The Atomic Age following WWII

1. The Atomic Age following WWII What one had to grow up with as the threat of nuclear weapons loomed on the outskirts of reality.

2. The Yalta & Potsdam Conferences (1945) • How to deal with the defeated Germany… • What to do with Poland… • How to create the new United Nations… Two votes for the Soviet Union? • How to convince the Soviet Union to join with the United States in the fight against Japan… • Was this the beginning of the Cold War?

3. Truman’s Decision? • To use the atomic bomb or not to use the atomic bomb? • What were the costs and what were the consequences going to be? • Could it be seen as a tool of propaganda against the communists?

4. The Soviet Union’s Response • Politicians and scientists within the Soviet Union came forth with enormous unrepentant energy to develop their own array of nuclear weapons to counter what they perceived to be a threat from the United States.

5. The Immediate Years after World War II The Truman Doctrine was a proclamation by President Truman on March 12, 1947. It stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid, to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. The Doctrine shifted American foreign policy in regard to the Soviet Union from détente to, as George F. Kennan phrased it, a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. Aid was given by the United States to Greece and Turkey for both political and military reasons. Truman felt this was essential to hold off communism. The situation was very important for the west.

6. The Immediate Years after World War II The Marshall Plan was the primary program, 1947–51, of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Western Europe. The initiative was named for Secretary of State George Marshall . George Marshall introduced this idea in a speech at Harvard University in June 1947. The reconstruction plan, developed at a meeting of the participating European states, was established on June 5, 1947. It offered the same aid to the USSR and its allies, but they did not accept it. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948.

7. The Concept of Containment Western Europe, as well as the United States, had a real concern that the Soviet Union was spreading its influence forcefully to other portions of Europe. How would the influence of communism be contained? As Winston Churchill had said, “…an Iron Curtain has descended across Europe...” Dwight Eisenhower and other Presidents later spoke of the domino theory as other regions of the world might fall under the influence of communism. What role could the United States play in preventing the spread of detrimental political theories?

8. Collective Security as Practiced by the West The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.) comes into existence in April 1949, a month before the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade -- the United States, Canada, Iceland and nine European nations join into a joint agreement . Member states pledged mutual assistance against an armed attack and cooperation in military training and strategic planning. The U.S. stationed troops in Western Europe, assuring its Allies that it would use its nuclear deterrent to protect Western Europeans against a Soviet attack.

9. Collective Security as Practiced by the East The admission of West Germany into NATO in 1955 led the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites to form a competing military alliance called the Warsaw Pact. The members of the Warsaw Pact were: The Soviet Union Albania (until 1968) Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany (until 1990) Hungary Poland Romania

10. Hot Spots in the Cold War Berlin Blockade & Airlift (6/24/1948 – 5/12 /1949) China falls to communism in 1949 Korean Conflict /War (The war began on 6/25/1950 and an armistice was signed on 7/27/1953) The United States set off its first hydrogen bomb in 1953, and the Soviet Union tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1955. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (10/23 until 11/10/1956) Vietnam War (The war for the United States took place from 9/26/1959to 4/30/1975) Cuba – the Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) & the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) “Prague Spring” in Czechoslovakia 1/5 until 8/21/1968

11. A Rather Controversial Political Advertisement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtYpnGZr6TA&feature=related In the election of 1964, the Presidential incumbent Lyndon Johnson (who had come to office following the assassination of John Kennedy) was running against a Senator from Arizona, Republican Barry Goldwater, for the White House. This political ad was only shown one time, but it’s obviously memorable and helped to play a role in winning the election for the Democratic candidate.

12. Concepts of Concern during the Atomic Age Sputnik and the Arms/Space Race John Foster Dulles & “brinkmanship” M.A.D. Détente Deterrence Disarmament …check out other terms on the ”Nuclear Age/Weapons Vocabulary” list found on the Wikispace.

13. Something to Think About…

14. …fortunately “The End” …as far as nuclear holocaust, never came to be… Thank goodness!