Cold War Conflicts
Chapter 18
What was the
Cold War?
 State of hostility
between the US
and Soviets,
without a direct
war between
them.
Cold War Beginnings
 Russian Revolution – 1917
– President Wilson sent troops
• Supported anti-communist
resistance
 U.S. delays recognizing Soviet
government - 1933
Cold War Beginnings
 WWII Conflicts
– Non-Aggression Pact
– Allies wait to invade Europe
• Soviets suffer severe losses
 Yalta Conference
– Soviet reparations request
denied
• Asked for $20 billion in
German reparations
Yalta Conference-1945
 Big Three agree to
govern Germany jointlyzones
 Soviets agree to leave &
allow free elections in
Poland, E. Europe - don’t
do it
 Soviets are denied
request for reparations
from Germany
Cold War Beginnings
 United Nations forms – 1945
– 50 nations adopt charter in San Francisco
– Settle differences peacefully
– Promote justice/cooperation
– Stop current wars, prevent future ones
 Security Council
– 11 Countries
– U.S., Soviets, Great Britain, France, China
• Have veto power
Cold War Beginnings
 President Truman
– Becomes President 2 weeks before UN
meeting
– Potsdam Conference
• Final wartime conference – 1945
• U.S., Soviet Union, Great Britain
• Each takes reparations from zones
• Clear Soviet goals and U.S. goals – very
different
 US & Soviets: Superpowers, natural rivals
– Ability to influence world events to
protect their interests
Post WWII Superpowers
US, Soviet Union – Britain for awhile
Different Goals for Europe
Soviets
United States
 Eastern Euro countries to
serve as protective buffer
against attacks from West
 Spread communism &
workers unite against
wealthy biz owners
 Rebuild its ravaged
economy, using East
European industrial
equipment, raw materials
 Keep Germany divided &
weak
Protection Goals
 New World Order
– Democratic governments
– Self-determination
 Rebuild Europe
 Access to raw materials
& new markets
 Thriving economically
 Free/New Markets
 Productive Germany
 Avoid totalitarianism
 Reunify Germany
Economic Goals
Soviets Overrun Eastern Europe
 Satellite Nations
– Albania
– Bulgaria
– Czechoslovakia
– Hungary
– Romania
– Yugoslavia
– Poland
Soviets Overrun Eastern Europe
 Establish Soviet domination
 Totalitarian Communist regimes
– Reneges on Yalta agreements
– No elections in Poland for 2 years
– Albania – Communist leaders
– Bulgaria – Communist leaders
– Czechoslovakia – free elections, but
Communists take over
Soviets Overrun East Europe
 Totalitarian Communist regimes
– Hungary – Communists lose election,
take out competition
– Romania – Communist Prime
Minister forced on King
– East Germany – brutal totalitarian
government
– Yugoslavia – Dictator Tito keeps
Soviets out
Iron Curtain Speech
 Winston Churchill1946
 Fulton, Missouri
 Statement clearly
describing existing
situation
“From Stettin in the
Baltic to Trieste in
the Adriatic, an Iron
Curtain has
descended across
the continent."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvax5VUvjWQ
The Iron Curtain
Marshall Plan
 On June 5, U.S.
Secretary of State
George Marshall
– proposes a massive aid
program to rebuild Europe
from the ravages of World
War II.
– Designed to “fight hunger,
poverty, desperation and
chaos.”
• Nearly $13 billion in U.S.
aid was sent to Europe
from 1948 to 1952.
– The Soviet Union and
communist Eastern Europe
decline U.S. aid, citing "dollar
enslavement."
• Western Europe
flourishes within 3
years
• Communism loses
appeal
COMECON
Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance
Soviet response to Marshall
plan
Established in 1949
Truman Doctrine
 March 12, 1947
 Greece and Turkey
in danger of falling
to communist
insurgents
 Truman requested  Doctrine becomes
economic & military U.S. policy
aid - $400 million “… it must be the
from Congress for
policy of U.S. to
support free peoples
both countries
who are resisting
 Successful effort
subjugation …”
Containment Policy
 George F. Kennan, American diplomat posted to
USSR during war
 July 1947, article in Foreign Affairs journal,
under author “X”
– “...we are going to continue for a long time to
find the Russians difficult to deal with.”
 Becomes containment policy
– Prevent any extension of communist rule to
other countries
Berlin Blockade
 Blockade of Berlin
began on June 24,
1948
 Soviets angry that
France, Britain & U.S.
combined 3 zones
into one nation
 Soviets block all
roads, trains into
Berlin-wants to take
over West Berlin
 No supplies, food,
medicine
 No Christmas
presents!
 Dire situation
Berlin Airlift
 From June 1948 to
May 1949, U.S. and
British planes airlift
2.3 million tons of
supplies to residents
of West Berlin.
 Planes land every few
minutes-327 days
 After 277,000
flights, the Soviet
Union lifts the
blockade.
Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)
Operation Vittles
 All of the necessities for the city's 2.5 million
residents -- an estimated 4,500 tons of food, coal
and other materials each day -- had to enter the
city by air.
 On its biggest day, the "Easter parade" of April
16, 1949, the airlift sent 1,398 flights into Berlin
-- one every minute.
 Before it was all over, more than 278,000 flights
would carry 2.3 million tons of relief supplies.
1949 – Fall of China
 20 years Communists fight
Chinese nationalist gov’t of
Chiang Kai-shek
 US supports nationalists$$ aid
– Impressed by his resistance
to Japanese attack
 Chiang Kai-shek
– Weak leader, inefficient
– Corrupt
– Exploited farmers, shot
civilians for protesting
1949 – Fall of China
 In contrast, Communists under Mao Zedong
–
–
–
–
Farming improves
Peasants learn to read
Communists gain tremendous support from peasants
Many join Red Army
 1945, most of North China under Communist
control
 They cooperate during WWII, but when Japanese
defeated, go back to Civil War
 May 1949, Chiang & gov’t flee to Taiwan
 Oct 1, Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China
(PRC) – US will not recognize
 Two months later, Mao travels to Moscow,
– negotiates the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship,
Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
Mao’s Revolution: 1949
US Reaction – Fear Grows
 Americans stunned another country
Communist
 Containment failed
 Truman administration attacked for not
helping Chiang
– Response: internal forces, not external caused
the overthrow
 Conservatives in Congress
– “US gov’t riddled with Communists!”
– Seeds of McCarthyism are planted
– Fear spreads like wildfire
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
1st Peacetime Alliance US had ever joined
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece & Turkey
 France
 1955: West Germany
 Iceland
 1983: Spain
 Italy
Warsaw Pact
Soviet response to NATO
}
U. S. S. R.
}
Albania
}
Bulgaria
}
Czechoslovakia
}
East
Germany
}
Hungary
}
Poland
}
Rumania
Korean War, 1950-1953
 June 25, N. Korean
communist troops cross
the 38th parallel and
invade South Korea
 June 27, Truman orders
U.S. forces to assist the
South Koreans
 U.N. Security Council
condemns the invasion
and creates a 15-nation
fighting force under
MacArthur’s command
Changing Map of Korea
Korean War, 1950-1953
 When troops reach
Yalu River, “victory &
reunification” in sight
 Chinese get involved
 Sends over 300,000
troops & push UN
troops back to 38th
parallel
 Cease fire – armistice
eventually brings war
to close by 1953
 Wind up in same place
as when it started
MacArthur vs Truman
 McArthur wants full-scale war with China
 Use nuclear weapon
 Doesn’t agree with “limited war”
 General Ridgeway takes over command
 McArthur fired by Truman
 Addresses Congress – very rare
– “Old soldiers never die, they fade away”
 Ticker-tape parade in NYC
 Then, he faded away.
The Forgotten War
• “ Failed police action” –
no resolution
• 54,000 deaths
•$67 Billion spent
• Caused rejection of
Democrats in ’52 election
• Eisenhower elected
• Dramatically increased
fear of communism
 “Forgotten War” - After WWII, overshadowed
by Vietnam War.
The Suez Crisis: 1956-1957
The Hungarian Uprising: 1956
Imre Nagy, Hungarian
Prime Minister
}
Promised free
elections.
}
This could lead to the
end of communist rule
in Hungary.
Sputnik
 On October 4, 1957 the
Soviet Union launches
Sputnik, the first manmade satellite to orbit the
Earth.
 In response (1958), the
U.S. creates the National
Aeronautics and Space
Administration, and the
space race is in full gear.
1960 - The U-2
Affair
 On May 1, an American highaltitude U-2 spy plane is
shot down on a mission over
the Soviet Union.
 After the Soviets announce
the capture of pilot Francis
Gary Powers, the United
States recants earlier
assertions that the plane
was on a weather research
mission.
The U-2 Affair
•Suffering major
embarrassment, Eisenhower
was forced to admit the truth
behind the mission and the U-2
program
•He refused to publicly
apologize to Khrushchev.
•Refusal caused Paris Summit
to collapse when Khrushchev
stormed out of negotiations.
 Powers was sentenced to 10 years in prison, including
seven years of hard labor, following an infamous showtrial.
 He served less than two years, however, and was released
in 1962 in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
Communist Spies in US
 Alger Hiss – found
guilt of perjury – lied
that he didn’t pass
documents to Soviets
– Nixon becomes famous
prosecuting him
 Rosenbergs – found
guilty & executed
based on weak
evidence – said they
passed A-bomb info to
Soviets
Julius & Ethel
Rosenberg
McCarthyism
 Senator Joseph
McCarthy plays on
fears of Communism
by accusing people of
spying – wants to get
re-elected
 No real evidence -- “Witch Hunt”
 Lots of publicity at first, but eventually people
figure out he’s lying
 Senate condemns his action – “tended to bring
the Senate into disrepute”
 Today, when people make unsubstantiated
accusations, it’s called “McCarthyism”