The Cold War Heats Up
Mr. Dodson
The Cold War Heats Up
• How did the Marshall Plan, the Berlin airlift, and
NATO help to achieve American goals in postwar
Europe?
• How did Communist advances affect American
foreign policy?
• How did the Cold War affect American life at
home?
The Marshall Plan
• The United States wanted to help European nations
recover from the war and become economically strong
democracies. It also wanted to prevent Communists from
continuing to gain power in Europe.
• The Marshall Plan was created in 1947 by U.S. Secretary
of State George C. Marshall as a means to achieve these
goals. According to the Marshall Plan, participating
nations would design recovery programs and would
receive financial aid from the United States.
• Seventeen Western European nations joined the plan,
receiving a total of $13 billion in aid.
The Berlin Airlift
• As part of the postwar division of Germany, the city of
Berlin, located in Communist East Germany, was divided
into West Berlin (capitalist) and East Berlin (Communist).
• In June 1948, Stalin banned all shipments to West Berlin
through East Germany, creating a blockade which
threatened to cut off supplies to the city.
• In response, Allied nations began the Berlin airlift, which
delivered thousands of tons of food and other supplies to
West Berlin via air.
• Although the Soviet blockade ended in May 1949, Berlin
remained a focal point of Cold War conflict.
NATO
Why create a treaty organization?
• Soviet vetoes prevented the United Nations from
resolving a number of postwar problems.
• The United States sought to avoid the problems
of post–World War I isolationism.
• The United States did not want to be the only
nation in the Western Hemisphere committed to
fighting communism. A Canadian role in the
treaty organization would be vital.
NATO
What was NATO?
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
was formed in April 1949.
• In joining NATO, the United States, Canada, and
ten Western European nations pledged to
support one another against attack, a principle
known as collective security.
• In response, the Soviet Union created the
Warsaw Pact, a military alliance between the
Soviet Union and its satellite nations.
Communist Advances
The Soviet Atomic Threat
• In September 1949, Truman announced that the Soviet
Union had successfully tested an atomic bomb.
• In response, the United States began developing the
even more powerful hydrogen bomb, reestablishing itself
as the world’s leading nuclear power.
• The newly formed Federal Civil Defense Administration
distributed information on how to survive a nuclear
attack; this information was ridiculed by experts.
Communist Advances
China Falls to the Communists
• During World War II, competing factions in China had
cooperated, but fighting between them resumed
towards the end of the war.
• At first, the United States supported Nationalist leader
Jiang Jieshi against Communist Mao Zedong. However,
the United States later decided to focus on Western
Europe instead.
• Many Americans viewed Mao Zedong’s creation of a
Communist state in China as a failure of Truman’s
policies.
The Cold War at Home
• During the late 1940s, fear of Communist spies created a
climate of suspicion in the United States.
• Truman established a federal employee loyalty program in
1947, checking the backgrounds of all new and existing federal
employees.
• The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began
investigating Hollywood personalities who the committee
claimed, had Communist leanings. When one group, known
as the Hollywood Ten, refused to answer HUAC’s questions,
they were cited for contempt of Congress and imprisoned.
• Hollywood studios compiled a blacklist, a list circulated to
employers naming persons who should not be hired.
Blacklisted individuals came from all sections of the industry
and included anyone who seemed subversive.
The Cold War at Home
• During the late 1940s, fear of Communist spies created a
climate of suspicion in the United States.
• Truman established a federal employee loyalty program in
1947, checking the backgrounds of all new and existing federal
employees.
• The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began
investigating Hollywood personalities who the committee
claimed, had Communist leanings. When one group, known
as the Hollywood Ten, refused to answer HUAC’s questions,
they were cited for contempt of Congress and imprisoned.
• Hollywood studios compiled a blacklist, a list circulated to
employers naming persons who should not be hired.
Blacklisted individuals came from all sections of the industry
and included anyone who seemed subversive.
The Cold War at Home
• Fueled by fears of disloyal immigrants from Communist
countries, the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act reestablished the
immigration quota system from 1924. This act discriminated
against potential immigrants from Asia and Southern and
Central Europe.
The Cold War at Home
• Two famous spy cases reinforced fears that Soviet spies in the
United States were sharing American secrets with foreign
Communists. These were the cases of Alger Hiss and of Julius
and Ethel Rosenberg.