The Undeclared War
● Potsdam Conference marked the end of the wartime
alliance between the Soviet Union and the US.
● Truman approach to foreign policy was similar to
Wilson’s, as he placed his faith in international
cooperation.
● The victorious Allied powers decided to take
reparations from their occupation zones in Germany
at the Potsdam Conference
● In the decade after the Potsdam conference (19451955), the two countries fought for power over Europe
● Conflict continued over the spread of communism to
● The United States and Soviet Union
attempted to solve the issues of the division
of Europe, postwar economic aid, and the
atomic bomb through negotiation.
● From this point forward, Americans and
Soviets alike had to deal with mutual
suspicion and fears of each other.
● Key issue of the Cold War – who would control post-war Europe
● 1945: Russians occupied Eastern Europe, American and allied troops
occupied Western Europe
● The Soviet Union sought to use Eastern European countries as a buffer
● U.S. demanded national self-determination through free elections
throughout Europe
● Stalin separated Eastern Europe from Western Europe along a fortified
border nicknames the “iron curtain”
● U.S. and Great Britain refused to permit the Soviets to take
reparations from the industrial western zone of Germany
BELGIUM
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The Soviet Union experienced great losses in population, infrastructure and
agriculture and needed financial assistance for reconstruction.
United States leaders and ambassadors wanted to use this need against the Soviet
Union through loans. However, President Roosevelt took no action on the
Soviets’ request for a $6 billion loan and in doing so lost the opportunity for
power over Soviet policy
1945: Congress advised against the use of Lend-Lease (providing miscellaneous
infrastructural equipment in return for the promise of later payment) for postwar
reconstruction.
May 11, 1945: President Truman signed an order terminating all shipments to
Russia, however, due to Soviet discontent, Lend-Lease shipping resumed until the
end of the war.
The United States’ reluctance to provide assistance to the struggling Soviet
Union led to Stalin’s conviction in Western hostility.
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The United States kept atomic bomb development a secret from the Soviet Union, a major
ally. After learning of the “Manhattan Project” Stalin started a similar program in 1943 aided
by information obtained from spies planted in the United States.
After the war, the US proposed the BARUCH PLAN to the United Nations. This disarmament
plan would outlaw atomic bombs globally in several gradual stages. The United States
planned to give an international agency control of atomic materials, plants and eventually
bombs. The Soviets, however, called for immediate disarmament and destruction of all
atomic bombs so that the US would no longer be at an advantage since the Baruch Plan would
have preserved American monopoly on nuclear weapons. Negotiations were unsuccessful
due to conflicting national interests.
Each nation sought every advantage of the other (Russia- land gained from war; US- economic
and strategic advantages)
This rivalry signals the start of the Cold War.
● 1947: George C. Marshall appointed Secretary of State
● George Marshall relied on the talents of Dean
Acheson and George Kennan
● Dean Acheson: England’s former role as arbiter of
world affairs
● George Kennan: Called for vigilance regarding Soviet
expansionist tendencies, and for American foreign
policy to be left to experts
● Secretary of State George Marshall - gave economic
assistance to Western Europe
● Dean Acheson - Opposed appeasement and had a
policy of negotiating only from strength
● George Kennan - Advocated for containment
● John Foster Dulles - Suez Canal crisis
● Bernard Baruch - Nuclear disarmament
● Images and publications like
this led to the Truman
Doctrine
● Created in response to Britain
who lacked funding to
continue to support Greece
and Turkey from a Soviet
invasion
● 1947: Truman sought funds to keep Greece and
Turkey in Western sphere of influence
● Truman Doctrine: “Support free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or
outside pressure”
● Truman Doctrine an informal declaration of cold war
against the Soviet Union
● 1947: George Marshall proposed the infusion of massive amounts of
American capital in Western Europe
● Russia refused aid
● 1948: Marshall Plan adopted by Congress
● Plan fostered western European prosperity
o industrial success in Europe bolstered the American economy and
put an end to American fears of the spread of Communism to the
West
● The Marshall
Plan generated
broad industrial
recovery in
Western Europe
● 1947: George Marshall proposed the infusion of massive amounts of
American capital in Western Europe
o Military alliance included U.S., Canada, most of western Europe
o U.S. troops stationed in Europe
o represented a departure from traditional American isolationism
● NATO intensified the Soviet’s fear of the West
● June, 1948: Soviets respond by starting a blockade of
Berlin
● Truman ordered airlift to supply the city
● 1949: Russians end blockade
● U.S. political victory dramatized division
● 1947: National Security Act
o Department of Defense unified armed forces
o Central Intelligence Agency coordinated intelligence-gathering
o National Security Council advised president
● Defense budget devoted to air power
● 1949: First Russian atomic bomb exploded, U.S. began hydrogen bomb
development
● Statement NSC-68 advocated a massive expansion of American
military so the U.S. could halt and overcome the Soviet threat.
o Proved that President Truman would do anything necessary to
win the Cold War
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1945: U.S. consolidates hold on Japan, former Japanese possessions in Pacific.
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American policy changed Japanese government to a constitutional
government.
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Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists vs Mao Tse-tung’s Communist in the Chinese Civil
War
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Chiang Kai-shek’s biggest problem was by 1945 was inflation, which had risen
100% in one year
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1949: Victory of Mao Tse-tung brings China into Soviet orbit, U.S. decides to focus
on Japan as an ally
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Republican senators blamed the Communist sucess in China on American
diplomats who sabotaged the Nationalist government
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June 25, 1950: Communist North Korean (supported by Soviet Union) forces
invaded U.S.-influenced South Korea
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General Douglas MacArthur was overconfident and gave Truman bad advice
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The American public continued to support MacArthur and the battle against
communism in Asia and were displeased with his relief of command on April
11, 1951
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Truman made South Korea’s defense a U.N. effort, sent in U.S. troops
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U.S. routed Korean forces in South
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China threatened an invasion if the U.S. invaded North Korea
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Attempt to unify Korea drew in China
o
U.S. pushed back to South, war a stalemate
● New Deal economic policies undermined
● Fears of Communist subversion
● Republicans used the public dissatisfaction of the
Cold War to revive and strengthen their party
● Obstacles to Truman’s Fair Deal reforms:
o Apathetic public
o Inflation - Prices went up 25% in two years
o Nicknamed the “No. 1 Strikebreaker”
o Labor Unrest
● 1946: Republicans win Congress
● Taft-Hartley Act outlawed certain union tactics
o Truman vetoed, Republicans overrode his veto
● 1948 election: Truman thought unelectable
o Northern liberals supported Henry Wallace’s Progressive candidacy
o Southern Democrats supported “Dixiecrat” Strom Thurmond
o Republican Thomas Dewey overconfident and ran bland campaign,
failed to challenge Truman on Cold War because of the Berlin
Crisis; key to Truman’s win
o Roosevelt coalition elected Truman on domestic issues
● House Un-American Activities Committee investigated
Communist subversion in government
● Truman responded with loyalty program
● Alger Hiss case - most famous disclosure of
espionage in the late 1940’s
● Democrats blamed for:
o
“Losing” China to Communism
o
Russia’s development of a hydrogen bomb
● 1950: Senator Joseph McCarthy launched anti communist
campaign based on unsubstantiated claims used to
engender fear, thereby increasing his popularity
● Innocent overwhelmed by accusations
● Julius and Ethel Rosenburg were executed for sharing
secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviets
● Attacks on privileged bureaucrats
o Supported by Midwest Republicans
● 1952: Eisenhower captures White House for Republican
Party
● July 27, 1953: stalemate accepted in Korea
● Eisenhower deals passively with McCarthy
● 1954: Attack on an Army dentist discredits McCarthy,
who is then censured
● Eisenhower prefers to work behind the scenes
● Eisenhower’s Secretary of State: John Foster Dulles
● Eisenhower wanted to relax tensions with Soviets
● Debt imposed by defense spending
● Military relied on air force and its nuclear striking
power
● Eisenhower’s “new look” policy relied on massive
retaliation to deter Soviet attacks
● Despite Admiral Redford’s call for air strikes in the
battle of Dien Bien Phu, Eisenhower refused military
aid for French retention of colonial Indochina.
● Admiral Arthur Redford called for U.S. military
assistance to prevent French defeat in Vietnam
● Victory of Communist Ho Chi Minh prompted
intervention to prevent election
● Vietnam divided, election postponed
● South Vietnam under U.S. puppet regime
● Tough line against China when they shelled the Nationalists
coastal islands; U.S. hints at potential nuclear strike
● Drove wedge between China and and Russia: Soviets didn't
want to intervene
● Strategy ultimately worked
● Effects not immediately apparent
● The first test of Eisenhower’s policy to contain China
came at the Formosa Strait in Taiwan
● 1956: Nasser nationalized Suez Canal
● Eisenhower’s first serious foreign policy came when
Egypt seized the Suez Canal
● France, England invaded Egypt
● Eisenhower won Middle East trust by pressuring
English, French withdrawal
● 1958: Lebanon invited U.S. troops to maintain order
● Brought end to the Korean War
● Accepted Soviet domination of Eastern Europe to
keep peace
● Authorized spy planes to fly over the Soviet Union
● Remained calm in times of stress due to his
prestigious military background
● Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used to achieve
covert objectives
● Iran: CIA restored the shah to power
● Guatemala: CIA ousted leftist government
● Eastern Europe: Refused to help East Germans or
Hungarians
● Stalin was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev
● Nuclear test ban treaty
o U.S. and U.S.S.R. agreed to suspend nuclear testing in
the atmosphere
● October, 1957: Russians launched Sputnik
o Khrushchev worsened the state of the Cold War after
the launch of Sputnik by claiming “We will bury you…
Your grandchildren will live under communism”
● May, 1960: U-2 incident cancelled plans for summit on
new Berlin Crisis
● January, 1961: Eisenhower warned against growing
military-industrial complex
● Post-war era marked by Cold War rather than peace
and tranquility