Transcript The Cold War - mikephillips

The Cold War
Chapter 36
B.A.R.E.
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Causes of the Cold War
Beliefs – communism vs. democracy
Aims – (post war ideas) Stalin wants reparations
and a buffer zone, US was opposed to both of
these ideas
Resentments-didn’t trust each other
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US and Britain didn’t tell Soviets about atomic bomb until it
was about to be used
Soviets still resentful about slow opening of 2nd allied front
Soviets lost 20 million in WWII, Britain lost about 400,000 –the
US about 300,000
Events- Yalta, Potsdam, Iron Curtain Speech,
Truman Doctrine…
The rise of the superpowers
Before WW2 there were a number of
countries which could have claimed to be
superpowers – USA, USSR,GB, Japan,
Germany.
 The damage caused by the war to these
countries left only two countries with the
military strength and resources to be
called superpowers….USA and USSR.
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What they believed
Don’t forget USA was capitalist and
USSR was communist
 They were complete opposites: see chart
on the next page
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How the divide began
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Two conferences were held in 1945 at Yalta
and Potsdam
 What would happen to the occupied countries
after liberation, especially Eastern Europe
(Ukraine, Poland, Romania…)
USSR currently occupied these countries and
wanted to remain an influence to protect against
future invasion
 Decided that USSR would stay in these countries
until they could recover and then they would be
allowed to hold free elections
Decide to divide Germany temporarily actual lines
where drawn up in June 1945, shortly after the end of
the war in Europe.
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Berlin divided as well
Post War Europe
Divided between the East and the West
tensions grew between the Anglo-Allies
(British/Americans) and the Soviets
 A war of ideology and words began to
develop – The Cold War
 It was a Cold War of words -- a time
when nations were rallied by stirring
speeches and trembled by ominous
warnings.
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Iron Curtain –
A term used by
Winston Churchill
to describe the
separating of
those communist
lands of East
Europe from the
West.
Iron Curtain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvax5VU
vjWQ
 1946
 Churchill delivered a speech in Fulton,
Missouri about the existing Cold War
tension
Truman Doctrine
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In 1946 George Kennan, who had been
stationed in Moscow from 1944-1946 sent a
‘long telegram’ to the State department
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Warning that the USSR emphasized a global
communist takeover
He urged that
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"the United States policy toward the Soviet Union
must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and
vigilant containment of Russian expansive
tendencies"
Truman Doctrine
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Kennan's ideas as well as the events of
1947 in Greece and Turkey caused
Truman to issue a doctrine that is seen
as the guiding force of American foreign
policy throughout the Cold War
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The policy of containment: don’t let
Soviet influence spread beyond Eastern
Europe!
Truman Doctrine
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On Friday, February 21, 1947, Great
Britain notified the United States that it
could no longer provide financial aid to
the governments of Greece and Turkey.
Civil War in Greece
 Soviets wanted to take over Dardanelles
Straits in Turkey
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Truman Doctrine
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In a meeting between Congressmen and
state department officials,
Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson
articulated what would later become
known as the domino theory
If Greece and Turkey fall who is next? This
could make the Middle East vulnerable.
 Frightened Congress into action
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Truman Doctrine
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March 12, 1947
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$400 million in military and economic assistance
for Greece and Turkey
established a doctrine that would guide U.S.
diplomacy for the next forty years.
President Truman declared, "It must be the
policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or by outside
pressures."
Focus of Chapter 36
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Despite Allied unity and cooperation in
defeating the Axis powers, the United
States and the Soviet Union drifted apart,
thus becoming bitter enemies in 1945 and
the years to follow.
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Describe 4 reasons for the start of the “Cold
War”
The Marshall Plan: Overview
 Proposed
by U.S. Secretary of
State George Marshall On June 5,
1947
 Nearly $13 billion in U.S. aid was
sent to Europe from 1948 to 1952.
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Soviet bloc nations offered US aid but they
didn’t take it
The Marshall Plan
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1946-1947 Europe was struggling to recover
from the war
 didn’t want a situation akin to post WWI
Europe
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Needed to help countries get back on their feet
economically and to rebuild their infrastructure
Seen as providing lasting peace and keeping war
torn nations from turning towards USSR
Asked them what they needed and provided it
 Marshall plan for Afghanistan???
Berlin Airlift / Berlin Blockade:
Overview
Berlin Airlift/ Blockade
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On June 12, 1948 the Soviet Union declared the roads
leading into W. Berlin closed.
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within days all rail and barge traffic was stopped as well.
Soviets announced they would not supply food to
those living in W. Berlin
thirty-five days worth of food and forty-five days worth
of coal.
General Lucius D. Clay, in charge of the U.S. occupation zone in
Germany, summed up the reasons for staying in a cable to Washington
on June 13, 1948,
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"There is no practicability in maintaining our position in Berlin and it must not be
evaluated on that basis... We are convinced that our remaining in Berlin is essential to
our prestige in Germany and in Europe. Whether for good or bad, it has become a
symbol of the American intent."
Berlin Airlift/Blockade
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choices
 Send
troops to open roads and rails to
provide food
 Airlift
Berlin Airlift
Operation Vittles begins June 26, 1948
 It was expected to last 3 weeks
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Lasted over a year (ended Sept, 1949)
 daily operations flew more than fifteen
hundred flights a day and delivered more than
4,500 tons of cargo
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Berlin Airlift
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Calculations indicated they would need to supply seventeen
hundred calories per person per day, consisting of
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646 tons of flour and wheat
125 tons of cereal
64 tons of fat
109 tons of meat and fish
180 tons of sugar,
11 tons of coffee,
19 tons of powdered milk,
5 tons of whole milk for children,
3 tons of fresh yeast for baking
144 tons of dehydrated vegetables,
38 tons of salt
10 tons of cheese
3,475 tons of coal and gasoline
Review
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Despite Allied unity and cooperation in
defeating the Axis powers, the United
States and the Soviet Union drifted apart,
thus becoming bitter enemies in 1945 and
the years to follow.
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give examples of how The United States foreign
policy of containment was put to the test
between 1945 and 1960.
National Security Act of 1947
Merged Department of War and the
Department of Navy into the Defense
Department
 Also create the National Security Council
and the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA)
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National Security Council
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Coordinated information from the
CIA
 Dept. of Defense
 State Department
to give the President an overview of
domestic, foreign, and military policy
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NATO – North Atlantic Treaty
Organization est. 1949
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Military alliance in which member nations agree that
an attack on one equals an attack on all – collective
security
 US, UK, Canada, France, Denmark, Iceland, Italy,
Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, and
Luxembourg.
 In 1952, Greece and Turkey joined. West Germany
was admitted in 1955
 US was the most important ‘link’ in the alliance
because of our nuclear power, location, and
economic superiority
 Formed to protect Western European nations against
attack from the USSR, as well as to keep the peace
between European rivals
NATO
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In response to NATO the WARSAW Pact was
created in 1955
 Members included
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USSR
Albania
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Poland
Romania
East Germany
Fall of China: First failure of
containment
“ Political power grows out of the barrel
of a gun.” – Mao
 The KMT (Kuomintang-Nationalists) and
the CCP(Communist Party of China) had
been fighting each other for control of
China since the mid 1920s.
 The fighting ceased from 1936-1946
during which time the Chinese united to
fight the Japanese
 Fighting continues 1946-49
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Fall of China
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After WWII fighting again erupted
 Mao Tse-tung (Zedong) led the communists
and gained support from the peasants who
had long suffered under brutal landowners and
harsh taxes. Communists pledged to
redistribute the land and end oppression by
landowners
 Women also supported Mao – “Women hold
up half the sky.”
 Got material support from USSR
Fall of China
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Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek) led the nationalists
 US gave material support: $3 billion
 Many felt they were corrupt, lost the support of the
people
 Fled to Taiwan in 1949, island off the coast of
mainland China
 US recognized Taiwan and the nationalists as the
official Chinese government until 1971 – Republic of
China
 Many conservatives felt that Truman didn’t do enough
to support the Nationalists, should have sent troops.
Russia gets Nukes
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September 23, 1949, within weeks of the
fall of China Truman announced that the
USSR had successfully tested a nuclear
weapon…the arms race was on
NSC-68 : April 1950
A response to the Fall of China and
Russian nuclear capabilities
 Stated: "the cold war is in fact a real war
in which the survival of the free world is
at stake."
 US should triple its defense spending
 Move from economic means of
containment to military means
 Goal: increase nuclear capability
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H-bomb
Korean War 1950-1953
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Korea is divided along the 38th parallel after WWII.
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Taken from Japan
But as both sides withdrew their troops, they also set
up rival governments,
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Democratic People's Republic of Korea
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North (communist)
Republic of Korea
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South (democracy)
Korean War 1950-1953
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Goal: Each wanted a
united Korea under their
control!
North Korea = Kim Il Sung
South Korea = Syngman
Rhee
Kim was aided by Stalin,
who urged him to invade
the South
On June 25, 1950, the
North Korean army rolled
south in a surprise assault.
Korean War 1950-1953
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US wants to help S. Korea, but now that the
Soviets have nukes we don’t want to end up
fighting them
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Call a special meeting of the UN
Soviets are boycotting UN because they wont allow
China to be on the Security council
UN, led by a US resolution, decides to defend S.
Korea
16 nations , with the largest contingent coming from
the organize under Gen. MacArthur to defend S.
Korea
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They arrive by the end of the summer 1950
Korean War 1950-1953
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UN Forces were
succeeding in taking
back territory.
 China was worried
that they would lose
their communist
neighbor.
 November 1950
China joins comes
the N. Korea’s aid,
they push UN forces
back below the 38th
parallel
Korean War 1950-1953
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Fighting reaches a
stalemate along the 38th
parallel.
MacArthur wants to
nuke China and
publically criticizes
Truman for not doing
so…MacArthur is fired!
By the summer of 1951
armistice talks began
Fighting continues until
July 1953, when Stalin
dies
Korean War 1950-1953
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Results:
the Korean peninsula remains divided to
this day along the 38th parallel
 The high cost of the war and the loss of
54,000 American lives lead to
disillusionment with Truman and the
democrats
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We contain communism, but at what cost?
Korean War
American reaction
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Bert the Turtle
American Reaction
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How to protect your
food from nuclear
attack