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Chapter 26 The Cold War Abroad and at Home, 1945-1960

Chapter 26 The Cold War Abroad and at Home, 1945-1960. Goal Statement. After studying this chapter students should be able to: Explain how the policies of both the United States and the Soviet Union led to the start of the Cold War.

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Chapter 26 The Cold War Abroad and at Home, 1945-1960

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  1. Chapter 26The Cold War Abroad and at Home, 1945-1960

  2. Goal Statement After studying this chapter students should be able to: • Explain how the policies of both the United States and the Soviet Union led to the start of the Cold War. • Appraise the effect of the Cold War on the domestic programs of Truman and Eisenhower. • Describe the domestic and international events that led to the Second Red Scare. • Summarize the ways that Eisenhower both continued and changed the foreign policies of Truman. • Categorize the actions that supported Eisenhower being a centrist or moderate politician.

  3. Who was Whittaker Chambers? • Editor of Time magazine. • Ex-communist • Why is he important at this time in history? • Testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • Identified a secret “communist cell” operating in Washington DC (1930s) • Chambers identified Alger Hiss as a SPY! • Who is Hiss? • Harvard Law graduate • Former New Dealer • Accompanied FDR to the Yalta Conference • Seemed the perfect American…EXCEPT…

  4. Was Hiss guilty? • This argument raged in political circles. • Liberals – Hiss was a victim of Conservative backlash against the New Deal. • Conservatives felt Hiss represented EVERY wrong turn taken since the beginning of the New Deal. • Is there any real evidence? • 1st Hiss lied about knowing Chambers…perjury! • 2nd Chambers was able to produce the “pumpkin papers” (microfilm delivered to his farm by Hiss) • What were in the “pumpkin papers” • State Department documents (copied on Hiss’s typewriter) • Was Hiss convicted? • Only of perjury (after a second trial)! • The greater issue was a PANIC that spread in America…Communists were spying in our midst!

  5. What happened AFTER the Hiss trial? • Demagoguery and witch-hunts • Trampling of civil liberties • Suppression of dissent • Fear and paranoia • Is this a different type of rivalry? • YES! The legacy of the Civil War in America is paranoia. • Is there justification of the paranoia? • Sort of…other spies would be arrested (with strong evidence against them).

  6. Does Truman take a stand? • YES! At Potsdam, Truman was uncompromising in his dealings with Stalin. • Does the US abandon isolationism? • Absolutely! We became heavily involved in the global struggle to contain COMMUNISM and the advances of the Soviet Union. • How did the US change between 1940 and 1960? • America in 1940: • no military alliances, • small defense budget • Limited troops • America in 1960: • Massive military establishment • Mutual-defense pacts with 40 countries • Directly intervenes in the affairs of allies and enemies • Military bases on EVERY continent • Engaged the USSR in an unending arms race

  7. How did CONTAINMENT transform America? • Economic priorities change • National priorities change • Powers of the executive branch will change. • A second Red Scare begins • Liberalism is stifled • Republicans rise in power • Politically, how does domestic policy shift? • Democrats were unable to expand the New Deal to include: • Civil Rights • Education • Healthcare • Republicans were unable to repeal the New Deal. • Political deadlock from the 30s will continue into the 60s. • America is obsessed with Communist spies and traitors. • Americans become introspective (seeking our own gain)

  8. Anticommunism and Containment

  9. After World War II: • Antagonism between Moscow and Washington continued to flare. • The allies quickly turned to enemies after WWII. • Why the struggle? • Both nations sought to fill the POWER vacuum left by the collapsed Axis Powers. • Western Europe was exhausted and bankrupt • Colonial empires were crumbling in Asia and Africa! • Misperceptions and misunderstandings fueled the antagonism between the two nations. • Both nations feed off the fears of the other. • The cycle of distrust and animosity comes to be known as: THE COLD WAR!

  10. Polarization and Cold War

  11. What is the heart of issues between the two superpowers after WWII? • Eastern Europe (especially POLAND)! • The Soviet Union wanted a demilitarized Germany and a series of BUFFER states to protect western Russia. • Meaning he felt he could (and should) have sole control of the Eastern European nations – without interference from the WEST! • Stalin felt Soviet control of Eastern Europe was essential to Russian security. • He thinks he is acting JUST LIKE the Americans in Western Europe. • According to Stalin, both Churchill and Roosevelt had agreed to his demands at Yalta. • Stalin installed Pro-Soviet puppet governments in ALL Eastern European nations. • Was any one Eastern nation critical in Stalin’s argument? • POLAND! Stalin was NOT giving Poland a chance at free elections.

  12. What about Yalta? • Stalin completely ignored the Yalta agreements. • Europe was to be liberated. • What else did Stalin ignore? • Stalin barred free elections in Poland • Brutally suppressed Polish democratic parties • Stalin WOULD control Poland! (See quote pg. 800) • How do the two leaders collide? • Stalin insisted on dominance in Eastern Europe • Truman was unwilling to concede Soviet supremacy beyond Russia. • Truman viewed Stalin’s demands as a violation to national self-determination in the Eastern European nations. • Giving in to Stalin would be a betrayal of democratic principles AND condone Soviet aggression. • What can guarantee peace? • According to Truman, the UN (all nations working toward the complete self-determination of others).

  13. The Iron Curtain Descends

  14. Things get worse… • Truman’s stand only deepened Stalin’s mistrust of the West. • Stalin tightened his grip on Eastern Europe. • How does Stalin increase control? • Confiscated materials and factories (for Soviet benefit – previous measures used in the Soviet Union) • Forced satellite nations to STOP trading with America. • NO American influence! • Declared (Feb. 1946) that there would be, “No lasting peace with capitalism.” • Is there warning of Soviet intent? • YES! George Kennan: The Soviets will move until they are met with FORCE! • What does Kennan recommend? (see pg. 800)

  15. What policy is based on Kennan’s advice? • Containment! (uniting military, economic, and diplomatic strategies to curb, or “contain any further aggression). • What is the Iron Curtain? • Westminster College (Missouri) Churchill warned of a threat against democracy. • Churchill called for an alliance of English-speaking (Anglo-American) nations against the Soviets. • What happens next? • Both nations rush to build massive arsenals…including doomsday weapons. • Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) is founded (spends more time on weapons and less time on energy) • The Cold War is a “war” waged in economic pressures, nuclear fear, propaganda, spying, and proxy wars. • Proxy Wars: Wars instigated BY the major powers – not fought by the major powers.

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