America after WWII The 1946 through the 1950 s
The United Nations In 1944 President Roosevelt began to think about what the world would be like after WWII He especially wanted to be sure that there would be no other wars involving so many countries and such a loss of life In 1944, delegates from 39 countries met to discuss the United Nations or the UN The delegates agreed that the UN would have a General Assembly. Every member nation in the world would have one vote There would also be a Security Council with 11 members The Security Council would be responsible for international peace and security. They were in charge of solving disputes between countries and asking for military force from its members to uphold a UN resolution.
More on the UN On April 25 th, 1945 the UN s charter, or constitution was written. The General Assembly was given the power to vote on resolutions, to choose the non-permanent members of the Security Council and to vote on the budget. Five members were made permanent members of the Security Council: USA, China, Soviet Union, Britain and France. The 5 permanent members had veto power. The UN would become one of the most powerful organizations in the world and has been called upon many times to intervene in international situations.
Origins of the Cold War After World War II, an intense rivalry developed between the United States and the Soviet Union. These were both superpowers with very different political and economic systems The rivalry became known as The Cold War It led to a fear of Communism in the United States and a massive buildup of military weapons on both sides. The Cold War
The Soviet Union The first issue between the Soviet Union and the USA was over security Germany had invaded Russia twice in less than 30 years The Soviet Union wanted to be sure that this didn t happen again by making Germany weak and by placing the countries between Germany and the Soviet Union under Soviet control. The second issue was that Soviets were considered Communists.
Communism Communism is defined as a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state. The Soviets believed that Communism was the best economic system and that it would eventually replace Capitalism. Also, the Soviets felt strongly that all Capitalist countries would try to replace/ destroy Communist countries.
Capitalism The United States and many other Western countries practice Capitalism. Capitalism is defined as an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth. The United States felt threatened by the Soviets in regards to Capitalism and they did not want Communism to spread.
The American Economy After WWII American leaders began to think about the economy. Many believed that it was the Depression that caused WWII and the rise of Hitler. They did not want something like this to occur again Many were convinced that economic prosperity was the key to world peace. On that note, they believed that democratic government with protections for people s rights made countries more stable and peaceful. They also thought that the free enterprise system, with private property rights and limited government intervention in the economy was the best route to prosperity
Enter the Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference In February 1945 President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill met at Yalta on the Black Sea. The purpose of the conference was to plan the post-war world. There were several issues discussed that would lead to tension between the Big Three The first issue discussed was what to do about Poland Because of the war there were now two Polish governments, one communist and one noncommunist Roosevelt and Churchill stated that the Poles should be allowed to choose their own form of government, arguing that was the reason they had gone to war.
Yalta Continued Stalin believed that the Poles needed to be friendly towards the Soviets. Eventually they compromised: Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to recognize Polish governments set up by the Soviets. Stalin stated that the government would include members from the pre-war government and that free elections would occur. Next the three decided to issue the Declaration of Liberal Europe This would state, the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they shall live. Thus free elections would occur for the people to choose what democratic government they wanted.
Germany Divided Germany was to be divided into 4 zones following the Yalta conference: France, Great Britain, The USA and The Soviet Union These 4 countries also divided the city of Berlin Germany was also required to pay reparations for the war which meant that Germany would pay the countries with goods and products instead of cash. All the countries knew that Germany did not have the cash to pay back the other countries This decision also led to the Cold War as there were many arguments over the reparations and the German economy in general
Tensions on the Rise After the decisions at Yalta more issues arose between the Soviets and USA For example, the Soviets didn t appear to be allowing free elections Also, they refused to allow more than 3 noncommunist Poles to serve in the Polish government The Soviets also pressured the King of Romania to have a Communist gov. Unfortunately, President Roosevelt died and left the country in the hands of President Truman He was clear about his intentions telling his Sec. Of state We must stand up to the Russians the day after taking office. This led to Potsdam
The Potsdam Conference Potsdam Conference Truman asked Stalin to meet in Berlin to discuss the issues with Germany Truman believed that German industry needed to recover or else people would be tempted to allow Communism Stalin believed as strongly in the need for German reparations. Truman proposed that Stalin take reparations from their zone which Stalin did not like because he felt that his zone was mostly agriculture Stalin had no choice but to take the proposal. He had learned of the Atom Bomb and he knew that the other areas were occupied with Britain and France. Still TENSIONS ROSE
The Iron Curtain Truman had difficulty keeping the Soviets to the idea of a Declaration of Liberated Europe Truman knew that it was likely that Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia would become pro-communist countries. The communist countries of Eastern Europe came to be called Satellite Nations These satellite nations were not under Soviet control but they remained Communist and friendly with the Soviets This lead to Winston Churchills Iron Curtain Speech in which he coined the phrase Iron Curtain as separating the Communist nations of Eastern Europe from the West. Iron Curtain Speech
Faltering Relationship The Soviets continued to refuse to hold free elections in Eastern Europe. It became obvious that the relationship between the Soviets and United States was deteriorating. In response, George Kennan wrote what became known as the Long Telegram in which he gave his views on Communism The Long Telegram He firmly believed that it was not possible to make an agreement with the Soviets. This telegram gave rise to the idea of Containment: keeping communism within it s present territory through the use of diplomatic, economic and military reactions.
Iran During WWII the USA had placed troops in Southern Iran while the Soviets had put troops in Northern Iran to keep supplies going through the Persian Gulf After the war the Soviets refused to withdraw their troops and Stalin wanted access to the Iranian oil supply. Stalin pushed local Communists to set up a separate government in Northern Iraq.
The Truman Doctrine With issues in Iran, Stalin looked to Turkey and the route from Soviet Black Sea ports to the Mediterranean. In August of 1946, Stalin demanded joint control along with Turkey. Dean Acheson, the Presidential advisor, saw this as a step in Soviet control of the Middle East. Truman was thus pressed to to show force. He sent ships the Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Missouri to protect Turkey. At the same time Great Britain was trying to help Greece. Greek Communists tried to start a war against the Greek Government. In February 1947, Great Britain could no longer assist in Greece because of the toll on her own countrymen.
Continued On March 12 th, Truman went before Congress to ask for $400 million to fight the Communists in Greece and Turkey. His speech became known as the Truman Doctrine The goal was to assist people in countries with minority groups fighting against them
The Marshall Plan Postwar Western Europe was in shambles, people were staving, the economy was suffering and the winter of 1946 was terrible. In June 1947 George Marshall, Secretary of State, came up with the idea of The Marshall Plan also known as the European Recovery Program. The idea was that the USA would give European nations money and aid to help them to repair their economies The Soviet Union and it s satellite nations rejected the offer Why? Instead they developed their own economic programs which further pushed the two ideologies apart.
The Crisis in Berlin In 1948 in became obvious that the Soviets weren t going to uphold their end of the bargain France, Great Britain and the USA decided to merge their areas in Germany and Berlin allowing the Germans to have their own government called the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany West Germany was completely different than East Germany. They had no military but was more independent. This angered the Soviets and led to the Airlift
The Berlin Airlift Convinced that they would never receive reparations from Germany, the Soviets cut off all road and rail traffic to West Berlin President Truman then sent long-range bombers with atomic weapons to bases in Britain. He refused to allow the Soviets to break down Berlin, fearful that it would lead to a Communist take over in Europe Truman was dedicated to keeping West Berlin alive so for 11 months he sent planes over West Berlin with food and supplies: medicine, coal, etc 2 million pound total This forced Stalin to lift his blockade in May of 1949.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization After the blockade people saw that the Soviets meant business Americans decided that a military alliance with Western Europe would be necessary This became known as NATO and was a mutual defense alliance. It was formed in April of 1949. There were 12 original members. This was the first time that the USA became committed to to maintaining peace in Europe. Later Western Germany was admitted and allowed to have an army This worried the Soviets and they decided to create the Warsaw Pact.
The Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact is the name commonly given to the treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It was signed in Poland in 1955 and was officially called 'The Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance It was established to protect these countries from military attack and to assure them that if there was an attack they would come to the aid of the other pact members. Though it was stressed by all that the Warsaw Treaty was based on total equality of each nation and mutual non-interference in one another's internal affairs, the Pact quickly became a powerful political tool for the Soviet Union to hold sway over its allies and harness the powers of their combined military.
Issues in China leading to War From the 1920 s on communists in China led by Mao Zedong had been struggling against a Nationalist government. After WWII, the fighting broke out again To stop a Communist takeover, the USA sent $2 billion in aid but to no avail, the planning of the Nationalists was poor and the money wasted allowing the Communists The Communists established The People s Republic of China in October 1949. In 1950 the Soviets had already announced that they had tested nuclear weaponry and then they signed a treaty of friendship and alliance with China The USA refused to allow the Communists into the UN keeping the Chinese Nationalists in their seats. This also lead to a new idea about Japan
Japan and the USA After WWII General Douglas MacArthur was sent to Japan to take charge of the United States occupation there. His duty was to introduce democracy there and to keep Japan from threatening war again. Also, the USA was hopeful that the economy in Japan would recover quickly. The USA viewed Japan as the key in Asia to keeping Communism contained.
The Korean War Part One part 2 At the end of WWII, the USA and the Soviets entered Korea to get rid of the Japanese forces there. Korea was divided at the 38 th parallel of latitude: Soviets controlled the North while the USA controlled the South. As the Cold War started there were major issues brewing in Korea. The USA claimed control over all of Korea and so did the Soviets.
Towards War The Soviet Union sent a lot of aid to the North Koreans helping them to build up a large army. On June 25 th, 1950 the North Korean s invaded the South driving back the poorly equipped army of the South President Truman saw the invasion as a breech of containment and sent troops and ships to South Korea. He also asked for the UN to help which was passed because the Soviets were boycotting the UN as a result of the Chinese Nationalist Representative. Truman then ordered MacArthur to send troops from Japan to Korea. MacArthur was able to get enough troops together to push the N. Koreans back to the 38 th line.
More After they were pushed back to the 38 th parallel, Truman ordered that the American/UN/South Korean troops continue to push the Northerners back. They were successful at this forcing them back to the border of China. China saw the UN troops as a threat and warned them to stop the advance. The warnings were completely ignored. China issue a major attack and pushed the American/UN.South Korean troops back over the 38 th parallel. MacArthur was furious about this and wanted to counter attack. Truman refused because he didn t want to go to war with China or have to use an atomic bomb again. MacArthur refused to listen
MacArthur is fired Truman was angered by MacArthur s unwillingness to listen. Thus he fired MacArthur who returned home to a hero s welcome and who gave a speech as well. MacArthur's Speech to Congress Perhaps his most famous line was, old soldiers never die; they just fade away He was more than likely very right as he is still remembered here today.
The end of the War Truman replaced MacArthur with General Matthew Ridgway. He was committed to a limited war, a war fought to achieve a limited objective By mid-1951 the UN forces had pushed the Chinese and North Korean forces back to the 38 th parallel. In November 1951 peace negotiations began but there was no armistice until July of 1953. More than 33, 600 American soldiers died in the Korean war.
A new attitude After the Korean War the USA attitude had changed. 1) the United States started to embark upon a major military buildup 2) the United States became more involved in military issues in Asia 3) defense agreements were signed with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia 4) Americans gave aid to French troops fighting Communists in Vietnam