CHAPTER
26
Cold War Conflicts
Overview
Time Lines
SECTION
1 Origins of the Cold War
SECTION
2 The Cold War Heats Up
SECTION
3 The Cold War at Home
SECTION
4 Two Nations Live on the Edge
Chapter Assessment
Transparencies
CHAPTER
26
Cold War Conflicts
“We may be likened to two scorpions in a
bottle, each capable of killing the other, but
only at the risk of his own life.”
J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of the buildup of atomic
weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union, 1953
THEMES IN CHAPTER 26
Economic Opportunity
Constitutional Concerns
Science and Technology
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CHAPTER
26
Cold War Conflicts
“We may be likened to two scorpions in a
bottle, each capable of killing the other, but
only at the risk of his own life.”
J. Robert Oppenheimer, speaking of the buildup of atomic
weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union, 1953
What do you know?
• In what ways was the Cold War “cold”?
Read the quote and answer the following:
• What visual images does the quotation evoke?
• How would you paraphrase Oppenheimer’s
statement in your own words?
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CHAPTER
26
Time Line
The United States
1945 Truman meets with Churchill and Stalin at
Potsdam conference.
1947 Truman Doctrine is announced.
1949 United States joins NATO.
1950 United States sends troops to Korea.
1952 United States explodes first hydrogen bomb.
1953 Rosenbergs are executed as spies.
1954 Senator Joseph McCarthy alleges
Communist involvement in U.S. Army.
1960 Francis Gary Powers’s U-2 spy plane is shot
down by Soviets.
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CHAPTER
26
Time Line
The World
1945 United Nations is established.
1948 Berlin airlift begins.
1949 Germany is partitioned.
China becomes Communist under
Mao Zedong.
1953 Soviets explode their first hydrogen bomb.
Korean War cease-fire is agreed to.
1954 French are defeated in Vietnam.
1957 Soviets launch Sputnik.
1959 Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba.
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SECTION
1
Origins of the Cold War
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Learn About
economic and political differences between the United
States and the Soviet Union.
To Understand
the Cold War and how it began.
SECTION
1
Origins of the Cold War
Key Idea
The Allied coalition falls apart as the
United States and the Soviet Union find
themselves in conflict with each other.
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1
Origins of the Cold War
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Section 1 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What were the U.S. and Soviet actions that contributed most
to the beginning of the Cold War?
U.S. ACTIONS
• Marshall Plan
• aid to Greece and Turkey
• Truman Doctrine
• Berlin airlift
SOVIET ACTIONS
• refusal of free elections in Poland
• control of countries in Eastern Europe
• invasion of Czechoslovakia
SECTION
1
Origins of the Cold War
Section 1 Assessment
EVALUATING
Former aides of Franklin Roosevelt worried that Truman was
not qualified to handle world leadership. Considering what
you learned in this section, evaluate Truman as a world
leader.
THINK ABOUT
• his behavior toward Stalin
• his economic support of European nations
• his support of West Berlin
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1
Origins of the Cold War
Section 1 Assessment
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
Which of the two superpowers do you think was more
successful in achieving its aims during the period 1945–
1949?
THINK ABOUT
• events in Eastern Europe
• the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
• the conflicts over Berlin and the rest of Germany
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SECTION
2
The Cold War Heats Up
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Learn About
how Communist governments were established in
Asia.
To Understand
why the United States became involved in the Korean
War.
SECTION
2
The Cold War Heats Up
Key Idea
U.S. containment policies and Communist
successes in China and North Korea lead to
the Korean War.
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2
The Cold War Heats Up
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Section 2 Assessment
FOLLOWING CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
What were the major events influencing the fighting in
Europe and North America?
June 1950
North Korea invades
South Korea.
1948
Korea is split in two
nations.
June 1950
U.S. supports
South Korea.
September 1950
North Korea captures
most of Korea.
October 1950
UN counterattack
succeeds.
November 1950
Chinese troops enter war.
July 1953
Armistice signed.
SECTION
2
The Cold War Heats Up
Section 2 Assessment
HYPOTHESIZING
If the Communists had lost the Chinese civil war, how might
later events in Korea have been different?
THINK ABOUT
• how North Korean plans might have been different
• how American public opinion might have been different
• what might have happened when MacArthur’s troops
neared the North Korea-China border
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2
The Cold War Heats Up
Section 2 Assessment
FORMING OPINIONS
Many Americans have questioned whether fighting the
Korean War—a bloody war that ended in a stalemate—was
worthwhile. What is your opinion? Why?
THINK ABOUT
• what the war cost in lives and material goods
• what might have happened if UN troops had stayed out of
the conflict
• what might have happened if UN troops had waged
full-scale war against China
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SECTION
3
The Cold War at Home
Learn About
the Hollywood Ten, two famous spy cases, and
Senator Joseph McCarthy.
To Understand
how and why fear of communism swept the nation.
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SECTION
3
The Cold War at Home
Key Idea
The Cold War kindles a fear of Communist
influence in the United States.
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3
The Cold War at Home
SUMMARIZING
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Section 3 Assessment
3
What events illustrate how anti-communist fear gripped the
country?
HUAC investigates “un-American”
activity in Hollywood.
Congress passes the McCarran Act.
Anti-Communist fear
gripped the country.
McCarthy arouses fears of
a Communist conspiracy.
Spy cases increase fears.
SECTION
3
The Cold War at Home
Section 3 Assessment
3
MAKING DECISIONS
If you had lived in this period and been accused of being a
Communist, what would you have done?
THINK ABOUT
• the Hollywood Ten, who refused to answer questions
• the Rosenbergs, who pleaded the Fifth Amendment
• those who informed on others to save themselves
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SECTION
3
The Cold War at Home
Section 3 Assessment
ROLE-PLAYING HISTORY
Get together with three classmates, with each group member
playing one of the following roles: Harry Truman, a member
of HUAC, Judge Irving Kaufman, and Joseph McCarthy. As
the person you have chosen, explain your motivation for
opposing communism.
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SECTION
4
Two Nations Live on the Edge
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Learn About
the arms race, the spread of the Cold War, and the U-2
incident.
To Understand
how tensions grew between the United States and the
Soviet Union.
SECTION
4
Two Nations Live on the Edge
Key Idea
Tension mounts between the United States and
the Soviet Union as both try to spread their
influence around the world.
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4
Two Nations Live on the Edge
Section 4 Assessment
SUMMARIZING
What are some possible newspaper headlines that summarize
U.S. involvement in the Cold War troubles of Guatemala,
Iran, Egypt, and Hungary and the outcome of the situation?
Trouble Spot
Headline
Guatemala
CIA-Trained Army Topples Guatemalan Ruler
CIA Keeps Communism Out of Guatemala
Iran
U.S. Prevents Iranian-Soviet Alliance
U.S. Engineers Iranian Chaos
Egypt
U.S. Urges Peaceful Suez Solution
Hungary
U.S. Protests Soviet Invasion
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4
Two Nations Live on the Edge
Section 4 Assessment
EVALUATING
Do you think that the United States should have taken each
of the following actions? Why or why not?
THINK ABOUT
• the development of the H-bomb
• the adoption of a policy of massive retaliation
• covert actions, including those in Iran and Guatemala and
the U-2 flights
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4
Two Nations Live on the Edge
Section 4 Assessment
ANALYZING
Which of the two superpowers do you think contributed
more to Cold War tensions during the 1950s?
THINK ABOUT
• U.S. decisions during this period
• each country’s participation in the arms race
• the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary
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Chapter
26
Assessment
1. What were the goals of U.S. foreign policy during the
Cold War?
2. Explain the Truman Doctrine and describe how
Americans reacted to it.
3. What was the purpose of the NATO alliance?
4. What global events helped to bring about U.S.
involvement in Korea?
5. What issue of military strategy led to a disagreement
between General Douglas MacArthur and President
Truman, eventually costing MacArthur his job?
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Chapter
26
Assessment
6. What goals did the United States achieve by fighting in
Korea? What goals did it fail to achieve?
7. What actions of Joseph McCarthy worsened the
national hysteria about communism?
8. How did the spy case of the Rosenbergs feed anti–
Communist sentiment in America?
9. By what means did the U.S. government, including the
CIA, fight the Cold War around the world?
10. What technological developments during the 1950s
contributed to an arms race that would last for more
than 30 years?
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