U.S. History 2nd Semester 01_Introduction to the Cold War

Mr. Sanders 1 of 4

Beginning of the Cold War-

  • growing mistrust between the two world superpowers-the U.S. and the ______

Allies Become Enemies

  • Post-war Problems
  • During WWII the Soviet Union and the US worked together
  • When the war ends old hostilities come back
  • Both countries had different political viewpoints that did not go together

Capitalism/Free Enterprise – United States

  • Most businesses and industries are ______controlled by individuals
  • Competition determines the cost of goods and worker pay
  • US saw itself as the beacon of freedom in the world

Fate of Europe

  • Yalta Conference
  • Feb 4, 1945
  • Conference to decide the postwar ______of Europe
  • Called for free elections and democracy in the nations liberated from the Nazis
  • Stalin (leader of Soviet Union) did not agree with this-he wanted to keep control over E. Europe

Germany

  • Western Allies want a united demilitarized and independent Germany
  • Soviets feared a united Germany would invade their country
  • Split into 4 parts but later becomes 2 countries
  • Eastern Germany (Soviet controlled) and Western Germany (democratic and free)

The Iron Curtain descended on Europe

•Winston Churchill uses this phrase to describe what happened in Europe

•This imaginary line marked the democratic west on one side and the Soviet controlled east on the other

Eastern Europe

•Free elections agreed on at Yalta did ______happen

•Soviets establish “satellite states” or governments under the Soviet Union’s control

Greece and Turkey

•1946: Communist revolt in Greece

•British were supporting Greek Government

•Ask the US for help

•US did not want Greece or its neighbor, Turkey, to fall to ______

•Truman asked congress for $400 million in aid for the two countries

Marshall Plan

  • What is it?
  • General George C. Marshall (Truman’s Secretary of State)
  • Asked European countries to come up with long term economic plans
  • The US would give aid to these countries to rebuild
  • Between 1948-1952, US spent $13 billion in W. Europe

Why did we need the Marshall Plan

•After WWII Economies of Europe were in bad shape

•Fear this could cause problems for world peace and US economy

•Fear that communism would be popular in countries with poor economies

A Cold War

  • When
  • Lasted from 1945-1991
  • What
  • Cold War = struggle/tensions between the US and Soviet Union over global ______
  • No real face to face war between the two countries
  • a new “Red Scare”: we’re afraid of communism and its spread
  • Why
  • US worried the Soviets would try to extend their ______
  • Soviets worried the US would try to take away their power

2nd Red Scare

  • Where the Fears Came From
  • Growth of communism in the US (Communist Party of the USA)
  • Soviet Expansion into Eastern Europe
  • Communist takeover of China
  • 1949-Soviets had tested an atomic bomb
  • HUAC
  • House Un-American Activities Committee
  • Created May 1938
  • Investigated ______and harmful foreign influences
  • Held hearings on Communists in Hollywood and the Government

HUAC and Blacklisting

•HUAC’s most publicized hearings were with Hollywood and the State Dept.

•People investigated in Hollywood (film, radio, TV) by HUAC were often blacklisted

•Blacklisting = refusing to hire

•Those accused couldn’t find jobs

•HUAC investigated 3 million people

•The ______, a group of writers who would not cooperate with HUAC, were the most famous of those blacklisted

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

•Convicted in 1951 of passing secret atomic weapons info to Soviets

•Executed in 1953 for conspiracy to commit espionage

McCarthyism

  • Joseph McCarthy-stirred up Cold War fears
  • Republican Senator from Wisconsin (1947-57)
  • In 1950 began a campaign to expose alleged communists in the US Government

McCarthy’s Accusations

  • Communists had infiltrated the US Government
  • Claimed to have files on ______communists in the State Department
  • His accusations were called a hoax but he simply made up more charges
  • No Challenges from the Public
  • Were not used to questioning public officials
  • Did not want to be labeled “soft on communism”
  • People wanted an explanation for the spread of communism and McCarthy gave them one
  • “McCarthyism”-making vicious accusations ______proof

Army-McCarthy Hearings

  • One of McCarthy’s assistants had been drafted in the Military
  • McCarthy blamed communists in the military for this
  • A group of Senators decided to hold televised hearings on these charges

McCarthy

  • McCarthy continued to attack military and the Army’s Attorney, Joseph Welch
  • People began to see McCarthy as a bully
  • 1954: Senate voted to condemn McCarthy, 67 to 22-formal reprimand
  • McCarthy’s lies however still ______careers and lives

Communist Fears in Pop Culture

  • Magazines
  • Articles published about communism
  • “How Communists Get That Way”
  • “Communists Are After Your Child”
  • Movies
  • Hollywood produced 40 anti-communist film
  • “I Married a Communist”

Fear of the Bomb

  • At Home
  • Students practice duck and cover drills
  • People built bomb shelters in their backyards

•In the 1950’s and 1960’s over 100,000 Americans prepared their own fallout shelters in their basements or backyards.

•Underground shelters were built in backyards under at least 4 feet of earth or 2 feet of concrete with walls a foot thick.

•Shelters ranged from $100 for the most basic up to $500 for those that included Geiger counters, telephones, electrical generators and other luxuries.

  • Stocked up on food that did not have to be refrigerated
  • Bought Pocket Dosimeters to let them know when radiation levels were safe

SANE

•Committee for Sane ______Policy

•Anti-nuclear group

•Argued that nuclear tests released harmful radioactive particles that led to birth defects and disease

Truman

  • Fair Deal
  • proposed postwar reforms
  • ______SS, GI Bill, raise min. wage
  • Truman Doctrine
  • President Truman plan to stop the spread of communism
  • US would give economic aid to countries to fight communism

New Foreign Policy

  • Domino theory
  • If one country fell to Communism, the rest around them would fall
  • Containment
  • US would try to “______” communism
  • Wanted to keep it from spreading into important areas
  • Keep communism where it was

United Nations

•Formed by 50 nations to :

–keep peace

–save succeeding generations from the scourge of war

–reaffirm faith in ______

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

  • NATO
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  • April 1949: US, Canada, Iceland, and 9 W. European Nations
  • Member nations agree to defend each other in case of an attack
  • NATO would work as a protector against the spread of Communism
  • Warsaw Pact
  • 1955
  • Soviet Union’s response to ______
  • Created an alliance between the Soviet Union and its “satellite states” in E. Europe
  • Members agreed to protect each other if attacked