Transcript World War II Conflicts

Chapter 38:
Origins of the Cold War
(the “grim struggle for world power
between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.
in the post World War II world”)
How did the United States and the
Soviet Union become Cold War
adversaries?
Roots of the Cold War
Philosophical Differences
• Philosophical differences between the USSR and the USA
reached back to the 1920s.
• USSR: communism, totalitarian dictatorship, the state makes
the economic decisions so the proletariat (working class) can
share society’s wealth (collectivism = equality)
• United States: free-enterprise capitalism, republic, democracy,
business owners decide what to produce and consumers
decide what to buy (competition = inequality)
World War II Conflicts
• Allies during the war, but not truly friends
• Soviets wanted British and Americans to open a second
European front earlier in the war.
• U.S. atomic bomb plans worried Soviet Union.
1945: A Key Year in World History
• Yalta (February)
– Stalin, Churchill and FDR meet
– Agree to divide Germany into
4 zones of occupation
– Agree to support self-government
and free elections in Eastern Europe
• FDR was hopeful the wartime
allies would maintain friendly
relations
1945: A Key Year in World History
• Potsdam (July)
– Stalin, Attlee and TRUMAN (FDR died in April) meet
– It is agreed to also divide Berlin
1945: A Key Year in World History
• Potsdam (July)
– Truman learns of the first successful test of our atomic
bomb
– He let Stalin know it because Stalin’s Soviet troops
remained in Eastern Europe and where “free” elections
were held, Communists always won
• Stalin wanted Eastern Europe to be a buffer zone
offering protection from attack to the USSR
– These would come to be called “satellite nations”
• Truman believed in a free Eastern Europe
(allow self-determination)
• The USA stops aid to the USSR
The Cost of World War II Impacts DecisionMaking: Did the USA and USSR Share the
Hardships Equally in WWII?
• USSR
– 20,000,000 Soviet citizens died (soldiers and civilians)
• Starvation, German prisoner camps
– Soviet cities were demolished
• USA
– 290,000 American citizens died
– Civilian casualties only at Pearl Harbor (also the only
attack on American soil)
The Postwar World
• Only the two superpowers remained after two
devastating wars in 30 years
• Their size, economic strength and military
ability allows them to dominate global affairs
• Nations of the world were left to align
themselves with one or the other
1946
• Stalin delivers a speech that indicates that capitalism
always leads to war and conflict over scarce
resources
• Seemingly suggests that communism should replace
capitalism
• George Kennan (Amer. diplomat/Soviet expert)
– Enunciates a policy of containment in
his “Long Telegram”
– The US must combat Russian
“expansive tendencies”
• USSR refuses to remove troops
from Iran until pressured by the
US (proof of “expansive tendencies”?)
1946
• The nuclear stakes grow when the United States
detonates two more atomic weapons in the
Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean
• The American nuclear monopoly was ending
however, as the Soviets were racing to develop
their own nuclear weapon
The Role of the United Nations
• Bernard Baruch appeals to
the UN Atomic Energy
Commission to control the raw
materials used in atomic bomb
creation and ban any future
bomb production
(remember, who has the only
one…for now?)
• The USSR rejects the idea when
the US refuses to destroy all of
its nuclear weapons
An “Iron Curtain” Divided Europe
• 1946: Winston Churchill
describes the division of
Europe caused by the USSR
• Hegemony = a dominating
influence of one country
over another
• From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic
an iron curtain has descended across the
Continent.
The Truman Doctrine
• Truman stressed the duty
of the United States to
combat totalitarian
regimes worldwide.
• His March 12, 1947
speech specifically called
for $400 million in aid to
be delivered to Greece
and Turkey.
• The Doctrine
demonstrated the new
American foreign policy as
a policy of containment
of Soviet expansion.
• Historians often use it to
mark the starting date of
the Cold War.
A Clash Of Beliefs
AMERICAN LEADERS BELIEVED:
• Democratic governments
that protected people’s
rights made countries more
stable
• Economic growth was the
key to world peace
• Economic growth should be
promoted by increasing
world trade
• The free enterprise system
(capitalism) was the best
route to prosperity
SOVIET LEADERS BELIEVED:
• Communism was a superior
system that would replace
capitalism
• Economic growth should be
managed and controlled by
a government that seeks to
meet their peoples’ needs
• Communism should be
encouraged in other nations
• Capitalist countries would
try to destroy communism
and should be approached
with suspicion
Conflicting Points of View
• For the U.S.
– Communist takeovers were brutal attempts to crush
democracy
– A nuclear monopoly ensured world peace
• For the U.S.S.R.
– The U.S. was determined to destroy Communism
– The nuclear monopoly was all about American
strength
• Truman and Congress pass the National Security
Act
– Creates the National Security Council (NSC) to advise
the president
– Creates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to
gather information and analyze foreign intelligence
The Marshall Plan Rebuilds Europe
• The Marshall Plan was proposed to help Europe begin its
ascent from the ashes of World War II ($13.3 billion by 1952
and the end of the program)
• Secretary of State George Marshall offered the same aid to
the USSR and its allies, but they did not accept it.
• The hope was to oppose
Communism, spread
democracy, boost the
American economy and
win allies
• The Soviets respond with
the Molotov Plan to
rebuild Eastern Europe
and foster mutual
assistance with the USSR
Chapter 39:
The Cold War Expands
Were the methods used by the
United States to contain
Communism justified?
The Berlin Airlift (6/1948 – 5/1949)
• Remember: Post war Germany was
divided into 4 sections
• The city of Berlin, was also divided
into four sectors
• The USSR attempted to control all of
Berlin by cutting surface traffic to
and from the city of West Berlin
• Starving out the population and
cutting off their business was their
method of gaining control.
• What could the USA do?
• The only way in was through the air
• What would Stalin do in response?
• The U.S.A. and the R.A.F.
delivered 2,326,406 tons
of food and supplies on
278,228 total flights
• Operation Little Vittles:
over a ton of candy
• The C-47s and C-54s
together flew over 92
million miles in the
process.
• At the height of the
airlift, one plane reached
West Berlin every thirty
seconds.
• Stalin “unblockades”
Berlin (we win!)
NATO (1949) and Warsaw Pact (1955)
• The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) was
established as an
international organization
for defense collaboration
aligning nations opposed
to Soviet expansion.
• Similarly, the Warsaw
Pact was signed by
eastern European nations
in an effort to combat
This map shows the division of
NATO.
Europe between the NATO Treaty
(green) and the Warsaw Pact
• Both are based on the
(orange). The United States and
idea of collective security
Canada are also part of NATO.
NSC-68
• Argued that one of the
most pressing threats
confronting the United
States was the "hostile
design" of the Soviet Union
• The Soviet threat would
soon be greatly augmented
by the addition of more
weapons, including nuclear
weapons.
• The best course of action
was to respond in kind with
a massive build-up of the
U.S. military and its
weaponry
The Cold War in Asia
• The Chinese Civil War
– Mao Zedong (Communist)
vs.
Chiang Kai-Shek (Nationalist)
who were allies during
WWII against Japan
– The United States aided the
Nationalists with massive economic loans but no
military support
– Battles raged not only for territories but also for the
allegiance of cross sections of the population.
– Communists field commanders defeated Nationalist
forces in the late 1940s and established the People’s
Republic of China (Red China) in October 1949
(the same year the USSR gets the bomb)
– The Nationalists flee to Taiwan
The United Nations Security Council
• The Council is composed of five permanent
members — China, France, the Russian
Federation (USSR then), the United Kingdom and
the USA
• And ten non-permanent members (2 year terms)
• 9 votes to approve an action BUT the five
permanent members have veto power
Korean War (1950-1953)
• After WWII, Korea divided at 38th parallel
– North was communist, South was not
• 1950: North Korea (supported by Soviet resources)
invaded South Korea (supported by the UN and the
US)
• Soviets boycotting UN for U.S. refusal to allow "Red
China" into UN Security Council
• Forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to push back
communists
• China sends hundreds of thousands of troops to push
back UN
• Result: 54,000 American killed, cease-fire and border
at 38th parallel restored; still in existence today
• When Douglas MacArthur
wanted to expand the war
into China he was fired by
Truman
Fighting the Cold War in Other Parts of
the World
• The First World: The “West” (the U.S.A.,
Canada, Western Europe, Japan)
• The Second World: The “East” (the U.S.S.R.,
China and Eastern Europe)
• The Third World: poor developing countries in
Central and South America, Africa and the
Middle East
– Many newly free colonies looking for help from
either the U.S. and our allies or the Soviet Union
and their allies
• During the Cold War, many conflicts broke out
around the world.
• Some were guerrilla wars and others were
between rival factions in a country.
• Almost all of them, were tied directly or indirectly
to the global struggle between the East and the
West.
Influencing Hearts and
Minds
• Cold War propaganda from the
U.S.I.A.
– United States Information Agency
– “Radio Liberty” broadcasts, the
Voice of America
• Funds for agriculture, health or
other social and economic purposes (often military
aid)
• Dictators in Nicaragua and Haiti used American
assistance to tighten their grip on power
• Other nations were denied aid as punishment
World War III in Egypt?
• In 1956, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes
the British controlled Suez Canal
– Nationalization is when a country takes control of a resource in that
country formerly controlled by a different country
– He wanted to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile River
• Britain and France meet with Israel and plan the attack thinking
they would receive U.S. support
• The U.S.S.R. threatens to
back the Egyptians with
military force
• When the Suez Crisis begins,
the U.S. actively seeks the aid
of the United Nations to get
Great Britain, France and Israel
out of Egypt
• Weakens the power/presence
of the French and British in Africa
• The Soviets build the dam with the Egyptians
Covert Action
• Covert = secret political, economic or military
operation that supports a foreign policy
initiative
– Gathering information through satellites, spies
and wiretapping
– Francis Gary Powers flying a U-2 high altitude spy
plane was shot down embarrassing the United
States and increasing Soviet distrust (page 503)
• The C.I.A. was often used to overthrow or
support the overthrow of “unfriendly”
governments that we needed on our side
– Especially in the Middle East (oil) and Central and
South America (location)
The Deadly Arms Race
• 1952: the U.S. develops the H-Bomb (500x more
powerful than the bombs dropped during the
war)…it was nicknamed “The Super”
• Submarines were equipped with nuclear missiles
– I.C.B.M.s (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)
• A New Policy with a New Secretary of State
– John Foster Dulles develops the idea of brinkmanship
– If you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost
• Red (mainland) China attacks Nationalist (Taiwan)
China
– The U.S. threatens a nuclear attack unless the Comm.
government backs off and ends the attacks
– The Communist Chinese do back down
(…but what if they didn’t??)
M.A.D.
• Mutually Assured
Destruction
– Based on deterrence (the
U.S.S.R. would not dare
attack the U.S. with the
nuclear arsenal it was
building)
• S.A.L.T. later in the Cold
War (1970s)
– Strategic Arms Limitation
Talks
• I.N.F. Treaty (1980s)
– Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty
Chapter 40:
Fighting the Cold War at Home
How did anxieties raised by the Cold
War affect life in the United States?
Searching for Communists in the
United States (a 2nd Red Scare)
• The House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) investigated the full range of radical
groups in the United States including Fascists
and Communists
• Also investigated Hollywood actors, writers and
directors
– Feared the influence of movies in society
– Blacklists: if you were suspected of being a
Communist or Communist sympathizer you could
not find any more work in Hollywood
• Federal Employee Loyalty Program
– Required federal employees to take loyalty oaths
– All federal employee were investigated.
– Those found to be disloyal to the United States
were barred from federal employment.
• The McCarran Act limited the rights of
Communist organizations.
• Several spy cases in the late
1940s fueled fears of
communism.
Alger Hiss, Klaus
Fuchs and the
Rosenbergs
• Alger Hiss
– State Department official and adviser to FDR at Yalta
was convicted of passing secrets to the USSR
• Klaus Fuchs
– Worked on the Manhattan Project and passed
information to Soviet scientists
• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
– Also passed nuclear secrets to the USSR
– The only American civilians executed
for spying during the Cold War
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
• Joseph McCarthy was a senator who claimed that
there were 205 known Communists working for
the U.S. Department of State.
• Truman ignored him and his charges.
• McCarthy’s claims were rarely backed up with any
evidence, but this didn’t stop him from gaining a
reputation as being the nation’s top Communist
fighter.
• A political cartoonist dubbed McCarthy’s tactic of
spreading fear and making baseless charges
McCarthyism.
• McCarthyism spread beyond the Senate into
other branches of government, into universities,
into labor unions, and into private businesses.
The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy
• Finally, in 1954 McCarthy went too far when
he accused both the army and President
Dwight Eisenhower of being
“soft on Communism”
• McCarthy was censured by
the Senate
– Formally scolded/reprimanded
• He faded from the national scene but his
Communist “witch hunt” caused great
damage to individuals
Living with Nuclear Anxiety
Hollywood used aliens as metaphors for whom?
Civil Defense and Preparedness
• Ground Zero
– The impact point of a nuclear bomb
• Federal Civil Defense Administration
distributed manuals and guidelines to help
citizens prepare for a surprise attack
– Emergency sirens, fallout shelters, bomb shelters
• Questions were raised about the
evacuation of large cities and the
survivability of a nuclear war
The “Duck and Cover” Generation