Transcript THE COLD WAR

THE
COLD
WAR
BEGINS
The era of confrontation and competition between
the U.S. and the Soviet Union when the threat of
nuclear war created constant world tension
United States
Soviet Union
vs.
Democracy
Communism
Differing Philosophies
• Believed
in democratic forms of
government
• Believed economic stability would
keep peace in the word
• Believed the free enterprise system
was necessary for economic growth
• Believed in a communistic forms
of government
• Believed in workers revolting
(striking) against business owners
and taking control of government
• Wanted to control countries
between Russia and Germany
Soviets
take over
Eastern
Europe
Soviet troops move into Germany near the end of World War II
As World War II ended,
the Soviet army occupied
the countries of Eastern
Europe that Germany had
conquered during the war
The Iron Curtain
Poland, Romania,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary Bulgaria
and East Germany
became satellite
nations of Soviet
Union
“An iron curtain has descended across the Continent”
– Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Peep under the
Iron curtain
March 6, 1946
• Who is “Joe”?
• What part of
Europe is sealed
off?
• What does the
wall symbolize?
Letter from U.S. diplomat
George Kennan that led to the
U.S. policy of containment of
communism.
Communist thought as it existed in 1916 may perhaps be summarized as
follows:
(a) that the central factor in the life of man is that system by which material
goods are produced and exchanged;
(b) that the capitalist system of production is a nefarious one which
inevitably leads to the exploitation of the working class by the capitalowning class and is incapable of developing adequately the economic
resources of society or of distributing fairly the material goods produced
by human labor;
(c) that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction and must, in
view of the inability of the capital-owning class to adjust itself to
economic change, result eventually and inescapably in a revolutionary
transfer of power to the working class; and
(d) that imperialism, the final phase of capitalism, leads directly to war and
revolution.
Kennan said the Russians were concerned about
invasions from the west and wanted a buffer zone
Russians wanted to spread communism world-wide
“[I]t is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet
Union must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of
Russian expansive tendencies.”
U.S. should use diplomatic, economic and military
actions to keep communism contained
Marshall
Plan
U.S. plan for rebuilding
Western Europe, and repelling
communism after World War II
Plan made U.S. heroes to
people of Western Europe
Plan pumped
billions of dollars
into Western
Europe for food
and supplies
George C. Marshall
Marshall Plan aids Western Europe
The Marshall Plan proved to be a great success
Within 4 years, countries receiving aid saw a
41% higher industrial production than on the
eve of World War II
Countries were stabilized and exports were
rising rapidly
Countries receiving aid under Marshall Plan
Eastern European
countries were offered
to take part in the
Marshall Plan…
What is this cartoon
trying to say?
… but Stalin and other
East European leaders
refused financial help
from the United States
Aid for Europe
Secretary of State
George Marshall
toured Western
Europe; witnessed
widespread
homelessness and
famine.
Children in a London suburb, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home
Fearing Europeans
would turn to
communism as an
answer to their
economic problems,
Marshall proposed
the U.S. help to
rebuild Europe,
leading to…
Truman Doctrine
U.S. foreign policy established by President Truman saying
the U.S. would protect democracies throughout the world
“It must be the policy of
the United States to
support free peoples
who are resisting
attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or
outside pressures”
-- Harry Truman
Truman v. Zhdanov
Read through the arguments provided, both are intended to advocate for
their own type of governmental system.
Leader
Description of West
Description of East
Truman
Zhdanov
150 words – Which leader makes the best argument? Use text evidence to
support your response.
Truman Doctrine
It pledged that the United States
would fight Communism worldwide
American tanks provided by the Truman Doctrine roll through Turkey
Truman Doctrine was
an extension to the
U.S. foreign policy set
forth in the Monroe
Doctrine (1823) and
the Roosevelt
Corollary (1904)
The Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the Allied leaders
during World War II to decide what to do with Germany
Germany
Divided
British
Soviet
French
American
After World War II,
Germany was divided
into four zones,
occupied by French,
British, American,
and Soviet troops.
Occupation zones
after 1945. Berlin is
the multinational area
within the Soviet zone.
East and West
Germany
formed
East Berlin
West
Germany
East
Germany
West Berlin
In June of 1948, the
French, British and
American zones were
joined into the nation of
West Germany after the
Soviets refused to end
their occupation of
Germany.
In response, the Soviets
cut off West Berlin
from the rest of the
world with a blockade.
Eventual site of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Airlift
President Truman
decided to avoid the
blockade by flying in
food and other
supplies to the needy
people of West Berlin
At times, over 5,000
tons of supplies
arrived daily
Berlin Airlift
The airlift continued for
11 months before Stalin
finally lifted the blockade
The Berlin Airlift saved
the people of West Berlin
from falling under
Soviet Union control
Soviet blockade of West
Germany convinced many
Americans that the
Soviets were trying to
conquer other nations
Birth of NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Formed in 1949 to protect Western
Europe from Soviet aggression
The Warsaw Pact
Poland, Romania,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary Bulgaria
and East Germany
became satellite
nations of Soviet
Union
The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union’s response to
the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The Cold War Heats Up
Cold War spreads to Asia
Communists take
over in China
Mao Zedong takes
control of Chinese
government from
Chang Kai-shek’s
Nationalist Party
Half the world now appeared to
be under Communist control
The country of Korea became the
next battleground in the Cold War
China
Korea
The Korean War
The Cold War gets HOT
Following World
War II, the Allies
divided Korea at
the 38th parallel
Soviets controlled
North Korea; U.S.
sets up a democracy
in South Korea
Both governments
claimed to control
all of Korea
The Korean War
A “Police Action” (1950-1953)
Kim Il-Sung
Leader of
North Korea
“Domino Theory”
If one country falls to communism,
others around it will fall as well
Syngman Rhee
President of
South Korea
The Korean War
On June 25, 1950, North Korea
invades South Korea
UN forces under Macarthur
come to the aid of South Korea
To Cross the 38th Parallel
Not to Cross the 38th Parallel
The Korean War
The Cold War gets HOT
UN forces push North
Koreans back to
border of China
The Korean War
China enters the war
North Koreans pushed
back to border with China
Chinese enter war on the
side of North Koreans
Macarthur
calls for an
invasion of
China, wants
to use the
atomic bomb
Macarthur criticized Truman
for wanting a “limited war”
An artillery officer directs UN troops as they
drop white phosphorous on a Communist-held
post in February 1951.
The Korean War
War ends in a
stalemate
An armistice was
signed ending the
war in July 1953
Korea was divided
at the 38th parallel
Korean War marked an important
turning point in the Cold War
U.S. began a major military buildup; began using military force to
prevent spread of communism
Your Task…
In the form of a letter to the editor,
Answer the essential question: Why and
how was the Cold War fought? Also,
offer your opinion on how President
Truman handled the Cold War. Make
specific reference to America’s foreign
policy and the results of these decisions.
A New Red Scare
U.S. citizens in 1950s feared
Communists wanted to take
over the world. This fear was
known as the Red Scare.
Spies like Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg and
Alger Hiss caused fear
that our government
was infiltrated by the
Communists
A New Red Scare
House Un-American Activities Committee
Committee set up to investigate
Communist activities in the U.S.
HUAC searched for Soviet spies
and Communist sympathizers.
House Un-American Committee meeting in 1948
“Are you now or
have you ever been
a Communist?”
The Hollywood Ten
People who were accused of being
Communists were often “blacklisted”
A group of Hollywood actors who
were blacklisted for refusing to
answer HUAC questions became
known as the “Hollywood Ten”
Movie stars Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart lead a
protest during height of Hollywood Blacklist controversy
If someone was
blacklisted, it meant
they were denied
work or ostracized
from society
McCarthyism
In 1952, U.S. Senator
Joe McCarthy began
holding Senate hearings
Numerous Americans
accused of having ties
to the Communist Party
McCarthy turned the hearings
into witch-hunts, destroying
numerous people’s reputations
on rumor and weak evidence
U-2 Incident
Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ spy plane was
shot down over Soviet
airspace in 1960
Incident cools Soviet-U.S. relations
Russians launch Sputnik
The Russians have beaten America into
space—they have the technological edge!
Russians launch Sputnik
Impact of Sputnik
Congress establishes
the National
Aeronautics and
Space Agency
(NASA) to conduct
research in rocket
and space technology
Congress also passed the National
Defense Education Act, which
provided money for education and
training in science, math and
foreign languages
The Space Race Begins
In 1961, Russian cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin blasted off into
space, making the Soviet
Union the first nation to
launch a human into orbit
Kennedy said he
wanted U.S. to land a
man on the moon by
the end of the 1960s
The Space Race Begins
Kennedy’s challenge was
met on July 20, 1969,
when Neil Armstrong
became the first human to
step foot on the moon
“That’s one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.” –
Neil Armstrong
Berlin Wall Built
Soviets wanted to keep
Germans from moving
out of East Germany
into West Berlin,
where they could
become free
Berlin Wall
became the
symbol of
Communist
oppression
around the world
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners
that the West is
with them!
Castro embraces Communism
(1959)
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro embraces Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev
Bay of Pigs Debacle
(1961)
CIA-trained Cuban
exiles led an attack
at the Bay of Pigs in
Cuba in an attempt
to overthrow Castro
Invasion was a
disaster and failed;
was a huge foreign
policy blunder for
the United States
Cuban Missile Crisis
U.S. and Russia came
extremely close to
nuclear war when
Russians place nuclear
missiles in Cuba in
November of 1962
In response to U.S.
missiles in Turkey, the
Russians began building
missile bases in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
United States places an
embargo on incoming
shipments to Cuba from
the Soviet Union, U.S.
goes to DEFCON-3
Soviet ships reach the
quarantine line, but
receive radio orders
from Moscow to hold
their positions
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy threatens a
U.S. invasion of Cuba
unless Soviet missiles
are removed; U.S.
moves to DEFCON-2
President John F. Kennedy thinking in the Oval
Office during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
The Russians
agreed to take their
missiles out of Cuba
if the U.S. removed
theirs from Turkey
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
THE
VIETNAM
WAR
Key figures in the Vietnam War
Ho Chi Minh
President of North
Vietnam who led the
efforts to defeat
South Vietnam and
support of the South
Vietnamese Vietcong
William Westmoreland
American commander
in South Vietnam who
told people in the
media that the United
States was close to
winning the war, even
though it wasn’t
Lyndon B. Johnson
President of the United
States who was president
during much of Vietnam
War; greatly escalated
the U.S. soldier
involvement in the
conflict
Key figures in the Vietnam War
Robert McNamara
U.S. Secretary of
Defense during the
Vietnam War who made
the American republic
feel like we were
winning the war
Richard Nixon
Ngo Dinh Diem
President of the United
States during the latter
part of the Vietnam
War
President of South
Vietnam who whose
corruption and harsh
standards led
numerous people to
turn to the Vietcong
Vietnam in the ’50s
Following World War II, the
French controlled southeast
Asia (known as Indochina)
Ho Chi Minh led a revolt
against the French to gain
independence for Vietnam
By 1954, the French fell to the
Vietminh and they withdrew
from Indochina, leaving
Vietnam a divided country
Southeast Asia (aka: French Indochina)
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory was the belief that if
one country fell to communism, the other
Southeast Asian nations would eventually
fall to communism as well
This map from an American
magazine published 14th
November 1950 shows how
much they feared the
spread of Communism in
the Far East.
South Vietnam problems
The people of South Vietnam hated
South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh
Diem. He was corrupt and did not
govern in the best interest of the citizens.
A Buddhist monk commits suicide in protest to the
harsh policies of the S. Vietnamese government
Diem was disliked because
he discriminated against the
Buddhist population
Some Buddhist monks
protested Diem’s rule by
setting themselves on fire
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
In August of 1964, Pres. Johnson
announced that North Vietnam
ships had fired on two American
destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin
USS Maddox
Johnson insisted that the
North Vietnamese attack
was unprovoked and
responded by ordering
American airplanes to attack
North Vietnam
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
After accusing N.
Vietnam of attacking the
U.S., Johnson asked
Congress to give him the
authorization to use force
to defend American forces
When, in August of
1964, Congress passed
the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, Congress
handed over war
powers to the president
The President had the power to
send U.S. troops into battle
without a declaration of war
Operation Rolling Thunder
The U.S. bombing campaign
conducted against the North
Vietnam from 1965 until 1968
Operation
became most
intense
air/ground battle
waged during
the Cold War
The three-year assault was
intended to get North
Vietnam to stop supporting
South Vietnamese guerrillas
Vietcong
Guerrilla army based in
South Vietnam (also
known as the NLF) that
fought the U.S. and South
Vietnamese governments
during the Vietnam War
The Vietcong were South
Vietnamese communists
who fought for Vietnamese
unification on the side of the
North Vietnamese
Vietcong Advantages
 They were familiar with
the landscape (rivers,
lakes, etc.)
 They could find a safe
haven in Cambodia,
Laos or South Vietnam
 They could often count
on the support of the
local population
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Path that ran from North Vietnam to
South Vietnam through Laos and
Cambodia system providing manpower
and materiel to the Vietcong
Red line indicates Ho Chi Minh
Trail through Laos and Cambodia
A look at the Ho Chi Minh Trail from road level, with
camouflaged convoy truck approaching.
Tet Offensive
January 30 – June 8, 1968
In early 1968, the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese
launched a surprise attack throughout South Vietnam
during the Tet, which is the Vietnamese New Year
Tet Offensive
While the Vietcong
suffered heavy losses, it
was a major political
victory for the Vietcong
Tet was the turning point
in the war and showed that
the U.S. was nowhere
close to winning the war
The Tet Offensive in 1968 was a surprise attack
by the Vietcong throughout South Vietnam
Credibility Gap
Opposition to the
Vietnam War grew
in the United States
in the late 1960s
Robert McNamara
Many Americans
were suspicious of
the government’s
truthfulness about
the war
William Westmoreland
Many Americans believed a credibility gap had
developed (people lost trust in what the
government was telling them)
My Lai Massacre
March 16th, 1968
An American platoon had
massacred more than 200
South Vietnamese civilians
who they thought were
members of the Vietcong in
a village called My Lai
Most of the victims were old men, women and children
The My Lai massacre increased feelings among many
Americans that the war was brutal and senseless
Election of 1968
Johnson refuses to
run for re-election
After Johnson refused to run for
re-election and Bobby Kennedy
was assassinated, the Democrats
ended up choosing LBJ’s vicepresident, Hubert Humphrey, as
their presidential candidate
Republicans nominate former
vice-president Richard Nixon,
who lost to JFK in 1960
"I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for
another term as your President." March 31, 1968
Election of 1968
Nixon becomes president!
Draft Lottery Begins
Many Americans who were against the war believed
the United States had an unfair draft system
Minorities made up a large percentage of people
drafted and most soldiers were under 21 years old
Kent State Massacre
In April of 1970,
President Nixon
announced that
American troops had
invaded Cambodia
May 4, 1970
Anti-war protestors
saw this as an
escalation of the war,
sparking violent
protests on college
campuses
At Kent State University in Ohio, protestors became
violent. The Ohio National Guard was called in and fired
upon the student demonstrators, killing four students
th
26 Amendment ratified
Anger over the draft led to
debates about the voting age.
Demonstrators help public
rallies and marches.
The average age of a
American soldier in Vietnam
was 19. Because you had to
be 21 to vote, many people
called for changes in voting
laws, saying that if you’re old
enough to fight in war, you
should be old enough to vote.
President Nixon signs the 26th Amendment
guaranteeing the right to vote for people over 18.
In 1971, the 26th
Amendment was ratified,
lowered the legal voting
age from 21 to 18
Vietnamization
Vietnamization called for a
gradual withdrawal of
American troops as South
Vietnamese took more control
Even though the U.S. had begun cutting back its
involvement in the Vietnam War, the American home
front remained divided and volatile as Nixon’s war
policies stirred up new waves of protest
U.S. pulls out of Vietnam
In January of 1973, North and South Vietnamese
reach a cease-fire agreement;
By 1975, the United States withdraws all of its
people from Vietnam
In late1975, North Vietnam violated the ceasefire and
captured the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. The
war was over and the communists had won
War Powers Act (1973)
Law was an attempt to set
limits on the power of the
president during wartime
Required the
president to inform
Congress of any
commitment of
troops with 48 hours
The Pentagon Papers
In 1971, a former Defense Department
worker leaked what were known as the
Pentagon Papers to the New York
Times
The documents
showed how various
administrations
deceived Congress,
The government the media, and the
public about how the
had not been
war was going
honest with the
American people