The Cold War
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The United Nations

April 25, 1945
• Representatives from 50 countries meet in
San Francisco to work on charter for the U.N.

October 24, 1945
– U.N. comes into official existence.

Official Charter of U.N. is created.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
United Nations

Purposes:
– Maintain peace
– Provide security
– Promote justice
– Provide general welfare
– Establish human rights
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
United Nations

The General Assembly
– The “town meeting” of the world.
– All U.N. members are EQUALLY represented
– JOB:
• To make suggestions on peaceful settlements of
disputes
• Elect all NON-permanent members of the Security
Council and members of other agencies.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The International Court of Justice

Modeled after the World Court
– Purpose:
• To decide legal questions referred to it by
disputing nations
• It gives advisory opinions when asked to do
so, but does not enforce decisions.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Expanding Soviet Influence

U.S.S.R.
– Considered itself the leader of the
Communist Revolution
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Two Worlds

United States
– Capitalism

Soviet Union
– Communism
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War

Between Soviet Union and United
States

COLD WAR
– A state of tension and military rivalry
between nations that stops short of fullscale war.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Soviet Union

Believed war against Communism
and Capitalism was inevitable

Believed the U.S. would lead an
attack on Communism
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Soviet Union
– No free speech
– Crushed opposition
– Broadcast anti-American propaganda.
– No freedom of the press.
– Government controls all industry.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Truman Doctrine

Policy of containment
– Contain what?
• Soviet expansion.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Marshall Plan

Secretary of State George C. Marshall
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Marshall Plan

Designed to solve Europe’s
economic problems
– European economies = Poor
• Why were they poor?
– They had just spent a lot of money
fighting World War II.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Marshall Plan

Help European:
– Factories
– Farms
– Transportation systems
• Get them operating effeciently
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
What did it do?

Provided
– Money
– Machinery
• To who?
– Any nation who would like to participate
– INCLUDING the Soviet Union
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Congressional Debate

Block communism
(contain it) by
strengthening
Europe’s
economies

U.S. can’t afford to
carry “Europe on
its back”
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Congress Approves the Plan
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Berlin Airlift

Tension in Germany
– Joint occupation of Germany
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Berlin Airlift

June 24, 1948
– Soviets block all roads, canals,
railways, and means of transportation
between their side and the Western
side.
– Berlin under Soviet control
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Berlin Airlift
British and American Planes
 2 Million tons of food and supplies

– To Berlin
– Crisis resolved in 1949 with help of U.N.
• Example of U.N. doing what?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
N.A.T.O.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
– 9 Western European Nations
• U.S.
• Canada
• Iceland
• AN ALLIANCE
– Against who?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
N.A.T.O.

An attack against one or more of
them would be considered an attack
against all.
– Alliance between:
• Western Europe and U.S. Alliance
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Division of Korea

1910-1945
– Korea ruled by Japan
– Japanese pushed out of Korea in WWII
• General Douglas MacArthur
– Named Supreme Commander of the Allied
Powers and placed in charge of occupation
forces in Japan.
– Also in charge of South Korea.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
th
38

Parallel
American Occupation
– South Korea

Soviet Occupation
– North Korea
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Individual Governments

North Korea
– Sets up its own government

South Korea
– Sets up its own government

Both governments claim control of all of
Korea
– Problem?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Review

UN
– General Assembly
– Security Council
– Cold War
– Truman Doctrine
– Marshall Plan
– Berlin Airlift
– NATO
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Korean Challenge

June 25, 1950
– North Korea launches an invasion of
South Korea
• South Korea – recognized internationally as
legitimate government of the People’s
Republic of Korea
– United Nations
• Take steps to deal with problem
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
United Nations

Security Council
– Votes unanimously for a cease fire
between the Koreas.
• Why would Soviet Union vote for this?
– Or do they?
– Soviet Union boycotting U.N. because:
• U.N. does not recognize Communist China.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
United Nations

Classify North Korea
– An aggressor
– Meanwhile:
• President Truman pledges American Aid to
South Korea
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Korean War

United States
• Truman orders U.S. air and
ground forced ordered to
Korea.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Problems

South Koreans
– Outnumbered
– Soviet tanks given to North Korean
Army
– U.S. having trouble defending against
tanks
– Forced to southeast corner of South
Korea
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Korean War

General MacArthur
– In charge of U.S. forces in Korea
– Decides to launch a sea borne attack
against the west coast of Korea and
move eastward to take Seoul
Importance of Seoul?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Seuol

Capital of South Korea
– Recaptured by MacArthur and the U.S.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
MacArthur Advances

General MacArthur
– North Korean troops retreat (that can)
– Pushes North Koreans backward
– Moves all the way to the Yalu River
• The Yalu River borders China
• China is Communist
• What might be a problem for U.S. forces?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Tide Turns Against MacArthur

Chinese “Volunteers”
– Thousands help North Koreans
– U.N. and U.S. troops with lines extended
were outnumbered
– U.N. and U.S. forces pushed back to 38th
Parallel.
• So what has been accomplished?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Threat of World War III

War with China
– Quick decisive action
would bring an end to the
conflict – according the
MacArthur
– OR
• Start of WWIII
– USSR openly would support
China and get involved.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Spread of Troops

Major war in Asia
– Would mean what for the Soviet Union
in Europe?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Stalemate in Korea

President Truman
– Orders MacArthur to establish a strong
defense line on 38th Parallel.
• Forbade blocking Chinese coast
• Bombing China
• Or helping Chinese Nationalists invade
China
• NO WAR with CHINA
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
MacArthur vs. Truman

MacArthur tries to appeal to
Congress
– MacArthur is removed
– Truman
• “I could do nothing else and still be
President”
• Matthew B. Ridgeway replaces MacArthur.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Point Four Program

Extend aid to all less fortunate countries.
– Underlying motive?
– Think of it as a less intense Marshall Plan for the world.
– Scientific Aid
– Industrial Aid
– Korean War demonstrates the serious threat of the
spread of Communism.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Elected President in 1952
 Promised to do everything in
his power to end the Korean
War

The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Korea – Peace Talks

Panmunjom
– July 27, 1952
– Armistice
• Recognized division of two countries at 38th
Parallel
• U.S. promises, in a treaty, to defend South
Korea against any attack and to help S.
Korea improve its economic conditions.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Korean War End

33,629 American Lives
 1.5 Million Communist Casualties
 An unpopular war
– Evidence of this?

Increased prestige of U.N.
– How? Think in terms of aggression.
– Showed that the use of force COULD check
Communist aggression.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
U.S. Foreign Policy Change

Secretary of State
– John Foster Dulles
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
John Foster Dulles

Brinkmanship
– Communists only understood force
– In order to maintain peace the United
States must be ready for war
• To be on the “brink” of war
– No longer contain, but push back
spread of Communism.
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
The Arms Race

Hydrogen Bomb
– Vastly more powerful than atomic bomb
– Soviet Union test first nuclear bomb –
1949
– Stockpiling
• How is this dangerous?
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Soviet Union

Nikita Khrushchev
– Publicly attacked his predecessor
• Joseph Stalin
• “a cruel tyrant”
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Space Race

Soviet Union launches Sputnik
– Sputnik – orbited first artificial satellite
• Showed that if the U.S.S.R. was capable of
launching a satellite into space, the U.S.S.R.
could launch a rocket that could deliver a
hydrogen bomb to the U.S.
• Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Cuban Missile Crisis

Mutually Assured Destruction
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Cuban Missile Crisis

Between U.S. and U.S.S.R.
– President Kennedy
– MAJOR conflict during Cold War
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
What was it?

October 15, 1962
– U-2 Spy plane photographs reveal:
•
•
•
•
Construction of missile silos in Cuba
Soviet Union behind the construction
Cuban 90 miles from Florida
What does this mean for U.S.?
• Crisis lasts for two weeks
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
John F. Kennedy

“It shall be the policy of this nation to
regard any nuclear missile launched
from Cuba against any nation in the
Western Hemisphere as an attack on
the United States, requiring a full
retaliatory response upon the Soviet
Union. “
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Kennedy’s Options
an air attack on the missiles
 a full military invasion
 the naval blockade of Cuba, which
was redefined as a more restrictive

The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Cuban Missile Crisis
Tension in the U.S.
 Option chosen:

– Naval blockade of Cuba
• Soviet Ships headed toward Cuba
• Meet the blockage
• Soviet Response
– Ships turn back
– A deal is struck
The Cold War 1946 - 1991
Cuban Missile Crises Ends
the Soviets dismantle the missiles in
Cuba
 Exchanged for a no invasion
agreement
 A secret removal of the Jupiter and
Thor missiles in Turkey.

The Cold War 1946 - 1991
U-2 Spy Plane Incident
Shot down over Soviet Union
 Over Soviet Territory

– Eisenhower “weather research”
– Khrushchev furious

Viewed by the Soviets as an act of
aggression
The Cold War 1946 - 1991