Transcript Chapter 24 Truman and Cold War America

History 232 Texas Southern University
Professor S. Williams
What concerns did the United
States have concerning Europe
following World War II?
The era of confrontation and competition between the U.S. and the
Soviet Union when the threat of nuclear war created constant world
tension
United States
Soviet Union
vs.
Democracy
Communism
•Believed in a communistic
forms of government
•Believed in workers
revolting(striking) against
•Wanted to control countries
between Russian and
Germany
•Believed in democratic forms of
government
•Believed economic stability
would keep world peace
•Believed the free enterprise
system was necessary for
economic growth
War torn Europe
Military Pressure on Greece &
Turkey
Coup in Czechoslovakia
Berlin Blockade
Soviet Military Presence in
Europe
The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the Allied leaders
during World War II to decide what to do with Germany
Soviets take over Eastern Europe
Soviet troops move into Germany near the end of World War II
As World War II ended, the
Soviet army occupied the
countries of Eastern Europe
that Germany had conquered
during the war
Poland, Romania,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary Bulgaria
and East Germany
became satellite
nations of Soviet
Union
“An iron curtain has descended across the Continent”
– Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Peep under
the Iron
curtain
March 6, 1946
• Who is
“Joe”?
• What part of
Europe is
sealed off?
• What does
the wall
symbolize?
After World War II,
Germany was divided into
four zones, occupied by
French, British, American,
and Soviet troops.
Occupation zones after
1945. Berlin is the
multinational area within
the Soviet zone.
British
Soviet
French
American
East and West
Germany formed
West
Germany
East
Germany
East Berlin
West Berlin
In June of 1948, the
French, British and
American zones were joined
into the nation of West
Germany after the Soviets
refused to end their
occupation of Germany.
•USSR behavior? Why?
•George Kennan (US diplomat in
Moscow) writes the Long Telegram
•Russia’s insecurity and fear of
the West – reason why it would
be impossible to reach
agreements with Russia
•Kennan proposes containment
(keeping communism within its
present territory through diplomatic,
economic, and military actions)
Truman Doctrine
U.S. foreign policy established by President Truman saying the U.S.
would protect democracies throughout the world
“It must be the policy of the
United States to support free
peoples who are resisting
attempted subjugation by
armed minorities or outside
pressures”
-- Harry Truman
Truman
Doctrine
It pledged that the United States
would fight Communism worldwide
Truman Doctrine was an
extension to the U.S.
foreign policy set forth in
the Monroe Doctrine
(1823) and the Roosevelt
Corollary (1904)
Aid for Europe
Children in a London suburb, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home
Secretary of State
George Marshall toured
Western Europe;
witnessed widespread
homelessness and
famine.
Fearing Europeans would
turn to communism as an
answer to their economic
problems, Marshall
proposed the U.S. help to
rebuild Europe, leading
to…
U.S. plan for rebuilding Western
Europe, and repelling communism
after World War II.
Plan made U.S. heroes to people of
Western Europe.
Plan pumped billions of dollars
into Western Europe for food and
supplies.
The Marshall Plan proved to be a great success
Within 4 years, countries receiving aid saw a 41% higher
industrial production than on the eve of World War II
Countries were stabilized and exports were rising
rapidly
Countries receiving aid under Marshall Plan
Eastern European
countries were offered
to take part in the
Marshall Plan…
What is this cartoon
trying to say?
… but Stalin and other
East European leaders
refused financial help
from the United States
•First crisis of the Cold
War.
•In 1948, the Soviet
Union attempted to limit
the ability of France,
England, and the US to
travel through their
sectors of Berlin.
President Truman
decided to avoid the
blockade by flying in
food and other
supplies to the needy
people of West Berlin
At times, over
5,000 tons of
supplies
arrived daily
Berlin Airlift
The airlift continued for 11
months before Stalin finally
lifted the blockade
The Berlin Airlift saved the
people of West Berlin from
falling under Soviet Union
control
Soviet blockade of West
Germany convinced many
Americans that the Soviets
were trying to conquer other
nations
Birth
of
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Formed in 1949 to protect Western
Europe from Soviet aggression
Poland, Romania,
Czechoslovakia,
Hungary Bulgaria and
East Germany became
satellite nations of
Soviet Union
The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union’s response to
the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Election of 1948
Truman angered many Southern
Democrats by supporting integration.
Many people didn’t think he would be reelected.
THE G.I. BILL
Provided college for returning World
War II veterans (commonly referred to
as GIs)
Provided one year of unemployment
compensation
Millions of GIs bought homes, attended
college, started business venture, or found
jobs
THE G.I. BILL
President Franklin Roosevelt signs the GI Bill in 1944
Between 1945 and 1954, the
U.S. added 13 million new
homes to its housing stock
VA Mortgages paid
for nearly 5 million
new homes, by
making homes
affordable with low
interest rates and 30
year loans.
U.S. citizens in
1950s feared
Communists
wanted to take
over the world.
This fear was
known as the Red
Scare.
Spies like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
and Alger Hiss caused fear that our
government was infiltrated by the
Communists
•Committee set up to
investigate Communist
activities in the U.S.
•HUAC searched for
Soviet spies and
Communist
sympathizers.
•“Are you now or have
you ever been a
Communist?”
The Hollywood Ten
People who were accused of being
Communists were often “blacklisted”.
A group of Hollywood actors who were
blacklisted for refusing to answer HUAC
questions became known as the
“Hollywood Ten”.
If someone was blacklisted, it meant
they were denied work or ostracized from
society.
Movie stars Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart lead a protest during height of
Hollywood Blacklist controversy
 Communism and the threat of
the atomic bomb dominated life
in the 1950s
 Fallout (radiation left over from
an atomic blast)
 Americans began to build fallout
shelters
 Time of contrast:
 Images of the Cold War fear filled
popular culture
 The country enjoyed immense
postwar prosperity and optimism
The Cold War Heats Up
Cold War spreads to Asia
Half the world now appeared to be
under Communist control
The country of Korea became the next
battleground in the Cold War
Communists take over in
China.
Mao Zedong takes control of
Chinese government from
Chang Kai-shek’s Nationalist
Party.
China
Korea
The
Korean
War
The Cold War gets HOT
Following World War II, the
Allies divided Korea at the
38th parallel
Soviets controlled North
Korea; U.S. sets up a
democracy in South Korea
Both governments claimed to
control all of Korea
The
Korean
War
A “Police Action” (1950-1953)
Kim Il-Sung
Leader of
North Korea
“Domino Theory”
Syngman Rhee
President of
South Korea
If one country falls to communism,
others around it will fall as well
The
Korean
War
The Cold War gets HOT
On June 25, 1950, North Korea
invades South Korea
UN forces under Macarthur
come to the aid of South Korea
Communist forces push UN
forces to brink of defeat
UN forces push North Koreans
back to border of China
The
Korean
War
China enters the war
North Koreans pushed
back to border with China
Chinese enter war on the
side of North Koreans
Macarthur calls for an
invasion of China, wants
to use the atomic bomb
Macarthur criticized
Truman for wanting a
“limited war” .
An artillery officer directs UN troops as they drop white
phosphorous on a Communist-held post in February 1951.
The Korean War
War ends in a stalemate
An armistice was signed
ending the war in July 1953
Korea was divided at the
38th parallel
Korean War marked an important turning point in the
Cold War.
U.S. began a major military build-up; began using
military force to prevent spread of communism.
McCarthyism
In 1952, U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy began
holding Senate hearings.
Numerous Americans accused of
having ties to the Communist
Party.
McCarthy turned the hearings into witch-hunts,
destroying numerous people’s reputations on rumor
and weak evidence.
U-2 Incident
Incident cools Soviet-U.S. relations
Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ spy plane
was shot down
over Soviet
airspace in 1960
Russians launch Sputnik
Impact of Sputnik
Congress establishes the
National Aeronautics and
Space Agency (NASA) to
conduct research in rocket
and space technology
Congress also passed the National Defense
Education Act, which provided money for
education and training in science, math and
foreign languages
The Space Race Begins
In 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri
Gagarin blasted off into space, making
the Soviet Union the first nation to
launch a human into orbit
Kennedy said he wanted U.S. to
land a man on the moon by the end
of the 1960s
Going into the late 50s and 60s,
the Cold War starts to heat up
with no end in sight.
The Cold War will continue
throughout the 1960s as the
world moved closer to open
conflicts with US & USSR.