Standard 7.0 Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of World War II on the US and the nation s subsequent role in the world. Opening: Finish pages 259-262 in Reading Study Guide and turn them in. Work Period: Cold War Notes Mini Debate Closing: Quiz
ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR After being Allies during WWII, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. soon viewed each other with increasing suspicion Their political differences and post war goals created a climate of icy tension that plunged the two countries into an era of bitter rivalry known as the Cold War The Cold War would dominate global affairs from 1945 until the breakup of the USSR in 1991
POSTWAR GOALS At the heart of the tension was a fundamental difference in political systems America is a democracy that has a capitalist economic system, free elections and competing political parties In the U.S.S.R., the sole political party the Communists established a totalitarian regime with little or no rights for the citizens Soviets viewed Marx, Engels and Lenin as founders of Communism
POSTWAR GOALS ISSUES The USSR wanted a buffer zone of friendly states on its eastern border so that Germany could not invade again as it had in the two world wars. The US wanted the states of Eastern Europe to be able to hold free and fair elections. The US also supported the efforts of other allies to continue their influence in other regions. Example: The British continued to prop up an autocratic gov t in Greece. When it was in trouble of falling to the communist rebel force, the US took over.
CHURCHILL: IRON CURTAIN ACROSS EUROPE Churchill, right, in Fulton, Missouri delivering his iron curtain speech, 1946 Europe was now divided into two political regions; a mostly democratic Western Europe and a Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe In a 1946 speech, Churchill said, An iron curtain has descended across the continent The phrase iron curtain came to stand for the division of Europe
Iron Curtain cartoon, 1946
U.S. ESTABLISHES A POLICY OF CONTAINMENT Faced with the Soviet threat, Truman decided it was time to stop babying the Soviets In February 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, proposed a policy of containment Containment meant the U.S. would prevent any further extension of communist rule
THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE The American policy of containment soon expanded into a policy known as the Truman Doctrine which pledged to contain communism. First used in Greece and Turkey in the late 1940s, vowed to provide aid (money & military supplies) to support free peoples who are resisting outside pressures By 1950, the U.S. had given $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey
THE MARSHALL PLAN The Marshall Plan helped Western Europe recover economically Fearing that a war-torn and economically weak Western Europe would elect socialist/communist governments, the US offered financial aid to promote economic rebuilding and prevent the fall of European countries to communism. This became known as the Marshall Plan. Western Europe accepted the help, while Eastern Europe (Stalin) rejected the aid
Marshall Plan aid sent to European countries
Marshall Aid cartoon, 1947
SUPERPOWERS STRUGGLE OVER GERMANY At the end of the war, Germany was divided among the Allies into four zones The US, France, and Great Britain decided to combine their 3 zones into one zone West Germany. The U.S.S.R. controlled East Germany. Now the superpowers were occupying an area right next to each other problems were bound to occur
BERLIN AIRLIFT 1948 When the Soviets attempted to block the three Western powers from access to Berlin in 1948, the 2.1 million residents of West Berlin had only enough food for five weeks, resulting in a dire situation Like the whole of Germany, the city of Berlin was divided into four zones
AMERICA & BRITAIN AIRLIFT SUPPLIES TO WEST BERLIN Not wanting to invade and start a war with the Soviets, America and Britain started the Berlin airlift to fly supplies into West Berlin In 277,000 flights, they brought in 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and medicine to the West Berliners
SOVIETS REACT Realizing they were beaten and suffering a public relations nightmare, the Soviets lifted their blockade in May, 1949 Later, Soviets erected the Berlin Wall to separate East and West Berlin and keep people of the east from escaping to the west. On Christmas 1948, the plane crews brought gifts to West Berlin
NATO FORMED The Berlin blockade increased Western Europe s fear of Soviet aggression As a result, ten West European nations joined the U.S and Canada on April 4, 1949 to form a defensive alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization aimed at the USSR. The NATO flag
The Cold War Heats Up The test explosion of an atomic bomb by the USSR led the US to accelerate the development of the hydrogen bomb and began a nuclear arms race. Also in 1949, after a long civil war, China under the leadership of the Americanbacked nationalist Chiang Kaishek, fell to the communist forces led by Mao Tse-tung.
KOREAN WAR Soviet controlled U.S. controlled In 1950, communist North Korea invaded South Korea. The Truman Administration urged the UN to take action and the UN demanded a cease fire and supported police action to defend South Korea. The majority of troops and financial support came from the US. When US forces reached the Chinese border, the Communist Chinese attacked and drove US forces back. American public opinion changed. Formal peace negotiations ended in 1953 with North Korean forces contained above the 38 th parallel.
Activity One-Mini Debate Do you think the US was justified in enforcing their policy of containment? Why or why not?
THE WARSAW PACT To counter the U.S. defense alliance (NATO), in 1955 the Soviets formed their own mutual defense alliance known as the Warsaw Pact which included Eastern European nations.
NATO WARSAW NEUTRAL
THE COLD WAR TAKES TO THE SKIES The Space Race was initially dominated by the Soviets On October 4, 1957, they launched Sputnik, the world s first artificial satellite Sputnik traveled around earth at 18,000 miles an hour, circling the globe every 96 minutes Eventually, the US took the lead in the space race when the first man landed on the moon (1969)
The Arms Race Congress launched the National Defense Education Act to promote science and math skills and to counteract the fear that consumerism had made Americans less competitive and less likely to win the arms race. The arms race raised fears that were reflected in the building of bomb shelters as well as in the popular culture. These threats set the stage for a Red Scare in the US in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
THE COLD WAR AT HOME The tough talk of the Truman administration caused the public to view the Cold War as good against evil. When China fell, the Soviet acquisition of the bomb and the Korean War made Americans look for an enemy within. Cold War propaganda and anti- Soviet media permeated the culture in the US and contributed to the climate of fear. Anti-Soviet cartoon
MCCARTHY LAUNCHES WITCH HUNT Republicans accused the Democrats of being soft on communism The most famous anti-communist activist was Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin McCarthy took advantage of people s concern about Communism using the Big Lie of untrue accusations and unsupported claims that 205 state department members were Communists
Anti- Communist propaganda during McCarthy era
MCCARTHY S DOWNFALL Finally, in 1954 McCarthy went too far He accused high ranking Army officers of being Communists In the televised proceedings McCarthy s bullying of witnesses alienated the national audience It was later revealed that some spies did aid the Soviets, but many public servants had their reputations unjustly smeared. McCarthy s attacking style and utter lack of evidence led to his downfall
THE ROSENBERGS A high profile trial was the Rosenberg spy case The Rosenbergs were accused of providing information to Soviets which enabled them to produce an atomic bomb in 1949 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were found guilty and executed The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens executed for espionage
CRISIS OVER CUBA Just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba presented the first big test of America s foreign policy Openly Communist, Cuba was led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro who welcomed aid from the USSR and nationalized American-owned properties.
BAY OF PIGS We looked like fools to our friends, rascals to our enemies and incompetents to the rest Quote from U.S. Commentator In March 1960, Eisenhower gave the CIA permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba Kennedy learned of the plan only nine days into his presidency and approved it. It turned out to be a disaster when in April, 1961, 1,200 Cuban exiles met 25,000 Cuban troops backed by Soviet tanks and were soundly defeated.
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS In 1963, American spy planes photographed nuclear missile sites being built in Cuba. Kennedy placed a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from arming these sites. After 13 days, an agreement was reached that ended the crisis and averted nuclear confrontation. This was the closest the US and the Soviet Union came to armed conflict during the Cold War. The two nations signed a nuclear test ban treaty and installed a hot line in the White House and the Kremlin.
THE COLD WAR SPREADS As the Cold War heated up, the U.S. depended more and more on information compiled by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) The CIA began attempts to weaken or overthrow governments unfriendly to the U.S.
AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST Extensive American interests in oil and support for the state of Israel contributed to US involvement in the Middle East and continuing conflict in the region. The US supported Israel since its creation, and the USSR supported anti-israeli Arab nations. The last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
The Suez Crisis In 1956, the Egyptian President nationalized the Suez Canal to make money. Because he was aligned with the Soviet Union, the US and GB refused to pay for the Aswan Dam. GB, France and Israel attacked and quickly defeated the Egyptian forces. The USSR threatened nuclear war, so the US convinced GB, France and Israel to withdraw and leave Egypt. Eisenhower Doctrine-a country could request American economic assistance from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state
AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST The importance of oil led the US to engage in diplomacy to stop the oil embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the 1970s. OPEC passed the embargo because the US helped Israel in the Arab-Israeli Wars. The US attempted to facilitate peace in the Middle East in the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. In Iran the U.S. orchestrated the return of the pro-u.s. Shah of Iran in 1953 The last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST When the Shah s government was overthrown by a fundamentalist Islamic group, anger against the US led to the taking of the American embassy and the holding of over 50 American hostages for more than a year in the late 1970s. Relations continue to be strained today.
COLD WAR IN AFGHANISTAN When the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support a friendly government on their southern border, the US Cold War policy of containing communism led the US to support the Afghan resistance movement. These rebel groups evolved into the Taliban, which later harbored al Qaeda terrorism.
End of the Cold War The Cold War ended because of: 1. changes within the Soviet Union 2. the strain of the arms race 3. the Soviet war in Afghanistan 4. A movement for liberation in Eastern Europe The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the most important symbol of the Cold War, marked the end.
Activity Two Watch Duck and Cover
CLOSING Quiz