The Close of World War II
• As World War II
approached the end, the
US, British, and Soviets
could not resolve the issue
of freedom for Europeans.
• As a result, the Yalta and
Potsdam Conferences
tried to solve some of the
postwar issues.
Yalta Conference
• FDR, Stalin, Churchill
• Poland
▫ FDR and Churchill: Free elections
▫ Stalin: Matter of “life and death” for friendly gov’t
▫ Agree to let Soviets set up gov’t
• Liberated Europe
▫ Right all of people to decide the form of gov’t
▫ Democratic elections with no Nazism or Fascism
Yalta Conference (continued)
• Germany
▫ Divided into four
zones (US, Britain,
France, USSR)
▫ Berlin split into
four zones even
though it is in
USSR zone
The Cold War Begins
• Soviets in Poland: no free elections and only 3
non-Communist Poles in 18-member Polish gov’t
• Germany
▫ Soviets want Germany to pay heavy reparations;
also want them weak and countries in between
communist and under control
▫ US have reparations of goods and keep it based off
what Germany can afford to pay
Potsdam Conference
• US-Soviet standoff over Germany
▫ Truman: Economy key; no heavy
reparations
▫ Stalin: Heavy reparations
▫ Ultimately, Stalin accepts the terms
• Other issues
▫ Soviets refused to back down on
Communist governments in Eastern
Europe (satellite nations)
▫ Iron Curtain: Communist nations of
Eastern Europe
Long Telegram
• George Kennan’s Long Telegram
explained his view of the Soviets
▫ Insecurity, fear of West, no
permanent deals due to struggle
with capitalism, continuing to
acquire land
▫ Use long-term containment
policies
 Keep communism within its
present territory
 Keep them from expanding
power, the system would fail
completely
Iran: Kennan’s ideas proved right
• Soviets refuse to remove troops
from Northern Iran, push for oil
and Communist government
• US tells Soviets to withdraw
forces, sends USS Missouri into
Mediterranean Sea
• Soviets withdraw
Truman Doctrine
• Stop Communist
advances around the
world
• Used in many places,
including Turkey and
Greece
Europe’s Economic Woes
Marshall Plan
• Sec. of State George
Marshall proposed the
European Recovery
Program, which gives
aid to Europe to rebuild
economies
▫ Western European
countries accepted plan
and economies
recovered
▫ Ultimately, this
weakened the appeal for
communism
Berlin Airlift
• Dispute of Germany continues,
so US, France, and Britain
merge into one (West Germany)
▫ Soviets realize they will never
get the reparations they want, so
they cut all traffic to West Berlin
off
▫ Goal: Make US reconsider
decision
▫ US Response: Truman sends
supplies to Berlin until Stalin
lifts blockade
Review from Friday
• What did it feel like to
be pointed out as a “red”
in society?
• How can a simple label
change the path of your
life in society?
“Is This Tomorrow” was a comic
book that talked about the dangers
of a communist takeover.
The Red Scare
McCarthyism
Red Scare
• Rumors of Communists in the US and
Communists in government lead to fears that
Communism is trying to take over the world
• Igor Gouzenko Story
▫ Ottawa’s Soviet Embassy
▫ Documents showing effort to
get into US/Canada governments
▫ Reason: A-bomb info
What it all meant
• Did spies infiltrate
America’s government?
• Fear of Communist
subversion began
▫ Subversion: effort to
weaken a society secretly
and overthrow its
government
A quick poll
• Raise your hand if you’ve read any book by
George Orwell, such as Animal Farm or 1984
• Raise your hand if you have ever traveled to
Europe
• Raise your hand if you have ever seen either the
movie Apocalypse Now or A Clockwork Orange
The Loyalty Review Program
• Screened all federal employees
▫ Result: Public believed this
confirmed that Communism had
gotten inside the US Gov’t
• Who got screened?
▫ More than 6 million workers
▫ Suspects picked by reading books,
belonging to a group, traveling
overseas, seeing particular movies
▫ 2,000 workers quit, 212 fired
House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
• J. Edgar Hoover wanted this committee
expanded to stop Communist growth in US
▫ Expose both Communists and symphathizers
• Film Industry
▫ Worried that it will manipulate people
▫ Reagan testified and said there were Communists
in Hollywood
▫ “Blacklisting”: Refusal to hire anyone who was a
Communist, believed to be one, or refused to
cooperate with HUAC
Red Channels
• 151 actors, directors,
broadcasters, and
screenwriters listed
in this book
▫ Leonard Bernstein
▫ Orson Welles
• Ultimately, they
found it near
impossible to find
work
Review
• What was the Loyalty Review Program? HUAC?
Red Channels?
• What were some of the things the government
looked into as they search for Communists?
The Hiss Saga
• Whittaker Chambers: Editor of
TIME, Former Communist Party
Member
▫ HUAC Testimony: Government
has Communists in it, including
Alger Hiss
▫ Alger Hiss, who was active in
Roosevelt and Truman
administrations denied
accusations and sued Chambers
▫ Ultimately, the “pumpkin papers”
led to Hiss being charged with
perjury
Red Scare Continues to Grow
• The Soviets created their own version of the atomic
bomb, which caused more concern and fear among
U.S. citizens.
▫ HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
▫ WAS IT A SPY?
• The case of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
▫ Accused of selling secrets to the Soviets on how to
make an atomic bomb
▫ Convicted and executed for their acts
Other Results of the Scare
• Univ. of California: Loyalty
oaths of all faculty members
• Taft-Hartley Act: Union leaders
must take oaths they were not
communists
• US prepares for nuclear war
▫ Fallout Shelters
▫ “Duck and Cover”
Joseph McCarthy
• 1950, after the Hiss conviction, McCarthy makes
a speech saying that he has a list of 205 State
Department members who were Communists
▫ Never released his list
▫ Continued to make charges
▫ Helped him gain attention
• “The Party of Betrayal”
▫ Booklet accusing Democratic Party members of
being corrupt and protecting Communists
McCarran Act
• Internal Security Act fought
Communism
▫ Required all Communist Party
and Communist organizations to
register with US attorney general.
▫ Required the groups to publish
records
▫ Denied Communists passports to
travel abroad
▫ Arrested and detained
Communists and sympathizers in
national emergency
• Vetoed by Truman, overridden by
Congress
McCarthyism
• McCarthy becomes chairman of
Senate subcommittee on
investigations
▫ Forces testimony about alleged
Communist ties
▫ Essentially a witch hunt
• McCarthyism: tactic of damaging
reputations with vague and
unfounded charges
▫ Press followed him and wrote about
his actions
▫ McCarthy would badger witnesses
▫ Few challenge him (Why do you think
this is?)
McCarthy’s Downfall
• McCarthy decided to focus on military
• Army-McCarthy hearings
▫ Challenged military officers
▫ Lost public support
• McCarthy challenged lawyer for Army who had a
young member that used to be in a Communist
organization
▫ Welch challenged him and asked “have you left no
sense of decency?”
The End of McCarthy
• Censured by Senate
in 1954
▫ Formal disapproval
of actions
▫ One of biggest
punishments that
can be given to a
member of Senate
• Lost all influence in
Senate and public
• Died in 1957
Loyalty Review Program
HUAC
McCarthyism
Cold War Continues…
• Truman opts to not run for reelection
▫ Eisenhower v. Stevenson
• Eisenhower, a war hero, wins easily
▫ Cuts defense budget, makes military smaller
▫ Why? More money to make nukes (increased from
1,000 in 1953 to 18,000 in 1961)
• Massive Retaliation
▫ Threaten to use nuclear weapons to prevent war
from happening
Sided Discussion
In your notes, make a “T Chart” outlining the pros
and cons of the idea massive retaliation
Brinkmanship
• Willingness to
go to brink of
war to force
other side to
back down
• What many
critics called
Eisenhower’s
“massive
retaliation”
plans
Korean War Ends
• Eisenhower goes to Korea, threatens to continue war
“under circumstances of our own choosing”
▫ Threat of nuclear war?
▫ Worked…negotiators created “Demilitarized Zone” or
DMZ separating North and South