Cold War, 1950s, Early 1960s

Cold War, 1950s, Early 1960s

Roots of the Cold War

• Competition between ideologies of US and Soviet Union

Category Soviet Union American DemocracyPolitical System One political party, the

CommunistsA multi-party democracy

Organizations All labor groups and other associations are run by the Communist Party

Unions and other organizations openly negotiate with employers

Economic System Industries and farms are owned by the state; central planners determine the nation’s economic needs; limited private property; education and health care provided by the state

Free enterprise system; private ownership of property; supply and demand determine prices; people meet their own needs with some limited government involvement

Religion Religion is discouraged Free exercise of religion

Individual Rights Secret police arrest opponents; censorship; no free exercise of beliefs

Freedom of the press and expression


• Yalta and Potsdam• February 1945 – Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at

Yalta• Plan to reorganize Europe after the war• Agree to form United Nations• Germany divided in occupation zones• Free elections in countries liberated from Germany


• Yalta and Potsdam• Truman and Stalin met

6 months later at Potsdam in Germany

• Serious differences emerge between the two leaders

Cold War Begins

• Soviets saw threat from capitalist governments• Stalin greatly distrusted the West• Create wall of satellites countries as buffer against future

invasions• No free elections in Poland• US refused to share secrets of atomic bomb• Soviet troops continue to occupy Eastern Europe• Trade and contact between east and west Europe cut off

Cold War Begins

• An Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe

• Next 40 years, travel and communication between east and west remained limited

• Eastern European nations became “satellites” of the Soviet Union

Containment

• US developed policy of containment• Don’t try to overturn already communist countries but stop

it from spreading any further• Communist rebels in Greece and pressure on Turkey,

Truman sent military aid• Was not going to appease like what happened in Munich

with Hitler

Marshall Plan, 1948

• After WWII, Europe faced famine• Truman felt desperate people attracted to communism• Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed massive aid

to rebuild countries• Strong allies and trading partners

• Aid Germany and Italy instead of demanding reparations• Extremely successful – speeded economic recovery and

western Europe and created goodwill• 1948-1952 – European economies grew at an unprecedented

rate

Berlin Airlift, 1948

• 1948 – France, Britain, and US combined occupation zones to West Germany

• Berlin, capital of old Germany, in Soviet zone

• Divided into 4 sectors, each occupied by different power

• Soviets announced blockade of West Berlin

Berlin Airlift, 1948

• Western Allies began massive airlift to feed and supply city

• Within one year, Stalin lifted blockade

• US and Allies showed would not retreat when faced by aggressive behavior by the Soviet Union

NATO and Warsaw Pact

• US, Canada, and 10 western European nations create North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949

• Collective security – each defend if other is attacked• US extended nuclear protection to Western Europe

NATO and Warsaw Pact

• Soviet Union created Warsaw Pact with Eastern European satellites in 1955

Pros and Cons of being in international organizations and treaties

• Pros• Influence international policy• Protect American interest• Protect American security• Assist other countries

• Cons• Potential loss of American sovereignty• Potential loss of American security

Behind the Iron Curtain

• US never intervened in Eastern Europe• Soviet leaders suppressed anti-Communist riot in

Hungary in 1956• Erected Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent East Germans

from escaping to the West• Invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 to overthrow Czech

reform government

Containment in Asia

• China falls to Communism – 1949• Communists sought to overthrow Nationalists government

since 1920s• Helped by Soviets after 1945• Led by Mao Zedong• Defeated Nationalists in 1949• Nationalists fled to Taiwan• Fall of China seen as crushing blow for US

Containment in Asia

• China falls to Communism – 1949• Truman refused to extend diplomatic recognition to

Communist government • US used veto power and refused to let Red China into the

United Nations• Truman promised to protect nationalistic government on

Taiwan from Communist attacks

The Korean War

• Many Americans felt the US didn’t do enough to prevent China from falling to Communism

• Korea, a former Japanese colony was split in two after WWII

• North Korea – Communist; South Korea – non-communist elected government

The Korean War

• 1950 – North invades South to unite under one Communist rule

• Stalin felt Americans would not care enough to become involved

• South Korean Army inefficient and unmotivated• Fled South as North attacked

The Korean War

• President Truman felt like Nazi aggression before WWII

• Decided to oppose N. Koreans• US forces sent to South to resist

invasion• Soviet Union had walked out of the

UN in protest so US able to pass a resolution to send UN troops (mostly US soldiers) to South Korea

• First time an international peace organization used military force to stop aggression

The Korean War

• General Douglas MacArthur sent to command Korean forces

• Landed in Inchon in the middle• Surprised North and cut off

their main forces• Second largest seaborne

invasion in history• MacArthur attacked N. Korea,

advancing to border between N. Korea and China

The Korean War

• Threat brought large Chinese army into the war, forcing MacArthur to retreat

• MacArthur wanted to free China from communism, even if need to use atomic weapons

• President Truman refused; MacArthur criticized Truman to a Congressman, who reported to the media

• Truman relieved MacArthur of his command• Needed to assert civilian control of the military• Very unpopular at the time

The Korean War

• 1952 – Dwight Eisenhower elected President• Armistice signed between US and N. Korea in 1953• Demilitarized zone between N and S Korea and a transfer

of prisoners of war• …Exactly the same division as it was before the war

Bay of Pigs

• 1959 – Cuba come under the power of Fidel Castro• Castro made agreements with SU and made Cuba pro-

Soviet Communist nation

Bay of Pigs

• Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)• Eisenhower approved plan to overthrow Castro• Secretly trained Cuban exiles and send them to invade the

island• Kennedy became president, let plan continue but no air

power• Exiles landed 3 months after Kennedy took office but were

quickly defeated• Embarrassing failure for Kennedy

Berlin Wall

• Kennedy met Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna

• Meeting did not go well and Berlin Wall construction started few weeks after

• In 1961, the Soviet backed the East German government (GDR) began constructing a fence to halt the flow of human resources from the East to the West.

• The Wall was a symbol of the division of East and West for the remainder of the Cold War until it was taken down in 1989.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Bay of Pigs exiles to say acting independently but disobeyed orders

• Castro and Khrushchev took steps to protect Cuba

• 1962 – US spy planes found Cuba preparing silos for missiles and nuclear warheads• Soviet missiles could not hit US

from Europe or Asia• Cuba only 90 miles from Florida…

• How to stop without nuclear war?


• October 1962 – Kennedy formed committee to get out of crisis

• Kennedy decided naval blockade on Cuba to prevent arrival of weapons

• One Soviet ship stopped and boarded

• Kennedy threatened to invade Cuba if missiles not withdrawn


• Closest world came to nuclear war

• After several days, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw missiles if US agreed not to invade Cuba• Kennedy also agreed to remove

missiles from Turkey• Afterwards, special hotline

telephone set up• Agreed to ban further nuclear

testing except for underground

Arms and Space Race

• 1945 – US sole atomic power• 1949 – Soviet Union

developed own bomb• Nuclear “arms race” begins!• 1952 – US develops

hydrogen bomb• Much more powerful than

atomic bomb• Soviets get one only a year

later…

Arms and Space Race

• 1950s – nuclear weapons used for defense instead of large military force

• Deterrent – SU as deterred from attacking US because US could destroy it with nuclear weapons

• Cheaper than large military force• Most situations, nuclear weapons couldn’t be used…

Arms and Space Race

• Sputnik – 1957• Nazi scientists made great

strides in building rockets• Each Superpower began own

missile program• SU launched first man-made

satellite into space – Sputnik• Size of basketball, weighed 184

pounds, orbited the Earth once every 98 minutes with a radio transmitter that did little more than issue a beep to be tracked

Arms and Space Race

• Space race is on!• Fear SU would use missiles

to send nuclear bombs to US

• Americans felt they were falling behind

• Federal government started new programs in science and education

• Launched own first satellite in space in 1958

Cold War at Home

• House Un-American Activities Committee• Americans feared Communist

menace in US• Truman ordered Loyalty Review

Boards• Investigate “un-American” activities

• Such as participating in the American Communist Party

• Many accused with little or no evidence

• Victims unable to defend selves or know who accused them

• Violated constitutional rights

Cold War at Home

• House Un-American Activities Committee• Congress conducted loyalty

checks through special House Un-American Activities Committee• Questioned actors, directors, writers,

and others about possible Communist sympathies

• Present or former members of Communist party “blacklisted” and lost jobs

• Some like Alger Hiss were later persecuted for perjury

• People who cooperated had to inform on others

Cold War at Home

• Rosenberg Trials• 1950 – Julius and Ethel

Rosenberg charged with selling secrets to SU about how to make atomic bomb

• Found guilty and executed for spying

• Many Americans doubted guilt• 1997 – Verona Papers showed

messages sent to Soviet Union• Julius had spied for the SU• Some Soviet agents had penetrated

American government, science, and industry during Cold War

Cold War at Home

• McCarthy Hearings• Fall of China caused fear of

internal subversion• Senator Joseph McCarthy shocked

Americans by claiming he knew names of hundreds of Communists who had infiltrated the government

• 3 years of hearings never found any proof

• Censured (formally criticized) by the Senate

• McCarthyism – making harsh accusations without evidence

Eisenhower 1953-1960

• Foreign policy given to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, devoted anti-Communist

• 1957 – US send troops to any middle eastern nation that needed help fighting communism• Called Eisenhower

Doctrine


• 1950s time of recovery and growth

• Special benefits for vets• Low mortgage rates• Educational grants

• Interstate Highway Act (1956) – create system of federal highways

• Defense spending remained high and middle class grew


• Housing Boom• Time of high birth rates –

“baby boom”• GI Bill• Cheaper, mass produced

homes• Home ownership increased

5%• Middle class families >

suburbs; declining urban tax base and decaying inner cities

Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944

o Provided federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in:o Unemployment pay (up to 52 weeks at $20/wk. – less than 20% of

funds set aside for this were used)o Purchase of homes, farms, & businesses – zero down, low interest

(2.4 million loans 1944-1952)o Educationo Subsidized tuition, fees, books, educational materials, &

living expenses while attending college or other training institutions

o 7.8 of 16 million veterans used this 1944-1956o In 1947, 49% of college admissions were for veterans of

WWII


• Economic Prosperity• Demand for consumer

goods at all-time high• Millions of autos and tvs

sold• Refrigerators and

appliances became widespread

• GDP doubled between 1945-1950 and dominated world trade


• Conformity• Greater emphasis• Unusual ideas regarded

with suspicion• Fear of Communism

led to dislike of non-conformist attitudes

Advances in Medicine

• Success of antibiotics• 1953 – Jonas Salk• First polio vaccine

• Streptomycin – first antibiotic to treat tuberculosis

• Measles vaccine• First heart transplant

Music and Culture

• The Beat Generation• Rebelled against conformity

of era• Young writers in New York

and then San Francisco• Care-free, often reckless, and

fresh approach to literature• Founders: Allen Ginsberg

and Jack Kerouac• Howl by Ginsberg for seized

for obscenity

Music and Culture

• The Beat Generation• Experimented with sexuality

and drugs• “Beatnik” – Artistic lifestyle

with men in beards, berets, and sandals and young women in leotards

• Recited poetry and discussed European philosophy• Early form of counter-culture

Music and Culture

• Rock and Roll – a form of popular music that evolved in the 1950's from rhythm and blues, characterized by the use of electric guitars, a strong rhythm with an accent on the offbeat, and youth-oriented lyrics

• Artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley

Documents

Cold War, 1950s, Early 1960s