The Cold War 1945-1989
What is the Cold War It was an intense rivalry between the United States and Russia between West and East and between capitalism and communism that dominated the years following WW II.
Words of Wisdom Winston Churchill; Germany is finished. The real problem is Russia. I can t get Americans to see it. -- 1945
It is called the Cold War because there was never any direct attack made by the U.S. or Soviet Union on each other. Cold vs. Hot
Yalta Conference The Big Three meet Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin Divided Germany into four zones Problem: Poland! Roosevelt wanted a guarantee of free elections and Stalin wanted complete control of Poland The issue of Poland would not go away
The United Nations The Big Three all agreed on establishing this international peace keeping organization following WWII Goal: to promote justice and cooperation Permanent headquarters established in New York in 1953.
FDR dies; Truman Takes Command FDR died on April 12, 1945 Truman, his Vice President for only a few months, became the leader of our country
Conflicting Postwar Goals Americans: wanted democracy and economic opportunities for the countries of Europe and Asia Soviets: Wanted to rebuild their nation in order to protect their own interests. They wanted to establish satellite nations, countries controlled by the Soviets along the western boundaries of the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted to overthrow capitalism around the world and install Communist governments.
Satellite Nations Like dominoes, one by one countries in Eastern Europe fell to Stalin and communism Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania.
The Iron Curtain A phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 it refers to the division between Communist and non-communist nations Became symbol of division between East and West
Containment U.S. policy developed by George Kennan The U.S. could not do anything in Eastern Europe where Russia already took over, but that it should attempt to stop the formation of Communist governments any where else in the world.
There s communism in there! Don t let it out!!
The Truman Doctrine I believe that it must be the policy of the U.S. to support free peoples who are resisting (conquest) by armed minorities or by outside pressures. President Truman, 1947 And what outside pressure are we talking about?
The Marshall Plan U.S. wanted to help war-torn nations recover so they could create stable democracies. Seventeen nations applied for aid. Total aid given from 1948-1952 = $13 billion
Germany: A Land Divided By 1949 there were two Germany s in Europe: 1. West Germany: democratic 2. East Germany: communist The capital of Berlin was also later divided by a wall!
Berlin Airlift Many Eastern Europeans who did not like living under Soviet communist rule fled their homes and escaped to West Berlin. Stalin wanted to stop this escape route by forcing the Western Powers to abandon West Berlin. Stalin blockaded all Allied shipments to West Berlin through East Germany. This threatened severe shortages of food and other needed supplies in West Berlin.
Truman did not want a war with the Soviets, nor did he want to give up West Berlin. During the next 15 months both British and U.S. aircraft delivered food, fuel, etc. by plane to the city. The Soviets finally gave up in 1949 and ended the blockade.
Berlin Airlift Map
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization Because the Soviet Union used its veto power to block any action that stopped communism in the United Nations, the West needed another way to deal with Soviet aggression. In 1949 12 nations formed NATO. The guiding principle of NATO is; an armed attack against one or more shall be considered an attack against them all. This is an example of collective securitymutual military assistance among nations.
Current Members of NATO
The Soviet Union responded to the formation of NATO by creating the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance with its satellite nations in Eastern Europe.
UN NATO WARSAW PACT
The Arms Race The greatest area where the Soviet Union and the U.S. compete for world domination was in the arms race - the struggle to gain weapons superiority.
China Falls To Communism A civil war had existed between the Nationalists and Communists in China since the 1920s. 1949: Mao Zedong and the Communists won and established the People s Republic of China. The Nationalists fled to Taiwan and claimed to be the legitimate government of China, establishing the Republic of China. The U.S. and UN recognized this Republic as the true government of China. Many Americans wanted Truman and the government to focus not only on Europe but also on Asia in their policy of containment.
Chairman Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolution Poster: 1949
Korean War After WW II Japan was forced to give up control of Korea. The Soviets accepted the surrender above the 38 th parallel and the U.S. accepted it below that line. Division was never the goal but became a reality: a communist controlled north and a democratically controlled south.
Map of Korea
Conflict in Korea Citizens on both sides of the parallel wanted to reunite their country. War breaks out when North Korean troops came across the 38 th parallel to try to unite the country by force.
The Korean Conflict Jan 1951-1953 May., 1950 Sept., 1950 Sept.-Nov., 1950 Nov 1950- Jan 1951
The Forgotten War The UN (mostly American) sent troops to Korea The UN troops do well initially but are driven back close to the original 38 th parallel. The war becomes a stalemate and in 1953 an armistice is signed agreeing to keep Korea divided.
The Cold War at Home There was a great emphasis on loyalty to America during the Truman administration. He vowed to find people who were not loyal, especially anyone with ties to communism. I LOVE America! I swear!! I would NEVER be communist! His administration instituted FBI background checks for government employees and the Loyalty Review Board to hear evidence about anyone in the government participating in suspicious activities Oh yeah!? Prove it! or else!
The Rosenbergs Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were Americans and members of the Communist party. They were accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during WW II. They were convicted of spying and were executed in 1953. Did anticommunist hysteria play a role? Hmmm
McCarthyism: The Height of Cold War Hysteria Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin made himself famous by accusing hundreds of people inside the government of having ties with communists. He set off a second period of anti-communist hysteria He had little to no evidence to support his accusations and after a few years lost all credibility.
Joseph McCarthy
HUAC The House Un-American Activities Committee HUAC was created by the House of Representatives in 1938 to investigate disloyalty before WWII. In 1947 they began to investigate the movie industry, claiming it supported communist ideals. Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? The Hollywood Ten refused to answer and were cited for contempt and sentenced to jail. Studios compiled a blacklist of directors, actors, and writers who should not be allowed to work because they seemed subversive or refused to cooperate with HUAC or refused to honor the blacklist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c- 1pPMliSck&feature=related The Majestic movie trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qws k2vw1po0 The Majestic movie clip
Cold War and Space In 1957 the Soviet Union proved that they were ahead of the U.S. in the technology war when they launched Sputnik into space. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. Problem: The rocket used to launch Sputnik could just as easily carry a nuclear bomb to America s shores! US Response: created NASA in 1958 and increased spending on science and math in America s school.
Sputnik
Cuba 1959 Fidel Castro Takes power in Cuba and when he developed ties to the USSR American officials feared that Cuba could become an example for revolutionary upheaval through all of Latin America.
Bay of Pigs Kennedy s 1 st foreign crisis! Eisenhower had approved a plan in 1960 to overthrow Castro CIA was training a group of Cubans to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro JFK and his advisers believed the people of Cuba would join in to help the defeat of Castro ----- THEY DID NOT!
April 17, 1961 Bay of Pigs Airstrike failed to destroy Cuba s air force Cuban troops were more than a match for the 1,500 invaders Rather than increase forces Kennedy chose to accept defeat US lost prestige and faced anger from other countries. JFK s ability as President was questioned.
Berlin Wall Soviet attempt to cut off access to Berlin in 1948 failed because of the Berlin Airlift. SOVIETS ATTEMPT AGAIN! They demanded a peace treaty that would make division permanent in order to stop flow of East Germans into west Germany through Berlin. Kennedy feared this would lead to a larger invasion of Europe.
Berlin Wall Kennedy responded by increasing military and military spending We do not want a fight but we have fought before! JFK 1961 Aug. 1961 Soviets built the wall to divide Communist & Non-Communist Berlin Soviets avoided war by stopping the flow out of East Germany Wall became a symbol of the Cold War
Cold War and Cuba In October of 1962 U.S. spy photography revealed that the Soviet Union was building missile bases on Cuba. What followed, the Cuban Missile Crisis, is the closest the world ever came to nuclear war.
Cuban Missile Crisis The Soviets placed these missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S., to counter the missiles the U.S. had in Turkey very close to the U.S.S.R. These missiles in Turkey were old and probably wouldn t work but the U.S.S.R., under Nikita Khruschev, did not care about that detail.
Kennedy Decides After much deliberation, president Kennedy decided to use a U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba to prevent any Soviet ships carrying weapons into Cuba
Disaster Avoided After some secret negotiations the U.S. agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey while Russia would remove their missiles from Cuba. It appeared that if Russia either broke the quarantine or refused to remove their missiles, Kennedy would have used nuclear weapons on Cuba and maybe the Soviet Union directly!!!
Conclusion The Cold War was a tense time and a time of great uncertainty and fear No one knew if the Soviets or the U.S. would use one of their many weapons of mass destruction -- they came close but never did! The Cold War ended when the U.S.S.R. collapsed and communism failed to make the people happy or meet their basic needs. Berlin Wall falls: 1989 SU breaks apart: 1991
Modern Day Arms Race: Pakistan and India