Transcript Tarzia`s Cold War PP - Wantagh Union Free School District

The Cold War
1947-1953
(sometimes 1947-1991)
PRESIDENTS:
Known as a “cold” war
because no actual fighting
took place.
Presidents:
Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-1969
HARRY S. TRUMAN 1945-1953
Richard Nixon 1969-1974
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER 19531961
Gerald Ford 1974-1977
Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
Ronald Reagan 1981-1989
George H.W. Bush 1989-1993
The United States and the World,
1945- 1954
World
War II
ends
NATO
formed
Ceasefire in
Korea
1945
1949
1953
1947
Marshall
Plan;
Truman
Doctrine
1950
Korean War
begins;
Rosenbergs
arrested
1954
McCarthy
censured
by Senate
Foreign Policy

Containment was the new foreign policy

U.S. became involved in international peacekeeping efforts and to stop
the spread of communism.

Even though the U.S. and the Soviets were allies during WWII, they
did not trust each other

Soviet Union was viewed as a threat to security to the
noncommunist world.

Containment: limiting the expansion of communism.


Confine communism to the area in which it already existed (the Soviet
Union and the Eastern European nations)
Presidential power increased during this period
Churchill’s “Iron
Curtain” Speech

1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri

Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain

Speech:


Cautioned the world about the threat of
communist expansion.

“from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the
Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across
the Continent.”
Recognizable division between the free
Western Europe and the communist Eastern
Europe
Truman Doctrine


Great Britain was a powerful force in the Mediterranean Sea

After the war, their influence was weakened.

The Soviet Union was looking for access to the Mediterranean Sea by way of
the Turkish strait. (Looked to influence in the area)
Soviets supported communist growth in Greece



Led to the U.S. to try to contain the spread of communism in the
Mediterranean region.
March 1947

Truman asked Congress for $400 million in aid to Turkey & Greece

Asked the U.S. to support free people in resisting control by armed minorities
or outside pressures.

Truman believed if they did not act it would endanger the nation and the
free world.
Truman Doctrine: Money given to Turkey and Greece to stop the
spread of communism

Brought the U.S further out of isolationism
The Marshall Plan

Named after General George C.
Marshall

Secretary of State

Stated that the U.S. was against
“hunger, poverty, desperation, and
chaos.”

Between 1948-1952, $13 billion was
allocated by Congress for the
rebuilding of Europe.


The largest amount of money went
to Great Britain, France, Italy, and
West Germany
Money allowed Western Europe to
begin consumer production and
build a prosperous economy.
Germany post World War II

Divided into 4 zones

Great Britain

France

Soviet Union

United States
Berlin Blockade

U.S., France, and Great Britain
cooperated in governing the
western sectors of Germany.

3 western powers except the Soviet
Union unified.

1949


West Germany was established
Soviets hoped that the blockade
would force the western powers
out of Berlin
The Berlin Airlift

The Soviets blocked roads leading to the city of Berlin.

Did not allow Western Berlin to access supplies by road

Western powers airlifted


Food

Clothing

Coal

Medicine
This led to the creation of the German Democratic republic.


AKA East Germany
1955, West Germany was given full sovereignty
Point Four Program

Under Truman

Provided money for technical development programs in Latin
America, Asia, and Africa.

Purpose: to modernize and strengthen the economies of
developing nations and thereby discourage the growth of
communism.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO

Agreement bound 12 nations (including the U.S.)

Promised to act together for their common defense

Soviets created the Warsaw Pact in response to NATO

1949 Truman claimed that the Soviet Union successfully exploded an
atomic bomb.

Fear motivated the U.S. to assist countries that wanted to be free of
communism
Communist China

1930s

Civil war between Mao Zedong (Communist Leader) and Chiang
Kai-shek (Nationalist)

1949

Communist forces defeated nationalists and remained China the
People’s Republic of China.

Feared communism would spread to Japan
Korean War

Known as the “forgotten war”

Divided along the 38th parallel

North Korea- Communism

South Korea- Republic
Fighting begins

North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950

Truman responded to this invasion by committing American troops
to the Korean conflict.
General MacArthur

WWII hero

Commanded the U.S. military in Korea

Led to devastating losses

1951 the war reached a stalemate

Truman and MacArthur had opposing strategies

When MacArthur publically disagreed, Truman pulled him from
command
Hostilities End

Truce talks begin in 1951

Dwight Eisenhower (1952 election) promised to aid in peace
negotiations in Korea

Cease-fire was not officially signed until July 27, 1953

War lasted 3 years, cost more than $15 billion, and approximately
34,000 Americans and one million Koreans and Chinese dies in the
conflict.

Korean remained divided and continues to have political conflicts
New Direction

Early containment focused on economic aid programs

The Korean War showed that U.S. was willing to take military action
The Cold War at Home

HUAC

1938 House Un-American Activities Committee

Formed to temporarily investigate communist activity in the U.S.

Ran for 30 years

Blacklisted many actors, writers and directors during the 1940s-1950s

J. Edgar Hoover (director of the Federal Bureau of investigation) aided
HUAC investigations.

Many felt Hoover violated civil rights laws with his investigations
Policies




1940

Smith Act

Made it illegal for anyone to advocate “overthrowing.. Any government in the United
States by force” or to “affiliate” with groups that called for such action.
1951

Dennis v. United States

General secretary of the Communist Party in the U.S., and ten others were convicted
of advocating the violent overthrow of the government.
1957

Watkins v. United States

Court ruled HUAC could not punish witnesses who refused to cooperate with its
investigations.
1957

Yates v. United States

Ruled that the Smith Act applied only to those who teach or advocate direct “action”
to overthrow government, not to those who merely advocate it in principle.
Loyalty Program

1947

Truman

Loyalty Review Board


Conduct security checks on thousands of
government employees.

Anyone who was doubted was dismissed.
1950s

Robert Oppenheimer (atomic bomb guy!)

Opposed building a new and more
destructive hydrogen bomb

Government question his loyalty

Was considered loyal but security clearance
was removed and he was barred from
future government research!
Hiss Case

Alger Hiss

Led Americans to believe that there were
communists in government

1948

Hiss was charged with being a Communist
spy during the 1930s

Richard Nixon believed he was guilty

Nixon’s pursuit on the case and Hiss’s
conviction made Nixon a national figure
McCarthyism

1950

Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began his hunt for
communists.

Claimed he knew who communists were in government

Made bold accusations WITHOUT evidence

Tactic known as McCarthyism
The Rosenberg Case

1950

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg

Accused of giving atomic secrets to the Soviets during World War II

Convicted of espionage and executed in 1953.
Congressional Legislation

McCarran International Security Act


Limited the actions of anyone the government considered a threat to
the U.S. security
McCarran-Walter Act 1952

Restricted immigration of persons from communist-dominated nations in
Asia and southern and central Europe

Truman vetoed the bill, Congress overrode veto and passed it

Checks and Balances!
McCarthy’s Fall

1954

Claimed the army was full of communists

Held televised investigations

American’s saw this as bullying

Public support faded

1954, Senate censured him for “conduct unbecoming a member”

The fall of McCarthy ended the Red Scare of the 1950s


There were some lingering effects
McCarthy was criticized for violating constitutional liberties