Transcript truman and cold war 08

President Truman &The Beginning of
The Cold War
What was “The Cold War?”
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A U.S./Soviet conflict in
which the two powers would
avoid fighting each other
directly but would block
each other’s goals around
the world. (1945-1991)
Struggle for advantage in the
power vacuum left by the
defeat of Germany and
Japan, collapse of Western
Europe, crumbling of
empires in Asia and Africa
US & USSR take sides in
other nations’ wars
Competition in technology
and sports…EVERYTHING,
actually!
Stalin and Eastern Europe
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Stalin sought a Soviet “sphere of influence” in
Eastern Europe to end the Soviet Union’s
vulnerability to attack
10 million man Red Army occupied half of
Europe at the end of the war
Stalin ignores the Yalta Agreement; pro-Soviet
“puppet” regimes installed in Bulgaria, Romania,
Albania, Yugoslavia, Poland
Truman vows to get tough
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Stalin had betrayed the Allies; he refused
to “appease” Stalin
Wanted to maintain the support of
millions of Polish and Eastern European
immigrant voters at home
Did not want to be seen as “soft on
Communism”
Tough Talk
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Stalin, Feb. 9, 1946:
“Capitalism is a
danger to world
peace.”
This speech is seen
as a “declaration of
World War III” by
many in the U.S.
The Kennan Telegram
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“The Soviet Union is a
political force committed
fanatically to the belief that
there could be no permanent
peace with the United States
and the only answer was a
long-term, patient but firm
and vigilant containment of
Russian expansionist
tendencies.” -Diplomat
George Kennan, 1946
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech
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March, 1946 in Missouri
“An Iron Curtain has
descended across the
continent.”
“There is nothing they
admire so much as strength
and nothing for which they
have less respect for than
military weakness.”
http://www.historyplace.com
/sounds/ushistory/ironcurtain.wav
The Iron Curtain
Crisis in Europe, Winter 1946-47
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Cities and industry in ruins
Economic collapse, fuel shortages,
unemployment, homelessness, famine,
tuberculosis epidemic
Cigarettes and candy bars used as money in
Germany!
African and Asian colonies rebelling against
weak European powers
Communist movements explode in France and
Italy
Crisis in Europe, cont.
Civil wars in Greece and Turkey:
Communist-supplied guerrilla
movements try to take over!
 February 21, 1947: Great Britain
informs U.S. that it could no longer
afford to assist Greece and Turkey
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The day that the U.S. becomes the “world’s police
officer?”
Dean Acheson, Undersecretary of State
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“Like apples in a barrel
infected by the corruption
of one rotten one...”
“The fall of Greece or
Turkey would open Asia,
Western Europe, and the
oil fields of the Middle
East to the Red menace.”
“The Soviet Union is
playing one of the
greatest gambles in
history. We and we alone
are in a position to break
up that play.”
“Truman Doctrine” speech, March 12, 1947
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The United States must support free peoples
everywhere “resisting subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside pressures.”
$300 million military aid to Greece, $100 million to
Turkey
“Containment” policy: contain Communism and stop
its expansion
The Truman Doctrine commits the U.S. to an openended global struggle against Communism; became
the policy of the U.S. for the next four decades
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystruman
trumandoctrine.html
National Security Act of 1947
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Merged Departments
of War and Navy into
Dept. of Defense
Created a separate Air
Force, the National
Security Council, and
CIA
The U.S. becomes a
permanently
militarized society…
and still is.
The Marshall Plan, 1948
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American aid to end suffering in Europe
and rebuild
$17 billion in aid to Europe over five years
Three goals:
End the chaos and weakness that would
lead to Communism
Provide new markets for American goods
Strengthen alliances in Europe
Stalin tightens his grip
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Stalin takes over Hungary and Czechoslovakia in
1947 and 1948; Stalin turns his attention to Germany.
Germany had been divided into four occupation
zones: Great Britain, US, France, Soviet Union
Berlin divided into four occupation zones (110 miles
within Soviet-controlled territory)
June, 1948-May, 1949: Stalin blocks off all railroads
and highways into West Berlin, cutting 2 million
people off
The Berlin Airlift
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Truman orders food and
supplies airlifted into
West Berlin (every 3 min.,
24 hrs./day)
April 1949: NATO North
Atlantic Treaty
Organization created (10
Western European
nations + U.S. and
Canada)
May 1949: Stalin gives up,
Democratic West
Germany is created;
Communist East Germany
later in the year
Asia
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Soviets create a “sphere of influence” in
Manchuria
Under the control of Gen. MacArthur, Japan
becomes a capitalist democracy and a U.S. ally
Soviet Union and U.S. divide Korea into
Communist North and Democratic South
In China, U.S. supports Nationalist Chiang KaiShek in civil war against Communist Mao
Zedong
1949: A Really Bad Year.
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Sept. 1949: Soviet Union
detonates their first atomic
bomb
Oct. 1949: Communists win
Chinese Civil War; Mao Zedong
establishes the People’s
Republic of China: “Red China”
Truman and the Democrats
attacked for being “soft on
communism” and “losing
China”
“The worst defeat the U.S. has
suffered in its history.”
1950: Even worse.
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Jan. 1950: Truman orders
the development of the HBomb
NSC-68: Special report calls
for a massive U.S. military
buildup (quadrupling
spending) to stop
Communist plans for world
domination- the beginning of
the arms race
June 24, 1950: Sovietbacked Communist North
Korean troops invade U.S.backed South Korea- The
Korean War begins…