Transcript coldwar

The Origins of the Cold War
Chapter 19: Section 1
1945--A Critical Year
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Yalta Conference
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Poland = most difficult issue
• Stalin wanted Communist
government
• Poland protected USSR
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United Nations created
Truman takes command
The Potsdam Conference
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Truman’s 1st meeting w/ Stalin
Told Stalin of A-bomb
Conflicting Postwar Goals:
United States
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Americans fought to
bring democracy and
economic opportunity
to conquered nations
of Europe.
An economically
strong and politically
open world created
markets for American
products.
Conflicting Postwar Goals:
Soviet Union
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Lost 17 million in war
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Established satellite
nations
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Determined to re-build
protecting own interests
Created buffer zone on
western border
Looked to spread
communism across world
Soviets Tighten Their Hold
Political control over nations freed from Nazi
control.
 Poland elections don’t happen for 2 years.
 Nations to fall to Communism
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Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Romania, East Germany, Finland, & Yugoslavia
Cold War Divisions in Europe
The Iron Curtain
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1946 Speech, Stalin
predicts communism to
triumph over capitalism.
Churchill coined term
Iron Curtain
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Describe communist and
non-communist life
Speeches set the tone
for the Cold War.
Containment
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George Keenan (American
Diplomat in USSR) said U.S.
policy needed to be a longterm patient but firm
containment of USSR
expansion.
Eastern Europe was lost, but
to prevent Communism from
spreading further.
The Truman Doctrine
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Called on the United
States to take the
leadership role in the
prevention of the
spread of communism.
Policy said that U.S.
would support countries
who are resisting
outside pressures
(communism).
The Cold War Heats Up
Chapter 19: Section 2
The Marshall Plan
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Secretary of State
George C. Marshall
unveiled this policy.
Called for nations of
Europe to draw up a
program for economic
recovery after WWII.
U.S. would support it
financially.
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Created good economies
= markets for U.S. trade.
The Berlin Airlift
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Germany split into East
Germany (Communist) and
West Germany (Democratic).
Berlin split as well (West
Berlin was in East Germany).
New currency in East
Germany created blockade of
goods.
Created a shortage in W.
Berlin.
Lifted goods into Berlin by
plane (13,000 tons/day)
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO)
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Looked to United Nations
to help w/ postwar
protection
Soviet Union veto power
Canadian foreign
minister Louis St.
Laurent proposed
creating an “association
of democratic peaceloving states”
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) cont’d…
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U.S. showed great
interest
April 1949, U.S.
joined 10 other
countries to create
NATO
Each nation agreed
to collective security,
or mutual military
assistance
Communist Advances
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The Soviet Atomic Threat
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U.S. has evidence USSR has
nuclear capabilities
Truman asks for superiority
(hydrogen or thermonuclear)
Federal Civil Defense
Administration
China Falls to Communists
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Mao Zedong defeats Jiang Jieshi
even w/ U.S. support
People’s Republic of China
Stain on the Truman administration
Called for greater protection of the
rest of Asia
The Cold War at Home
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The Loyalty Program
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Government officials launch programs
to keep communism out of U.S.
Many Americans were anxious
House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
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Investigated disloyalty on eve of WWII
Probed government agencies and
Hollywood movie industry
Hollywood had created procommunist films
The Cold War at Home cont’d…
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The Hollywood Ten
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Group of Hollywood big names asked to testify in
front of HUAC
Those who refused to answer were cited for
contempt
Studios compiled a blacklist
The McCarran-Walter Act
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Discriminated against immigrants from Asia and
Southern Europe
Truman vetoed bill
Congress passed it over the veto
The Cold War at Home cont’d…
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Spy Cases Inflame the Nation
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Alger Hiss as Soviet Spy (4 yrs.
Prison)
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
• Accused of passing Atomic
Secrets
• Executed in 1953