The Roots of the Cold War Following World War II a Cold War
broke out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union Cold war an era of
high tension and bitter rivalry between the two nations There were
several factors that led to the Cold War The Soviet Union was a
communist, totalitarian, dictatorship The U.S. was a
free-enterprise capitalist republic Conflicts from World War II The
Soviet Union did not live up to its promise of having free
elections in Eastern Europe The U.S. made efforts to stop Soviet
expansion The tension caused by the U.S. development of the atomic
bomb
Slide 3
The Iron Curtain Leaders from the U.S. and Britain feared that
Stalin aimed to gain power in Eastern Europe, with good reason. To
achieve his goals, Stalin outlawed political parties or newspapers
that opposed the Communists, jailed his political opponents, and
rigged elections to make sure that Communists won throughout
Eastern Europe. Soon most of Eastern Europe was under direct
control of the Soviet Union The U.S. was also shocked by the harsh
treatment of Germans living in Eastern Europe by the Soviets.
Slide 4
The Iron Curtain In March 1946 Prime Minister Churchill
travelled to the U.S. where he gave his famous iron curtain speech.
Excerpt of Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech Excerpt of Churchill's
Iron Curtain Speech The term iron curtain reflected the belief that
communism had created a sharp division in Europe. Stalin used
Churchills words to persuade his people that the U.S. and Britain
were enemies of the Soviet Union, which became the excuse for heavy
military build up.
Slide 5
Containment and the Truman Doctrine Containment the policy,
created by American George F. Kennan, to deal with the growing
threat of the Soviet Union. Kennan believed that the U.S. should
resist Soviet attempts to expand its power and try to influence
areas that may be tempted to join the Soviets. The idea of
containment became known as the Truman Doctrine providing economic
aid to countries under the threat of Soviet control. The Truman
Doctrine first took effect in 1947 when the U.S. sent aid to Greece
and Turkey, two countries facing Soviet pressure
Slide 6
The Marshall Plan Across Europe World War II had devastated
cities and ruined farms. Many Americans supported giving aid to
Europe to help rebuild In June 1947, US Secretary of State George
C. Marshall called for a huge program of aid to help Europe rebuild
and grow its economy Marshall Plan between 1948 and 1951 the US
spent over $13 billion in 17 different countries and helped rebuild
factories, homes, and cities. The original plan even called for
providing aid to the Soviet Union but Stalin refused. The Marshall
Plan helped rebuild Western Europe and allowed those nations to buy
products from American factories, which also helped the American
economy. Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan
Slide 7
Slide 8
Crisis in Berlin After WWII Germany and Berlin were divided
into 4 zones The British, French, and American zones all took steps
to set up free democratic zones, while the Soviets planned to keep
their zone under communist control. The Soviets were not pleased
with the idea of a democratic section of Berlin in the middle of
their communist zone. In June 1948 the Soviets announced they would
block all roads, railroads, and rivers into West Berlin (the part
controlled by the Allies).
Slide 9
Crisis in Berlin In response the Allies planned to supply West
Berlin by aircraft, a risky move since the Soviets might respond
with force. Berlin airlift every day British and American planes
flew in an average of 7000 tons of supplies into West Berlin. The
airlift was an overwhelming (but expensive) success, and in May
1949 the Soviets ended their blockade. Shortly after the blockade
ended Germany was officially divided into 2 new nations: West
Germany (backed by the US and Britain) and East Germany (backed by
the Soviets)
Slide 10
NATO Many nations in Western Europe were concerned about war
with the Soviets. In 1948 Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, and the U.K. joined together in a military alliance.
After the crisis in Berlin the U.S. and 6 other nations, including
Canada) joined the alliance creating NATO NATO North Atlantic
Treaty Organization The NATO treaty declared that an attack against
one nation in the group would be considered an attack against
all
Slide 11
Life in America after WWII Many Americans feared economic
trouble for the US after WWII No more orders for tanks, planes,
ships, and weapons 12 million soldiers coming home that need jobs
Women who had taken work during the war were often pressured to
leave work so a male veteran could have their job In June 1944 FDR
signed the GI Bill Provided money for veterans to attend college or
job training Arranged for loans for veterans that wanted to buy a
home or business Provided unemployment benefits to veterans that
could not find work The GI Bill and the overall demand for consumer
goods that were not available during the war led to economic growth
for the nation The two decades following WWII also saw a baby boom
a large rise in the birthrate and helped keep the demand for goods
up.
Slide 12
Life in America after WWII Many labor unions sought an end to
the limits placed on them during WWII However, in 1947 Congress
passed the Taft-Hartley Act that further reduced the power of labor
unions In June 1948 President Truman issued Executive Order 9981
ended segregation in the armed forces
Slide 13
Politics in Postwar America When FDR died in April 1945, Harry
Truman had been vice- president for less than 3 months and had
almost no knowledge of the issues facing the nation In 1946 the
Republicans gained a majority in Congress creating tension between
Congress and the Democratic White House However, they agreed on the
Marshall Plan and Trumans handling of the Berlin airlift
Slide 14
Politics in Postwar America Election of 1948 Democrat Harry
Truman Progressive Party (a breakaway group of Democrats) Henry
Wallace Dixiecrat (an anti-civil rights party) Strom Thurmond
Republican Thomas Dewey A few weeks before the election, in a poll
of 50 political writers, every single one predicted that the
Republican Dewey would win Truman campaigned hard and told the
crowds about the do- nothing Congress In one of the most surprising
election outcomes in American history, Harry Truman won
re-election.
Slide 15
Slide 16
Politics in Postwar America Having won the election, Truman was
able to implement his own plan for the nation Fair Deal similar to
FDRs New Deal it expanded the role of the federal government A
federal health insurance program Funding for education However,
Congress did not agree with Trumans plans and few of his Fair Deal
ideas ever became law
Slide 17
Global Community In June 1945 representatives from over 50
nations met to form the United Nations (UN). save succeeding
generation from the scourge of war reaffirm faith in fundamental
human rights In December 1948 the UN adopted a Universal
Declaration of Human Rights included a variety of rights on the
basis that all human beings are born free and equal No slavery,
torture, inhumane punishment, etc. Former first lady Eleanor
Roosevelt was the US Representative that helped write the UDHR
Slide 18
Global Community World Bank (1944) organization for providing
loans to countries in an attempt to reduce poverty International
Monetary Fund (IMF, 1944) provided a system for orderly financial
relationships between countries, designed to prevent economic
crises and encourage trade and economic growth General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT, 1946) member nations made agreements on
rules for international trade, focused on reducing tariffs and
other trade barriers Together with the UN, these organizations
helped to increase global participation and communication.
Slide 19
Cold War Activities SHEG Red dot game
Slide 20
Growing Fear of Communism In 1949 two events occurred that
greatly increased the concerns of American leaders over the spread
of communism 1) In August the Soviets tested their first atomic
bomb No longer could the US rely only on its atomic weapons as a
means of dealing with the Soviet threat 2) Communist take over in
China Civil war in China between the Nationalists, led by Chiang
Kai-shek and the Communists, led by Mao Zedong who ended up winning
Americans feared that the new communist government in China would
support the Soviets and become a threat to the US
Slide 21
Fighting Communism Based on the events of 1949 there was a
growing concern of Communist influence in American government In
1947 a group called HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)
began investigating and exploring possible Communist influence in
the American film industry Hollywood Ten a group of writers and
directors who were thought to hold radical views. They were called
to testify before HUAC and refused to answer questions. Found
guilty of contempt of Congress and sentenced to a year in jail.
This case led to further fears in Hollywood of being labeled a
Communist, and many began to provide names of possible Communists
to HUAC.
Slide 22
Slide 23
Fighting Communism President Truman did his part in the
Communist hunt by investigating over 3 million government workers.
Only 200 were judged disloyal In 1949 the federal government
charged several leaders of the Communist Party under the Smith Act
which made it a crime to call for the overthrow of the government
or belong to an organization that does so Fear of communist spies
in the American government began to spread Alger Hiss and the
Rosenbergs
Slide 24
McCarthyism In 1950 a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy began
making speeches telling Americans that he had a list of known
Communists working in the US State department McCarthys charges
caused a sensation, even though McCarthy never produced the names
supposedly on his list With his new fame McCarthy began to make
even more charges When people complained or confronted McCarthy he
suggested that perhaps they were a communist or had something to
hide McCarthyism the name given by a political cartoonist to the
growing fear and hysteria around communism in America
Slide 25
McCarthyism The public seemed to believe McCarthy which pushed
him to make more accusations against people in other parts of
government Officials and employers were afraid that if they didnt
take action when someone was accused that they would appear soft on
communism, leading to thousands of people being fired from their
jobs for political reasons By 1954 the public increasingly viewed
McCarthys actions as unfair and his career faded, but the fear of
communism did not.
Slide 26
Slide 27
Korean War SHEG Video IR
Slide 28
Election of 1952 Even though Truman had already served 8 years
as President, he could have run again in 1952, but decided not to.
The Democrats nominated Adlei Stevenson, while Republicans chose
popular war General Dwight Eisenhower Eisenhower was well on his
way to winning the election when his Vice-Presidential candidate
Richard Nixon was accused of taking money from political supporters
(which was not illegal, but made him look dishonest) Nixon's
"Checkers" Speech Despite the bad publicity Eisenhower won the
election
Slide 29
The Cold War Continues Eisenhower did not believe that the
policy of containment was enough. His Secretary of State John
Dulles proposed a new idea Brinkmanship the art of going to the
brink of war without actually getting into war by making strong
threats that would bring results without having to follow through
on the threats Massive retaliation if the US needed to it would use
nuclear force against the Soviet Union Under the leadership of
Dulles in 1947 the CIA was created and it grew in the 50s as it
continued spying on other nations in secrecy
Slide 30
Changes in the Soviet Union In March 1953 Joseph Stalin died
Nikita Khrushchev became the new leader of the Soviet Union In 1955
Khrushchev and the Soviets created the Warsaw Pact a military
alliance similar to NATO made with all the Soviet- dominated
countries of Eastern Europe In countries like Poland and Hungary
anti-Communists were killed and the Soviets used force to ensure
that their satellite nations would not defect
Slide 31
Slide 32
US-Soviet Relations In 1955 the US and the Soviets met for a
summit in Geneva, Switzerland where Eisenhower proposed an open
skies treaty both nations could fly over each others territory The
Soviets rejected the open skies treaty but the American citizens
still approved of Eisenhower and re-elected him in 1956 when he
defeated Adlei Stevenson (again) In the late 1950s and early 60s
the US sent U-2 aircraft into Soviet airspace to inspect their
military facilities In 1960 the Soviets shot down American pilot
Gary Powers and he was captured. The Soviets held Powers until 1962
when they released him in exchange for a Soviet spy held prisoner
by the US
Slide 33
Trouble in the Middle East In 1956 Egypt and Israel went to war
over disputes dealing with access to the Suez Canal. England and
France backed Israel, while the Soviets backed Egypt, and the US
feared that further escalation could draw the US into the conflict.
The Suez Crisis ended when the US intervened and told the Israelis
to leave Egypt Eisenhower Doctrine declared the right of the US to
help, on request, any nation in the Middle East trying to resist
armed Communist aggression.
Slide 34
The Hydrogen Bomb During the Korean War US scientists were
developing new weapons, including the hydrogen bomb used nuclear
fusion instead of nuclear fission and was over 100 times more
powerful than the atomic bomb It was so devastating that many
scientists argued against ever building it In 1952 the US tested
the hydrogen bomb on a small uninhabited island. After the blast
the island was gone. This test put the US ahead of the Soviets in
weapons technology, but not for long as the Soviets tested their
own hydrogen bomb in 1953.
Slide 35
Arms Race The testing of hydrogen bombs was the beginning of
the stockpiling of weapons by both the US and the Soviets Arms race
the stockpiling of weapons and creation of new technology in order
to get ahead of the other nation The arms race led to many changes
in military strategies More reliance on nuclear weapons, less on
conventional weapons New long range airplanes that would be used to
deliver nuclear weapons, such as the B-52 ICBMs Intercontinental
ballistic missiles, that could travel thousands of miles and strike
very close to their intended target
Slide 36
Soviet Advancements In 1957 the Soviets shocked the world when
they launched the first ever artificial satellite named Sputnik A
month later Sputnik II took the first living creature into space (a
dog named Laika) Americans responded with fear that the Soviets
would use satellites to spy or attack the US and feared that it
signaled that the Soviets had surpassed Americans in terms of
technical skill and knowledge In response, the US government
created NASA National Aeronautics Space Administration to keep pace
with the Soviets.
Slide 37
American Reactions Americans began to fear the threat of
nuclear war Nuclear fallout the aftermath of nuclear weapons that
could be as deadly as direct attack The Truman administration
created the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) to educate
and prepare the public for nuclear emergencies Air raid sirens
Nuclear drills Duck and Cover Video Even with these tests, the
American people realized that a nuclear attack in an urban area of
the US would be catastrophic war no longer presented the
possibility of victory or defeat, but only the alternative of
varying degrees of destruction
Slide 38
American Reactions In response to fear of nuclear attack many
Americans began installing bomb shelters in their yards The 1950s
also saw that President Eisenhower referred to as the
military-industrial complex the idea that military needs, including
weapons, were no longer a temporary wartime industry.
Slide 39
Television The 1950s saw the growth in popularity of the home
television 1950-5 million TVs 1959-40 million TVs TV stars like
Lucille Ball and Milton Berle became household names Lucy at the
Chocolate Factory There were only 3 networks showing dramas, game
shows, and comedy variety shows
Slide 40
Television Besides programs, the TV became a very significant
part of American culture Politics American leaders realized the
power of the TV early on. In fact, it was TV that brought down
Senator McCarthy after his hearings were aired Advertising early on
advertisers sponsored an entire show (ex: The Colgate Comedy Hour).
After that became too expensive companies began buying 1-2 minute
segments of the show, thus giving birth to the TV commercial 1950's
Make up Commercial Even in the 1950s people were already concerned
with violence on TV
Slide 41
Technology In the 1950s the first computers came into use. They
were very expensive, large, and not as advanced as today In 1952
scientist Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine, changing a disease
that affected thousands to a disease that is essentially
nonexistent today.
Slide 42
Culture The 1950s were a time of economic growth American
workers and farmers produced about 1/3 of the worlds goods and
services Americans began purchasing automobiles on a more regular
basis Bill and Alfred Levitt created Levittown, NY one of the first
examples of suburban development These suburban homes were filled
with the latest devices stoves, refrigerators, washing machines,
and TVs People began moving away from northern areas to the sunbelt
the warmer southern and western parts of the US Californias
population grew by 5 million in the 1950s alone
Slide 43
Culture Interstate Highway System The beginning of rebellion
Film stars like Marlon Brando and James Dean The early stages of
rock and roll Elvis Presley Rock and roll music was a collaboration
between jazz, blues, and a new invention electric guitars
