The Early Cold
War Years
Pre-IB World History
The Long Telegram

George Kennan- diplomat who tried to
explain Soviet behavior in the Long Telegram.

5,540-word message explaining his views of
the Soviets.

Led to an American policy of “containment.”

Containment- the policy or process of
preventing the expansion of a hostile power
The Truman Doctrine
 Goal
was to aid “free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside pressures.”
 Resulted
 Truman
in a pledge to fight communism.
said it was essential for
containment.
The Marshall Plan
 Economic
Recovery plan, which would
give European nations American aid to
rebuild their economies.
 Truman
said it was essential for
containment.
 Purpose
recover.
was to help Western Europe
Berlin Airlift
 Soviets
were deliberately trying to
undermine Germany’s economy.
 US, France, and Britain merge zones.
 Soviets blockade Berlin
 Americans
delivered packages of
supplies to West Berlin with an airlift.
NATO
 North
Atlantic Treaty Organization
 Formed for the purpose of mutual
defense
 Members
agreed to come to the aid of
any member who was attacked.
 For the first time, the US committed itself to
maintaining peace in Europe.
 USSR responded with the Warsaw Pact
The Korean War
 Mao
Zedong- Communist leader of the
People’s Republic of China
 Chiang Kai-shek- leader of the Nationalist
government.
 Divided
at the 38th parallel
 Soviets controlled Korea to the North
 Americans controlled Korea to the South
The Korean War
 Soviets
wanted Communist government in
the North.
 Americans
 General
had a policy of containment.
Douglas MacArthur- commander
of United States forces in Korea
The Korean War
 Communist
China saw the advancing
UN troops as a threat and entered the
war.
 Truman didn’t want to expand the war
into China.
 MacArthur persisted, “There is no
substitute for victory.”
 Truman eventually fired MacArthur b/c
he publicly criticized the President’s
policy on limited war.
 Truman preferred limited war- war
fought to achieve a limited objective.