The

Cold War

Adapted from Ms. Susan M. Pojer from Horace Greeley HS in Chappaqua, NY

The Cold War was a battle of

ideas/ideologiesSoviet Union &

Eastern European Bloc

Nations

US & the Western European

Democracies

GOAL spread world-wide Communism

GOAL “Containment” or limiting the spread of Communism

Former allies against Hitler’s Nazi Germany in WW2, the democratic United States and the Communist USSR had different forms of government, economy, and different world views.

Both sides wanted to win over the minds and hearts of the rest of the world, especially the countries in Africa and Asia.

Both countries wanted to prevent a WW3.

The “Iron Curtain” – a line separating the

democratic Western European countries from

the Communist Eastern European countries.

From Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and Eastern Europe.

-- Sir Winston Churchill, 1946

Truman Doctrine [1947]

The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. US President Harry S. Truman (basically resist Communism)

The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid to defeat communist groups.

Marshall Plan [1948]

1. US Goal: Rebuild the European countries devastated by WW2. Named after the Secretary of State, George Marshall

2. The U. S. should provide aid to allEuropean nations that need it. This move is not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. (Real goal was to preserve democracies in Europe and strengthen America’s trading partners.)

3. $12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe. The USSR rejected aid for itself and the Eastern European countries. Western Europe’s economy improves very quickly with US aid.

Post-War Germany, including

Berlin

Germany and Berlin• Germany is occupied by soldiers from the US,

Great Britain, France, and the USSR.

• Berlin is also divided into 4 zones.

• The Soviets block the roads and railroads into

Berlin to force the other countries to leave.

America leads the Berlin airlift for over a year,

flying in all the supplies needed to keep the city

going. Planes landed, unloaded, and took off in 8

minutes. Eventually the USSR allowed ground

transportation to resume.

Berlin Blockade & Airlift

(1948-49)

The Cold War

The Cold War was an era of

competition and conflict between the

superpowers the US and the USSR,

along with their allies, when the threat

of nuclear war created constant

world tension. It was “cold” because

the superpowers never attacked

(“hot”) each other.

The US led NATO and the USSR led

the Warsaw Pact.

The Arms Race:} The Soviet Union exploded its

first A-bomb in 1949.

} Both the US and USSR will race to develop more powerful nuclear weapons and make thousands of them.

North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (1949)

Democracies

United States

Belgium

Britain

Canada

Denmark

France

Iceland

Italy

Luxemburg

Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

1952: Greece & Turkey

1955: West Germany

1983: Spain

GermanyThe US and NATO decided to

make Germany a powerful ally in

the defense of Western Europe

and not treat them as formers

Nazis to be punished. West

Germany became a country in

1949 and joined NATO just six

years later. Its economic growth

was considered a miracle.

Germany even paid off over 50%

of its debts to US banks from the

Great Depression

East Germany was a Warsaw

Pact, Communist country directly

led by the USSR.

Warsaw Pact

Communist Governments

under direct control of the

USSR (1955)

} U. S. S. R.

} Albania

} Bulgaria

} Czechoslovakia

} East Germany

} Hungary

} Poland

} Rumania

Mao’s Revolution: 1949

Who lost China? – A 2nd } Power!

Communist ChinaIn 1949, the Nationalists in China, US

allies against Japan in WW2, were

overthrown by Mao’s Communist army.

The Nationalists were corrupt and had

treated the people they ruled poorly.

The defeated Nationalists fled to the

island of Taiwan.

In the US, President Truman and the

Democrats were blamed for “losing

China.” Fear of Communism becomes a

powerful force in domestic politics.

The Korean War: A “Police

Action” (1950-1953)

Syngman Rhee

Kim Il-Sung

“Domino Theory”

The Korean War (1950-53)After WW2, the US and USSR split the Korean

peninsula into two regions.

• North Korea becomes a Communist USSR ally

• South Korea becomes a US ally and a democracy

In 1950, the North Koreans invaded South Korea and

nearly won a quick victory. The United Nations

supported South Korea and many countries helped the

US defend South Korea. US commander General

MacArthur launched a surprise invasion of North Korea

and quickly drove North Korean forces up to the border

with China. Mao’s China warned the US not to

approach the Chinese border and launched its own

surprise attack in December, 1950.

It was called a “Police Action” because fear of WW3

and nuclear weapons kept the US from using all its

might to win the war.

The US Army and Air Force made up the greatest part of

the United Nations forces in the Korean War.

The Korean War The Chinese invasion appeared to be winning and

General MacArthur called for the use of Atomic

Bombs. He also criticized Truman for not trying to

win the win war aggressively enough. Truman feared

a nuclear war with the USSR might result.

In the US, the President is the Commander in Chief of

the Armed Forces. Although MacArthur was

tremendously popular, Truman “fired” him for

attempting to determine how the war would be fought

and what its goal would be. In appointing a new US

commander in Korea, Truman emphasized the fact

that the President makes the decisions about waging

war and not the military.

In 1953, President Eisenhower compromised with

North Korea and the fighting stopped. The war has

never ended but the 38th parallel now divides the two

countries.

The House Committee on Un-American

Activities Committee (HUAC)

McCarthyism: the use of unproven accusations against

someone to label them a Communist

Blacklisting: preventing someone from getting work

because they are suspected of being a Communist

Fear of Communism / the Cold War / the Korean War

led many Americans to believe in Senator McCarthy

that Communists were undermining the US in the

government and , Hollywood, everywhere

McCarthyismFrom 1950-54 many people’s

careers were ruined by the

accusation of being

Communists or for not

identifying others as

“Commies”. Pleading the 5th

Amendment = Guilty to HUAC

Finally in 1954, Senator

McCarthy’s accusations

against the US Army and the

televised hearings before

HUAC led most Americans to

reject him. The freedoms

guaranteed under the Bill

of Rights were considered

less important than the

threat of Communism.

Sputnik I (1957)

The Russians have beaten America in space—they have the technological edge!

Sputnik – The Space RaceIn 1957 the USSR successfully launched the world’s

first satellite, which orbited the globe. Americans

feared that the satellite could direct nuclear missiles

and that the USSR was significantly ahead of the US

in scientific research. Overnight, the US added great

emphasis to scientific education and the

development of satellites and missiles. Over the next

two decades the US invested billions of $ into

research that led to the 1969 landing on the moon!

Paris, 1961

USSR Leader Khrushchev & President John F. Kennedy meet to discuss Berlin and nuclear

proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that JFK is young, inexperienced, and can be rolled.

The Berlin Wall (1961-1989)

The Berlin Wall prevents East Germans from fleeing

Communism and going to West Berlin, from there

travelling to freedom in the NATO countries

CheckpointCharlie

Ich bin ein Berliner!

(1963)

President Kennedy tells Berliners

that the West is with them!

Khrushchev Embraces

Communist Cuba’s leader Fidel

Castro, 1961

Bay of Pigs Disaster (1961)

The US secretly helps Cubans try to overthrow

Fidel Castro and end Communism. The invasion

is a disaster and a humiliating defeat for the US.

Castro will turn to the USSR for protection

afterwards and Krushchev will secretly have

nuclear missiles installed in Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

US photo of nuclear missiles being set up in Cuba

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

For 13 days in October,

1962 the US and USSR

stood ready to go war and

possibly use their nuclear

weapons. Tense

negotiations ended with the

USSR retreating and their

missiles being removed

from Cuba. Later, the US

removed missiles from

Turkey. This is considered

the closest mankind has

come to a nuclear war.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, and the other man blinked!

Vietnam War: 1965-1973