The Cold War
Origins of the Cold War
1945- A Critical Year
 US and Soviet Union were Allies as a temporary
arrangement during WWII.
 US did not recognize the legal existence of Soviet
government until 1933
 At the Yalta Conference- Roosevelt, Churchill, and
Stalin met to discuss the arrangments of Germany
and Poland. Soviet gained East Germany while US,
France, and British gained West Germany
 Churchill and FRD rejected Stalin’s demand that
Germany pay 10 billion in war damages
 Disputes over Poland caused stress on US and
Soviet relations
The United Nations
 The United Nations was a
new international
peacekeeping organization.
 League of Nations failed
because the United States
refused to join
 UN stated they were going
to try and stop wars from
starting, end the ones that
broke out, and settle
differences peacefully
 Members included; US, SU,
GB, China, and France
Truman takes Command
 FDR passed away in April
1945, VP Harry Truman
took over as president
 Truman met with Stalin at
the Potsdam ConferenceStalin insisted on German
war payments and
Truman insisted on Polish
elections. Truman also
mentioned the new Atom
Bomb that had just been
tested in New Mexico,
which installed fear in
Stalin.
Postwar Goals
 US fought to bring democracy and economic opportunity
to the conquered nations of Europe
 Soviet Union wanted to rebuild after loosing a
tremendous amount of people.
 Satellite Nations- countries subject to Soviet domination
on their borders.
Soviets Tighten Hold
 Soviets took over
Albania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Romania,
and East Germany.
 Stalin installed
communist
governments in all
nations while he
slowly took power.
IRON CURTAIN
Winston Churchill gave an “Iron Curtain”
Speech.
An Iron Curtain laid across the continent
dividing communism from capitalism and if
nothing was done communism would take
over all of Europe. American was called
on to help
Stalin’s speech and Churchill’s speech set
tone for the COLD WAR
COLD WAR
Cold War- competition that developed
between the United States and the Soviet
Union for world power.
Lasted for over fifty years until1991 the
collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rivalry stopped just short of a hot war
between the two nations.
Containment
American policy for
resisting further
expansion of
communism
around the world
(George Keenan,
American
Diplomat)
The Truman Doctrine
 A declaration by
president Truman that
the United States
would support nations
that were being
threatened by
communism.
 The Truman doctrine
is a policy of
containment which
gave the US power
and dominance
Chapter 26
The Cold War
Section 2
The Cold War Abroad and at Home
Marshall Plan
 Secretary of state George Marshall created this
plan which called for all European nations to
draw up a program of economic recovery from
the war and the US would then support the
program with financial aid.
 The plan would help European economic
recovery and create strong democracies while
opening new markets for American goods.
 Soviet Union refused to participate
 Marshall Plan was the turning point in the war!!!
 Marshall Plan – European Recovery Program
Berlin Airlift
 Stalin was not going to
allow the reunification of
West Germany, so western
allies prepared to merge
 Soviets created East
Germany
 West=capitalists East=
Communist
 Stalin cut off supplies which
created severe shortages
on food and supplies for 2.5
million people
 Berlin Airlift- Truman
moved supplies into West
Berlin for 15 months by
plane and soviets finally
gave up blockade
NATO
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)association of the democratic peace-loving
states and “an armed attack against one or
more of the nations, shall be considered an
attack against them all.
 Canadnadian Foreign Minister St. Louis St.
Laurent
 Countries include; United States, Canada,
Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and
Portugal!
NATO continued…
 Collective securityprincipal of mutual
military assistance
 Soviet Union
responded to NATO
and created the
Warsaw Pact- a
military alliance with
satellite nations in
Eastern Europe!
Communist Advances
 Truman announced that “we have evidence that within
recent weeks an atomic explosion occurred in the
USSR.”
 This was scary for the American people they could not
imagine the thought of Hiroshima or Nagasaki on
American soil.
 Americans started to make advances in nuclear
weapons (hydrogen bomb) which was many times more
destructible than the atomic bomb!
 1952 hydrogen bomb tested and declared US the worlds
leading nuclear power!
 People were planning how to survive a nuclear attack!
(bomb shelters)
The struggle in China
 China fell to communism under leadership of
Mao Zedong
 Jiang Jieshi- Leader of Chinese government
 Mao Zedong- Communist leader in china trying
to overthrow the government
 1949- US did not aid and China’s capital,
Beijing, fell to communist.
 Jiang and followers withdrew to a small island of
China’s mainland, Taiwan and continued
practicing democracy as the Republic of China.
The Cold War at Home
 A new Red Scare- many
people had joined the
communist party but with
increasing distrust in Stalin
many people quit!
 People who had been remotely
involved in a communist party
were swept up in the wave of
persecution
 Loyalty Program- Truman
headed this program so that all
employees hired by the federal
government were to be
investigated with suspicion of
overthrowing the government
HUAC
 HUAC- investigate
disloyalty of Communist
infiltration of government
agencies and the
Hollywood movie industry
b/c movies had strong
influence of the public
 Hollywood ten- actors,
writers, directors, and
producers cited for
contempt of congress and
were blacklisted where
other employers would
not hire them.
McCarran-Walter Act
 Congress passed 1952
McCarran-Walter Actwhich discriminated
against potential
immigrants from Asia,
Southern and central
Europe.
 The President vetoed the
bill- stated “one of the
most Un- American acts
he had ever witnessed
Spies!
 A real communist threat in
the United States
 Hiss- high ranking
government official
convicted of perjury for
lying in slander case.
 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
(married couple) and
members of the communist
party were accused of
passing atomic secrets to
the soviets! They were
convicted of espionage and
executed in 1953.
Chapter 26
The Cold War
Section 3
The Cold War Expands
Korean War
 South Korea- had a proAmerican government
formed (US occupied)
 North Korea- had a
Communist regime
(USSR occupied)
 In June 1950 the Korean
War broke out when
North Korean troops
streamed across the 38th
parallel- latitude line
dividing the two nations
 North Korea was aiming
at unification by force
Douglas MacArthur
 Anti-communist general
chosen to lead UN forces
in Korea by Truman
 MacArthur helped
establish Japan’s new
democratic constitution
 Successful in
implementing democracy
in South Korea
 Disliked by politicians but
loved by the public and
military!
The Cold War 1950’s
 1953 Truman became president succeeding Eisenhower
 Eisenhower had kept his promise to bring the Korean
War to an end and the sudden death of Stalin helped the
war come to an end in March of 1953.
 In Southeast Asia a conflict developed in Vietnam
(French Colony in SouthEast Asia that had fallen to
Japan during WWII)
 Ho Chi Minh, head of Vietnamese Communist Party
declared Vietnam’s Independence after Japan fell in
1945.
 France rejected Vietnam’s independence and an ugly
war began to unfold
Domino theory
Domino Theory is a belief by Eisenhower
which held that if any one country fell to
communists, its neighbors soon would
follow (like a row of dominos).
By 1954 US was providing aid to help with
the war!
Vietnam Divided
Just like Korea, Vietnam was divided into
communist North and Anti Communist
south.
The US provided aid to South Vietnam but
resisted any greater involvement
The Middle East
1930’s anti-Semitism in Germany and
Eastern Europe forced Jews to seek
saftey in Palestine.
Arab and Jewish conflict turned to the
United nations for the creation for a Jewish
state called Palestine (1948).
The Middle East Continued
 The Suez crisis- Egypt ruler, Nasser, sought soviet
support, US and Britain cut off their aid.
 Nasser seized the British owned Suez canal, a vital
waterway for oil to reach Europe
 Eisenhower Doctrine- the US would use force to
safeguard the independence of any country or group
of countries in the Middle East requesting aid against
Communist-inspired aggression
Latin America
 US exercised power in Central and Latin America
 After WWII US feared spread of Communism to Latin
American Countries
 Rio Pact-regional defense alliance between 18 countries
in Latin America
 OAS- Organization of American States which increased
cooperation with states in the Western Hemisphere
 Crisis began with Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban
Dictator in 1958. US did not support Castro because his
movement was infiltrated by Communism
 Castro seized Cuba (American property), US cut off all
aid and supplies, and Castro turned to the Soviet Union
for aid.
The Arms Race
 Arms Race- The struggle to gain weapon superiority
 Whenever one side would seem to be gaining the upper
hand in the cold war the other would respond with new
programs and policies
 The growth of Nuclear Arsenals was increasing in US
and Soviet Union.
 1953 US exploded their first thermonuclear device and at
the same time the Soviet Union successfully tested a
hydrogen device of its own.
 Between 1954 and 1958 US conducted 19 hydrogen
bomb tests at Bikini Island in the Pacific
 This explosion was 750 times more explosive than the
atomic bomb
Brinkmanship
 Brinkmanship- is the policy of risking war to
protect the nations interests (Russian roulette
with the life of our nation)
 US used the Air Force to carry these bombs to
be testes
 Soviet Union used ICBM’s (Intercontinental
Ballistic missiles)- long range rockets as their
delivery system
 US lagged behind soviet Union in Missle
development
Sputnik
 First artificial satellite to
orbit Earth launched by
the Soviets.
 This scared American!
 US tried to launch and
came tumbling down
U-2 incident- shooting
down of American Spy
plane by the soviet’s
with a guided missile!