February 4, 1945 Attended by Churchill, FDR, Stalin Each premier has own agenda FDR: Wanted Soviet support in attacking Japan in the Pacific Churchill: Pressed USSR to install free elections in Poland, Eastern Europe Stalin: Wanted Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe The Cold War Yalta Conference
Would Stalin join war vs. Japan? Yes. After Germany surrenders. Postwar peacekeeping organization? United Nations formed in June, 1945 What should be done with postwar Germany and Poland? Poland: Independent, free elections, and Germany The Cold War Yalta Conference
The Cold War Potsdam Conference Roosevelt dies in April, 1945 Germany surrenders in May July 1945: Truman, Stalin, Attlee head to Potsdam, Brandenburg Postwar plans: Germany would be split into four occupied zones Berlin itself would also be split into four zones
UN Charter signed by 50 countries in 1945 UN Security Council: international panel to debate military action Five permanent members: US, UK, China, France, USSR The Cold War The United Nations Ten others elected for two-year terms Created International Court of Justice in The Hague Its first job
The Cold War Nuremberg Trials Legal problem: Knowing the atrocities of the extermination camps, how could any lawyer possibly hope to defend their operators? The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. -Robert Jackson lead attorney
The Cold War Nuremberg Trials Major War Criminals Tribunal Held in Nuremburg, Bavaria Nov 1945 Oct 1946 Main trial: 24 defendants Key defendants: Göring, Ribbentrop, Hess, Bormann Indictments: 1. Conspiracy/crimes against peace 2. Crimes against peace 3. War crimes 4. Crimes against humanity
The Cold War Nuremberg Trials Twelve subsequent trails of Nazi officers Doctors Trial, Judges Trial, Einsatzgruppen Trial, etc. Dozens of other war tribunals (e.g., Auschwitz Trial)
Life Magazine, 1946
The Cold War 1947: Greek Civil War Soviet-backed Communist rebels threaten Greek government U.K., U.S. both support government against communism Chinese Civil War (1926-1949) is leaning heavily Marxist Far right counter-revolutionary establishment wins out in Greece Public straining of relations with Soviet Union Truman takes a stand
The Cold War American Intervention Policy 1823: Monroe Doctrine 1904: Roosevelt Corollary 1947: Truman Doctrine 1. U.S. to assist Turkey, Greece in fight against communism 2. Truman: I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. 3. Would lead us to Korea, Vietnam, many proxy wars (2001: Bush Doctrine)
The Cold War The Marshall Plan Sen. George Marshall: The U.S. will rebuild Europe $13 billion in aid from U.S. 1947-1951 No aid to Eastern Europe The Truman Doctrine is the hard sell while the Marshall Plan is the soft sell.
What happens to Berlin, happens to Germany. What happens to Germany, happens to Europe. Vyacheslav Molotov Soviet Foreign Minister
What s to become of postwar Germany? STALIN Treaty of Versailles 2.0 Pre-emptive crush of any potential German threat Goal: Buffer from non- Communist Europe Fear: US will buy German favors; imperial expansion TRUMAN No new Hitlers Recovery of Germany s citizenry, not military Goal: Rebuild Germany into a calm peaceful, productive, nation Fear: Communist expansion
GERMANY 1947 Germany is partitioned into four zones of occupation U.S., U.K., France essentially unite Berlin a tiny exclave
The Cold War Trouble in Berlin June 24, 1948: Soviet leaders fear an independent Germany Establishment of deutschemark -- new nation to follow? (West Germany would be created in May, 1949) USSR places Berlin under siege Zones of Berlin soon combined into West Berlin even though Berlin is surrounded by Soviet-controlled East Germany
Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin. Nikita Khruschev Soviet Premier
The Cold War National Security Act (1947) 1. Created National Military Establishment combined Departments of War, Navy created United States Air Force renamed Department of Defense (1949) 2. Created Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) first peacetime intelligence operation 3. Created National Security Council centralized intelligence gathering in executive branch
The Cold War Brinkmanship Defined: Pushing events to the brink of disastrous outcome to gain political or diplomatic advantage USSR successfully develops nuclear weapon (1949) Slippery slope and the nuclear chicken
The Cold War Containment Official governmental response to Soviet expansionist tendency Crystallized in 1946 telegram by George F. Kennan, American diplomat in Moscow Further strained relations with Soviet Union
CHAIRMAN MAO 1893-1976 The Cold War Containment in Asia The Fall of China China s civil war: 1930s-1949 Mao Zedong (Communist) vs. Chiang Kai-shek (Nationalist) US: $2B+ to Chiang s forces People s Republic of China established (1949) Chinese nationalists retreat to Taiwan
The Cold War Containment in Asia War in Korea 1950-1953 As in Berlin, it grew out of temporary postwar arrangements USSR would occupy north; US the south 38 th parallel would divide occupied sectors June 25, 1950: North Korea invades
The Cold War The Korean War Truman requests U.N. police action USSR: U.N. boycott, no veto U.N. army in Korea is mostly American General Douglas MacArthur placed in command Surprise U.S. amphibian attack at Inchon Mar. 1951: U.N. army retakes Seoul; stalemate sets in
Mar. 1951: Public support for prolonged war starts to fade MacArthur: There is no substitute for victory. Truman pursues negotiated peace April 11, 1951: Truman fires MacArthur MacArthur ups the ante, suggesting invasion of China, use of nuclear weapons
The Cold War The Korean War End of the war: Armistice signed July 1953 No formal peace treaty North Korea continued to ally with Soviet Union South Korea signs mutual aid treaty with U.S. in 1954 38 th parallel (roughly) remains the dividing line
The Cold War The Korean War Effects on military and foreign policy undeclared war and the bypassing of congress troops, not nukes: ground rules for Cold War combat containment goes global defense spending expands from 1/3 to 2/3 of budget U.S. now in a state of permanent mobilization
The Cold War The Truman Presidency Issue #1: Labor unrest Union membership up to 14M+ General strikes in 46 cripple coal, steel, auto industries Taft-Hartley Act (1947) curbs labor s power outlawed closed shops authorized President to intervene in strikes that threatened national security Passed over Truman s veto
The Cold War The Truman Presidency Issue #2: To err is Truman: The election of 1948 Democrats split into Progressives, Dixiecrats Strong civil rights platform sends southerners to nominate Strom Thurmond Republicans nominate Thomas Dewey, moderate NY governor Truman looks dead in the water President launches strenuous national campaign
Truman wins, with support from: organized labor Jewish and Catholic voters urban voters northern African-Americans middle America
The Cold War The Truman Presidency Issue #3: The Great Fear House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) ruthless investigators of disloyalty actually: conservative panel to investigate alleged Communists highly publicized hearings Hollywood Ten and blacklisting Truman issues Executive Order 9835, investigating 3 million federal workers A new Red Scare dawns
McCarthyism Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin Claimed that the Department of State had 57 Communists Charged critics with being soft on Communism Overreaches in 1954: investigation into U.S. Army backfires Died in 1957, an enduring symbol of political repression
1952
The Cold War The Eisenhower Presidency Issue #1: Modern Republicanism Operating within the New Deal Governing with a Democratic congress Expansion of federal government to suit Republican goals The Hidden-Hand Presidency in control behind the scenes used operatives (especially VP Richard Nixon) for dirty work
The Cold War The Eisenhower Presidency Issue #2: Infrastructure and Technology National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1957) $26 billion over ten years established US interstate highway system The Space Race begins NASA authorized in 1958 more funding toward research, education dual goal: capture America s imagination; improve national defense Soviet satellite Sputnik launched in 1957
The Cold War The Eisenhower Presidency Issue #3: Containment and covert operations Stalin dies (1953), succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev initial thawing of relations refreezing: Hungarian revolt (1954), U-2 spy plane (1960) Getting M.A.D. Fearing domino theory, Eisenhower puts CIA to work in Vietnam, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran