AICE International History 1945 -1991 ~ The Cold War Introduction and The Origins Kevin Sacerdote...

AICE International History

1945 -1991 ~

The Cold War Introduction and The Origins

Kevin SacerdoteMandarin High School

Jacksonville, FL

Kevin Sacerdote (Content) www.brainybetty.com (Design) 2

Pictorial Overview

Consider Where You Have Been

Twenty-one years separated the two world wars, providing their combatants with time to recover from their losses, restore some semblance of

domestic order, redefine their national interests, and prepare for future challenges…but that was

not true after World War II…it was only six months after the Japanese surrender that

Winston Churchill gloomily proclaimed that an “iron curtain” had descended across central

Europe

Hook & Spanier (2007). American Foreign Policy Since World War II, p. 50.Kevin Sacerdote (Content) www.brainybetty.com (Design) 3

Consider

The Cold War is [was] more than a sum of events- rather it underscores

[d] how the Cold War’s symbolic power and the tension that drove it depended on local conditions that

always

eluded complete control ( by the USA and the USSR)

(pp. xxix-xxx)


AICE International History Theme Suggestions

1. The Origins of the Cold War after WW II

2. The Globalization of the Cold War

3. The Crisis of Communism and the End of the Cold War

4. The Nuclear Arms Race, 1945-1991

5. The Development of the International Economy, 1945-1991

6. The Third World


Distinct Cold War Phases(consider ‘marker events’ for each; overviews follow)

1. 1945 - 1953

2. 1954 - 1964

3. 1965 - 1979

4. 1980 - 1991(Encyclopedia of the Cold War Edited by Ruud van Dijk Routledge: New York: NY)


Cold War Era # 1: 1945 - 1953

• Product of WW II, & its immediate aftermath (Truman/Stalin Era)

• Shaped from alliances, agreements, and the geo-political “shake out” from WWII

• Expanding USA influence in W. Europe V. the expanding territorial reach of USSR (esp. in Eastern Europe)


Cold War # 1: 1945-1953

• Extends beyond Europe into Asia (and elsewhere)

• It begins to engender a nuclear arms race

• Domestic politics will influence & will be influenced by the conflict


Cold War Era # 2: 1954-1964

• Coincides with Khrushchev’s years in power

Soviet-American competition over nuclear domination

Fragmentation of the communist and capitalist blocs


Cold War Era # 2: 1954-1964(Continued Impact of Decolonization)

3. Continued expansion of the Cold War to the expanding Third World (Cuba, Vietnam, Laos)

4. Emergence of the “non-aligned” movement


Cold War Era # 3: 1965-1979

• Rise and fall of détente– Warsaw Pact intervenes in Czechoslovakia

further solidifying the status quo in Europe– China & USSR fight a border war (Sino/Soviet Split)

– USA begins to normalize relations with China– Escalation of turmoil in the developing

world i.e. Vietnam , China (Cultural Revolution), Africa, Central America, and the Middle East


Cold War Era # 3: 1965-1979

• Various European countries and activists begin to question the logic behind the Cold War– Ostpolitik (West Germany / Willy Brandt)– Student protests– European diplomatic push for détente and

cooperation resulting in the Helsinki Accords of 1975

– Ends with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)


Cold War Era # 4: 1980-1991• Renewed East-West tension including a

new phase in the arms race• Initial Hardened policies under President

Reagan (“Evil Empire”)• Poland 1981 (martial law w/ ‘Soviet Backing’)• Poland: Solidarity Movement (UP,

Underground, Up Again)• Rise of Gorbachev’s New Thinking, and

Yeltsin• End of the Cold War 1989 - 1991


The Cold War

“Each new revelation from Soviet, East European, and Chinese archives makes it

starkly clear that the history of the Cold war must be reexamined…we learned that along

with the “hard power” of the spheres of influence, bombs and missiles, there was the “soft power” of fear and suspicion, distorted perceptions that had driven both sides, the West and the Soviet Union, to continue the

Cold War”(Zubock,1996, xii, xiii)


AICE Essay Construction

• Prompts will ask you to agree or refute a statement– Take a stand without using the word “I”– Logically disagreeing with a prompt,

especially if YOU add balance, demonstrates written sophistication

– Answer the question asked, do not create your own

• Key to AICE Essays is BALANCE (always)


AICE ESSAYS: General

• Essays are commitments on paper!

• Words by themselves prove NOTHING!– i.e. “This demonstrated that…” (Garbage)

• You must communicate in an explicit manner via the written word!

You must demonstrate the “This” by taking advantage of the following

Mantra!


YOUR AICE Essay Mantra

I will EXPLICITLY explain the HOW and WHY for each of my thoughts and will religiously reinforce these thoughts

with real-world examples

Failure to do so will lead to my academic demise. It will force me to look into my mirror and to gaze at the

ultimate cause of this academic evil…


Be Forewarned

Sailor!


AICE Essay: ‘Origins’ Theme

• Do NOT get drawn into blaming the ultimate cause on one side or the other (unless?)

• Leave one-sided emotions out of your thoughts– Assess the view that neither the USA nor the USSR

wanted a Cold War to develop in Europe in the years 1945-1949 or

– Which of the following has the best claim to mark the start of the Cold War: Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech, 1946; the Truman Doctrine, 1947; the Berlin Blockade, 1948-49? Explain your answer (can you choose one, but balance each of your body paragraphs?)



Cold War ‘Origin’ Theories

– Traditional/Orthodox: Stalin was the main instigator, especially considering his aggressive behavior in Eastern Europe and his “lies” (from Yalta) about free and open elections.

– Revisionist: The aggressive anti-communist stance (especially by Truman) and use of bombs against the Japanese led some to blame Truman for the start of the Cold War.

– Post-Revisionist: Both the U.S.S.R. & the United States were mutually responsible for the origins of the Cold War.


Causes of the Cold War• Fear,• Mistrust, • Domestic Politics, • Misinterpretations,• Ideological Differences• the International System, • World-wide Opportunities, • Maintaining a balance of power, • Germany, control one’s destiny, • Russo-Centricism, and McCarthyism

• Expansionism & the Geo-political “shake-out” towards the end of WWII!


Cold War: “Origins”

• 1920’s – 1930’s: Neither the USA or the USSR was a world military power

• 1933: FDR established formal diplomatic ties with the USSR (remember the USA had backed the Mensheviks versus the Bolsheviks)


Cold War: Early Conferences1. Casablanca:

– January 1943

– FDR & Winston Churchill meet

– Stalin was not invited, adds to his mistrust

– War could only end with a full, unconditional German surrender

Casablanca’s Big Two


Next Step: “The Grand Alliance”

2. Tehran, Iran (pledge to free the world of tyranny/war)

• November 29-December 1, 1943 • FDR, Churchill, & Stalin (decide that the UK & US

Would invade N. France in the summer of 1944)• What to do with Germany after the war (briefly)?

NOTE

In between Tehran (Nov./Dec 1943) & Yalta ( Feb. 1945) Churchill and FDR will have another meeting!

Quebec City, Canada(September 1944)

• Roosevelt & Churchill meet without Stalin• Discuss:

– Future occupation of Germany– Lend-lease supplies for Britain

• Eventually exceeds $31 billion

– British naval support against Japan– Eastern Europe was not discussed

• Even though Romania & Bulgaria were overrun by the Red Army, and still on the march!!! (Plokhy, p. 25)


Quebec City, Canada(September 1944)

• Churchill felt that after Quebec and before the next meeting of the Big 3 he had to see Stalin in Moscow!– FDR could not attend due to his 4th Presidential

campaign– Churchill feared Stalin would sign a separate

peace with Hitler– Churchill also had Poland and the Balkans (esp.

Greece) on his mind (sends paratroopers to the Greek mainland BEFORE he meets with Stalin)


The British Enter Greece(Plokhy, p. 145)

• The British “Invasion” of Greece was more of an occupation for politico-military objectives – A few days before Churchill goes to Moscow

(the Brits “inch” into Greece) – WHY?


Churchill

Communism raised its head behind the thundering Russian

battle-front. Russia was the Deliverer, and Communism, the

gospel she brought !

(Winston Churchill)(Plokhy, p. 145)


Moscow (Churchill & Stalin, No FDR: October 1944)

• Conversations start with Poland, then the Balkans

• “Poland was the acid test of Soviet goodwill…if the Western Allies were determined to address Poland at Yalta, the Soviets were reluctant” (Plokhy, p. 153)

• To cement his new relationship, Churchill confided that he did not like the details of America’s plan for the new United Nations…secrecy… business behind FDR’s back? (Greece/Britain, Turkey/ Stalin is Eyeing)

(Plokhy, p.146)


Moscow (Churchill & Stalin, No FDR: October 1944)

• Churchill gives Stalin percentage deals (like Stalin will abide, yeah right Yugoslavia 50%-50% I don’t think so!)– i.e. Bulgaria 75 % Soviet Influence - 25% British– America will not be told about this % deal – The irony of Churchill and his Eastern European

percentages should not be lost here!• Churchill’s infamous Iron Curtain speech is still looming!• Do you think Stalin truly feels that Britain will be more of a

future player when compared to the USA?(Plokhy, p.146-148)


Yalta: The Price of PeaceWritten by S. M. Plokhy (published 2010)

Western Dilemma at Yalta

“Was it better to accept the reality of Soviet military dominance in Eastern Europe and

dissociate themselves politically and morally from what the Soviets were doing there, or, on the contrary, should they try to influence the situation by cultivating the Soviets and

thus implicitly legitimizing their rule?”(p. 151)


Yalta• Churchill wants resolution on Poland

• By Feb. 1945 the Soviet Red Army occupied Poland

• A provisional government was set up by the pro-communist Polish Committee on National Liberation (PCNL)

• Talks with the exiled London Poles had broken down after the Germans reported the NKVD killings of Poles at Katyn Forest


Yalta: Day-to-Day Topics

• February 4, 1945 (Day One): Military Concerns• February 5, 1945 (Day Two): Dismemberment

of Germany/Zones of Occupation, Reparations, length of stay, future German Government, and what “unconditional” surrender meant

• February 6, 1945 (Day Three): Creation of a United Nations, future role of France (esp. after FDR’s Hint of leaving), Poland, Free Elections, Borders, (indirectly) a need for a buffer zone for the Soviets, and the Curzon line (the first communiqué was ok’d)


Yalta Topics

• February 7, 1945 (Day Four): Poland, the United Nations, Eastern Europe, and Soviet entry into the war against Japan

• February 8, 1945 (Day Five): Iran, Current Military Fronts and the continued bombing of Germany

• February 9, 1945 (Day Six): Japan, A U.N., US Bases in the Far East, Poland, supplies ( The Declaration on Liberated Europe was brought forth)


Yalta Topics

• February 10, 1945 (Day Seven/ The Last Full Day): Picture Taken, Polish Free Elections, Nazi War Criminals, Yugoslavia & Tito, Prisoners of War, and Turkey & control of the Black Sea (Stalin wants this, like many Soviet rulers before him)

• February 11, 1945 (Day Eight): Poland, the UN, and Iran


Yalta ‘Compromise’ on Poland• PCNL government would be reorganized

to include democratic leaders (LIE)

• The Brits and Americans agreed to the “Curzon Line” as the Polish-USSR border– Moscow’s gains under the auspices of the Nazi-Soviet

pact were now formally recognized– To compensate Poland for its territorial losses in the

East by adjusting their border with Germany, no exact locations were discussed

– Russia entering the war against Japan was also discussed (after Germany surrendered, Russia would reclaim lands lost in 1904/05 Russo-Japanese War)



The Declaration on Liberated Europe(Presented by the Americans on Feb. 9th, 1945 signed a short time later by all three nations)

“To foster the conditions in which the liberated peoples may exercise those [democratic] rights, all three governments will jointly assist the people in any European liberated state or former axis satellite state in Europe…to form representative governments, facilitate free elections, etc.”

Declaration on Liberated Europe

…a peculiar document. No piece of paper approved by the Big Three become more

prominent immediately after the conference…all three powers agreed to adhere in their treatment of the countries

liberated from the Nazis, which at the time of signing, the British were openly violating

in Greece and the Soviets in Poland (Plokhy, p. 263)


Declaration on Liberated Europe

The problem was that Stalin was not the only leader to disregard the Declaration.

With his policies in Italy and Greece, Churchill ignored the principles of the declaration, just as he had ignored the Atlantic Charter in Iran…the degree to

which the British violated the declaration was different, but disregard was plain for

the world to see! (Plokhy, p. 401)



Yalta• “By May 1945, in central and eastern Europe, the Red

Army had liberated and re-occupied Hungary, Poland, and most of Czechoslovakia. The shape of post-war Europe was dictated in the first instance not by wartime deals and accords but rather by the whereabouts of occupying armies when the Germans surrendered” (Judt, p. 102-103)

• “The truly important issue-arrangements for post-war Germany- were off the table [at Yalta] precisely because it was so important and intractable” (Judt, p. 102)

(Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, Tony Judt, pp. 102-103)


April – July 1945

• April 12, 1945 FDR Dies

• May 7, 1945 Germany Surrenders & is partitioned

• May 11, 1945 Truman cuts off wartimesupplies to the USSR

• July 16, 1945 US Atomic Bomb Test

Tripartite Cooperation

• Create a successor to the defunct League of Nations (VIP for FDR)

– Led to the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (Aug.- Sept. 1944), and

– The San Francisco Conference (Apr. – June 1945)

• The Moscow Foreign Minister’s Meeting led to the development of the European Advisory Commission – Eventually decides to cut Germany into three zones



The Big Three: Potsdam

• Potsdam, Germany- worn-torn suburb of Berlin

• July 17–Aug. 2, 1945• Begins one day after

America tested its first atomic bomb

Attlee In, Churchill Out

Potsdam ( Via Ambrose and Brinkley)

• At Potsdam, Truman:– Learned “that the only thing the Russians

understood was force” (p. 66)…[Truman] would not allow the Russians any part in the control of Japan…if any nation did become aggressive…the United States would use the atomic bomb…the strategy would later be called massive retaliation” (p. 67)…[but the] American possession of the bomb had no noticeable effect on Stalin’s policy in Eastern Europe…[Stalin] continued to do as he pleased” (p. 68)


Potsdam, Germany

• Sets the stage for the division of the continent into East and West

• The difficult lessons of Versailles (1919) were still fresh in the minds of the leaders in 1945

• Not intended to produce a formal peace treaty, only lasts 16 days

• Truman’s “immediate purpose was to get the Russians into the war against Japan ( Ambrose &

Brinkley, p. 64)…[the other major issue] at Potsdam was Germany” ( Ambrose & Brinkley, p. 65)



Potsdam, Germany

• USA’s wishes about Germany: – A Strong & United Germany– Rid Germany of Nazism– Hold Nazi Trials – Break Apart German Military– Control German Industrial Production– Build a new Germany along Capitalism and

Democracy– Truman also told not to trust Stalin by FDR’s

people


Potsdam, Germany

• USSR’s wishes about Germany

– A weak government, – large reparations

• Monetarily,• raw materials,• industrial equipment and • Factories

• Soviet Security from future attacks ( Creation of a “Buffer Zone” )


A Shift in Soviet Borders

At the Yalta conference he [Stalin] agreed [to free elections] ‘We can implement it in our own way later.’ The heart of the matter

is the correlation of forces…the Soviet Union’s borders were moved several

hundred miles to the west, and the Red Army installed subservient regimes

throughout the rest of Eastern Europe

(Gaddis, p. 21)


Potsdam Declaration & Beyond(President Truman)

• July 26 1945 (The Potsdam Declaration)– Calls for an unconditional Japanese

surrender

• August 6, 1945 Hiroshima Bombing

• August 8, 1945 USSR declares war on Japan, and invades Manchuria

• August 9, 1945 Nagasaki Bombing

Atomic Warfare

• Were the bombs primarily used to save American lives?– NOT according to British physicist P.M.S.

Blackett– [it was] “the first major operation of the cold

war diplomatic war with Russia…Its primary purpose was to keep Russia out of the Far Eastern postwar settlement rather than save American lives” (p. 47, Ambrose & Brinkley)

• (Revisionist Ideology as to who started the cold war)


Atomic Warfare“A parallel interpretation claims that the American intention

was to impress the Russians with the power of the bomb and to make it clear to them that the United States would not hesitate to use it…America had already deployed the

bulk of her troops out of Western Europe…so that by August of 1945 the Red Army was the most powerful

force in all of Europe. To those who concerned about a possible Russian advance across the Elbe River, the

bomb seemed a perfect deterrent” (p. 47, Ambrose & Brinkley)

Once again this is part of the revisionist theory!

Kevin acerdote (Content) www.brainybetty.com (Design) 51


Japanese Surrender

• August 14th, 1945 Japan Surrender

• September 2nd , 1945 Formal Surrender

USS Missouri

Dean Acheson 1893-1971

• Mainly Synonymous with Truman but also:– 1941-1944 Handled Lend-Lease aid to

Britain– 1944 leading State Dept. official @ Bretton

Woods (IMF, World Bank, and failed WTO)– 1945 Was Washington’s coordinator for

Gen. Marshall’s attempt to broker a deal between Nationalists and Communists in China


Dean Acheson: “The Getting Tough with the Soviets Period”

• 1946: After Stalin’s “Two Camps” speech He asks George Kennan in Moscow to evaluate Soviet policy

• Kennan’s “long Telegram” and the policy of Containment would be born


Getting Tough with The Soviet Period

• What would the “revisionists” say, and Why?– BUT he did head General Marshall’s failed attempt

to broker a deal between the Nationalists and Communists in the Chinese Civil War

– What soviet actions in 1946 caused Acheson to adopt a firmer plan against Moscow? (Stay Tuned)

– He also helped negotiate an end to the Berlin Blockade.



WW II Odds & Ends

• Britain heavily in debt• USSR heavily in debt, over 20 million dead

– Agricultural & Industrial Economies in Ruin

– Must avoid further military action• USA exits the war as the leading world power

– GNP: (1939) $90 Billion (1945) $211 Billion

Acheson (continued)

• 1947: Criticizes the U.S.S.R. for not leaving Iran

• He begins his push for the Truman Doctrine due to soviet involvement in Turkey, he later pushes for the Marshall Plan

• 1949: Follows Gen. Marshall (sick) as Sec. of State, and finalizes the creation of N.A.T.O. (incl. Art #5 – promise to defend each other


Acheson

• President Truman goes after Senator Joe McCarthy– Claims the Department of State is SOFT on

communism, and were “harboring communists” as well.

– Source: The Encyclopedia of the Cold War (Volume 1) edited by Roud van Dijk. Rutledge Taylor and Francis Group (2008, pp. 4-6)


Acheson

• 1949 Soviets test their “bomb”

• Mao raises the Red Flag in Beijing (10/1/1949)

• Truman/Acheson blamed for “losing China”

• Asks Truman to issue NSC-68– Increase military spending—plus

• June 25th, 1950 North Korea invades S.K.



1946

• January– Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Minister– Speaks out against about the USSR intimidation in

Turkey and Iran

• February 3rd – Reports of a Soviet Spy ring sending US atomic bomb

secrets to Moscow

• February 9th Stalin’s “Two Camps” Speech (implies our world’s are incompatible)

STALIN INSTALLS PUPPET GOVERNMENTS

• Stalin installed “satellite” communist governments in the Eastern European countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and East Germany

• This after promising “free elections” for Eastern Europe at the Yalta Conference

In a 1946 speech, Stalin said communism and capitalism were incompatible – and another

war was inevitable


1946• February 22

– Kennan’s 8,000 word Telegram– USA must drop isolationism and

CONTAIN the USSR

• February 28th – Sec. of State Brynes condemns the USSR

for not getting out of Iran

starter activity

Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech, 1946

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe … Police governments are prevailing in nearly every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true democracy … Except in the British Commonwealth, and in the United States, where communism is in its infancy, the Communist parties or fifth columns constitute a growing challenge and peril to Christian civilization … there is nothing they [Russians] admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for military weakness. For that reason the old doctrine of a balance of power is unsound.”

Contextualizations1. British Motive: Churchill wanted to prevent U.S. return to pre-war

isolationism2. Soviet Response: Stalin accused Churchill of issuing a “call to war with

the Soviet Union”3. U.S. Response: Wall Street Journal: “The country’s response to Mr.

Churchill’s Fulton speech must be convincing proof that the US wants no alliance or anything that resembles an alliance, with any other nation.”

4. African American Protests: speech delivered at segregated Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri

THE IRON CURTAIN.

(THE FULTON SPEECH MARCH 1946 – CHURCHILL).

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech was never published by the Soviet press -- only in May 1998 did it appear in Russian in a historical archival journal. Stalin himself informed his people about it in Pravda. He compared Churchill to Hitler and described him as "a warmonger" who aimed at "Anglo-Saxon ... racial“ world domination. At the same time, he claimed that the Soviet Union, despite recent war losses, was capable of waging and winning another war.

Stalin's harsh reaction was calculated, not emotional. After the fall of 1945, the Soviet dictator had begun preparations for a possible confrontation with the West. In addition to atomic and other military projects, he launched a campaign to disabuse his lieutenants of any "illusions" about the West's -- and Churchill's -- good will. The "Iron Curtain" speech gave him a pretext for mobilizing the Soviet people against their former allies.

SOVIET REACTION TO CHURCHILL’S SPEECH.

The Soviet Union hated Marshall aid (see Source D). Stalin forbade Communist countries to ask for money.

Instead, in October 1947, he set up Cominform. Every Communist party in Europe joined.

It allowed Stalin control of the Communists in Europe.

Source E 'Can he block it?' This cartoon of 1947 about Cominform shows Stalin trying to stop the basketball of 'Marshall aid' scoring the basket labelled 'European recovery'.

SOVIET REACTION - COMINFORM

THE CZECHOSLOVAKIA CRISIS 1948

At first, the American Congress did not want to give the money for Marshall Aid. But then, in February 1948, the Communists took power in Czechoslovakia, followed on 10 March by the suspicious suicide of the popular minister Jan Masaryk. Congress was scared, and voted for Marshall Aid on 31 March 1948. Source F A British cartoon of June 1947 shows Truman and Stalin as two taxi-drivers trying to get customers. The 'customers' are labelled 'Turkey', 'Hungary', 'Bulgaria', 'Austria'.

WESTERN VIEWS OF COLD WAR IN EUROPE

REALITIES OF THE ‘IRON CURTAIN.


1946

March 5th

1. Byrnes ORDERS the USSR out of Iran2. Churchill gives his Iron Curtain speech

April 14 • Stalin promises to be out of Iran by May

1946

Late Spring/Early Summer The USSR begins to isolate themselves (Stalin’s Industrialization and Collectivization plans)


1946

• December 2nd

– The United States, Great Britain, and France merge their German occupation zones to create what would eventually become West Germany

• “The Americans and British agreed at the end of 1946 to fuse the economies of their two occupation zones into a so-called ‘Bizone.”

(Postwar: A history of Europe Since 1945, Tony Judt)


1947: A Crucial Year in Europe

• Since wars end, repairs and reconstruction consumed Europeans but:– The fundamental problem of food supply was yet

not overcome, caloric intake kept falling (1,500 to 1,050)

– Droughts & Poor harvests in eastern Europe impact the western food supply

– The winter of 1947 was the worst since 1880, snows melted leading to floods

– The summer of 1948 was one of the driest and hottest

George F. Kennan d. 2005

• State department officer based in Moscow– During and after World War II– Profoundly influenced American foreign policy – Authored the “long telegram” that analyzed the

communist outlook on world affairs– Later published in Foreign Affairs magazine by “X”

( The Sources of Soviet Conduct - July 1947)– The relationship was one of “innate antagonism”– The Soviet Union did not have a firm timetable and

thus we need: “a long-term, patient, but firm and vigilant containment”



• Regarded as the intellectual father of containment– The American Cold War strategy of blocking Soviet

advances beyond Eastern and Central Europe

• His ideas were influential in the formation of the Truman Doctrine in 1947, and the strategy of NSC-68 in 1950

• He began to distance himself from the practical implementation of his recommendations– He insisted that his ideas were exaggerated and

militarized buy U.S. Policy makers



• He left the diplomatic corps in the early 1960’s– He began a second career as a scholar

criticizing U.S. Cold War policies– When he saw the first draft of Truman’s

speech in 1947, he was alarmed at the dramatic and emotional language used and the implications to fight communist challenges on a global as opposed to regional



1947• January

– Former General George Marshall replaces James Byrnes as Truman’s Secretary of State

– The “Greek Question” is getting hotter• The Soviets had complained numerous

times to the UN that the Brits were interfering in Greece’s sovereignty

• Greek civil war is raging• Soviets Pressing Turkey for access to

the straits


1947: Britain Cuts Back Security Commitments

• February 21st 1947– Britain tells the USA that they can NO longer be

the guardian of Turkey & Greece

• March 12th 1947 (Truman Doctrine Speech)– Truman addresses Congress

• Stresses growing Cold War tensions in a very dramatic speech

• Requests $400 million in aid• Eventually Stalin decides not to play with

Turkey, and warns Tito/Yugoslavia not to start a war over Greece

Truman Doctrine: Containment in Action

• March 12, 1947• Official Title: “Truman’s Special Message to the

Congress on Greece and Turkey”• Feels the youthful United Nations could not solve

the concern• It was the first such formal Presidential statement

since the Monroe Doctrine• “It was an unprecedented commitment on the part of

the U.S.A….[we] pledged ourselves politically, strategically, and financially to two threatened countries in a region of the world that was not in our hemisphere and outside of a time of a hot war.”


Truman Doctrine

• The president was aware that this action would not be where containment ended

• Communists in Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria funded Greek communist led rebels against Royalists & anti-communists

• Truman held two White House meetings with Congressional leaders, and Acheson helped the president convince the leaders to vote yes


Truman Doctrine

• It “publicly defined and clarified the strategy of CONTAINMENT”

• Bipartisan passage• Bill passed both houses by a 3-1 margin

• “The Truman Doctrine is a comprehensive statement of Truman’s understanding of the Cold War as a total battle with political, ideological, strategic, military, economic and moral elements”

• Liberal democracy v. Communist Totalitarianism


Truman Doctrine

• Critics claim the president over exaggerated the Soviet’s intentions

• Secretary of Commerce/Journalist Henry A. Wallace of the New Republic continued criticizing the administration for months


Truman Doctrine V. the Marshall Plan

• The Truman doctrine money was explicitly for political and military reasons

• The Marshall Plan was mainly for political and economic aid


Alternatives To Containment

1. A Retreat into the traditional pattern of US Isolation From European diplomacy

• Feb. 21, 1947 Britain acknowledges its exhaustion– Had fought Philip II of Spain– Napoleon I– Kaiser Wilhelm II– Adolf Hitler

• Tells the U.S.A. they can not afford to police Greece and Turkey


Significance of the Truman Doctrine

• Breaks the American tradition of isolationism• Premise for the Marshall Plan• Act of Collective Security (UN) – but issue of aid

never brought to the UN• Enflames the fear of the spread of Communism• Communists in Greece were not supported by

Stalin – supported by Yugoslavia– Stalin recognized Britain’s position in Greece

Alternatives To Containment

2. Start a “preventative war” while the USA still had an “atomic monopoly”

– This would allow the US to establish a Pax Americana (or world empire)

– To launch an atomic “Pearl Harbor” would be contrary to American tradition and universal standards of morality


Alternatives to Containment

• The bomb signaled a significant change:

“historically the principal task of military armaments had been to win wars; from now on their main purpose would be to

DETER them.”

Source: American Foreign Policy Since World War II: Hook & Spanier, pp. 43.


Alternatives to Containment

• Because neither option was feasible the US had to conduct a protracted conflict alien to its style (Hook & Spanier, p. 43)

• “The Cold War that followed was characterized by long-term hostility and by a mutual determination to avoid a cataclysmic military showdown .” (Hook & Spanier, p. 44)

• “As it took over Britain’s role as the keeper of the balance of power, the U.S. had to learn politics.” (Hook & Spanier, p. 44).



1947

• April 1947– Sec. of State Marshall visits Europe– Shocked at devastation, food & fuel shortages


General George Marshall

The European Recovery Plan a.k.a. The Marshall Plan

“[it] marked a pivotal moment in the emergence of the Cold War. The failure on the part of the U.S. to bring the Soviet

Union and its satellite states into the recovery program all but made the

division of Europe and the Cold War a forgone conclusion”

(van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 574)



June 5th, 1947• Sec. of State George Marshall at Harvard

announces the European Recovery Plan (ERP) becomes better known as The Marshall Plan

– Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program, project was instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947)

– In Apr., 1948, President Truman signed the act establishing the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) to administer the program


European Recovery Plan A.K.A. The Marshall Plan

– In Apr., 1948, President Truman signed the act establishing the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) to administer the program

• Available to all nations, even communist• Meetings in Paris, Soviets & their Allies walk

out • Would serve democracy and establish

European markets• Truman asks for $17 Billion, $13.5 Billion

allotted• Tito of Yugoslavia gets $151 Million


Marshall Plan: December 1947

• Truman requests 17 Billion• Congressional debate lasts for weeks, but:

– February 1948 Communist Coup in Czechoslovakia

• Edvard Benes is out and Klement Gottwald is in• It was the last democracy in eastern Europe• Heightened fears about the stability of Europe

– June 24th, 1948 The Berlin Blockade begins (more information to follow later)

Soviet Union Reacts

• Creation of the Cominform to organize communist parties around the world– Provoke strikes in non-communist nations– Solidify existing communist countries– Unsuccessful and is disbanded in 1956

• Comecon (council for Mutual Economic Assistance)– Trade networks made in Eastern Europe– Forced to buy Soviet products– Raw materials sold at high prices to Eastern Europe

while their goods were sold back to Russia at low prices (ends in the 1970s)


1947

• July– The National Security Act is passed

• Creates the National Security Council (NSC)• Creates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

– George Kennan’s- Mr. “X” article published in Foreign Affairs Magazine (CONTAINMENT)

• September – Latin American Rio Meeting (19 countries Call

for Am. Aid) Next time in Bogota est. OAS– The Molotov Plan is released

ADD HERE• Add a Note Here about the First

successful Airlift over the HUMP for the Chinese Nationalists, p. 35 Daring Young Men

• Also add a quick note about the leadership of Lucius Clay and the MAT’s head William Tunner


A Divided Berlin

Encyclopedia of the Cold War, Vol. 1 (pp. 82-89) Routledge Press

& Daring Young Men

(pages as noted) Simon & Schuster

(Sources)

The Berlin Blockade/Airlift

(1948-1949)

Operation Vittlesv.

The War of Erosion

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99

Berlin (overview)

• Located 100 miles inside of the Soviet Zone (1 of 4 zones)

• From the Berlin Blockade (1949) until the fall of The Wall (1989) this divided city functioned as the symbolic capital of the Cold War



Soviet Harassment in the Skies

Around Berlin (before the airlift)

April 5th, 1948A Soviet YAK-3 (fighter plane) collided with a

British Viking Airliner, killing all nineteen passengers and crew aboard as well as the Yak pilot (Daring Young Men, Reeves, p.23)

The Soviets claim the

Airline deliberately

Rammed the Yak (Reeves, p. 23)


The Berlin Blockade/AirliftJune 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949 (Blockade)

June 26, 1948 – September 30, 1949 (Airlift)

• June 18, 1948 a quarrel over a new W. German currency & and a pending election initiates the quarrel – Communists are rumored to take a beating in the election

• Soviet Blockade begins June 24, 1948

• Airlift (“Operation Vittles”/ The West v. “War of Erosion”/ USSR) Begins June 26, 1948– 2.3 million Germans in West Berlin– Eventually Flights land at Tempelhof and Gatow

Airports every ninety seconds


Airlift Flights• USA 189,963• UK 87,841• France 424

*586,901 flying hours were flown*Thirty-two Americans Died*Thirty-Nine Brits Died*Nine – 12 Germans Died

Items: Coal, Flour,Toothpaste, food, newspapers, medical supplies, steamrollers, equipment for generating electrical power

Source: USAFE -Berlin Airlift & Daring Young Men (Reeves)


Number of Passengers Taken in or out of Berlin

Passengers In Out

• USA 25,263 37,486

• UK 3,815 130,091

• France 10,000 *– (in & out combined)


Berlin Airlift


B-29 Squadrons• The USA also sent three B-29 bomber squadrons (sixty

aircraft) to England to stress how determined the Western allies were to resist Soviet pressure.– B-29’s were capable of carrying atomic bombs and

were within easy reach of the USSR


Berlin Blockade/Airlift: Conclusion(1948-1949)

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt

• Like most of Stalin’s diplomatic adventures the Berlin blockade was an improvisation

(p146)

• He proposed an end “in exchange for a postponement of plans for a West German

state (p. 146)

• Of course, the western allies had no intentions of doing this---but did meet!



• Thus he ended the blockade for a meeting that accomplished nothing

– In fact as the meeting was going on (May 23- June 20th, 1949) the West German Parliamentary Council was establishing a W. German government.





• The new West German constitution was approved on September 21, 1949

• Combined the three West German zones into the Federation Republic of Germany– Bonn was selected as the capital– Konrad Adenauer (Christian Democrat) becomes the

first Chancellor– Rebuilt with the Marshall Plan, the economy was built

along capitalistic lines



• Stalin later responds by announcing the creation of an East German state formally created on October 7th, 1949.– The German Democratic Republic was

created• East Berlin its capital• Communist Walter Ulbricht headed its

government• Remained under STRONG Soviet influence• Berlin remained divided into four sectors (3 of

which operated as liberal democracies)


• “The imposition of the Soviet Blockade did not mean that West Berlin was cut off from all sources of supply other than the airlift” (van Dijk, ed. p. 85)– Continue to travel into the Soviet Zone to trade with farmers– The Soviets offered to supply rations (5% said yes….p. 85)

• “The experience of the Airlift helped transform the relationship between West Berliners and the Western powers, from victor and vanquished to friends and allies…this first Western victory in the Cold War depended on Berliners’ own networks of survival”

(van Dijk, ed. p. 86)Kevin Sacerdote (Content) www.brainybetty.com (Design) 111


Significant Outcomes of the Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-1949)


1. It led directly to the creation of two German states, an outcome none of the allies had sought four years earlier (p. 146)

2. [It] committed the United States for the first time to a significant military presence in Europe for the indefinite future (p. 146)


Significant Outcomes of the Berlin Blockade/Airlift (1948-1949)


3. [It] led directly to a reappraisal of Western military calculations. If the West was going to protect its German clients from Soviet aggression then it would need to give itself the means to do so

• The Americans had stationed strategic bombers in Britain, these were equipped to carry atomic bombs

– The USA had 56 Atomic bombs at this time but we did NOT have a policy of if and when we would use them (p. 146)

Uprising in East Germany, 1953

(June 16th & 17th)

The First Major Upheaval Behind The Iron Curtain

(Ostermann, ed.)

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114

Eastern German Crisis – Worker’s Strike (1953)

• This is indicative of how the Cold War would progress:– The superpowers will almost come to blows due to

the actions of the local actors throughout the Cold War

– After the East/West split each half of Berlin will have their own Mayors and city councils

– Subways and suburban rail continued to cross (east-west) sector boundaries until 1959

– Over 50,000 East Berliners worked in W. Berlin– Millions leave the east


East German Crisis (1953)

June 17, 1953– First uprising of the Cold War in the Soviet’s

sphere of influence• 3 years before the 1956 Hungarian Revolt• East German workers strike• East German leaders retreat to the Soviet

headquarters• Spreads to many other cities• Soviet tanks and troops put it down


GIVES THE WEST SIX MONTHS TO GET OUT

Khrushchev’s Berlin Ultimatum (1958)



Khrushchev Tells the Western Allies

to leave

West Berlin (Nov. 27th, 1958)

– The Berlin Ultimatum: 6 month time-line– The west ignores his “request”– Crisis will not peak until 1961 when East Germany

begins putting up the wall– June 1963: JFK tells the world to “Come To Berlin,”

in order to understand Soviet communism



• On paper, Khrushchev calls for transformation of Berlin from a divided city to a “free city”

• If the West did not comply, Khrushchev would “hand over Berlin’s sovereign rights to East Germany– Does he really feel the West would stand by and do nothing if all

of Berlin goes to the East? (van Dijk, Vol. 1, p.86)

• Why did Khrushchev take this action? (Really, WHY?)– Perhaps he felt the west was not together as to what to do with

Berlin– Perhaps Khrushchev wanted the world to recognize that in his

opinion, the USSR was now the world’s second superpower– Perhaps E. Germany pushed Khrushchev into this move– Perhaps he was after surprise and shockKevin Sacerdote (Content) www.brainybetty.com (Design) 119


• Combined with the Cuban Missile Crisis, some consider these events the “high point and even culmination of the Cold War” (ibid, p. 89)

• “The alarming situations in Berlin and Cuba touched off a new round in the arms race and reinforced the significance of the two military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact. But the crisis period also established the preconditions for a later détente” (ibid, p. 89)

• Lessons were learned by both sides, and some refer to the crisis as the “hour of birth of the ‘new’ Ostpolitik (ibid, p. 89)


Potpourri: Berlin June 1967

• The Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi visits West Berlin– The Shah’s secret police (Savak) joins up with

the West Berlin/German police to put down a student protest

– Human rights violations in Iran and Vietnam fuels the student’s frustrations in Germany


The Emergence of NATO

Overview

Creation of N.A.T.O.

Its Development is Aided by the Berlin Blockade/Airlift!


Background to NATO

• 1947: The French & British signed the Dunkirk Treaty– Committed themselves to mutual support

against any future GERMAN aggression

• 1947 (March 10th – April 24th ) – The Moscow Conference of the Foreign

Ministers looking for a final agreement on Germany & Austria

• Allies no longer after a single German admin.


Background to NATO

• “It was the Moscow Conference of 1947…which really rang down the Iron Curtain” (Judt, p. 124)

– From this point forward the Americans sought economic unification of the western zone of Germany and the encouragement of German self-government

– “For the Americans especially, Germans were rapidly ceasing to be the enemy.” (Judt, p. 125)


Background of NATO• January 1948: Prague coup Benes out and the

Communist Gottwald was in. THE USA began rethinking our idea of isolationism due to this event (Europe goes on heightened security. It was in this environment that the USA passed the Marshall Plan)

• March 17th, 1948: The Brussels Pact was signed:– Great Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and

Luxembourg form the Western European Union (WEU)

• For Mutual Military Assistance, the USA is NOT involved. It was a 50 year treaty signed mainly to protect these nations from Germany. Bevin seeks discussions to bring the USA on board.


Background of NATO

• W. Europe did NOT have a postwar military agreement with the USA

– The Marshall Plan primarily focused on economic and political issues

– The US had a history of isolationism– Key events in 1948 and 1949 helped

Truman’s ability to get involved in a Western European military alliance:

• The Berlin Blockade & Gottwald’s communist coup in Czechoslovakia

Background to N.A.T.O.

• Bevin goes to Washington– The Brits, Canadians and Americans meet

TEN days after the start of the Berlin Airlift and immediately following the expulsion of Yugoslavia from Cominform

– Talks were opened to the other members of the Brussels pact

– The French are not happy because the Anglo-American were arranging ‘behind their back’ (Judt. p.149)


Article Eleven of the North Atlantic Treaty



North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• April 4th, 1949 – The treaty is signed!– The Five WEU countries– Iceland– Norway– Denmark– Canada– Portugal– Italy– United States (Senate ratification in July)


NATO & The Americans

• Article 5: An attack on any one of the member nations would be considered an attack on all

– “U.S. military assistance in Europe was thus ensured…The treaty was the first peacetime alliance for the United States since its treaty with France in the late eighteenth century”

(Hanes, p. 38)

N.A.T.O.

• Recognizing the value of US economic aid in the Marshall Plan, “Brit” Ernest Bevin sought US aid in the defense of the west as well

• NATO was the primary political and military organization dedicated to collective security for the Western Alliances, led chiefly by the U.S.A.


N.A.T.O.

• For over forty years it served as a balancing mechanism between:

– The Western and the Soviet strategic bloc and;

– Prevented large-scale nuclear war (van Dijk, p 646)


N.A.T.O.

“Ironically, NATO witnessed a greater flurry of military activity in the fifteen years after

the Cold War than it did during the forty years of the conflict that gave birth to the

organization” (van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 648)

• 1994: Peacekeeping mission in the Bosnian War (former Yugoslavia)

• 1995: Helps bring Serbia to peace talks in Dayton, OH.• 1999: Kosovo War (region of Serbia) first ever large-

scale military operation


N.A.T.O.

• 2001: Declares that the September 11th terrorist attacks could be considered an attack on ALL N.A.T.O. countries

– First invocation of Article Five


N.A.T.O. & Article Five


Even though Article 5 was put into play:

“NATO member–states responded ambivalently to consequent American strategies for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. American military efforts

in the conflicts dwarfed those of the U.S.’s NATO allies, suggesting that at the beginning of

the twenty-first century the U.S. was still the central partner in the alliance”

(van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 648).


The Warsaw Pact

• The Soviets responded to the expansion of NATO by creating the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

– Set up a mutual military alliance between the USSR and their Soviet satellite eastern bloc countries, including East Germany (list of countries follows: Note: Tito’s Yugoslavia is NOT a member)


The Warsaw Pact

• TREATY OF FRIENDSHIP, CO-OPERATION AND MUTUAL ASSISTANCE'

• Between the People's Republic of Albania, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Hungarian People's Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the Polish People's Republic, the Rumanian People's Republic, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Czechoslovak Republic, May 1, 1955

• Source: Modern History Sourcebook– http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1955warsawpact.html

N.A.T.O.

“For more than fifty years, NATO has proved to be one of the most successful military alliances in history…The eagerness of Eastern European countries to join the organization after the cold war, though,

testified to the symbolic success of NATO as more than a military alliance: by the

1990’s it was seen as synonymous to the prosperous and powerful “West.”

(van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 648)



Europe 1970


The Cold War Expands To Asia

• China slowly isolates from the sixteenth century and beyond, especially the 17th and 18th

• 1911: Revolution ends the empire– Arrival of Dr. Sun Yatsen, the Kuomintang

(KMT) a.k.a. the Nationalists– KMT 1930’s- 1949: Chiang Kai Shek (1887-

1975) is backed by the USA, civil war w/ Mao– Communists 1930’s – 1949: Mao Zedong

(1893-1976) Agricultural base (peasants)



• Japan invades China in 1937– Mao & Chaing Kai-Shek call for a truce

in the civil war

– Japan surrenders in August, 1945 ending WW II. The USA ends the occupation in 1952.

• China’s Civil War Resumes !



• Chiang Kai-shek had a reputation for corruption and oppression

• U.S. Officials consider Mao a puppet for Stalin– In November of 1945, Truman sends

George Marshall to China to work out a settlement between the Nationalist and communist factions, No Go!



• The Communists win the civil war– Mao raises the communist flag October 1,

1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)– Chiang flees to Formosa, and renames the

island Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC)

• US 7th Fleet protects Taiwan

– 2/14/1950: PRC & Soviets sign the Sino-Soviet Treaty

• Soviets loan the Chinese $300 million


Japan

• After Japan’s surrender, General Douglas MacArthur was put in charge of Japan’s political, economic, and social revolution– A new constitution was partially written by the

Americans– Japan becomes an important base for

American military operations in the West Pacific


Indochina

• Late 1940’s: Communist liberation movement in Vietnam was escalating under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh

• Indochina includes:– Cambodia, – Laos, – Myanmar– Thailand, and – West Malaysia

Nguyen Tat Thanh

(a.k.a.) Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

• Founded the Indochinese Communist Party in 1930– Brought Communism to Vietnam, Cambodia,

and Laos • All three became Cold War battlefields

– First Indochina War (1946-54)– Second Indochina or Vietnam War ( 1959-1975)

• “Son of an impoverished scholar, who did not hold an official appointment because he did not get along with the French Colonial Adm.” (Dijk, Vol. 1 p. 409)


Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

• 1911 left Vietnam and traveled extensively – Ends up in Paris near the end of WW I

• “In 1919, using the name Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen the Patriot), he presented a petition to the Paris Peace Conference requesting greater political rights, though not complete independence, for Vietnam. This was ignored.” (van Dijk, Vol. 1 p. 409)


Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

• 1920 he joined the Comintern (Communist International)– Became a founding member of the French

Communist Party– Went to Moscow in 1923, met Zhou Enlai– Studied at the University of Toilers of the East

in Moscow– Delegate at the Fifth Congress of the

Comintern , urged more attention for colonial issues


Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

• 1924 the Comintern sends him to Canton

( Guangzhou)• 1925 founded the Thanh Nien (Youth League)

and presided over the founding of the Indochinese Communist Party (just a few members from Laos and Cambodia in the early days)

• Late 1930: Involved in the Nghe An and Ha Tinh peasant rebellions in north-central Vietnam which was crushed by the French


Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969)

• Arrested, and kept 1931-1933 by the British in Hong Kong

• Later he received money and supplies from both China and the USSR to help him with his war against America– He accomplished this during the Sino-Soviet

split



Vietnam / Indochina War 1 (1946-54)

• France back in Vietnam– Resources rubber, and rice– Ho Chi Minh Soviet trained, battles the

French– Proclaims the establishment of the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1946)• Recognized by the Chinese and Soviet

government in January 1950• US supports the French• French lose the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954)


Dien Bien Phu: France Loses!

March 13 - May 8, 1954


Dien Bien Phu

• Dien Bien Phu fell to the Viet Minh on May 7.

• At least 2,200 members of the French forces died during the siege -- with thousands more taken prisoner.

• Of the 50,000 or so Vietnamese who besieged the garrison, there were about 23,000 casualties -- including an estimated 8,000 killed


Dien Bien Phu

• The fall of Dien Bien Phu shocked France and brought an end to French Indochina.

• Following the French withdrawal, Vietnam was officially divided into a communist North and non-communist South -- setting the stage for U.S. involvement.


Geneva Conference, 1954

• The Genera Agreements (Accords) theoretically ended the war between French Union forces and the Vietminh in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

• These states were to become fully independent countries, with the last-named partitioned near the 17th parallel into two states pending reunification through "free elections" to be held by July 20, 1956.

• The United States and Vietnam are not signatories to these agreements (Containment)


17th Parallel Ho Chi Minh Trail


A Plan for Security: NSC 68

• April 1950: New Foreign Policy– “National Security Council Document 68”– Top Secret Report– Massive arms buildup to deal with “the

Kremlin’s design for world domination” (van Dijk, Vol. 2, p. 650)

• Containment PLUS a dramatic increase in military funding, including an unwritten rule that includes “Keeping up with the Jones’”

– A rise from 14 billion a year to $50 billion a year

NSC-68 (April 1950)

“Viewed as the U.S. blueprint for waging the Cold War, NSC 68’s impact was far reaching, affecting not only the Cold War, but other

postwar developments as well”

“The impetus for NSC-68 came from two ‘hammer blows that shook the world in the latter half of

1949”• Soviet acquisition of the atomic bomb (August),

• Communist victory in China’s decades old civil war (Oct.1)

(Both quotes from: van Dijk, Vol. 2, p. 650)


NSC-68 (April 1950)

“The authors of NSC 68 used heavy doses of apocalyptic imagery, which remains one of the documents most fascinating aspects”

– World War II had left “ two centers of powers in the world ….animated by a new fanatic faith [the Soviet Union] sought to impose its absolute authority over the rest of the world”

( van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 651)


NSC-68 (April 1950)“ One historian has characterized NSC 68 as a report that

explained ‘why and how the U.S. will fight the Cold War’ (Walter LaFeber)…it pushed the Cold War to new heights, expanding the conventional and nuclear arms races, solidifying bipolarity, intensifying hostile rhetoric (and the propaganda associated with it on both sides), and all but putting an end to the idea of peaceful coexistence” (van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 652)

“It also committed the United States to meeting the Communist challenge wherever it arose. The consequences would be felt in Korea, Guatemala, Vietnam, and beyond” (van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 652)



American Red Scare II (c.a. 1948 – 1955)

• World events of 1948-1949 caused Americans to be alarmed of a pending world-wide wave of communism– Coup in Czechoslovakia, Berlin Blockade, the

Communist Success of Mao in China, communist advances in Indochina

– August 29th, 1949 Soviets successfully test their first atomic bomb

• Rumors of theft of nuclear secrets fuel the scare


American Red Scare II

• America’s atomic monopoly is over– America now ponders the development of a

stronger bomb based on nuclear fusion• The Hydrogen Bomb• Truman ok’s funding by 1950 for the bomb instead

of further development of tactical weaponry• The Soviets also start development of an “H” bomb• The Arms Race in action !!!• We are heading towards Mutual Assured

Destruction (MAD)

Senator Joe McCarthy

1908-1957

Sen. Joe McCarthy (Grand Chute, WI)

• Seen as the personification of a political witch hunt during the 1950’s

• He feared that American Communists and their sympathizers were involved in treasonous activities in support of the Soviet Union

• McCarthyism was a term first popularized by the Washington Post cartoonist Herblock

• McCarthy did not invent anti-communism, he was more of an opportunist (van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 555)


Sen. Joe McCarthy (Grand Chute, WI)

• “The controversy around McCarthyism and his witch hunt did highlight the factionalism within the party”

• “Although the McCarthy era is commonly depicted as a reign of terror, his period of prominence was relatively brief…he had little to do , however, with the exposure of genuine spies”

(van Dijk, Vol. II, pp. 555-56)



McCarthyism

• Fear of the Soviet Union fuels the political pending witch hunt of Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin

• Took office in 1947, uneventful and ineffective early career, jumps on the anti-communist bandwagon – 1950 announces that he has a list of 200

names of people working in and out of the government who were communist or communist sympathizers


McCarthyism

• His accusations become more outrageous as he gains popularity– Never really put forth any hard evidence– Spreads fear to the mob during an era of anti-

Soviet hysteria• He even questioned the allegiance of Sec. of State

George Marshall in 1951

• “McCarthyism” refers to the suspicion, hostility, and often groundless accusations


McCarthyism

• Other politicians involved in this hysteria included:– Richard M. Nixon (Future VP, and President)– He also became nationally famous after

successfully seeking the conviction of Alger Hiss (a former official of the U.S. State Department)

The Korean Conflict


Post WW II: Does the US care about Korea?

1. Early 1950, Sec. of State Dean Acheson commented that Korea lay outside the US perimeter of defense

2. THE US does NOT try to reinstate Chiang Kai-Shek in Mainland China

• Does this send a message to the Soviets?

Korean Conflict Overview

• One of the most important Cold War battlegrounds

• Between 1945 –1948 the country was divided and occupied (North= USSR, South=USA)

• In 1948 it was divided into two separate, “mutually antagonistic states” (van Dijk, Vol II, p. 516)

• The actual war occurred between 1950-1953• After the war both the USA and USSR pumped

hundreds of millions of dollars into each in order to show off their respective ideologies


Korean War Conflict Overview

“By the end of the Cold War, South Korea was reaping the benefits of democratization…despite

the dictatorial nature of South Korea’s military regimes…North Korea, however, has struggled since the Cold War ended. Unable to appeal to

China or the Soviet Union on the basis of international socialist solidarity…[it] has become

increasingly desperate and has taken provocative measures aimed at getting aid for its

deteriorating economy” (van Dijk, Vol II, p. 518)



The Korean War (1950-1953)

• A surprise invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950.– Eventually Kim Il Sung received the Soviet

Backing, and China’s troops as backing– The USA went to the United Nations for

support• The permanent veto of the Soviets was not

used because they were in the midst of a UN boycott

• The UN would not recognize Mao’s government as the Chinese delegation

• Originally the US had little interest in Korea


38th Parallel

• North under Soviet watch, and South under the USA– The Russians leave a lot of equipment for Kim Il

Sung, the US is weary of giving Syngman Rhee too much afraid he will invade the north

• Elections and UN actions failed to unify the country, so divisions formed:– The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

(DPRK) in the North under Kim Il Sung


38th Parallel

• The Republic of Korea (ROK) was established in the south led by Syngman Rhee

– Rhee had lived in the US for over 30 years– Staunch anti-communist


Korean War (Undeclared War)

• Korea becomes the first HOT spot during the Cold War– NSC 68 kicked in– Korea becomes a symbolic test of the U.S.

policy to confront communist expansion worldwide, rather than in Europe directly

– The US did NOT have any Treaty or alliance with Korea that justified a military response to the North Korean invasion

– Truman to the UN : 16 Nations “involved”


Korean (Undeclared) War

• N. Korea has early advantage, push deep into the south

• June 27, 1950 Truman authorized the use of US Naval and air forces on behalf of the United Nations in a “police action”

• Sept. 15 (post Japanese surrender) MacArthur counterattacks – Amphibious landing at Inchon (outside Seoul,

South Korea)– Other “UN” forces land behind enemy lines,

cutting the N. Korean forces in half….quick retreat north of the 38th parallel


General Douglas MacArthur• Drives north to the Chinese border

(Yalu River)– China is very annoyed, sends in waves of hundreds of thousands of troops (Nov. 1950)– MacArthur driven back south of the 38th,

asks Truman “what about nukes?”– Truman fires MacArthur, (April 11, 1951) a

highly unpopular move- he’s welcomed home as a war hero

• “Ticker-Tape” Parade in NYC, and a speech in Congress


Korea 1950-1953

• Spring 1951: 38th parallel is secure– July 1951: Truman talks peace with China– Fall of 1952: American public is tired of the

war– By 1952: The Democrats had been in charge

of the Presidency since 1933– Some Republicans favor isolationism want

Robert A. Taft (Ohio), but internationalist Republicans call on former General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower


Eisenhower

• Served as supreme commander of Allied Forces in Europe (WW II)

• Defeats the Democrat Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 election

• Armistice signed June of 1953– 54,246 Americans and 3.6 million Koreans

killed, 1,000,000 Chinese either died or were wounded


Implications of the Korean War EraThe “Four Point Plan”

1. Announced Jan. 1949 (Truman)2. Approved by Congress June, 1950 (two

days after North Korea’s initial invasion into south Korea)

3. Abolished by Eisenhower in 19534. The Four Point Program

• Health Care, Farming, Irrigation, and Transportation

• Goal: To fight the spread of communism in impoverished less developed countries

• Including: India, Paraguay, Iran, Liberia and later Israel, and Taiwan


Other Implications of the Korean War Era

5. America aggressively signs agreements with Pacific area countries to increase our presence

• Japan 1951- restoring its sovereignty (occupation ends April 28, 1952)

• Australia, New Zealand (the ANZUS Pact), and the Philippines

6. U.S. Defense Spending Dramatically Increased

7. Number of U.S. Military Personnel Rose• From 1.5 million (1950) to 3.5 million (1954)• Number in foreign lands rose from 280,000 to

One million


Other Implications of the Korean War Era

8. North Korea’s invasion fueled American fears that similar attacks could happen in Europe

– The U.S. decides to rearm West Germany & send more troops there

9. The U.S. Congress approved an expansion of NATO

• Greece in 1951• Turkey in 1952 and• West Germany in 1955

10. The U.S. also extended diplomatic relations to Spain (Franco) and Yugoslavia (Tito)


Implications of the Korean War Era11. Stalin increased his military from 2.8 million

(1948) to 5 million (1953)

12. Some claim the Truman-Stalin Era of 1945 – 1953 was THE most intense period of global rivalry, but change is evident:

• Stalin Dies in March of 1953• Two year struggle: Khrushchev v. Malenkov ensues

• Dwight Eisenhower is elected in 1952, and seated in 1953

13. “The legacy of the Cold War endures in Korea as much as it does anywhere else” (van Dijk, Vol. II, p. 518)


Conclusion of the Cold War Origins

• Red Scare of 1917-1919– US backs the Mensheviks– Opposite Ideologies

• Political & Economical

– Broken Promises• Opening of a New Front in WW II (long Delayed)• Free Elections in Eastern Europe (Post WW II)

– Ulterior Motives• IMF, World Bank, Marshall Plan


Conclusion of the Cold War Origins

• Geopolitical: The Location of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe in 1944 & 1945

• Misunderstanding of each other’s Goals• Fear & Misinterpretation• Mistrust

– Cutting off Lend Lease in May of 1945• Failure to Communicate• Creation of Western Germany, and then NATO• Domestic Political Pressures


BibliographyAmbrose, S.E. & Brinkley, D.G., (1993). Rise to globalism:

American foreign policy since 1938, 8th ed. . New York, New York: The Penguin Press.

Gaddis, J.L. (2007). The Cold War: A new history. New York, NY:

Penguin Books.

Hanes, S.M. & Hanes, R.C. (2004). Cold war almanac: Volume 1. Detroit, MI: Thomson Gale.

Hanes, S.M. & Hanes, R.C. (2004). Cold war almanac: Volume 2. Detroit, MI: Thomson Gale.

Hook, S.W. & Spanier, J. (2007). American foreign policy since World War II. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.

Judt, T (2005). Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945. New York, New York: The Penguin Press.

BibliographyPlokhy, S.M. ( 2010). Yalta: The price of peace. New York, NY:

Viking.

Reeves, R. (2010). Daring young men: The heroism and triumph of the Berlin Airlift, June 1948-May 1949. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Van Dijk, R. (ed. 2008). Encyclopedia of the Cold War, Volumes I & II, New York, NY: Routledge.

Zubock, V. & Pleshakov, C. (1996). Inside the kremlin's cold war: From Stalin to Khrushchev. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.



Cold War: Almanac (Volumes I & II)

by, Sharon M. Hanes and Richard C. Hanes

Stretching from the end of World War II to 1989, the Cold War between the Western powers and the Communist bloc shaped national alliances around the world. In 15 chapters, the Almanac treats the historic causes of the tension; the mutual suspicions that fueled the conflict for more than 40 years; the ideological clash between communism and democracy; and the policies that marked the long standoff -- the Marshall Plan, Truman's Point Four program, the nuclear arms race, economic aid, the Berlin Wall, detente; and much more. Also covered are the times when the Cold War burst into armed conflict in such areas as Korea, Cuba and Southeast Asia.

Thomson Gale Publishing (2004)


Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945by, Tony Judt

World War II may have ended in 1945, but according to historian Tony Judt, the conflict's epilogue lasted for nearly the rest of the century. Calling 1945-1989 "an interim age," Judt examines what happened on each side of the Iron Curtain, with the West nervously inching forward while the East endured the "peace of the prison yard" until the fall of Communism in 1989 signaled their chance to progress.

Though he proposes no grand, overarching theory of the postwar period, Judt's massive work covers the broad strokes as well as the fine details of the years 1945 to 2005. No one book (even at nearly a thousand pages) could fully encompass this complex period, but Postwar comes close, and is impressive for its scope, synthesis, clarity, and narrative cohesion.

• ISBN-13: 9780143037750 (Paper) Pub. Date: September 2006


Inside the Kremlin’s Cold War(Vladislav Zubock & Constantine Pleshakov)

Zubok and Pleshakov's groundbreaking work reveals how Soviet statesmen conceived and conducted their rivalry with the West within the context of their own domestic and global concerns and aspirations.

The authors persuasively demonstrate that the Soviet leaders did not seek a conflict with the United States, yet failed to prevent it or bring it to conclusion. They also document why and how Kremlin policy-makers, cautious and scheming as they were, triggered thegravest crises of the Cold War in Korea, Berlin, and Cuba.

Taking us into the corridors of the Kremlin and the minds of its leaders, Zubok and Pleshakov present intimate portraits of the men who made the West fear, to reveal why and how they acted as they did.

Berlin Crisis #1- Worker’s Strike

• This is indicative of how the Cold War would progress:– The superpowers will almost come to blows due to

the actions of the local actors throughout the Cold War

– After the East/West split each half of Berlin will have their own Mayors and city councils

– Subways and suburban rail continued to cross (east-west) sector boundaries until 1959

– Over 50,000 East Berliners worked in W. Berlin– Millions leave the east


AICE International History 1945 -1991 ~ The Cold War Introduction and The Origins Kevin Sacerdote...

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