The Cold War
Cold War starts
• Though Stalin promised democracy for Eastern
Europe at Yalta, the Red Army remained in those
countries & they became “satellite states”
controlled by the Soviet Union
• By the meeting at Potsdam, Stalin refuses to
provide democracy & Pres. Truman is convinced
Soviet Union is planning world conquest
• It’s a “Cold War” because the 2 sides never face
each other directly in a “hot” military conflict
“Iron Curtain”
• Churchill gives a speech in Missouri that
describes the split in Europe
• The East under Soviet control, but they would
attempt to spread it to the West & Asia
• Truman Doctrine: Policy of
giving U.S. aid to countries
struggling against Communism
• Containment: keep
communism contained within
existing borders
• Marshall Plan: economic aid to
Europe; food, heating & $
(part of containment & est.
goodwill toward the U.S.)
Divided Berlin
• It was determined that the city's
daily food ration would be 646
tons of flour and wheat; 125 tons
of cereal; 64 tons of fat; 109 tons
of meat and fish; 180 tons of
dehydrated potatoes; 180 tons of
sugar; 11 tons of coffee; 19 tons
of powdered milk; 5 tons of
whole milk for children; 3 tons of
fresh yeast for baking; 144 tons of
dehydrated vegetables; 38 tons of
salt; and 10 tons of cheese. In
total, 1,534 tons were needed
daily to keep the over 2 million
people alive.
Berlin Airlift
• From June ‘48- May ‘49
Stalin halts ALL traffic on
the roads, railways &
waterways from West
Germany to West Berlin
(Berlin was deep in Eastern
Germany, controlled by
the Soviets)
• The U.S. & Britain fly in
necessities every day &
Stalin is forced to lift the
blockade
• NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization; 12
Western European & North American nations
join in a military alliance
• Warsaw Pact: Communist states form this rival
military alliance
Communists in China
• China had been in civil war
since before Japan invaded
them, after WWII it resumed
• Soviets supported Communist
Mao Zedong; U.S. supported
Chiang Kai-shek
• Though U.S. gave billions,
Mao’s forces won
Korean War (1950-53)
• After WWII Korea was split in 2. North was
occupied by Soviets & South by U.S.
• Divided at the 38th parallel
• North invades South, U.S. defends South &
under Gen. MacArthur pushes all the way
north
• China hops in & pushes U.S. back to the 38th
• Stalemate! Two sides sign a cease-fire
Opening Question 1
• Read this excerpt
• “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to
support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside pressures.... Should we fail
to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect will be
far-reaching to the West.... We must take immediate and
resolute action. I therefore ask the Congress to provide
authority for assistance to Greece and Turkey in the amount
of $400 million.... The seeds of totalitarian regimes are
nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the
evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth
when the hope of a people for a better life has died.”
• Based on yesterday’s notes: IDENTIFY who said this and
IDENTIFY what term it describes and EXPLAIN why using
evidence from the excerpt.
Opening Question 2
• Read this excerpt
• I need to say that the world situation is very serious.... Europe
must have a great deal of additional help, or face heavy
economic, social, and political damage. This would have a
harmful effect on the world at large. There are also
possibilities of disturbances because of the desperation of the
people concerned. The effect on the economy of the United
States should be clear to all. So the United States should do
whatever it can to help restore normal economic health to
the world. Without this there can be no political stability or
peace. Our policy is directed ... against hunger, poverty,
desperation and chaos . Its purpose is to revive a working
economy in the world.
• Based on yesterday’s notes: IDENTIFY what important term it
describes. EXPLAIN using evidence from the excerpt.
Arms Race
• Soviets develop & test atomic bomb
• Truman orders Atomic Energy Commission to
develop a hydrogen bomb (1000x stronger)
• Many scientists say this will create perpetual
arms race; but gov’ts insist “mutually assured
destruction” will stop the other side from
using them.
• Key and Peele- Dueling Hats
Hot Spots
• Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet leader after
Stalin’s death; he’s not as cruel (or crazy)
• 1956 Poland riots & gains greater control of
their gov’t; Hungarians revolt & are brutally
crushed
• Suez Crisis: Egypt nationalizes Suez Canal
(could stop flow of oil to Europe), so France,
Britain & Israel plot to take the canal;
Eisenhower refuses to support them, so they
withdraw
Eisenhower Doctrine
• U.S. would used force to help Middle Eastern
countries fight communism
• CIA (intelligence gathering) aids coups in Iran
& Guatemala
Space Race
• ‘57 Soviets send Sputnik, 1st satellite, into space
• U.S. begins to fund Science education
• Create NASA (National Aeronautics & Space
Administration)
Kennedy & the Cold War
• Elected in 1960 (ps. 1st
televised debate)
• Strategy: flexible response—
spends more on army, navy &
special forces along with
nuclear
• Founded Peace Corps to help
3rd world countries
Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
• Fidel Castro had taken over Cuba; Eisenhower
had authorized a CIA plan to overthrow him
• Kennedy implements the plan; it fails
miserably, strengthens Castro & made
Kennedy look bad to other countries
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
• Soviets were building nuclear missile sites in
Cuba; U.S. blockaded Cuba
• Kennedy & Khrushchev involved in a tense 6
day stand-off
• Kennedy agrees to remove missiles from Turkey
& Italy if Soviets remove from Cuba
• Hotline between
Moscow & D.C. placed
Origins of Vietnam War
• Was a French colony
• Truman supported
France’s claim on it to
keep French support of
the Cold war & fight
communist Vietminh
under leader Ho Chi Minh
• Eisenhower continued support with the
“domino theory:” if Vietnam fell to communism
others would follow
U.S. joins in…
• The Vietminh defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu
& are freed
• North Vietnam was communist & South was anti& supported by the U.S.
• Long story short: the 2 were supposed to join
together but the South didn’t want to ‘cuz they
knew they’d end up communist
• Communists in the South, the Vietcong, use
guerrilla warfare to attack
• In ‘61 JFK sends special forces to “advise” the
South
Johnson’s Vietnam
• When a N. Vietnamese torpedo is fired at the
USS Maddox, Congress passes the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolutions to give the Pres. power to
commit troops without declaration of war
• ‘65 Operation Rolling Thunder bombs N.
Vietnam
• Many more troops sent
• Napalm- jellied gas that
explodes on impact &
covers everything
• Agent Orange- herbicide
used to killed crops &
deforest jungles (caused
starvation & later: cancers
& birth defects
No way to win?
• Tough for many to understand why we were
fighting: It’s not over territorial acquisition; it’s
not to over throw the North, just to protect the
South…
• Indecisive battles in jungles, at night, not knowing
who the enemy is, etc.
• This lack of progress leads to low morale
• Congress itself splits into hawks & doves with
more people pointing out the pointlessness of it
Responses at home
• Antiwar protests increase, the
draft becomes less popular
• College campuses become protest
hotspots
• Discrepancies between journalists’ reports & the
Johnson administration reports on the war create a
“credibility gap,” a distrust of the government.
Tet Offensive (1968)
• N. Vietnam coordinated assault on S.; with
U.S. help they fought back, but still a blow to
the S. & U.S.
• Makes an end seem unlikely
• Johnson announces he will limit bombing &
seek settlement and he will not run for
President again
‘68 Election
• Robert Kennedy, the Democrat candidate,
is assassinated in June
• Richard Nixon (R) faces off against VP
Hubert Humphrey (D) and George Wallace
• Nixon wins by appealing to the “Silent
Majority” and using a “southern strategy”
to lure the Solid South to his party (it
works)
Nixon’s Vietnam
• “Peace with honor” slogan: U.S. out of
Vietnam but on honorable terms
• Began gradual pullout of troops & continued
peace talks
• “Vietnamization” of the war: U.S. forces will
be replaced with Vietnam’s army
• Nonetheless, he also authorized bombing &
attacks on the Vietcong in Cambodia
My Lai Massacre
• Troops kill 400-500 civilians in this village. In
‘71 Lt. Calley is convicted. The story of the
attack, cover up & trial shocks Americans
Pentagon Papers
• Classified gov’t history of U.S. involvement in
Vietnam is leaked to NY Times. It reveals gov’t
had been active in Vietnam with out
Americans’ knowledge & leaders had lied to
Congress…
Impact of Vietnam
• Paris Peace Accords are signed in Jan. ‘73 and the
last troops go home
• By ‘75 N. Vietnam has taken the South
• Southeast Asia is a mess: Laos & Cambodia
become Communist
• Vets come home to mixed responses; considered
heroes or offered help
• War Powers Act: Pres. must inform Congress
within in 48 hrs. of committing U.S. forces to
foreign conflicts
Nixon & The Cold War
• Along with Henry Kissinger (top national security
advisor),embraces realpolitik which holds that
political goals should be concrete & practical, NOT
ideological
– (ie. fighting commies anywhere, even if it doesn’t make sense,
costs $ & lives; while refusing to trade with Soviets & China)
• Questioned the assumption that all communists
were working together
• Resumed relations with China! (a game of pingpong fixes all problems)
• Visited Moscow and signed SALT 1 which limited the
use of certain types of missiles—thus slowing the
arms race
End of the Cold War
• Both Presidents Ford & Carter continue the policy of
détente (easing of strained relations, especially in a
political situation), with a few hiccups here & there
• President Reagan actually amps the arms race back up
with “Star Wars” (not the movie)
• Despite this, the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev,
& Reagan meet and sign various agreements
• Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost (openness) and
pereskroika (reform) led to the collapse of the Soviet
Union
– Berlin Wall down in ’89
– Communists fall in other Soviet bloc counties
– By ‘92 Russia & U.S. signed a friendship agreement
Butter Battle Book
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z71Czfh8w3o
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Answer on a piece of paper, to turn in.
What are the 2 sides?
What is their main difference?
Where did the Yooks learn their ‘bread rules’?
What contest is going on?
What does the wall represent?
What does the ‘boomeroo’ represent?
What is Dr. Seuss trying to convey at the end of the book
with both men standing on the wall holding the Big-Boy
Boomeroo?
8. This book was controversial in it’s time, why do you think
that is?