Cold War Policy: Harry Truman (1945-1952)

• Berlin Airlift (1945)• Truman sought to contain communism through financial means, by

giving aid to countries who are resisting communism.• Truman Doctrine• Marshall Plan• Financial containment was criticized because it assumed that

America’s resources were unlimited.• The “Loss of China” in 1949 showed that Truman’s version of

containment was ineffective.• The United States formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(N.A.T.O.) in 1950.• Truman’s decision to send troops to the Korean Peninsula in 1950,

in an effort to contain communism, was a radical policy shift.

Cold War Policy: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1960)

• Eisenhower sought to balance the federal budget after the Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine and Korean War.

• He immediately withdrew American troops from Korea• Called for a “New Look” in American foreign policy based on

“Massive Retaliation:” the building and stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

• This new arsenal of nuclear weapons would intimidate the Russians and prevent them from spreading their communist influence (deterrence).

• John Foster Dulles, the Secretary of State, followed a policy of brinksmanship, allowing conflicts to escalate to the brink of nuclear war before they were mitigated.

• Critics of the “New Look” claimed that “Massive Retaliation” limited the range of responses that the United States could employ to combat Russian aggression.

• This was illustrated by the conflict over Quemoy and Matsu.

Cold War Policy: John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

• The United States should respond to communist aggression through a variety of means:

• Covert operations: Bay of Pigs• Appeal to Third World countries: Peace Corps and the

Aswan Dam• Formation of Alliances: S.E.A.T.O. • Alliance for Progress in Latin America• Military Operations: Vietnam• The utilization of spy technology: The U-2 incident• Direct confrontation: Cuban Missile Crisis.• Russia built the Berlin Wall

Cold War (1945-1991)• After WWII ended the United States and Russia

emerged as the world’s most dominate superpowers.• The Cold War was a war of words between the U.S. and

Russia. The two countries never directly exchanged gun- fire.

• The Cold War is characterized by a nuclear arms race, differing political and economic beliefs, and a race into space

Containment• The American foreign

policy during the Cold War of preventing the spread of Communism.

• The U.S. fought undeclared wars in Korea and Vietnam to contain communism

Domino Theory

• President Eisenhower’s belief that if one country in a region falls to the communists, then all surrounding countries will fall as well

• The Domino Theory provided the rationale for sending troops into Korea and Vietnam.

Truman Doctrine

• President Truman pledged $500 million to Greece and Turkey to help them fight communism (financial containment).

Marshall Plan• The United States would

provide economic assistance to all countries that were struggling against communism (financial containment).

• The U.S. provided 12 billion dollars in Marshall Plan aid to its allies in Western Europe.

• After WWII, Germany was split in half. East Germany became an ally of Russia and West Germany became an American Ally.

• Berlin, Germany’s capital, was also divided: East Berlin was Russia’s ally and West Berlin was America’s ally. The city of Berlin itself, however, was located in East Germany.

• After German citizens began leaving East Berlin, Joseph Stalin placed a blockade around the entire city and prevented the United States from delivering needed supplies.

• President Kennedy broke the blockade by airlifting supplies to West Berlin.

Berlin Airlift

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

• A military defense alliance between the United States and its Western European Allies (France, Great Britain, Spain etc…)

• NATO’s motto is “an attack on one is an attack on all.”

British FlagFrench Flag

Warsaw Pact

• A Cold war military alliance between Russia and its Eastern European Allies (Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Poland.)

Hungarian Flag

Polish Flag

Russian Flag

Korean War• Communist North Korea attacked

Democratic South Korea.• As a result, President Truman sent

troops into the Korean Peninsula in an effort to contain communism.

• The United Nations (U.N.) also contributed soldiers and supported the United States during the Korean War.

• Today, the Korean Peninsula is still divided between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea.

McCarthyism

• The irrational and unrealistic fear, perpetuated by Joseph McCarthy, that the United States was being infiltrated by communist spies.

• McCarthy argued that there were communist spies in the state department, army and Hollywood

“I’m afraid because Senator McCarthy called me a communist!”

Sputnik• The first satellite,

launched by the Russians, into outer-space. The Russians won the space race.

• After this humiliating defeat President Eisenhower ordered the creation of NASA to train engineers and astronauts.

Sputnik Satellite

Cuban Missile Crisis• The United States discovered that

Russia had placed nuclear missiles inside of Cuba, 90 miles away from the coast of Florida.

• President Kennedy ordered the U.S. navy to place a blockade around Cuba in order to prevent the Russians from delivering additional nuclear weapons. The international community waited to see if Russia would ram through the blockade (This was the closest that the world ever came to nuclear war).

• In the end, Russia and the U.S. reached a compromise and the nuclear weapons were removed from Cuba.

• The United States sent troops to Vietnam to contain communism and to prevent it from spreading into Southeast Asia.

• The United States did not achieve its goal in Vietnam because in 1975 the country was unified under a communist government.

• The conflict illustrates that popular opinion often affects the outcome of a war because many thought that the war was unjust.

• As a result of Vietnam, the United States began to question its role as a police officer of the world.

Vietnam War (1964-1973)

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• A resolution passed by

congress in 1964 that gave President Johnson unlimited power to escalate the conflict in Vietnam without an official declaration of war.

• Many critics of American policy in Vietnam consider this to be a violation of checks and balances and this contributed to the unpopularity of the war.

“I now have unlimited powers to wage war in Vietnam!”

President Johnson

War Powers Act (1973)• A law that requires

Congress to approve troop deployments within 60 days. If congress does not issue approval, the troops must return home.

• This law was passed in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and is aimed at limiting the President’s power as commander in chief.

“Congress did not approve this war, I’m coming home!”

Detente

• The reduction of tensions between the United States and Russia during Richard Nixon’s presidency.

• Both countries signed disarmament agreements and Russia and the United States were able to “peacefully coexist.”