What was the Cold War?Cold War - the period of conflict, tension and

competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies from the mid-1940s until the early 1990s. Throughout the period, the rivalry between the two superpowers was played out in multiple arenas: military coalitions; ideology, psychology, and espionage; sports; military, industrial, and technological developments, including the space race; costly defense spending; a massive conventional and nuclear arms race; and many proxy wars.

Democracy v. CommunismDemocracy

Elect govt. representatives

Free market – prices and products not controlled

Everything not owned by govt.

CommunismDictatorshipPrices and

production controlled

Govt. owns everything (all businesses, etc.)

Freedom v. Control

YALTA (in the USSR)Date: Feb 1945

Present: “Big Three”--Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

Yalta ConferenceCalled for a conference to create a new world

organization on April 25, 1945. This was known as San Francisco Conference. Would sign charter for creation of United Nations

The United NationsMain goal was to maintain peace and settle

disputes.

Members agreed to bring disputes to UN.

Main body of nations was called the General Assembly.

Five permanent members of Security Council: U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France Each member has the power to veto, or reject, any

proposal. No way to enforce decisions

Horrible at solving conflicts, but great at fighting hunger, disease, and improving education.

Yalta ConferenceCreated occupation zones in Germany: Soviets

would control the east and Western Allies (U.S., G.B. and France) would control west. Berlin (entirely in Soviet Zone) would be under joint occupation

Focus on Berlin

After World War II, Germany was divided into four zones, occupied by French, British, American, and Soviet troops.

Occupation zones after 1945. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone.

Yalta Conference

Big Three promised to sponsor free elections, democratic governments in all of Europe

Soviets had already expanded through Eastern Europe

Harry S. Truman

President 1945 – 1953

Cold War policy of Containment

Truman Doctrine

Marshall Plan

Berlin Airlift

United Nations

NATO

Korean War

ContainmentThe goal of containment was to contain, or limit,

Soviet expansion

Idea of containment was first outlined in George Kennan’s “Long Telegram” on February 22, 1946.

Then appeared in 1947 article anonymously written in Foreign Affairs

“the main element of any US policy must be that of a long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies…”

Growing fear that Soviets wished to expand beyond eastern Europe

Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine in March 1947

promised that the USA “would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”.

Triggered by British inability to hold the line in Greece, it was followed by aid to Greece and Turkey, and also money to secure upcoming elections in Italy and the advance of Communist trade unions in France.

Request for $400 million to economic aid to Greece and Turkey (By 1950 had spent $659 million)

Was the beginning of what SC senator Bernard Baruch called a “Cold War”

Marshall PlanSecretary Of State George C. Marshall called for a

program of massive aid ($12 Billion) to rescue Western Europe after World War II

Wartime damage and dislocation had hurt factory production in Western Europe

Severe drought and harsh winter had destroyed crops

Coal shortages, bridges out, rail networks destroyed

Communist party flourishing in France and Italy

Plan offered aid to all European countries, including the Soviet Union

· In June of 1948, the French, British and American zones were joined into the nation of West Germany after the Soviets refused to end their occupation of Germany.

Soviet blockade:

West Germany

East Germany

West Berlin

East Berlin

· In response, the Soviets cut off West Berlin from the rest of the world with a blockade.

· President Truman decided to avoid the blockade by flying in food and other supplies to the needy people of West Berlin.

A huge airlift:

· At times, over 5,000 tons of supplies arrived daily.

Video: Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift

NATO and Warsaw Alliance

U.S. and other Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).A military alliance to guard against Soviet

attackAgreed that an attack on one member would

be an attack on the entire group.In response, the Soviet Union and satellite

nations of E. Europe formed their own alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955

What is the main idea of this political cartoon?

• In 1946, Winston Churchill correctly warned that the Soviets were creating an Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe.

Iron Curtain Speech

Korean War Soviet Union backed a Communist govt. in

North Korea & U.S. backed a non-communist govt. in South Korea

June 25, 1950 – North Korea invaded South Korea

President Truman urged UN to send in troops from 16 nations (90% were American)

Troops pushed North Korea back north across the 38th parallel

China (communist) sent troops to North Korea and pushed UN troops back into South Korea General MacArthur believed that the

U.S. should attack China in order to win in Korea

Pres. Truman disagreed – believed that attack on China might start a new World War

MacArthur disregarded Truman – Truman fired MacArthur

1953 – war ended and the two sides established a demilitarized zone – an area which neither side controls

HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee)

U.S. Congressional Committee that opened hearings in 1947 on possible communist infiltration of Hollywood

10 screenwriters, producers and directors claimed their first amendment rights and refused to testify

Federal courts agreed with HUAC’s investigation and the Hollywood Ten went to prison for contempt

HUAC (House Un-American Activities

Committee)

Studio executives drew up blacklists of possible communists in the movie industry

Both Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon became famous as anti-Communists because of the HUAC meetings.

Loyalty Program

President Harry S. Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the "Loyalty Order", on March 21, 1947.

established the first general loyalty program in the United States, designed to root out communist influence in the U.S. federal government.

hoped to quiet critics who accused Democrats of being soft on communism..

Loyalty Review Board investigated over 3 million government employees, just over 300 of whom were dismissed as security risks

Communists in Government?

Many Americans worried that Communist sympathizers and spies might be secretly working to overthrow U.S. govt.

Alger Hiss, former State Dept. official Accused of passing govt.

secrets to Soviet agents Convicted of perjury and spent

several yrs in prison

Julius & Ethel Rosenberg Accused of passing secrets of

atomic bomb to Soviets Found guilty and sentenced to

death – executed in 1953

McCarthyism1950 - Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed

he had a list with the names of 205 Communists who worked in the State Dept.Later reduced # to 81, then to 57Refused to show list to anyone

McCarthy led Senate hearings in which he bullied witnesses and made exaggerated charges

McCarthyism came to mean accusing someone of disloyalty without having any evidence

McCarthy lost his following in 1954 when he made false accusations against the Army on television

Dwight D. EisenhowerPresident 1953-1961

Policy of Brinkmanship Would use military force to stop the spread of

Communism

Domino theory – theory that if one country fell to Communists, neighboring countries would follow

CIA grew in importance during his administration

Farewell Address Warning to American people to watch guard the govt.

and be aware that there was a growing reliance on the military by the govt. – Military Industrial Complex

U-2 Incident1960

U.S. spy plane shot down in Soviet UnionU.S. denied that it was a spy plane; said it was a

weather plane

Soviets captured pilot – Francis Gary Powers

Had to admit we were spying

What was the Arms Race?

Contest in which nations compete to build more and more powerful weapons

Soviet Union made their first atomic bomb in 1949

1952 America developed hydrogen bomb – 80 times more powerful than a-bomb

Soviet Union soon followed with h-bomb

Both countries stockpiled weapons

John F. Kennedy

President 1961-1963

Cold War Policy – Flexible ResponseAvoid all out nuclear war; use more conventional

weapons and troops to fight against Communism

Encouraged Space Race

Established Peace Corps

What was the Space Race?Soviet’s launched satellite in Oct. 1957 –

Sputnik – U.S. thought it was a spy satellite

Soviet’s built a rocket and sent dog into space – Nov. 1957 – U.S. feared that rockets could deliver missiles

Soviet Union sent first man into space – 1961

U.S. scrambles to catch up1962 – U.S. sends John Glenn up – 1st man to orbit

earth1969 – American Neil Armstrong – 1st man to walk on

the moon

What was the Bay of Pigs?Communist Fidel Castro led revolution in Cuba –

Soviet Union promised Castro help

Castro forced thousands of Cubans into exileExiles secretly trained by U.S.C.I.A. led exiles in invasion – Bay of Pigs – invasion

failed – embarrassed U.S.

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Soviets build nuclear missile base in Cuba

U.S. spy planes discovered them

President John F. Kennedy set up naval blockade – after 13 days Soviet ships turned back – crisis averted