Transcript Cold War

Cold War
Cold war
United Nations
Founded by the Allies in 1945
International organization to promote world
peace and progress.
Replaced the League of Nations
means for the world’s nations to try to prevent
future global wars.
United States immediately
joined the United Nations.
Different Views
• After WWI – Americans
retreated back to
isolationism
• But after WWII –
Americans felt they had
an important role to
play in world affairs
The United States had refused to join the League
of Nations, but was one of the founders of the
United Nations
Japan
American forces occupied
Japan after its surrender
in August 1945. Under
American direction, Japan
soon adopted a
democratic form of
government, resumed
self-government
(governed itself), and
became a strong ally
(friend) of the United
States.
Japanese Surrender
General McArthur and Emperor Hirohito
Europe
At the end of World
War II, Europe lay in
ruins.
The Soviet Union’s
troops occupied most
of Eastern and Central
Europe and the eastern
portion of Germany.
American, British, and
French forces occupied
West Germany.
Germany
The Allies partitioned
(divided) Germany into East
and West Germany.
In a few years West Germany
became democratic and
resumed self-government.
East Germany became
communist and was
dominated by the Soviet
Union
Cold War
Soon after World War II ended, the Cold War began. The
Cold War was an uneasy peace after World War II,
marked by a fierce rivalry between the United States and
the Soviet Union.
What was it?
One might call the Cold
War a war of words
between the United
States and the Soviet
Union, which lasted
from the end of World
War II until the collapse
of the Soviet Union in
1991.
The Cold War set the
framework for global
politics for 45 years.
Influences of the Cold War in US
• domestic politics (issues inside the U.S.)
• the conduct of foreign affairs
• and the role of the American government in
the economy
Differences
American-led
Western Nations
Eastern Bloc Allies –
Including Soviet Union
• Democracy
• Individual freedom
• Capitalism - Free
market economic
system based on
private ownership of
property and profit
• Totalitarian dictatorship
• Ruled by Communists
• Communist/Socialist –
economic system based
on government ownership
of means of production
Under socialism, the government may
own power plants, transportation and
communications companies, mines and
steel mills
U. S. Containment Policy
After World War II
Anti-communist foreign policy
Tried to check the expansion of the Soviet
Union and communism through diplomatic,
economic, and military means.
Tried to contain or restrict communism to
those countries of the world where it already
existed. (Keep it from spreading)
Truman Doctrine
Soviet Union had spread
communism to the nations of
Eastern Europe and threatened to
take Greece & Turkey.
In response, in 1947, President Harry
S. Truman announced the Truman
Doctrine.
Truman Doctrine - President
Truman’s promise - United States
would defend free peoples from
subversion (overthrow of the
government) or outside pressure.
Set precedent that the “containment
of communism” would serve as the
basic principle of American foreign
policy throughout the Cold War.
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
The Truman administration
followed the announcement of
the Truman Doctrine with the
Marshall Plan.
The Marshall Plan was a
massive American financial aid
program announced in 1947
Two Purposes:
to help rebuild European
economy
to prevent the spread of
Communism
NATO
• North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
• Defensive military alliance
between US and Western
European Countries
• Aimed to provide military aid
in event of attack
• An attack on one nation would
be considered an attack on all
Warsaw Pact
• Formed in response to NATO –
Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc
communist countries
• Purpose of Warsaw Pact –
provide communist bloc with
Soviet-led defensive military
alliance
For Fifty Years, the two sides – NATO
and the Warsaw Pact – maintained large
military forces facing each other in
Europe
China
Communism spread Asia in 1949
communist forces under
Mao Zedong
Overthrew anti-communist government of Chiang Kai-shek.
Mao forced Chiang to flee for the island of Formosa, where
Chiang set up the anti-communist government of Taiwan.
Why so scared (1949)?
China – the worlds most populous nation
becomes communist
Before 1949 ended, the Soviet Union exploded
its first atomic bomb.
Spies
The fear of communism and the threat of
nuclear war affected American life throughout
the Cold War. The trials of both Alger Hiss and
the Ethel and Julius Rosenberg caused many
Americans to fear that communist spies held
important positions in the federal government.
Alger Hiss
• Hiss was accused of passing secret documents
to the Soviets during the late 1930s. Although
Hiss claimed his innocence he was convicted
of perjury (lying under oath), and many
Americans believed he was guilty of treason.
In 1950 the United States
learned that a spy ring had
sent atomic secrets to the
Soviets, which had allowed
them to develop an atomic
bomb so quickly.
This information led to the arrest of Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg, who had worked on the United
States’ atomic project. In 1951, after a long and
widely publicized trial, a jury convicted the
Rosenbergs of conspiracy and espionage (spying).
The United States government executed the
Rosenbergs in 1953.
McCarthyism
American fears of communism in the early fifties advanced the
political career of Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy
He recklessly accused many American governmental officials
and citizens of being communists.
McCarthyism came to be known as accusing others of disloyalty
- especially of pro-communist activity without convincing proof
or sold evidence. The term is still used to when someone makes
false accusations based on rumor or guilt by association.
Army-McCarthy Hearings
• In 1954 the ArmyMcCarthy hearings
investigating
communist influence
in the United States
army were televised
The army’s attorney stood up to McCarthy which exposed
McCarthy as a liar and bully and not a heroic defender of
American democracy. The Senate then censured McCarthy
(condemned his behavior)
These hearings demonstrated the growing influence of
television and ended the influence of McCarthy
Korea
1950 The Korean War - major test for the containment policy
came in when communist North Korean invaded noncommunist South Korea. American military forces led a
counterattack that drove deep into North Korea itself.
Communist Chinese forces then came into the war on the
side of North Korea, and the war threatened to widen.
1952, World War II hero Dwight D.
Eisenhower won the presidential
election, after he had promised to
go to Korea. In 1953 the Korean
War ended in stalemate, but South
Korea was still free of communist
occupation. Because the United
States had prevented South Korea
from falling under communist
control, the nation’s confidence in
containment policy increased.
Korea
As part of containment, President Eisenhower
adopted a policy of “massive retaliation”
(Eisenhower administration’s threat of swift, all-out
military action against a nation committing
aggression ) to deter (prevent, discourage) any
nuclear attack by the Soviets.
Later presidents backed
away from massive
retaliation policy, although
the United States refused
to promise it would not
make a first strike nuclear
attack.
Cuba
At the end of the 1950s and
in the early 1960s, the Cold
War focused on Cuba.
In 1959 Fidel Castro led a
communist revolution that
took over Cuba. Many
Cubans fled to Florida to
escape communist rule.
Cuba
President Eisenhower encouraged the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) to develop a secret
plan to overthrow Castro. The CIA is a federal
agency that coordinates the spy activities of the
United States government.
The CIA decided to train and equip a group of
anti-communist Cuban exiles, who were living in
the United States. With United States assistance
this force would land at the Bay of Pigs on the
Cuban coast and lead the Cuban people in an
uprising against Castro.
Bay of Pigs
When John F. Kennedy
became President in 1961,
he approved the CIA’s plans
to go ahead with the Bay of
Pigs invasion.
The Bay of Pigs invasion
proved a complete disaster.
The expected popular uprising
against Castro never
happened. Within two days,
Castro’s army had captured or
killed most of the Americansupported invaders.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In 1962 - Soviet Union
places nuclear missiles in
Cuba. President Kennedy
learned the Soviet Union
had placed nuclear
missiles through American
spy-plane photographs
After six days of discussion with his advisers, President
Kennedy appeared on television to tell the American
public about the Soviet missiles. He announced a naval
blockade of Cuba. American naval vessels would stop
all approaching ships and search them for weapons.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy threatened further
steps if Soviets did not remove
their missiles from Cuba
For several days the world was
on the brink (edge) of nuclear
war.
Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union and
Kennedy worked out a deal that ended the crisis.
The Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles from
Cuba, and in exchange the United States would
remove its outdated missiles from Turkey.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Nevertheless, the Cuban Missile Crisis heightened the threat of
nuclear war. The Soviet Union would match the United States in
nuclear weaponry in the 1950s. The threat of nuclear conflict that
would destroy both countries was ever-present.
During the 1950s and 1960s, American schools regularly held safety
drills to train children regarding what to do in case of a nuclear
attack.
The federal government
encouraged American citizens
to build bomb (or fallout)
shelters in their own
basements. However, by the
mid-sixties Vietnam replaced
the threat of nuclear war as the
chief concern of America’s
containment policy.