The Cold War

Origins of the Cold War

• Yalta – February, 1945 • A. The Big Three met• -- Franklin Roosevelt– Winston Churchill– Joseph Stalin

• Elections in Poland became the big issue• The U.S. wants the Poles to be able to choose their own

government• Communists wanted to control it because they saw it as

an invasion route to the USSR

The United Nations

• All three agreed on the UN– Used to maintain world peace– Provided mutual security

• 50 Nations met in San Francisco• There would be two parts– The General Assembly– The Security Council

Harry S. Truman

• Ascended to Presidency when FDR died• Met with Stalin in Potsdam, July 1945– Stalin still wanted war payments from Germany– Truman still wanted Polish elections

Differing Goals

• The U.S. desired Democracy and economic opportunity

• The USSR desired satellite nations in its borders– Totalitarian Communist

governments– Controlled by USSR

The Cold War had begun

• Stalin predicted Communism would defeat Capitalism• Churchill asked America to prevent Stalin’s “IRON

CURTAIN” from falling on other nations (Western Europe)

• The U.S. began a policy of CONTAINMENT – Preventing Communism from escaping Eastern Europe

• Truman issued the TRUMAN DOCTRINE declaring that the U.S. would help countries threatened by Communism

Polish Elections

• Poland got elections two years later

• Too late… the Soviets eliminated the competition in– Albania– Bulgaria– Czechoslovakia– Hungary– Romania– East Germany– Finland– Yugoslavia

Cold War on the World Scene

• The Marshall Plan (1947)– Enacted to support the

policy of CONTAINMENT– Said that the U.S. would

provide financial aid to help Europe rebuild in the post war

– U.S. tried to prevent the DOMINO THEORY… the belief that if one nation falls to Communism, they all would

• The Eisenhower Doctrine (1947)– Political measure of the

cold war– Stated the U.S. will

safeguard the countries of the Middle East

• Germany– Germany became a Cold

War struggle– Stalin attempted a

blockade of goods and people from East Berlin to West Berlin

– The U.S. began the BERLIN AIR LIFT… moving supplies in by plane

Problems in the United Nations

• The USSR constantly vetoed things in the UN

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)– Formed in 1949– Comprised of 10 nations,

including the U.S. and Canada

– Designed to promote the safety of Western Europe

– Used the idea of COLLECTIVE SECURITY

• China– Fell to

Communism in 1949

– Mao Zedong leads communists to power

– Police state

Fear of each other

• Soviets detonated their first A-bomb in 1949

• U.S. jumped ahead with the development of the Hydrogen Bomb (H-bomb) in 1952

• USSR sent SPUTNIK, the first satellite, into orbit in 1957

• USSR developed the INTER CONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE (ICBM)

• Each side used BRINKMANSHIP, coming right up to the edge of war, to protect their national interests

• U-2 spy plane shot down over the USSR (Francis Gary Powers captured)

• Embarrassment for US

Cold War at Home• The HOLLYWOOD TEN

– Fear of Communism ran rampant throughout the U.S.

– The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) formed to investigate Communism

– HUAC put many Hollywood persons under the gun

– Many – even Humphrey Bogart – were accused of being Communists

– Eventually, ten people, known as the Hollywood 10, were jailed and placed on a “blacklist”, never to work again

• 2nd Red Scare (1950’s)– Led by Joseph McCarthy– Accused many of being

Communist, even political and military personnel

Society• WWII Veterans– Came home and started

families – BABY BOOM– The GI Bill helped them

buy houses and go to college

• Industry flourishes– Many new cars made– New roads and related

industries developed as a result

– Drive-in restaurants– Drive-in movies– Motels and Hotels

Culture

• Beatniks challenged the conformity of the 1950s by stressing spontaneity

• Rock and Roll came of age as teens broke out of societal norms