THE COLD WAR HEATS UP
Atomic age

After US dropped the atomic bombs in Japan the
Soviet Union wanted to acquire similar weapons
Marshall Plan

Peacemakers did not want to repeat the mistakes of
post WWI era
 21
million people were homeless after WWII
 20% of Poland's population died
 25% of houses in France and Belgium were destroyed
or damaged
 Industries and transportation were in ruins
 Agriculture suffered from the loss of livestock
 Ex
France's damage equaled three times the nation’s income
Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan- called for nations of Europe to draw
up a program for economic recovery from the war


United States would support the program with financial aid
America was concerned because communist parties
were growing
Feared that the Soviet Union would intervene
 U.S. believed that it would promote democracy and open
new markets


Soviets were invited to participate in the Marshall Plan

Refused the help and pressured satellite nations to do the
same
Congress approves


In 1948 Congress approves the Marshall Plan
Became known as the European Recovery Program
 Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and West
Germany

In 4 years the U.S. gave $13 billion in grants and
loans
 Economies
restored
 U.S. gained strong trading partners
Shipments financed by the Marshall
Plan, 1948-1951
Shipment
Total Value (in millions of dollars)
Food, feed, fertilizer
3,209.5
Fuel
1,552.4
Cotton
1,397.8
Other raw materials
2,327.6
Machinery and vehicles
1,428.1
Other
88.9
Total
10,004.3
The Berlin Airlift

By 1949 Germany was completely divided
 The
Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
 German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
 Berlin
(Germany’s Capital) was located in East Germany
and was also divided


Many citizens in communist areas would go to East
Berlin and then make their way to West Berlin. From
there they would go to U.S., Canada or Western
Europe
Stalin did not like this and saw it as a threat

Stalin blocked all shipments to West Berlin from the
allies


Threatened shortages of food and supplies needed for the
2.5 million citizens
Truman did not want to start a war because of this so
he moved supplies into West Berlin by plane
For 15 months more than 200,000 flights were made to
deliver food, fuel, and other supplies
 At the height 13,000 tons of goods arrived daily


Soviets gave up the blockade in May 1949 and the
airlift ended
NATO


North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The UN was used to deal with most postwar problems
But the Soviets were often using their veto power
 Western Europe felt they needed to look beyond the UN




“association of democratic peace-loving states”
U.S., Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal
Agreed that an armed attack against one of them
would be considered an attack against all of them.

Soviets responded by creating the Warsaw Pact- military
alliance with satellite nations of Eastern Europe
Communist advances



Soviets tested an atomic bomb 1949
1950 Truman approved development of Hydrogen
bomb- and was tested in 1952
Federal Civil Defense Administration- made plans to
protect against nuclear attack
The Cold War at Home

Many Americans joined the communist party during the
depression


Growth of communism in the world led to fear of an
overthrow of the government


After war most left the party
Anyone who was communist or had communist ties were
persecuted
Federal loyalty program 1947- all federal government
employees were to be investigated and brought before a
Loyalty Review Board

The program examined several million employees but only a few
hundred were removed from their positions

Regardless it added suspicion to the country
HUAC

House Un-American Activities Committee



Established in 1938 to investigate disloyalty
Believed that movies had the power to influence the public
Charged Hollywood figures had communist leanings in their
filmmaking

They were put on trial in Sept and Oct 1947


Hollywood Ten- refused to answer whether or not they were
communist.


“are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”
Cited for contempt of Congress and served jail time
Blacklists were created to not hire the Hollywood Ten and others
who were subversive or opposed the idea of the blacklist
The McCarran-Walter Act




Senator Pat McCarran felt that all disloyal
Americans were from Communist nations
The law set a quota system for each country that
was established in 1924
Discriminated against immigrants from Asia and
Southern and Central Europe
This bill was vetoed by Truman because he said it
was one of the most “un-American” acts
Spy Cases

Alger Hiss was charged for being a communist in the
1930’s and a Soviet spy.


Julius and Ethel Rosenberg- members of the communist
party were accused of passing atomic secrets to the
soviets during WWII.


Went to jail for 4 years
Convicted of espionage and executed in 1953
Both convictions have been debated for years and
caused a people to fear that there were spies in the
U.S.
McCarthy Era

Senator Joseph McCarthy stated that he had a list of 205 people
who were known communists and working for the government.



Sparked an anti-communist hysteria and national search for subversivesSecond Red Scare
Anyone who opposed him was considered to be a communist
McCarthy even accused people in the Army as being communist


This led to the Army to charge McCarthy with seeking special treatment
for his aide.
The Army-McCarthy hearing began in 1954


The hearing was televised
McCarthy lost most of his followers by the end because he was seen as a
bully
Arms Race

The United States and Soviet Union were in a constant
struggle for world leadership


Each nation wanted to have weapon superiority
Deterrence- policy of making the military power of the
United States and its allies so strong that no enemy
would dare attack for the fear of retaliation

Between 1954 and 1958- the U.S. conducted 19 Hydrogen
bomb tests in the Pacific

Ex one explosion was 750 times more powerful than the bomb
dropped on Nagasaki. A Japanese fisherman 90 miles away
suffered radiation burns
Brinkmanship
Cold War in the Skies


In order to attack the Soviet Union the United States had to
use planes to transport the bombs
The Soviets focused on ICBM’s- Intercontinental ballistic
missiles- long range rockets

In 1957 the Soviets used their rockets to launch Sputnik


Scared American’s because the rocket could also carry hydrogen
bombs
U-2 incident


Soviet used missiles to shoot down an American U2 spy plane
over Soviet territory
Americans thought they could not be hit because they were 15
miles high. This hurt American confidence