The Cold War
1945-1989
What is the Cold War
It was an intense rivalry between
the United States and Russia –
between West and East and
between capitalism and
communism that dominated the
years following WW II.
Words of Wisdom
Winston Churchill;
“Germany is finished.
The real problem is
Russia. I can’t get
Americans to see it.”
-- 1945
Cold vs. Hot
It is called the
“Cold” War
because there
was never any
direct attack
made by the U.S.
or Soviet Union
on each other.
Yalta Conference
The Big Three meet –
Churchill, Roosevelt
and Stalin
Divided Germany into
four zones
Problem: Poland!
Roosevelt wanted a
guarantee of free
elections and Stalin
wanted complete
control of Poland
The issue of Poland
would not go away
The United Nations
The Big Three all
agreed on
establishing this
international peace
keeping organization
following WWII
Goal: to promote
justice and
cooperation
Permanent
headquarters
established in New
York in 1953.
FDR dies; Truman Takes
Command
FDR died on April
12, 1945
Truman, his Vice
President for only a
few months,
became the leader
of our country
Conflicting Postwar
Goals
Americans: wanted democracy and economic
opportunities for the countries of Europe and
Asia
Soviets: Wanted to rebuild their nation in
order to protect their own interests. They
wanted to establish satellite nations,
countries controlled by the Soviets along the
western boundaries of the Soviet Union.
Stalin wanted to overthrow capitalism around
the world and install Communist
governments.
Satellite Nations
Like dominoes, one
by one countries in
Eastern Europe fell
to Stalin and
communism
Poland, Romania,
Bulgaria, East
Germany,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, Albania.
The Iron Curtain
A phrase coined by
Winston Churchill in
1946 it refers to the
division between
Communist and
non-Communist
nations
Became symbol of
division between
East and West
Containment
U.S. policy developed
by George Kennan
The U.S. could not do
anything in Eastern
Europe where Russia
already took over, but
that it should attempt
to stop the formation
of Communist
governments any
where else in the
world.
There’s
communism
in there!
Don’t let it
out!!
The Truman Doctrine
“I believe that it must
be the policy of the
U.S. to support free
peoples who are
resisting (conquest)
by armed minorities
or by outside
pressures.” –
President Truman,
1947
And what outside pressure
are we talking about?
The Marshall Plan
U.S. wanted to help
war-torn nations
recover so they could
create stable
democracies.
Seventeen nations
applied for aid. Total
aid given from 19481952 = $13 billion
Germany: A Land Divided
By 1949 there were two
Germany’s in
Europe:
1. West Germany:
democratic
2. East Germany:
communist
The capital of Berlin was
also later divided –
by a wall!
Berlin Airlift
Many Eastern Europeans who did not like
living under Soviet communist rule fled their
homes and escaped to West Berlin.
Stalin wanted to stop this escape route by
forcing the Western Powers to abandon West
Berlin.
Stalin blockaded all Allied shipments to West
Berlin through East Germany.
This threatened severe shortages of food and
other needed supplies in West Berlin.
Truman did not want a
war with the Soviets,
nor did he want to
give up West Berlin.
During the next 15
months both British
and U.S. aircraft
delivered food, fuel,
etc. by plane to the
city.
The Soviets finally
gave up in 1949 and
ended the blockade.
Berlin Airlift Map
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
Because the Soviet Union used its veto
power to block any action that stopped
communism in the United Nations, the West
needed another way to deal with Soviet
aggression.
In 1949 12 nations formed NATO. The
guiding principle of NATO is; “an armed
attack against one or more…shall be
considered an attack against them all.”
This is an example of collective securitymutual military assistance among nations.
Current Members of
NATO
The Soviet Union responded to the
formation of NATO by creating the
Warsaw Pact, a military alliance with
its satellite nations in Eastern Europe.
UN
NATO
WARSAW
PACT
The Arms Race
The greatest area
where the Soviet
Union and the U.S.
compete for world
domination was in
the arms race - the
struggle to gain
weapons superiority.
China Falls To
Communism
A civil war had existed between the Nationalists
and Communists in China since the 1920s.
1949: Mao Zedong and the Communists won and
established the People’s Republic of China.
The Nationalists fled to Taiwan and claimed to be
the legitimate government of China, establishing
the Republic of China. The U.S. and UN
recognized this Republic as the true government
of China.
Many Americans wanted Truman and the
government to focus not only on Europe but also
on Asia in their policy of containment.
Chairman Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolution
Poster: 1949
Korean War
After WW II Japan was forced to give up
control of Korea.
The Soviets accepted the surrender
above the 38th parallel and the U.S.
accepted it below that line.
Division was never the goal but became
a reality: a communist controlled north
and a democratically controlled south.
Map of Korea
Conflict in Korea
Citizens on both
sides of the parallel
wanted to reunite
their country.
War breaks out
when North Korean
troops came across
the 38th parallel to
try to unite the
country by force.
The Korean Conflict
Jan 1951 1953
May., 1950
Sept., 1950
Sept.-Nov., 1950
Nov 1950Jan 1951
The Forgotten War
The UN (mostly
American) sent troops
to Korea
The UN troops do well
initially but are driven
back close to the
original 38th parallel.
The war becomes a
stalemate and in 1953
an armistice is signed
agreeing to keep
Korea divided.
The Cold War at Home
There was a great
emphasis on loyalty to
America during the
Truman administration.
He vowed to find people
who were not loyal,
especially anyone with
ties to communism.
I LOVE
America!
I
His
administration
instituted
swear!! I
FBI
background checks for
would NEVER
begovernment
communist! employees and
the Loyalty Review Board
to hear evidence about
anyone in the government
participating in suspicious
Oh yeah!?
activities
Prove it!
or else!
The Rosenbergs
Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg were
Americans and
members of the
Communist party.
They were accused of
passing atomic
secrets to the Soviets
during WW II.
They were convicted
of spying and were
executed in 1953.
Did anticommunist
hysteria play a role?
Hmmm…
McCarthyism: The Height of Cold War
Hysteria
Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin
made himself famous by accusing hundreds
of people inside the government of having
ties with communists.
He set off a second period of anti-communist
hysteria
He had little to no evidence to support his
accusations and after a few years lost all
credibility.
Joseph McCarthy
HUAC
The House Un-American
Activities Committee
HUAC was created by the House of
Representatives in 1938 to investigate disloyalty
before WWII.
In 1947 they began to investigate the movie
industry, claiming it supported communist ideals.
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of
the Communist Party?”
The Hollywood Ten refused to answer and were
cited for contempt and sentenced to jail.
Studios compiled a blacklist of directors, actors,
and writers who should not be allowed to work
because they seemed subversive or refused to
cooperate with HUAC or refused to honor the
blacklist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1pPMliSck&feature=related
The Majestic movie trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwS
k2vW1po0
The Majestic movie clip
Cold War and Space
In 1957 the Soviet
Union proved that they
were ahead of the U.S.
in the technology war
when they launched
Sputnik into space.
Sputnik was the first
artificial satellite to orbit
the earth.
Problem: The rocket
used to launch Sputnik
could just as easily
carry a nuclear bomb to
America’s shores!
US Response: created
NASA in 1958 and
increased spending on
science and math in
America’s school.
Sputnik
Cuba
1959 Fidel Castro Takes power in Cuba
and when he developed ties to the
USSR American officials feared that
Cuba could become an example for
revolutionary upheaval through all of
Latin America.
Bay of Pigs
Kennedy’s 1st foreign crisis!
Eisenhower had approved a plan in
1960 to overthrow Castro
CIA was training a group of Cubans to
invade Cuba and overthrow Castro
 JFK and his advisers believed the people
of Cuba would join in to help the defeat of
Castro ----- THEY DID NOT!

Bay of Pigs
April 17, 1961
Airstrike failed to destroy Cuba’s air force
Cuban troops were more than a match for
the 1,500 invaders
Rather than increase forces Kennedy chose
to accept defeat
US lost prestige and faced anger from other
countries. JFK’s ability as President was
questioned.
Berlin Wall
Soviet attempt to cut off access to Berlin in
1948 failed because of the Berlin Airlift.
SOVIETS ATTEMPT AGAIN!
They demanded a peace treaty that would
make division permanent in order to stop
flow of East Germans into west Germany
through Berlin.
Kennedy feared this would lead to a larger
invasion of Europe.
Berlin Wall
Kennedy responded by increasing military
and military spending
“We do not want a fight – but we have fought
before!” JFK 1961
Aug. 1961 – Soviets built the wall to divide
Communist & Non-Communist Berlin
Soviets avoided war by stopping the flow out
of East Germany
Wall became a symbol of the Cold War
Cold War and Cuba
In October of 1962 U.S. spy
photography revealed that the Soviet
Union was building missile bases on
Cuba.
What followed, the Cuban Missile Crisis,
is the closest the world ever came to
nuclear war.
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviets placed
these missiles in
Cuba, 90 miles from
the U.S., to counter
the missiles the U.S.
had in Turkey – very
close to the
U.S.S.R.
These missiles in
Turkey were old and
probably wouldn’t
work – but the
U.S.S.R., under
Nikita Khruschev,
did not care about
that detail.
Kennedy Decides
After much
deliberation,
president Kennedy
decided to use a
U.S. naval
quarantine of Cuba
to prevent any
Soviet ships
carrying weapons
into Cuba
Disaster Avoided
After some secret negotiations the U.S.
agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey
while Russia would remove their missiles
from Cuba.
It appeared that if Russia either broke the
quarantine or refused to remove their
missiles, Kennedy would have used nuclear
weapons on Cuba and maybe the Soviet
Union directly!!!
Conclusion
The Cold War was a tense time and a time of
great uncertainty and fear
No one knew if the Soviets or the U.S. would
use one of their many weapons of mass
destruction -- they came close but never did!
The Cold War ended when the U.S.S.R.
collapsed and communism failed to make the
people happy or meet their basic needs.
Berlin Wall
falls: 1989
SU breaks
apart: 1991
Modern Day Arms Race: Pakistan
and India