

o "there is no substitute for victory" other than to attack

• MacArthur got dismissed (Apr 11, 1951) but

returned (later in 1951)

• Korean stalemate (-> 1953)

From Invasion to Stalemate

The Korean War

• Office of Defense Mobilization o no inflation + wage demands

• Government control of railroads (1951)

• Truman's control of steel mills (1952)

• Korean stalemate -> campaign against

domestic communism

Limited Mobilization

The Crusade Against Subversion

• House Un-American Activities Committee o targeted Hollywood writers + producers

• Disloyalty of Alger Hiss

o testified by Whittaker Chambers

o "pumpkin papers"

HUAC and Alger Hiss


• Aug 1950: Truman's instruction to fire "bad

security risks"

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

• McCarran Internal Security

• Atomic bomb conspiracy

o Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

The Federal Loyalty Program

and the Rosenberg Case


• Feb 1950: Joseph McCarthy and his list of

205 communists in American State

Department

o anti-communist investigations

o solid evidences

o public adoration

o intimidation

McCarthyism


The Republican Revival

Education

Cold war1