Transcript The Cold War begins 1945 -1948

WWII: The Aftermath
Prelude to a cold war…
CCOT
CAP 262-272 732-745
• The Cold War dominated much of
American and Soviet foreign and domestic
policy during the latter-half of the twentieth
century.
• How did the Cold War manifest
itself - socially, culturally, and
politically, from 1945 to the
present?
Massive Loss of Life
Over 60 million people died (compared to 15
million in WWI)
• 2/3rds of deaths civilian
• 21.3 million Russians (7.7 million civilians)
• 11 million died as a result of the HOLOCAUST
(6 million Jews + 5 million others)
Nuremberg Trials
(Crimes against humanity)
• November 1945
• 24 leading Nazis
put on trial for
crimes against
humanity.
• 12 received the
death sentence.
• Also established “I
was only following
orders” was not a
viable defense.
Japanese War Crimes
Bio-Chemical
Experiments
General
Yamashita
General
Hideki Tojo
Creation of the U.N.
• Agreed on during the
Yalta Conference.
• The hope was to
create an international
body to prevent
future global
conflicts.
• Why do you think the
U.S. joined the U.N.
unlike its refusal to
join the League of
Nations after WWI?
New Leaders: 8 Future Presidents
were veterans of WWII
Decolonization
The Cold War 19451991 (is it reviving?)
After World War II the Cold War
began and caused tension
throughout the world.
• The USA and the USSR were
the two world Superpowers.
• The USA was a capitalist
society with a democracy.
• The USSR was a communist
country with a dictatorship.
• Both wanted to be the most
powerful nation in the
world.
After World War 2, the
world changed!
• Many countries became communist
after World War 2 including:
- Czechoslovakia (1948)
- Poland (1947)
- Hungary (1947)
- China (1949)
- Cuba (1959)
- North Korea (1945)
The Domino effect
• The USSR had a lot of influence over many of
the new communist countries (especially those
in Europe).
• The USA was very worried that the USSR’s
influence over these countries was making the
USSR and communism more powerful.
• The USA did not want communism to spread
any further – they were worried about the
domino effect (one country becomes communist,
then another, then another etc).
Vietnam War 1960-1965
Read Cold War Article
• Make the Following 3 Column Chart:
What I know
Questions
10 things I learned
Different
Goals
• Stalin wanted huge
reparations from
Germany, and a
‘buffer’ of friendly
states to protect the
USSR from being
invaded again.
• Britain and the USA
wanted to protect
democracy, and help
Germany to recover.
They were worried that
large areas of Eastern
Europe were falling
under Soviet control.
Resentment
of the Past
• The Soviet Union could
not forget that in 1918
Britain and the USA had
tried to destroy the
Russian Revolution.
• Stalin also thought that
they had not given him
enough help in the Second
World War.
• Britain and the USA could
not forget that Stalin had
signed the Nazi-Soviet
Pact with Germany in
1939.
• The Russians took
very high casualties
to capture Berlin in
May 1945.
• They spent the early
occupation trying to
take over all zones
of the city but were
stopped by German
democrats such as
Willy Brandt and
Konrad Adenauer.
• Reluctantly the
Russians had to
admit the Americans,
French and British
to their respective
zones.
• Why would they try
to take over all of
Berlin?
Cause of Tension: Berlin
• West Berlin, was an outpost of Western
democracy and economic success deep within
the communist zone – like a capitalist island
within communist East Germany
• It was felt by both sides
that Berlin could act as
the trigger for general
war between capitalist
and communist
countries
Final
Solution…
Germany
became 2
countries.
• 1 Democratic
• 1 Communist
As if that
weren’t enough…
More Tension: Nuclear
Arms Race!
• The nuclear bomb gave America a lead which was
expected to last at least 5 years. The rapid Russian
development of nuclear technology, helped by the work
of the “atom spies” was a shock.
• Significantly, Russia hurriedly declared war against
Japan at the beginning of August 1945 and rushed to
advance into Asia to stake out a position for the postwar settlement. This helped make both the Korean and
Vietnamese conflicts more likely.
Containment:
George Kennan
Top American diplomat stationed in Moscow.
• Sent a secret telegram to the State Department in 1946
analyzing Soviet behavior and policy.
• His analysis provided the basis for the policy of
containment.
Containment
• A policy of creating strategic alliances in order to check
the expansion of a hostile power or ideology or to force
it to negotiate peacefully; “containment of communist
expansion was a central principle of United States'
foreign policy from 1947 to 1975”
Iron
Curtain
• Given the
name by
Winston
Churchill in
1946.
“It is clear that the United States cannot expect in the
foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the
Soviet regime. It must continue to regard the Soviet
Union as a rival, not a partner, in the political arena. It
must continue to expect that Soviet policies will reflect no
abstract love of peace and stability, no real faith in the
possibility of a permanent happy coexistence of the
Socialist and capitalist worlds, but rather a cautious,
persistent pressure toward the disruption and, weakening
of all rival influence and rival power.”
-George Kennan
Containment:
the cornerstone of America’s cold war foreign policy
1. Recognized the fact that Eastern Europe was already lost
to communism.
2. Called for the U.S. to resist Soviet attempts to form
Communist governments elsewhere in the world.
3. Kennan believed that the Soviet system “bears within it
the seeds of its own decay” and would eventually crumble
on its own.
***Critics saw this as too moderate and called for action to
push out communists.
Two main facets of containment in the early years:
1. Truman Doctrine
2. Marshall Plan
The ‘Truman Doctrine’
• Truman had been horrified at the prewar Allied policy of appeasement and
was determined to stand up to any Soviet
intimidation.
The Truman Doctrine in March 1947
promised that the USA “would support
free peoples who are resisting
subjugation by armed minorities or
by outside pressures”.
• Triggered by British inability to hold the
line in Greece, it was followed by aid to
Greece and Turkey, and also money to
help capitalists to stop communists in
Italy and France.
It signalled the end of “isolationist”
policies.
Europe was
Decimated
The ‘Marshall Plan’
• The Marshall Plan offered
huge sums to enable the
economies of Europe to rebuild
after World War II, and, by
generating prosperity, to reject
the appeal of Communism.
“The U. S. should provide
• The Soviet Union (USSR)
aid to all European nations
prevented Eastern European that need it. This move
is not against any country or
countries from receiving
doctrine, but against hunger,
American money.
poverty, desperation, and
chaos.”
Now show your understanding…
• Draw a picture depicting the 3 major tenants of
American Foreign Policy at the beginning of the
Cold War. (one picture for each)
– Containment
– Truman Doctrine
– Marshall Plan
**Use Book pages 400-405