• Students will be able explain the origins of the Cold War• Students will understand the key events of the Cold War and the

people that drove those events• Students will be able to explain how the Cold War impacted American

society• Students will understand the policies of American Cold War leaders

• Cold War – tensions between the Communist Bloc and the Democratic West• USSR suspicious of the West.

Fears of invasion (Xenophobia)• US believed economic problems

brought rise of WWII dictators• US wanted to promote free

trade, economic prosperity, and spread democracy

• The Yalta Conference Meeting of Big Three: FDR, Stalin, and

Churchill Planned future of post-war Europe West wanted Poland to choose

government – Stalin already set up Communist one

Liberated Europe to choose their governments

Germany to be partitioned and occupied

USSR wanted reparations from Germany

• USSR began installing communist governments in all countries they liberated and/or occupied• USSR did not allow free elections

in Poland• FDR succeeded by President

Harry S. Truman • Truman strongly anti-communist

• The Potsdam Conference July 1945 – Potsdam Germany Big Three: Truman, Stalin, and

Churchill Truman wanted to revive German

industry while Stalin wanted it as war reparations

Truman informed Stalin of US atomic bomb

Stalin gave in to Truman over Germany

• Eastern European countries with new communist governments called satellite nations• British Prime Minister Winston

Churchill called the separation between the free West and communist East an “Iron Curtain”

West versus East

• US wanted to know why USSR acting belligerent• Ambassador George Kennan sent

“Long Telegram” to US• Advised US to firmly contain Russian

expansion – believed communist system weak and would eventually fall w/o war• Origin of US policy of Containment –

using political, economic, and military policies to keep communism within its present territory

• First Crisis – Iran US and USSR had both occupied Iran

during WWII USSR refused to pull out troops after end

of war USSR demanded access to Iranian oil USSR helped Iranian communists set up

government US protested and sent warships to

Persian Gulf USSR backed down

• The Truman Doctrine Next crisis in Turkey and Greece 1946 USSR demanded joint control of

Dardanelles US sent warships – USSR backed

down 1946 Greek communists began civil

war Britain helped Greece but could not

keep up Truman got Congress to give money &

supplies to help Greece & Turkey fight communism

• The Marshall Plan WWII resulted in economic ruin for

Europe Sec of State George Marshall proposed a

European Recovery Plan US would give money to Europe to help

rebuild – keep countries from turning to communism

Soviet Union and satellite nations rejected offer – Western Europe became prosperous

• The Berlin Crisis US, Britain, and France agreed to

merge their zones of occupation Of Germany and Berlin – allow Germans to form government (Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany)

USSR blocked Allied ground access to Berlin – wanted West out

Truman ordered US to supply Berlin with airlift - successful

USSR gave up blockade ~year later

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

US formed formed a military alliance of Western nations

An attack on one was an attack on all

NATO established 1949 West Germany allowed to rearm

and join NATO in 1955 USSR responded with alliance of

communist nations called Warsaw Pact

• Chinese Civil War Two groups vying for power in

China: Communists led by Mao Zedong and Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-Shek

Both sides fought Japan in WWII though Nationalists bore brunt of war

After WWII, both groups fought civil war for control

Communists won and Nationalists retreated to Island of Formosa – established country of Taiwan

• Communist take-over of China alarmed US• China became ally with USSR• USSR exploded first atomic bomb• Faced with growing communist

threat in Asia – US became friendlier w/Japan• US only recognized Republic of China

(Taiwan) – kept communists out of UN

• Korean War 1950-1953 At end of WWII US disarmed

Japanese troops in southern Korea while USSR disarmed Japanese troops in northern Korea

USSR set up communist government in North while US supported government in south

USSR trained and armed large communist army in North Korea

July 1950 – North Korea invaded South Korea

President Truman saw invasion as test of containment policy

Sent US occupation troops in Japan to Korea – speed bump

American and South Korean troops forced into pocket at tip of Korea – Pusan Perimeter

US led UN Security Council to pledge UN troops – USSR not there to veto

General MacArthur sent new US forces to Inchon – invaded Korea deep behind enemy lines

Invasion took North Koreans by surprise – went into full retreat

UN troops pushed North Koreans up to Yalu River – border with Communist China

China saw UN troops as threat – entered war on side of North Korea

UN troops pushed back to below 38th Parallel

MacArthur wanted to use atomic weapons against China

• Truman refused to allow nuclear weapons• MacArthur publicly criticized

President Truman• Truman fired MacArthur – kept

to a limited war • War moved into stalemate phase

around 38th Parallel• Cease Fire signed in 1953 – no

peace treaty to this day

• New Red Scare Began when Igor Gouzenko, a

Russian clerk, defected to the West He gave up documents detailing

Russian plans to infiltrate American organizations and government

Search for communist spies turned to general fear of Communist subversion – secretly weaken a society and overthrow its government

• Loyalty Review Program – program to screen federal employees for loyalty• House Un-Amercian Activities

Committee J. Edgar Hoover, head of FBI,

encouraged HUAC to hold hearings on government subversion

Identify Fascist and Communist agents or sympathizers

• 1948 Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, testified to HUAC that Alger Hiss, an American diplomat, was a Communist spy• Hiss sued Chambers for libel but

Chambers proved it by providing government documents he said Hiss had given him• Hiss was convicted of perjury –

lying under oath

• The Rosenbergs 1953 Many believed Russia got atomic

secrets from spies Klaus Fuchs – British scientist –

admitted sending atomic secrets to Russia

His testimony led to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg – members of Communist Party

Couple was tried, convicted, and executed

Many believed couple were victims of anti-Communist hysteria

• Project Venona US had broken Russian spy

code in Project code-named “Venona”

US read over 3,000 Russian messages

Project not revealed until 1995

Project intercepts revealed that Rosenbergs guilty

• 1950 – Senator Joseph McCarthy announced he had a list of over 200 State Department personnel who were Communists• Never showed list – The Big Lie?• Congress passed McCarran Act –

created restrictions on Communists in US including prohibiting passports

• McCarthy became Chairman of Senate subcommittee on investigations• Used position to force testimony on

Communist subversion of US government, unions, and Hollywood• His tactics of badgering and vague

accusations became known as McCarthyism• Many called his investigations

“witch hunts”

• McCarthy’s Downfall McCarthy announced

intention to investigate US military

Hearings held on television 1954 – Army-McCarthy

Hearings caused people to drop support due to his bullying

“Have you no sense of decency?”

McCarthy censured by Senate

Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long

last? Have you left no sense of decency?

• Americans became afraid of “the bomb” and fallout – radioactive debris resulting from nuclear blast• Public bomb shelters were

established and supplied with food & water• Civilians built private fallout

shelters • Bomb drills were run at school• Duck and Cover

• Popular Culture in the Cold War

Threat of Atomic Weapons and Nuclear Radiation

Sci-Fi movies with creatures mutated by radiation

Nuclear apocalypse movies Fear of Communism

Communist spy moviesFBI television show

• Election of 1952 Democrats nominated Adlai

Stevenson, governor of Illinois Republicans nominated Dwight D.

Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WWII

Americans nervous about US security following USSR nuclear tests, fall of China to Communism, and the Korean War

Eisenhower promised to end Korean War

• Eisenhower’s Nuclear Policy Eisenhower believed US could not

protect itself economically without possible use of nuclear weapons

Instead of fighting wars he would threaten nuclear war – massive retaliation

This policy enabled his administration to cut military spending

• The Sputnik Crisis Eisenhower put B-52 bomber into use,

developed ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), and submarine launched missiles

US stunned to discover USSR doing same thing

1957 – USSR launched Sputnik, first man-made satellite

US believed it was falling behind USSR in missile technology

Congress created NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and pushed sciences and math in schools

• John Foster Dulles – Secretary of State under Eisenhower supported idea of using nuclear weapons in war• Critics called it Brinkmanship –

willingness to go to war to force the other side to back down• Eisenhower used the nuclear

threat against China in Korea and Taiwan Crisis

• Using threat of nuclear war, Eisenhower got North Korea to agree to Ceasefire in 1953• A DMZ (demilitarized zone)

was established separating North and South Korea• US troops are still in South

Korea today

• The 1956 Suez Crisis US attempted to keep Arabs from aligning

with the Communists by offering money to build Aswan Dam in Egypt

Egypt accepted weapons from Communists – US withdrew offer

Egypt nationalized Suez Canal Great Britain, France, and Israel invaded

Egypt US forced them to back down and

threatened to use nuclear weapons against USSR which was threatening to bomb Britain and France

USSR backed down but remained friendly with Arabs

• To keep Communists from overthrowing other countries, Eisenhower used covert (hidden) ops conducted by the CIA• Many countries targeted by

Communists were developing nations – nations with primarily agricultural economies• Sometimes the US gave target

countries aid – other times the CIA staged covert ops to overthrow unfriendly rulers

• Iran Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh

forced the US-friendly Shah into exile and attempted to move closer to USSR

US CIA arranged coup against Mossadegh and restored Shah to power

• Guatemala President Guzman won election with

support of Communists Attempted to nationalize US businesses US trained opposition forces – they

invaded Guatemala and overthrew Guzman

• Hungarian Uprising 1953 Stalin died 1956 Khrushchev took power in

Russia De-Stalinized Russia US broadcast secret speech Many Eastern European countries

unhappy with Communist rule Hungary rose up against

Communists Soviet tanks and soldiers rolled in

and crushed uprising

• Hungarian Uprising caused Khrushchev to reassert Communist hold over satellites• US tried to lessen tensions

between US and USSR• Invited Khrushchev to US• Russia shot down US U2 spy plane

– captured pilot Francis Gary Powers• Incident brought back heightened

tensions