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The Cold War

Explore the origins of the Cold War, from the Yalta Conference to the Korean War. Learn about key events like the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, and the Korean War.

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The Cold War

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  1. The Cold War

  2. It all started at Yalta… February 1945: Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin meet to discuss plans for post-WWII Europe

  3. Stalin needed Poland to be pro-Soviet…twice in the last generation Germany had invaded Russia through the “Polish Corridor” • The Red Army moved into Eastern Europe and stayed – Stalin quickly ordered suspension of basic civil liberties (no freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press) • He did this to all Eastern European countries claiming he needed a “buffer zone” against the West

  4. Formerly independent countries became SATELLITE STATES of the Soviet Union

  5. Potsdam Conference July, 1945: The Allies agree to jointly occupy Germany AND its capital city, Berlin

  6. “…An Iron Curtain has descended across the continent…” On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill, long distrustful of Stalin and now out of office, accepted an invitation from U.S. President Truman to give a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Churchill’s remarks outline the stark difference between the “free and democratic” governments of the United States and Western Europe and the repressive and communist government of the Stalinist-run Soviet Union.

  7. The Long Telegram • Soviets are driven by Marxist dogma which calls for a worldwide socialist revolution • Soviets are bent on controlling the world • They have no timetable to do it In 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat whose assignment was Soviet Russia, sent to the State Dept. a telegram of his observations and recommendations about dealing with the Soviet Union. It was published in July of 1947. It said: His words convinced President Truman to adopt a policy of “Containment”

  8. Truman Doctrine (1947) Because of the Civil War in Greece (1947-1948), Communists rebels threaten to take over. If Greece falls, Turkey was sure to follow. Communists would control the Dardanelles and have Mediterranean presence. To Truman, this was unacceptable… March 12, 1947: President Truman issues the Truman Doctrine, calling for $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey to fend off the Communist aggression The Truman Doctrine was a success and in the future, wherever an anti-communist government was threatened by the USSR or communism, the US would send aid

  9. Marshall Plan (1947) • Europe’s economy and landscape are in ruins • George Marshall sees a healthy German economy as the key to kickstart the rest of Europe, thus allowing those countries to defend themselves against communism so the US won’t have to

  10. Approved by Congress in 1948, $13 billion worth of aid was sent to Europe

  11. Berlin Blockade (1948)

  12. Berlin Airlift (1948) As the Allies began to unify their western portion of Germany, Stalin saw no reason for them to be in Berlin anymore. He blockaded all routes into the city Truman ordered around the clock flights of food and supplies to keep the citizens of West Berlin alive and safe from a communist takeover

  13. On a side note… • 1948: Israel is created by the UN (US will support for fear of Israel turning to the USSR) • 1949: USSR detonates their own atomic bomb – US accelerates work on Hydrogen bomb project • 1951: US detonates H-bomb

  14. More Entangling Alliances… 1949: North Atlantic Treaty Organization is created by US and her allies (West Germany is created that same year and is formally admitted in 1955). The Soviet Union will counter in 1955 with the Warsaw Pact – an alliance of the USSR and her satellite states

  15. Chinese Civil War Mao Tse-Tung (Zedong) led the Communists. Chiang Kai-Shek (Jiang Jieshi) was the non-Communist leader of the Nationalists whom the US would support despite huge corruption among his inner circle

  16. China Goes Red! The Communists kick the Nationalists off mainland China to Taiwan. The loss of China to Communism in 1949 is a huge blow to Truman’s policy of containment.

  17. McCarthyism • His brand of witch hunt will launch another Red Scare in the early 1950s • His movement gains momentum with the loss of China, Klaus Fuchs found guilty of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets, and at the same time, Alger Hiss was on trial for being a Communist working in the government Feb. 9, 1950: Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin claims there are card carrying members of the Communist party in high levels of the US government

  18. NSC - 68 • New threat in China, Soviet nuclear capability, pressure at home • Called for massive arms build up • “Containment” now became “Rollback” • US to become “Defender of the Free World” April, 1950: Top Secret document to the President re-assessing the current global situation

  19. Korean War (1950-1953) • Japan had invaded Korea during World War II • After their defeat, Korea was divided by the Allies at the 38th parallel • The USSR supported a communist government in the North • The US supported a non-communist government in the South • The situation was supposed to be temporary as a national election to unify the peninsula under one government was scheduled, but never occurred…

  20. The North Koreans, with Soviet and Chinese support, cross the 38th parallel and invade the South, hoping to unite the peninsula under Communism • The Communist forces push the South Koreans all the way down the peninsula to Pusan • Gen. Douglas MacArthur is chosen to lead the UN troops and rescue the South

  21. After landing at Inchon, behind the Communists, MacArthur leads the UN troops in pushing the communists back across the 38th parallel • UN troops swiftly move North, past the 38th parallel • MacArthur wants “rollback”, not “containment” • Truman reluctantly authorizes it

  22. Fearing UN troops too close to their border, Chinese forces enter North Korea and help push back the UN troops across the 38th parallel • Truman not willing to engage China, for fear of Soviet intervention as well (and possible nuclear holocaust!) • Truman re-establishes the 38th parallel and Containment as his goals and is willing to negotiate a settlement

  23. STALEMATE! • MacArthur sabotages the negotiations and wants unconditional surrender (he even asks Truman for atomic weapons!) • Truman has no choice – he fired MacArthur • Cease fire is negotiated July, 1953 by the new president, Dwight Eisenhower • BUT – Containment had worked in Korea!!!

  24. President Dwight Eisenhower Promised to lower taxes, balance the budget, reduce the military, all while continuing the policy of Containment

  25. “New Look” • Ike’s military policy (co-authored by his Sec. of State, John Foster Dulles) • Supported Containment • Rejected NSC-68, deficit spending and high taxes to pay for huge defense budgets • Relied heavily on “Brinksmanship” to achieve foreign policy goals – threaten use of nuclear weapons and be willing to go to the brink of war w/o actually doing it by way of ‘massive retaliation’ • Example: 1955 China threatens Quemoy and Matsu • If China succeeds, next move is Taiwan • US Pacific presence weakened, China free to move on all Asia: Japan, Korea, etc. • Eisenhower sends Pacific fleet and threatens to drop atomic bombs if islands are invaded – Chinese back off, Brinksmanship had worked

  26. Suez Canal Crisis 1956: Egypt seizes canal. GBR and FRA invade, USSR threatens intervention

  27. In response to mounting Soviet influence in the Middle East, the EISENHOWER DOCTRINE was announced – the US would help any Middle East country fight off unwanted Communist aggression

  28. February, 1956: Khruschchev’s De-Stalinization Speech (Provokes social unrest in Poland and Hungary) • October, 1956: Hungarian Revolution (Hungarians try to expel Soviets from country)

  29. Sputnik USSR launched Sputnik into space…NASA is created, huge spending on space program increases, and “Space Race” starts…

  30. Covert Operations CIA started for real in 1947- • For relatively little $, CIA could do A LOT, especially in 3rd World developing nations. • No questions were asked, President did not want to know. • To combat Soviet Union’s KGB (their version of our CIA), the US had to use the same tactics • EXAMPLES: • 1948: rigged elections in Italy to keep the communists out of power • 1951: Jacob Arbenz Guzman, President of Guatamala, seen as working too closely to Communists and a threat to our economic interests in that country. CIA armed revolutionaries and planned a coup to topple him • 1953: Mohammed Mossadegh, Premier of Iran, cozied up to the Soviets, threatened US oil trade. CIA participates in an overthrow and replaces him with the US-friendly Shah of Iran (Even though he cracks down on his own people and uses a brutal police force to keep power)

  31. 1959: Fidel Castro overthrows the US-friendly Batista regime. Castro cozies up to the Soviets and announces he is a Marxist. He nationalizes all property (including US) w/o compensation. US begins spying on the island nation just 90 miles from US soil

  32. U-2 Incident 1960: Francis Gary Powers shot down over Soviet Union

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