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