Yalta was the next-to-last of the wartime allied conferences It dealt mainly with the settlement of...
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Transcript of Yalta was the next-to-last of the wartime allied conferences It dealt mainly with the settlement of...
Yalta was the next-to-last of the wartime allied conferences
It dealt mainly with the settlement of issues anticipated in post-war Europe
FDR was too ill to withstand Stalin’s demands to control the Eastern European countries the USSR had “liberated” from Nazism
Roosevelt died April 12, 1945
After the German surrender, a new “Big 3” met in Potsdam, Germany
Clement Atlee
Harry Truman
Josef Stalin
Harry S Truman, now US president, took a “hard line” with Stalin
Clement Atlee, now British PM, was not a strong negotiator
Conference was a failure The Allies divided Germany into four
sectors, for administration and rehabilitation (US, France, Britain, USSR)
Berlin was also divided into four sectors although it was entirely within the Soviet sector
Each of the “Big 4” was charged with “rehabilitating” its quarter
GOALS: each Allied nation would Help reconstitute a “de-Nazified” civil
government See to needs of refugees Hold trials of Nazi war criminals
Berlin was near the crossroads of the four sectors
It was in the East German (Soviet) territory
But it was supposed to be jointly run, and was itself divided into four sectors
Signs posted at checkpoint station marking the end of each occupation zone.
In June 1948, USSR closed off “its” sector of Germany (later “East Germany”)
Refused to allow rail, water and Autobahn traffic across the Soviet sector, in and out of West Berlin (administered by US, Britain, France)
USA began an airlift of supplies into Berlin, in defiance of USSR
Supplied all the needs of West Berlin by air for almost a year – “The Berlin Airlift”
The USSR did not believe the Allies could keep this up
Eventually, the USSR relented and traffic into West Berlin was restored in May 1949
The US and Great Britain had delivered a total of 2,326,406 tons of supplies by air, in 278,228 flights
The Australians delivered another 7,968 tons
The airplanes flew a total of 92 million miles
Most of the flights involved C-47s and C-54s
The cost of the operation was estimated at $224 million
101 fatalities were recordedThe Soviets had been prevented
from taking over all of BerlinBut the “Cold War” had begun
Communist revolutionaries under Mao Zedong overthrew Pres. Chiang Kai-Shek in China, 1949
US suspected USSR had aided the communists
Chiang fled to island of TaiwanMao controlled Chinese mainlandUS official recognition remained
with Taiwan, not “Red” China
United Nations founded in San Francisco in 1946
Similar to old League of Nations, but with more power
Founded by “The Big 4”, who controlled UN’s powerful Security Council
USSR membership in UN was seen as a threat by many in USA
The United Nations Security Council wields virtually all the real power in the UN
The “permanent” members of the UN Security Council are the USA, Great Britain, France, China and the USSR
Any one nation can exercise a vetoThus all major decisions must be
unanimous
Many points of tension:USSR’s intent to spread communism
into the countries of Eastern Europe formerly controlled by the Nazis
USSR was known to have atomic weapons by fall 1949
New threat of Communism spreading from China to other areas in Asia
Truman’s goal: stop spread of CommunismThe Truman Doctrine in March 1947:
The USA “would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”
It signalled the end of our “isolationst” policies
The bitter lesson of the Treaty of Versailles may have been learned
Retired General George Marshall administered a plan . . . To rebuild Europe To provide a successful alternative to
communism To bring democracy to countries once
controlled by Nazism
American dollars enabled a revitalization of Western Europe
Germany experienced an “Economic Miracle”
Meanwhile, Soviet dictatorship worked to establish communist “satellites” in the East
Senator Joe McCarthy dominated US politics for several years 1948-53
He was a staunch anti-communist
Convinced Congress, the President, and society that USSR influence sought to overthrow the USA
Claimed “Reds in high positions in government, industry, and entertainment”
General paranoia in US about “Red” influence
There was pressure on Truman to “contain” (limit) spread of communism from N. Korea to S. Korea
This led to Korean War (1950-52)Congressional hearings regarding
communist influence in the Pentagon, State Department, and even in Hollywood
Alger Hiss was one of those targeted by the “red scare”
Hiss had been an official in the US State Department
He was instrumental in the founding of the United Nations in 1945-1949
He was Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on International Organization
In 1948, he was accused of being a secret Communist and an agent of the USSR
He denied it all, but was ultimately convicted of perjury (the statute of limitations had run out on espionage)
Hiss served a term in prison, and continued to deny his guilt for the rest of his life
Whether or not Hiss was a communist remains uncertain even today.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were accused of passing information to the USSR about the Manhattan Project (atomic bomb), 1949-52
They were arrested, tried and convicted
The Rosenbergs were executed 1952 Were they victims of paranoia, or guilty
of spying? Many insisted they were innocent Information released from the Soviet
archives after the breakup of the USSR in 1970s show that Julius was in fact a courier for the Soviets
Ethel’s level of involvement remains uncertain
Serviceman’s Readjustment Act (“GI BILL of RIGHTS”) provided funds for vets for home and business loans, and college tuition
Truman ordered de-segregation of military 1948
Suggested national health insurancePlan failed: too “communistic”
Truman squeaked to re-election victory in 1948 over Thomas Dewey
Regardless of what the papers said, Truman won
Truman could have run again in 1952 The 22nd Amendment was ratified in
1951 It prohibited anyone from serving more
than two terms as president But did not apply to Truman because It specifically excluded “any person who
may be holding the office of President, or acting as president” when the Amendment was proposed/ratified
But Truman chose not to run again anyway
The Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson
Stevenson lost badly o Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1952
”Ike” was a 5-star General, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, hero of WWII
Ike campaigned on anti-communism
Running mate: Richard Nixon