The Beginnings of the Cold War
1945 - 1953
Lividia Palace, Yalta, Crimea
Yalta Conference (Feb. 4 – 11, 1945)
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Poland moved west & govt.
broadened
Germany & Berlin divided into 4
occupation zones
USSR to declare war on Japan 2-3
months after V-E Day & recognize
Nationalist China
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Would regain what it lost in RussoJapanese War
Korea divided at 38th parallel
Declaration of Liberated
Europe promised to est.
democracies & rebuild economies
of liberated nations
Winston Churchill, Franklin D.
Roosevelt & Josef Stalin at Yalta
(copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s)
Post-WWII Eastern Europe
The United Nations
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Charter devised at Dunbarton
Oaks (1944) & San Francisco
(1945)
General Assembly – all nations
have a vote
Security Council –
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5 permanent members (US, USSR,
Britain, France & China) each have
veto power
Other members serve limited terms
Other arms: UNESCO, UNICEF,
WHO, etc.
Potsdam Conference (July 17 – Aug. 2, 1945)
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Clement Attlee, Harry Truman
& Josef Stalin at Potsdam, Aug. 1,
1945 (from the Truman Pres. Library &
Museum collection)
Germany disarmed & industry
dismantled
Occupiers take reparations out
of zones
Council of Foreign Ministers to
settle Italy, Finland, Hungary,
Bulgaria & Romania (treaties in
1947)
Nuremberg Trials (Nov. 1945 Oct. 1946) result in execution of
top Nazis for “crimes against
humanity”
Nazis on Trial at Nuremburg
Atomic Diplomacy
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Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s
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Decision to use A-bombs at end of
WWII partly influenced by desire to
impress Soviet Union
Henry Wallace warned of dangerous
arms race leading to nuclear war
Truman saw nuclear weapons as
effective deterrent to Soviet aggression
Soviets tested their own A-bomb in
Sept. 1949
U.S. began building H-bomb in 1950
(tested in 1954)
Atomic Culture: Bikini
The Bomb and Containment Policy
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MAD = mutually assured
destruction
George F. Kennan
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Long Telegram (1946) warned
Soviets couldn’t be trusted, but
should be met with patient resolve
“X Article” (1947) called for
containing Soviet expansion &
proving superiority of U.S. ideals
NSC-68 (1950) codified
containment policy
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By all means short of war, block
Soviet expansion, expose lies, induce
retraction, & sow “seeds of
destruction” within USSR
The Beginnings of the Cold War in Europe
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1945: Soviets est. puppet regimes in Poland & Romania
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1946: Soviets reject Baruch Plan to share atomic secrets
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Truman blasts Molotov for violating Yalta agreements
Churchill gives “Iron Curtain” speech
1947: Communist coup in Hungary
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U.S. announces Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan
National Security Act:
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Dept. of Defense unified old War & Navy Dept.s
Joint Chiefs of Staff coordinates military plans between the 4 service
branches
National Security Council: President,Vice President, Sec. of State, Sec. of
Defense, CIA & FBI Directors, National Security Advisor
Central Intelligence Agency conducts spying & covert operations
The Division of Germany
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1948: Soviets est. puppet
regime in Czechoslovakia
Soviets blockade W. Berlin
U.S. stages Berlin Airlift
(1948-49)
British, French & U.S.
occupation zones merged
into “Trizonia” – becomes
West Germany in 1949
Soviets est. puppet regime in
East Germany
Divided Europe, 1949-1989
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Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (1949) =
1st permanent alliance for
U.S.
Soviets created Warsaw
Pact & COMECON to
counter NATO &
Marshall Plan
The Beginnings of the Cold War in Asia
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Japan occupied & rebuilt solely by U.S.
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Mao Zedong’s Communists took over China in
1949
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Caroline, Marshall & Mariana islands put under U.S.
trusteeship
Gen. Douglas MacArthur wrote new Japanese
constitution
Permanent treaty signed in 1951
Mao Zedong
Jiang Jieshi’s Kuomintang fled to Taiwan
Korea divided at 38th parallel by Yalta agreement
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UN held elections in South in 1948
North more industrialized, but fewer people
Jiang Jieshi
The Korean War (1950-1953)
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Kim Il-Sung got reluctant approval from
Stalin
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Truman got immediate UN action – saw it as
1930s all over again
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Invasion of North brought Chinese into war
Armistice signed July 27, 1953
Cost to the U.S.:
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Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s
British, Canadian, Turkish & other troops, too
Est. defensive line around Pusan, then staged
Inchon landing
War prolonged due to Synghman Rhee’s
desire for reunification
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Mao wanted Soviet aid to take Taiwan
80% of Chinese industry in Manchuria
54,000 dead; 103,000 injured; $69.5 billion
1.5 million Chinese & N. Korean casualties
The Home Front
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Executive Branch Loyalty Program
(1947)
Soviet Spy Cases:
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McCarran Internal Security Act (1950)
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Alger Hiss convicted of perjury (1950)
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of
espionage (1951) & executed (1953)
Unlawful to contribute to the est. of a
totalitarian gov’t
“Communist front” org. members had to
register; denied travel visas & gov’t jobs
Sen. Joseph McCarthy led Senate
Permanent Investigation Committee (195354)
Copyright 2000, Bedford/St.
Martin’s
Spies Like Us
Alger Hiss
Julius & Ethel Rosenberg
Postwar Conservatives
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Classic liberals – feared expansion of
government power
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Many were former Communists disillusioned
with Stalin & USSR.
Argued that liberal Democrats were either
dangerously naïve or else traitors
James Burnham argued containment
wasn’t enough – too defensive, and not
spiritually inspiring
Whittaker Chambers said that the
transcendent issue was religious – both
Communism & secular humanism were
atheistic
James Burnham
Whittaker Chambers