The Cold War1945-1989

What is the Cold War

It was an intense rivalry between the United States and Russia –

between West and East and between capitalism and

communism that dominated the years following WW II.

Words of Wisdom

Winston Churchill;

“Germany is finished. The real problem is Russia. I can’t get Americans to see it.”

-- 1945

Cold vs. Hot

It is called the “Cold” War because there was never any direct attack made by the U.S. or Soviet Union on each other.

Yalta ConferenceThe Big Three meet – Churchill, Roosevelt and StalinDivided Germany into four zonesProblem: Poland! Roosevelt wanted a guarantee of free elections and Stalin wanted complete control of PolandThe issue of Poland would not go away

The United NationsThe Big Three all agreed on establishing this international peace keeping organization following WWII Goal: to promote justice and cooperationPermanent headquarters established in New York in 1953.

Remind you of anything??

FDR dies; Truman Takes Command

FDR died on April 12, 1945

Truman, his Vice President for only a few months, became the leader of our country

Conflicting Postwar GoalsAmericans: wanted democracy and economic opportunities for the countries of Europe and AsiaSoviets: Wanted to rebuild their nation in order to protect their own interests. They wanted to establish satellite nations, countries controlled by the Soviets along the western boundaries of the Soviet Union. Stalin wanted to overthrow capitalism around the world and install Communist governments.

Satellite NationsLike dominoes, one by one countries in Eastern Europe fell to Stalin and communism

Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Albania.

The Iron Curtain

A phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 it refers to the division between Communist and non-Communist nationsBecame symbol of division between East and West

ContainmentU.S. policy developed by George Kennan

The U.S. could not do anything in Eastern Europe where Russia already took over, but that it should attempt to stop the formation of Communist governments any where else in the world.

There’s communism

in there! Don’t let it

out!!

The Truman Doctrine

“I believe that it must be the policy of the U.S. to support free peoples who are resisting (conquest) by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” –President Truman, 1947

And what outside pressure are we talking about?

The Marshall Plan

U.S. wanted to help war-torn nations recover so they could create stable democracies.Seventeen nations applied for aid. Total aid given from 1948-1952 = $13 billion

Germany: A Land Divided

By 1949 there were two Germany’s in Europe:

1. West Germany: democratic

2. East Germany: communist

The capital of Berlin was also later divided – by a wall!

Berlin Airlift

Many Eastern Europeans who did not like living under Soviet communist rule fled their homes and escaped to West Berlin.Stalin wanted to stop this escape route by forcing the Western Powers to abandon West Berlin.Stalin blockaded all Allied shipments to West Berlin through East Germany.This threatened severe shortages of food and other needed supplies in West Berlin.

Truman did not want a war with the Soviets, nor did he want to give up West Berlin.

During the next 15 months both British and U.S. aircraft delivered food, fuel, etc. by plane to the city.

The Soviets finally gave up in 1949 and ended the blockade.

Berlin Airlift Map

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Because the Soviet Union used its veto power to block any action that stopped communism in the United Nations, the West needed another way to deal with Soviet aggression.In 1949 12 nations formed NATO. The guiding principle of NATO is; “an armed attack against one or more…shall be considered an attack against them all.”This is an example of collective security- mutual military assistance among nations.

Current Members of NATO

The Soviet Union responded to the formation of NATO by creating the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance with its satellite nations in Eastern Europe.

NATO WARSAW PACT

UNUN

The Arms Race

The greatest area where the Soviet Union and the U.S. compete for world domination was in the arms race - the struggle to gain weapons superiority.

China Falls To Communism

A civil war had existed between the Nationalists and Communists in China since the 1920s.1949: Mao Zedong and the Communists won and established the People’s Republic of China.The Nationalists fled to Taiwan and claimed to be the legitimate government of China, establishing the Republic of China. The U.S. and UN recognized this Republic as the true government of China. Many Americans wanted Truman and the government to focus not only on Europe but also on Asia in their policy of containment.

Chairman Mao Zedong

Chinese Revolution Poster: 1949

Korean War

After WW II Japan was forced to give up control of Korea.The Soviets accepted the surrender above the 38th parallel and the U.S. accepted it below that line.Division was never the goal but became a reality: a communist controlled north and a democratically controlled south.

Map of Korea

So Korea is

divided

between who?

Conflict in Korea

Citizens on both sides of the parallel wanted to reunite their country.

War breaks out when North Korean troops came across the 38th parallel to try to unite the country by force.

May., 1950

Sept., 1950

Sept.-Nov., 1950

Nov 1950-Jan 1951

Jan 1951 - 1953

The Korean Conflict

The Forgotten War

The UN (mostly American) sent troops to KoreaThe UN troops do well initially but are driven back close to the original 38th parallel.The war becomes a stalemate and in 1953 an armistice is signed agreeing to keep Korea divided.

The Cold War at Home

There was a great emphasis on loyalty to America during the Truman administration.

He vowed to find people who were not loyal, especially anyone with ties to communism.

I LOVE America! I swear!! I

would NEVER be communist!

Oh yeah!? Prove it! or else!

His administration instituted FBI background checks for government employees and the Loyalty Review Board to hear evidence about anyone in the government participating in suspicious activities

The Rosenbergs

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were Americans and members of the Communist party.They were accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during WW II.They were convicted of spying and were executed in 1953.

Did anticommunist hysteria play a role? Hmmm…

McCarthyism: The Height of Cold War Hysteria

Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin made himself famous by accusing hundreds of people inside the government of having ties with communists.He set off a second period of anti-communist hysteriaHe had little to no evidence to support his accusations and after a few years lost all credibility.

Joseph McCarthy

HUACThe House Un-American

Activities CommitteeHUAC was created by the House of Representatives in 1938 to investigate disloyalty before WWII.In 1947 they began to investigate the movie industry, claiming it supported communist ideals.“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”The Hollywood Ten refused to answer and were cited for contempt and sentenced to jail.Studios compiled a blacklist of directors, actors, and writers who should not be allowed to work because they seemed subversive or refused to cooperate with HUAC or refused to honor the blacklist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-1pPMliSck&feature=related

The Majestic movie trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwSk2vW1po0

The Majestic movie clip

Cold War and Space

In 1957 the Soviet Union proved that they were ahead of the U.S. in the technology war when they launched Sputnik into space.Sputnik was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth.

Problem: The rocket used to launch Sputnik could just as easily carry a nuclear bomb to America’s shores!

US Response: created NASA in 1958 and increased spending on science and math in America’s school.

Sputnik

Cuba

1959 Fidel Castro Takes power in Cuba and when he developed ties to the USSR American officials feared that Cuba could become an example for revolutionary upheaval through all of Latin America.

Bay of Pigs

Kennedy’s 1st foreign crisis!

Eisenhower had approved a plan in 1960 to overthrow CastroCIA was training a group of Cubans to

invade Cuba and overthrow CastroJFK and his advisers believed the people

of Cuba would join in to help the defeat of Castro ----- THEY DID NOT!

Bay of Pigs

April 17, 1961

Airstrike failed to destroy Cuba’s air force

Cuban troops were more than a match for the 1,500 invaders

Rather than increase forces Kennedy chose to accept defeat

US lost prestige and faced anger from other countries. JFK’s ability as President was questioned.

Berlin WallSoviet attempt to cut off access to Berlin in 1948 failed because of the Berlin Airlift.

SOVIETS ATTEMPT AGAIN!

They demanded a peace treaty that would make division permanent in order to stop flow of East Germans into west Germany through Berlin.

Kennedy feared this would lead to a larger invasion of Europe.

Berlin WallKennedy responded by increasing military and military spending

“We do not want a fight – but we have fought before!” JFK 1961

Aug. 1961 – Soviets built the wall to divide Communist & Non-Communist Berlin

Soviets avoided war by stopping the flow out of East Germany

Wall became a symbol of the Cold War

Cold War and Cuba

In October of 1962 U.S. spy photography revealed that the Soviet Union was building missile bases on Cuba.

What followed, the Cuban Missile Crisis, is the closest the world ever came to nuclear war.

Why do

we care?

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Soviets placed these missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S., to counter the missiles the U.S. had in Turkey – very close to the U.S.S.R.

These missiles in Turkey were old and probably wouldn’t work – but the U.S.S.R., under Nikita Khruschev, did not care about that detail.

Kennedy Decides

After much deliberation, president Kennedy decided to use a U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba to prevent any Soviet ships carrying weapons into Cuba

Disaster Avoided

After some secret negotiations the U.S. agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey while Russia would remove their missiles from Cuba.

It appeared that if Russia either broke the quarantine or refused to remove their missiles, Kennedy would have used nuclear weapons on Cuba and maybe the Soviet Union directly!!!

Conclusion

The Cold War was a tense time and a time of great uncertainty and fear

No one knew if the Soviets or the U.S. would use one of their many weapons of mass destruction -- they came close but never did!

The Cold War ended when the U.S.S.R. collapsed and communism failed to make the people happy or meet their basic needs.

Berlin Wall falls: 1989

SU breaks apart: 1991

Modern Day Arms Race: Pakistan and India