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The Cold War, 1945-1989
A Bipolar Geopolitical World after World War II
Root of the Cold War
• U.S. Point of View– Soviet “spheres of influence” in E. Europe
• Yalta Conference: Democratic elections?• Eastern Germany: Zones of Occupation
– United Nations• Resistance to democracy
– “Iron Curtain”, Churchill• Soviet expansion, Fulton, MO
• Soviet Point of View– No western front early enough– Frozen out of the Atomic project– No lend-lease after 1945– Eastern Europe as a “buffer zone”
Map of the Postwar World
• Bretton Woods Conference and the International Monetary Fund– International bank for war recovery and development– Soviets don’t participate
• United Nations– Yalta Conference, “Big Three”
• World organization
– Dumbarton Oaks Conference, August 1944• Basis for United Nations Charter• San Francisco Conference, April 25, 1945
– Security Council
What About Germany?
• Nuremberg Trials– Potsdam Conference– “Denazifing Germany
• 22 Nazi’s tried, 12 executed
• Partition of Germany– Division of Berlin– Eastern Germany created by Soviets
…and Japan?
• Reconstruction and Democracy– Douglas MacArthur
• “hero of the Philippines”
– War crimes trial• 7 executed, 18 prison
– Becomes an economic power house• No military allowed
– Division of Korea, 38th
George Kennan and “Containment”
• Soviet expansionism– Eastern Europe, Germany, Middle East
• Truman Doctrine– Greece and Turkey– Defines foreign policy for next 20 years– Israel, 1948
• Marshall Plan, 1947– Western Europe – Soviet criticism
• Organization of American States (OAS)– Spread of communism in Latin America
US Government Reorganization and Rearmament
• National Security Act, 1947– Dept. of Defense– NSC and CIA
• NSC 68– Fall of China, large scale build up of US military
• Peacetime Draft, 1948• Voice of America
– Behind the Iron Curtain
• Atomic Energy Commission– Civilian control, president sole authority
The Cold War Begins!
• Berlin Blockade, 1948-1949– Soviet blockades West Berlin– American “airlift”
• Had the Atomic Bomb, 1945
– Lifting of blockade, 1949• Got the Bomb in in 1949!
Truman’s Second Term and Cold War, 1948-1952 (Secretary of State
Dean Acheson)• NATO
– Collective security in Western Europe– Response to Berlin Blockade– CENTO, SEATO, and ANZUS– Warsaw Pact, 1955
• Fall of China, 1949– Mao takes over and spreads communism
• Hydrogen Bomb, 1952– Bikini Islands– Soviets, 1953– End of mankind?
The Korean War, 1950-1953
North Korea Invades, June 1950• NSC-68
– Massive military build up• UN Security Council
– Vote, Soviet Union absent!• Douglas MacArthur
– Inchon and Pusan– Yalu River and the Chinese– “Limited War”– Cease Fire
• Repatriation• Succeed in “containment”
Cold War At Home, A Second Red Scare
• Truman’s First Term, 1945-1948– Taft-Hartley, 1947
• Veto, passed by Congress• 80 Day “cooling off”, outlawed “closed shop”
– Civil Rights• “To Secure These Rights”• Segregation of the Armed Forces• Jackie Robinson
– Presidential Succession Act, 1947• In case of nuclear war
– 22nd Amendment, 1951• Limited president to two terms
Anti-Communist Crusade• Smith Act, 1940
– Illegal to advocate government overthrow – Communists sent to prison
• HUAC indicts Algier Hiss, 1947– Richard Nixon vs. Hiss (prominent New Dealer)
• Truman’s Loyalty Program– Loyality Review Board (Loyalty oaths)– FBI goes after “Reds”
• McCarran Internal Security Bill, 1950– Communists must register with Attorney General– President detains “suspicious persons”– Truman Veto, passed by Congress
• The Rosenbergs, 1954• McCarthyism
– Communists in the State Department and Military– Truman should be impeached
Election of 1948 and the “Vital Center”
• Dewey vs. Truman– Republicans want reduction of New Deal– Truman “Fair Deal”
• Minimum wage, new TVAs, Farm support, extension of Social Security, Civil Rights
• Vital Center, 1948-1968– Three major componets
• Anti-communism and containment• Economic growth good for all• Variety of ideas can exist in American society
American Society in the Postwar Era
• GI Bill of Rights– Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
• Baby Boom– Economic, social, and political effect
• Economic Boom- “The Affluent Society”– Income doubled– 40% wealth, 6% population
• Sunbelt versus Frostbelt– War industries and air conditioning
