The Early Cold War: 1947-1960

The EarlyCold War:1947-1960

The EarlyCold War:1947-1960

Chapter 26Chapter 26Chapter 26Chapter 26

1945—A Critical Year• As the end of World War II approached, relations between

the Communist Soviet Union and its wartime allies, the United States and Great Britain, grew increasingly tense.

• At a meeting at Yalta in February, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed on the postwar division of Germany.

• In April, representatives of 50 countries, including the United States, adopted the charter for the United Nations, an organization dedicated to cooperation in solving international problems.

• On April 12, Roosevelt died unexpectedly, making Vice President Truman the new President. Truman continued Roosevelt’s negotiations with Stalin at the Potsdam Conference in July.

Chapter 26, Section 1

Conflicting Postwar GoalsAmerican and Soviet GoalsAmerican Goals

• Wanted conquered European nations to experience the democracy and economic opportunity that the United States had fought for during the war

• Wanted to develop strong capitalist economies, which would provide good markets for American products

Soviet Goals

• Wanted to rebuild Europe in ways that would help the Soviet Union recover from the huge losses it suffered during the war

• Wanted to establish Soviet satellite nations, countries subject to Soviet domination and sympathetic to Soviet goals

• Wanted to promote the spread of communism throughout the world


The Iron Curtain

Churchill coined the phrase iron curtain to describe the geographic and political divisions between Communist and capitalist nations in Europe.


Containment and the Truman Doctrine

• The competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for world influence came to be known as the Cold War.

• The American containment policy accepted the fact that Eastern Europe was under Communist control, but sought to prevent Communist governments from forming elsewhere in the world.

• The Truman Doctrine, which applied the principles of containment, stated that the United States would support free peoples who resist attempted conquest. The Truman Doctrine was first applied in the cases of Greece and Turkey.


Origins of the Cold War—Assessment

Which of these choices best describes the primary goal of the United States for postwar Europe?

(A) Protect the Soviet Union from future invasion

(B) Build economically strong democracies

(C) Add more members to the United Nations

(D) Ensure further cooperation with Stalin

Which of these events directly inspired the Truman Doctrine?

(A) Soviet threats in Greece and Turkey

(B) The division of Germany into four zones

(C) The arrest of anti-Communist leaders in Hungary

(D) Churchill’s “iron curtain” speech


The Ideological StruggleThe Ideological StruggleSoviet &

Eastern Bloc Nations[“Iron

Curtain”]

US & the Western

Democracies

GOAL spread world-wide Communism

GOAL “Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world.[George Kennan]

METHODOLOGIES:

Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]

Arms Race [nuclear escalation]

Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]

The Marshall Plan• The United States wanted to help European

nations recover from the war and become economically strong democracies. It also wanted to prevent Communists from continuing to gain power in Europe.

• The Marshall Plan was created in 1947 by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall as a means to achieve these goals. According to the Marshall Plan, participating nations would design recovery programs and would receive financial aid from the United States.

• Seventeen Western European nations joined the plan, receiving a total of $13 billion in aid.


The Berlin Airlift• As part of the postwar division of Germany, the city

of Berlin, located in Communist East Germany, was divided into West Berlin (capitalist) and East Berlin (Communist).

• In June 1948, Stalin banned all shipments to West Berlin through East Germany, creating a blockade which threatened to cut off supplies to the city.

• In response, Allied nations began the Berlin airlift, which delivered thousands of tons of food and other supplies to West Berlin via air.

• Although the Soviet blockade ended in May 1949, Berlin remained a focal point of Cold War conflict.


Post-War GermanyPost-War Germany

Berlin Blockade & Airlift Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)(1948-49)

NNorth orth AAtlantic tlantic TTreaty reaty OOrganization (1949)rganization (1949)

United StatesUnited States

BelgiumBelgium

BritainBritain

CanadaCanada

DenmarkDenmark

FranceFrance

IcelandIceland

ItalyItaly

LuxemburgLuxemburg

NetherlandsNetherlands

NorwayNorway

PortugalPortugal

1952: Greece & 1952: Greece & Turkey Turkey

1955: West 1955: West GermanyGermany

1983: Spain1983: Spain

Warsaw Pact (1955)Warsaw Pact (1955)

} U. S. S. R.U. S. S. R.

} AlbaniaAlbania

} BulgariaBulgaria

} CzechoslovakCzechoslovakiaia

} East East GermanyGermany

} HungaryHungary

} PolandPoland

} RumaniaRumania

Communist Advances

The Soviet Atomic Threat• In September 1949, Truman

announced that the Soviet Union had successfully tested an atomic bomb.

• In response, the United States began developing the even more powerful hydrogen bomb. This began the nuclear arms race between the US and USSR.

• The newly formed Federal Civil Defense Administration distributed information on how to survive a nuclear attack; this information was ridiculed by experts.

China Falls to the Communists• During World War II, competing

factions in China had cooperated, but fighting between them resumed towards the end of the war.

• After the war, hostilities between the Nationalists and Communists started up again.

• The US supported the Nationalists and the Soviets backed the Communists.

• By 1949, Communist leader Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) won control of China.

• The US refused to recognize the new govt, and used its veto power to prevent the UN from formally recognizing Mao’s govt.


The Arms Race:The Arms Race:A “Missile Gap?”A “Missile Gap?”

} The Soviet The Soviet Union Union exploded its exploded its first A-bomb in first A-bomb in 1949.1949.

} Now there Now there were two were two nuclear nuclear superpowers!superpowers!

The Cold War at Home

• During the late 1940s, fear of Communist spies created a climate of suspicion in the United States.

• Truman established a federal employee loyalty program in 1947, checking the backgrounds of all new and existing federal employees.

• The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began investigating Hollywood personalities who the committee claimed, had Communist leanings. When one group, known as the Hollywood Ten, refused to answer HUAC’s questions, they were cited for contempt of Congress and imprisoned.

• Hollywood studios compiled a blacklist, a list circulated to employers naming persons who should not be hired. Blacklisted individuals came from all sections of the industry and included anyone who seemed subversive.


The Cold War Heats Up—Assessment

Which of these phrases best describes NATO?

(A) A collective security pact between the United States, Canada, and Western European nations

(B) A military alliance between the USSR and its satellite nations

(C) A U.S.-sponsored program for postwar recovery

(D) A regional group within the United Nations

Which of these was a result of HUAC’s investigation of the movie industry?

(A) Hollywood approved many scripts that dealt with controversial social problems.

(B) Many Hollywood personalities were blacklisted.

(C) The McCarran-Walter Act was passed.

(D) Pro-Soviet movies became popular.


Communist Expansion in Asia

The Division of Korea• World War II ended before a plan could be made for Korean

independence from Japan.• Korea was temporarily divided at the thirty-eighth parallel, the latitude

line running through approximately the midpoint of the peninsula.• A pro-American government formed in South Korea, while a

Communist government formed in North Korea.• In June 1950, the Korean War broke out when North Korean troops

invaded South Korea, aiming to reunite the nation by force


The Korean Conflict

• A UN resolution, which passed because the Soviets were not there to veto it, called on member states to defend South Korea and restore peace, thus beginning the Korean War. Roughly 80 percent of the troops who served in the resulting UN police action were American.

• By attacking North Korean supply lines, General Douglas MacArthur was able to gain an advantage and push north. However, a stalemate developed after China helped the North Koreans push the UN forces back into South Korea.

• A truce signed in 1953 left Korea again divided near the thirty eighth parallel.


The Korean War—AssessmentWhat was the significance of the thirty-eighth parallel?

(A) It formed Korea’s border with China.

(B) It was the place to which Chinese Nationalists fled.

(C) It divided Korea into two halves, North and South.

(D) It was the location of Korean War peace talks.

Why did the United Nations send troops to Korea?

(A) To support South Korea and restore peace

(B) To install a Communist government in South Korea

(C) To help China defend its border

(D) To put an end to Japanese rule of Korea


The Korean War: A The Korean War: A “Police Action” (1950-“Police Action” (1950-

1953)1953)

Syngman RheeSyngman Rhee

Kim Il-SungKim Il-Sung

““Domino Theory”Domino Theory”

The McCarthy Era

McCarthy’s Rise to Power• Wisconsin Senator Joseph

McCarthy, up for reelection raised the specter of Communist conspiracies within the United States.

• McCarthy produced a list of 250 names of presumed Communist-supporting government employees. Later, when scrutinized, this list was reduced to 57.

• Although McCarthy’s accusations were usually baseless and unprovable, few were willing to risk their reputations by speaking out against him.

McCarthy’s Fall• In early 1954, McCarthyism, the name

given to McCarthy’s crusade, reached the army.

• Democrats asked that the hearings between McCarthy and the army be televised, hoping to swing popular opinion against McCarthy.

• By mid-June 1954, McCarthy had lost even his strongest supporters. The Senate formally condemned him for his actions.


The Arms Race• Throughout the 1950s, the United States

and the Soviet Union competed in an arms race, a struggle to gain weapons superiority.

• Deterrence, the policy of maintaining a military arsenal so strong that no enemy will attack for fear of retaliation, resulted in the escalating development of powerful nuclear weapons.


The Arms Race in the Skies• To carry bombs to their targets, the Soviet

Union developed long-range rockets known as intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

• In 1957, one of these rockets was used to launch the Soviet satellite Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth..


The Continuing Cold War—Assessment

Why did the United States choose not to support uprisings in Eastern Europe?

(A) It appeared that these uprisings would succeed on their own.

(B) The Soviet Union supported the uprisings.

(C) Senator McCarthy was against such support.

(D) Eisenhower felt that doing so would risk war with the Soviets.

What was the significance of the U-2 incident?

(A) It motivated the United States to increase the technological development of its military.

(B) It provided the first test of Soviet ICBMs.

(C) It led to the development of the hydrogen bomb.

(D) It began the Cold War.


Sputnik I (1957)Sputnik I (1957)

The Russians have beaten America The Russians have beaten America in space—they have the in space—they have the

technological edge!technological edge!

The Berlin Wall Goes Up The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)(1961)

CheckpoinCheckpointt

CharlieCharlie

Ich bin ein Ich bin ein Berliner!Berliner!

(1963)(1963)

President President Kennedy tells Kennedy tells Berliners that Berliners that

the West is the West is with them!with them!

Khruschev Embraces Khruschev Embraces Castro,Castro,19611961

Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)(1962)

Vietnam War: 1965-1973Vietnam War: 1965-1973

The Early Cold War: 1947-1960

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