The Cold War
Characteristics of the Cold War
• Presence of Atomic Weapons influenced
diplomacy
• Who would control Eastern Europe?
Communist USSR or Democratic US?
• US President Harry Truman very hostile to
USSR
• Obsession with Containing Communism
Major Diplomatic Policies
• Truman Doctrine,
1948 = Defense of
“freedom”
• Marshall Plan =
Provided US support
for Europe’s
economic recovery,
“Prosperity makes
you free”
East & West Germany Divide
• Germany divided in 4
sections: Britain, France,
US, and USSR all control 1
part
• Berlin run by all 4 but
located in USSR’s section
• Berlin Airlift: US cargo
planes dropped supplies
every 3 minutes
• May 1949: West Germany
separates from USSR’s
East Germany
Cold War at Home
• Bomb shelters, bomb drills, “Sky Watchers”
The “Red Scare”
• (HUAC) House of Un-American
Activities Committee uncovered
members of the Communist
Party
• Executive Order 9835, “Federal
Employee Loyalty Program,”
1947 : Banned members or
sympathizers of the Communist
Party from federal employment
• 39 states had loyalty oaths
The Hollywood Ten, 1947
• HUAC hearings exposed
Communists in the Film
Industry
• People pressured to
reveal names
• Ten directors/writers/
actors sent to prison for
contempt of Congress
• Directors/writers/actors
blacklisted
The Pumpkin Papers: Alger Hiss and Whitaker
Chambers, 1948 – 1950
• Whitaker
Chambers: Editor
of Time magazine,
former Soviet
agent
• Chambers named
Alger Hiss to
HUAC, 1948
• Richard Nixon
Joseph McCarthy
• Republican Senator
from Wisconsin
• Created hysteria over
finding Communists in
government