Mr. RizzoUS: Peace with Problems (1945-1960) Peace with Problems The end of World War II brought the...

Mr. Rizzo US: Peace with Problems (1945-1960)

Peace with Problems

The end of World War II brought the desire to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations was established to help nations find peaceful solutions to conflicts.

Meanwhile, the uneasy wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union dissolved as the Cold War took hold.


Peace with Problems

As communism spread through the efforts of the Soviet Union and later China,. the United States worked to strengthen its influence in Western Europe and Asia by providing economic aid and building strategic alliances.

A growing anxiety about the spread of communism led the United States to become more deeply involved in global affairs, while also fearing a communist influence at home.


Peace with Problems

The United States emerged from World War II as the world's greatest military power.

Compared to other nations, it had suffered relatively little physical destruction. For a short time, the United States held a monopoly on the ability to use nuclear power.

After World War II, the United States was aware of its strength as a nation and its responsibility to preserve world peace.


United Nations

American foreign policy changed dramatically as a result of World War II. Even before the conclusion of the war, the United States began planning for an international peacekeeping organization.

Plans were made at the Yalta Conference for a United Nations Conference to be held in San Francisco in April 1945.


United Nations

The Soviet Union, under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, agreed to participate in planning the new organization which would be known as the United Nations.

The United States Senate approved the United Nations Charter by a vote of 82 to 2.


United Nations

The structure of the United Nations (UN) includes a General Assembly of all its members and a Security Council of 15 members.

The Security Council consists of 10 rotating member nations and five permanent members. (The original permanent members were the United States. Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation became a permanent member.)


United Nations

The General Assembly serves as a forum for world leaders to speak on a variety of concerns.

Although the UN has become militarily involved in a number of world crises, most of its members would agree that its greatest accomplishments have been in fighting hunger and disease and in promoting education.

The headquarters of the United Nations is in New York City.


United Nations

President Truman appointed former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt as a United Nations delegate, the only woman in the American delegation.

The committee that Eleanor Roosevelt led authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a proclamation that is still part of the guiding philosophy of the UN today. In the postwar years, people all over the world were especially eager to have an international organization succeed at defining human rights for all people.


U.N.


Containment

American foreign policy after World War II was influenced by two factors: the willingness of the United States to become involved in international peacekeeping efforts and its determination to prevent the spread of communism.


Containment

In 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a nonaggression treaty, but after Germany violated the pact, the Soviet Union sought a new alliance to protect itself from Germany.

The United States then allied with the Soviet Union throughout World War II. Although they were allies, American and Soviet leaders did not fully trust one another.


Containment

After the war, it became apparent that the only common goal shared by the United States and the Soviet Union was the defeat of the Axis powers.

After World War II, the Soviet Union was viewed as a grave threat to the security of the noncommunist world.


Containment

In defeating Nazi Germany, the Soviets had moved troops into the nations of Eastern Europe.

After the war, the Soviet Union actively supported communist governments in those nations.


Containment

The United States, which had emerged as a superpower nation, took on the task of limiting communist expansion—a policy known as containment.

The goal of containment was to confine communism to the area in which it already existed—the Soviet Union and the Eastern European nations. American presidential power increased during this time period as the United States sought to carry out this policy.


Containment

Following are key foreign policy developments related to the containment of communism immediately after World War II.

In his 1946 speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain cautioned the world about the threat of communist expansion. He warned that "from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”


Containment

Churchill's phrase "iron curtain" drew a clear picture of the postwar world.

There had come to be recognizable division between the free Western Europe and the communist Eastern Europe.


Containment

Before World War II, Britain had been a powerful force in the Mediterranean. The tremendous losses and expense of World War II, however, weakened Britain's influence there.

The Soviet Union, which had long been striving for access to the Mediterranean Sea by way of the Turkish straits, sought to extend its influence in the area.


Containment

The Soviets supported communist rebels in their attempt to topple the government of Greece.

This led the United States to try to contain the spread of communism in the Mediterranean region.

On March 12, 1947, President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece.


Containment

He called on the United States to support free people in resisting control by armed minorities or outside pressures. Truman believed that the failure of the United States to act at this time would endanger both the nation and the free world.


Containment

Congress approved Truman's request. By 1950, more than $660 million had been spent in aid to Turkey and Greece.

This policy of economic and military aid became known as the Truman Doctrine.

It represents a major step in the evolution of American foreign policy further away from isolationism and neutrality.


Containment

World War II left much of Europe in ruins. Major cities and industrial centers were

destroyed. Survivors of the war struggled to find food, shelter, and clothing.

Dissatisfaction with such conditions grew rapidly. In many war-torn countries, the Communist

party seemed to offer solutions to such problems.


Containment

To prevent the spread of communist influence in Europe, General George C. Marshall, secretary of state under President Truman, announced a new economic-aid program called the Marshall Plan.

In a speech delivered on June 5,1947, Marshall announced that the United States was against "hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.”


Containment

Between 1948 and 1952, about $13 billion in economic aid was allocated by the Republican- dominated Congress for the rebuilding of Europe under the Marshall Plan. The largest amount went to Britain, France, Italy, and West Germany.

This aid enabled Western Europe to begin consumer production once more and to build prosperous economies. Both Western Europe and the United States felt that with stabilized and improving economies, communist expansion would be halted.


The Beginning of the Cold War

At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four zones of occupation controlled by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States.

Berlin, the capital of Germany, was located in the Russian sector. However, the city was divided into four sections, each controlled by one of the four Allies..


The Beginning of the Cold WarDisagreements during this period of occupation

marked the beginning of the Cold War, a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union from the end of World War II to 1990.

The United States, France, and Great Britain cooperated in governing the western sectors of Germany. Unable to reach agreement with the Soviet Union over the eventual unification of Germany, the three western powers decided to unify their zones without the Soviet zone.



In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany was established. The Soviets opposed the establishment of this separate government.

On June 24, 1948, the Soviets cut off all access to West Berlin by blockading the roads leading to the city, all of which had to go through the Soviet-controlled sector of Germany. The Soviets hoped that the blockade would force the western powers out of Berlin.


The Beginning of the Cold WarThe United States, Great Britain, and France would

not back down. Recognizing that West Berlin could not get supplies

by road anymore, the western powers began an airlift of food, clothing, coal, medicine, and other necessities to the city.

Almost a year later, on May 12, 1949, the Soviets recognized their defeat in the area and ended the blockade. Shortly afterward, the Soviets announced the formation of the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany.



In 1955, West Germany was given full sovereignty. The West had learned once again that although World War II was over, its struggle against aggressor nations was not.

The United States recognized that the Soviet Union's expansionist aims were targeted not only at Europe but at developing nations of the world as well.



In 1950, Congress approved President Truman's Point Four Program, which provided nearly $400 million for technical development programs in Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

The Point Four Program was designed to modernize and strengthen the economies of developing nations and thereby discourage the growth of communism.


NATO

The United States and other Western European nations also fought the spread of communism by forming alliances.

In April 1949, the United States and 11 other western nations signed a collective security agreement called the North Atlantic Treaty. This agreement bound the participating nations to act together for their common defense.

Members pledged that an attack on any one of them would be considered an attack on all of them.


NATO

Defense arrangements were coordinated through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ). The Soviets later formed an opposing alliance with seven Eastern European nations under the Warsaw Pact.

In 1949, President Truman announced that the Soviet Union had successfully exploded an atomic bomb. Fearing the power that this gave the Soviets, the United States worked to strengthen its influence in the world by committing several billion dollars in assistance to countries in Western Europe and elsewhere.


European Cooperation

In order to rebuild and strengthen their economies after the war, Western European nations made ever-increasing efforts at economic cooperation.

In 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community formed to enable six European nations to set prices and regulate the coal and steel industries. By 1957, the scope of economic cooperation had broadened to include efforts to improve transportation and eliminate tariff barriers within Europe.



Those same six nations signed a treaty in 1957 to form the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market. As economic cooperation continued to broaden, this organization later transformed into the European Union (EU) that exists today.

The European Union has experienced many changes in recent years. The European Parliament, the legislative branch of the EU, now has the power to approve or reject the EU's budget.



In 1999, eleven member states began using a common currency called the euro.

The EU continues to grapple with such key issues as increasing employment opportunities for citizens in all member nations.

The EU today has 15 member states and is preparing for the admission of new members from eastern and southern Europe.


Containment in Asia

During World War II, the United States had been an ally of China and an enemy of Japan. After World War II, the United States reversed its political alliances in Asia. With its new constitutional democracy, Japan became an American ally.

Meanwhile a communist takeover in China made the United States increasingly suspicious of and hostile to that nation.


Containment in Asia

In the 1930s, China had plunged into civil war. Mao Zedong, leader of the communist forces in China, sought to defeat the nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek. In 1949, the communist forces defeated the nationalists and renamed the now communist-led country the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan.

The United States was alarmed by this development, because it feared that communism would spread beyond China.


Containment in AsiaBecause the United States had overseen the

initial rebuilding of postwar Japan and had helped put a new constitutional democracy in place, it did not want to see communism spread to Japan. Support for Japan was now seen as a way of offsetting communist China's influence in Asia.

During World War II, Korea had been occupied by Japan. At the end of the war, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel, or line of latitude.


Containment in Asia

The northern zone was under the influence of the Soviet Union, and the southern zone was controlled by the United States.

By 1948, the southern zone had elected an anticommunist government headed by Syngman Rhee and was now called the Republic of Korea.

In the northern zone, now named the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, a communist government ruled.


Containment in Asia

North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 in an attempt to unify the country. President Truman responded to this invasion by committing American troops to major involvement in the Korean conflict.

General Douglas MacArthur, a World War II hero, was sent to command the United States military in Korea. Troops from the United States, along with small numbers of soldiers from other UN member nations, were soon involved in battle, as fierce as those of World War II.


Containment in Asia

A particularly devastating loss came at the Yalu River, when Chinese forces entered the conflict and pushed UN troops south. By the middle of 1951, the war had reached a stalemate. Fighting continued, but neither side was able to advance successfully.

Disagreement over the objectives and military strategies of the Korean War caused a major conflict between President Truman and General MacArthur.


Containment in Asia

Although Truman was a civilian, the Constitution makes the President the commander in chief of the armed forces.

When General MacArthur disagreed with Truman publicly about the conduct of the war, the President recalled him to the United States and dismissed him from command.


Containment in Asia

Although truce talks began in June 1951, no resolution was reached before the American presidential election of 1952. During that campaign the Republican candidate, World War II hero Dwight D. Eisenhower, promised that if he were elected President he would go to Korea to aid in the peace negotiations.

Eisenhower won the election and did keep his campaign promise, but a truce or ceasefire was not officially signed until July 27, 1953.


Containment in Asia

The war in Korea lasted for more than three years and cost more than $15 billion. Approximately 34,000 Americans and one million Koreans and Chinese died in the conflict.

The policy of containment took a different course with American involvement in the Korean conflict. Early containment efforts focused primarily on economic aid programs.


Containment in Asia

With the Korean War, the United States now showed its willingness to undertake military action to contain communism if it was necessary.

American experiences in Korea were a warning of future global confrontations between democratic and communist opponents.


Agenda 4/30

HW: Regents Review Sheet #2 is posted online. It is due next Monday 5/3

Cold War Notes

Next Monday 5/3 TEST on WWII and Cold War


The Cold War at Home

Even as the United States defended democratic freedoms worldwide, sometimes those same freedoms were in danger at home.

The spreading of communism to China and the apparent growing strength of the Soviet Union led some Americans to fear that communism could spread to the United States.

This fear led some Americans to take actions that violated the civil rights of others.



Many Americans charged that communist agents were trying to subvert, or destroy, the American political system. Other Americans responded that the actions of anticommunists were more subversive of American values and more dangerous to the nation.

The fear of communism in the United States had its roots in the period before World War II.

Anticommunist activity began in the 1930s.



HUAC In 1938, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was formed as a temporary investigative unit to look into communist activity in the United States.

HUAC operated for more than 30 years. Its well-publicized probe of the movie industry in the 1940s and 1950s led to the blacklisting, or cutting off from employment, of many actors, writers, and directors.



J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, often aided HUAC investigations. Critics argued that Hoover conducted anticommunist activities that often violated the civil rights of American.

Congress passed the Smith Act (1940), which made it illegal for anyone to advocate "overthrowing ... any government in the United States by force" or to "affiliate" with groups that called for such action.



In the 1951 landmark case of Dennis v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the Smith Act. Eugene Dennis, general secretary of the Communist Party in the United States, and 10 others were convicted of advocating the violent overthrow of the government.

Two court decisions in 1957 weakened the intent of the Smith Act. In Watkins v. United States, the court ruled the HUAC could not punish witnesses who refused to cooperate with its investigations.



In Yates v. United States, the court ruled that the Smith Act applied only to those who teach or advocate direct "action" to overthrow government, not those who merely advocate it in principle.

In 1947, President Truman fueled anticommunist feelings by ordering a Loyalty Review Board to conduct security checks on thousands of government employees. Those whose loyalty was considered doubtful were dismissed.



In the early 1950s, Robert Oppenheimer, who had led the research to develop the atomic bomb, voiced his opposition to building the new more destructive hydrogen bomb. This action and his past association with others whose loyalty was being questioned led to a government hearing about his own loyalty.

He was determined to be a "loyal citizen," but his security clearance was removed, and he was barred from future government research.



The Alger Hiss case led many Americans to believe that there was a reason to fear that there were communists in the government.

In 1948, Alger Hiss, a former adviser to President Roosevelt, was charged with having been a Communist spy during the' 1930s. Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist party member, made these charges, which Hiss denied. A congressional committee investigated them.



A young Republican committee member from California, Richard Nixon, believed that Hiss was guilty. Nixon's pursuit of the case and Hiss's eventual conviction on perjury charges made Nixon a national figure.

The conviction also added weight to Republican charges that Roosevelt and Truman had not been alert enough to the dangers of communism.


McCarthyism

Against this political background, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin began his own hunt for communists.

In 1950, McCarthy charged he had a list of State Department employees known to be communists.

Over the next four years, McCarthy went on to charge that many other people and government agencies had been corrupted by communism.


McCarthyism

McCarthy made bold accusations without any evidence. This tactic became known as "McCarthyism."

He ruined the reputations of many people he carelessly accused of being communists.

Meanwhile, the Rosenberg case and congressional legislation helped win public support for McCarthy's actions.


McCarthyism

In 1950, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and Morton Sobell were charged with giving atomic secrets to the Soviets during World War II.

After a highly controversial trial, they were convicted of espionage. The Rosenberg's were sentenced to death and Sobell to prison. The Rosenberg's were executed in 1953.


McCarthyism

In the same year the Rosenberg's were arrested, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act. The law aimed at limiting the actions of anyone the government considered a threat to United States security.

The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 restricted the immigration of persons from communist-dominated nations in Asia and southern and central Europe. President Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress passed it over his veto.


McCarthyism

In 1954, McCarthy charged that even the army was full of communists. He held televised investigations into these charges. For the first time, millions of Americans saw McCarthy's bullying tactics for themselves.

His public support quickly faded, and in December 1954 the Senate censured, or denounced, him for "conduct unbecoming a member." The fall of McCarthy ended the red scare of the 1950s, although anticommunist attitudes lingered as the Cold War continued to drag on.

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