Notes 1:The Beginnings of the Cold War, Containment,

and the Red ScareModern US HistoryUnit 4 The Cold

WarApril 26th, 2011

Funny Introduction We left off at the end of WW2 where the Allies

had won and promptly began fighting themselves along political lines.

In the democracy camp we have the Western powers – The United States backed up by England and France.

In the communist camp we have the Eastern powers – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which will soon be backed by other communist countries.

Funny Introduction World War 2 ends and we have the major

powers of the world used to fighting, with huge stockpiles of weapons and troops, and don’t forget – the atomic bomb. They figure that the fighting might as well continue. This is a story of the classic tale – the world isn’t big enough for the both of us. Communism and Democracy have decided that they are sworn enemies, and only one will remain standing. This is the Cold War.

Occupation after WWII

After World War II, the four Allied Powers (England, USA, France, and the USSR) occupied different regions of Europe and controlled the governments of those occupied countries in different ways.

Occupation after WWII

Both sides shared occupation of Germany. West Germany AND West Berlin were occupied by the democratic countries and East Germany AND East Berlin were occupied by the USSR.

Occupation after WWII

Conflict over the management and fate of the occupied regions in Germany and the rest of Europe would cause the Cold War.

Differing View Points

At the end of World War II, it became obvious that Stalin was going to revoke his promise of allowing the Eastern European countries under his control to have free and democratic elections. This angered America. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, felt justified in its approach for two reasons:

Differing View PointsUSSR’s Beliefs:

1.Communism is made to spread, the goal of being a Communist country is to help other countries become Communist (at least at the time) – to be a good Communist country, we should help workers in other countries.

2.We in the Soviet Union have had enough of Germany invading us, we are going to put a stop to it once and for all, even if this requires taking over every country between us and Germany. This is totally worth preventing another invasion – we lost 20 million people in the war, and half were civilians!

Differing View Points

While this was good for the USSR, America was definitely opposed to Communism and therefore felt that it was unacceptable for the USSR to impose Communism on Eastern Europe. The U.S. saw it this way:

Differing View PointsUSA’s Beliefs:

1. Democracy is great and we should spread it around. This will prevent future occurrences of things like Nazi Germany and will stifle the spread of Communism.

2.The Depression and WW2 were hard on our wallets. Now that the war is over and we are the only superpower left with industrial capacity (don’t forget most industry in Europe was destroyed by bombing in the war), we should make friends so that they will trade with us and we can become rich. Stable democratic governments are friends and will love to trade with us – let’s make more.

Differing View Points

Question: What is the problem with these two beliefs existing in the same world?

Containment

Since this is U.S. History – we will learn about America’s side in this disagreement: America decided that the spread of Communism was a threat to the future well being of the U.S.A. Therefore the U.S. began a policy called containment. Containment would prevent the spread of Communism to other countries.

ContainmentAmerica was not the only country worrying about

the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Great Britain went on a speaking tour of the U.S. and gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech. An excerpt is below – read on:

Containment“A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately

lighted by the Allied victory . . . 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 . . . All these famous cities and the populations around them lie in . . . the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and . . . increasing measure of control from Moscow”

Audio of Churchill

Containment

So what did you think? Is there really an Iron Curtain? How do you think the Soviet Union felt?

Remember there is NO ACTUAL CURTAIN – this is a METAPHOR!

Containment

Needless to say Stalin said that Churchill’s words were a call to war. Remember – this is very much like a silly playground fight played out over more than 40 years with really big weapons. I’m rubber, you’re glue….

America uses Money to Stop CommunismIf you look at the

map of the iron curtain and USSR’s control, Greece and Turkey stick out as regions close to the Soviet Union, but not controlled by them. In fact, there were fights in both countries between Communist and Democratic forces.

America uses Money to Stop Communism

To fund America’s support of democracy in these countries, President Truman requested $400 million in aid to these nations. He stated that, “it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”

America Uses Money to Stop Communism

Congress gave the money and this policy became known as the Truman Doctrine. The money sent to Greece and Turkey helped prevent Communist governments in these countries.

America uses Money to Stop Communism

Once we start something like this, America tends to keep going. If, after WWII, you looked around the rest of Europe you would have seen poor nations. Industrial capacity was greatly diminished, millions of displaced people were living in refugee camps, the harsh winter of 1946-1947 destroyed many crops, and the people were tired. Situations like this make easy targets for political theories that promise a better future – like Communism (or like fascism after WWI). America worried that Western Europe might also be taken over by Communism.

America uses Money to Stop CommunismTherefore the US poured even

more money into Europe to help rebuild many countries. Large amounts of money sent to democratic nations to prevent Communism became known as the Marshall Plan. Between 1947 and 1951, 16 countries received $13 billion in aid. None of them fell to Communism, so it seems to have worked.

The Berlin Airlift – An Actual ConflictAt the end of WWII, each

of the 4 main allied countries received a section of Germany and a section of the capital of Berlin. The democratic nations unified their sections into one democratic region, but their democratic section of Berlin was stuck deep within Soviet controlled Eastern Germany.

The Berlin Airlift – An Actual Conflict

Stalin saw this as an opportunity. There had been no agreements granting access to West Berlin across East Germany. In June 1948, Stalin closed all highway and rail routes into West Berlin. As a result, the 2.1 million residents of West Berlin only had enough food to last 5 weeks. American and British forces needed to get supplies to West Berlin, but were not willing to “invade”.

The Berlin Airlift – An Actual ConflictInstead, they began the

Berlin Airlift. For almost a year (327 days), planes took off and landed every few minutes, around the clock. In the end 277,000 flights had been flown that brought in 2.3 million tons of supplies – food, fuel, medicine, and even Christmas presents.

The Berlin Airlift – An Actual Conflict

The Berlin

Airlift

The Berlin Airlift – An Actual Conflict

West Berlin survived, America was a hero to the world, and Stalin gave up and lifted the blockade by May 1949. The creative solution to the Berlin problem is a prime example of why the Cold War is called the “Cold” War – disagreements happened, but no actual fighting between the U.S. and Soviet forces occurred.

Fear of Communism Builds in America

What world events would have caused Americans to fear the rise of Communism at home?

Fear of Communism Builds in America

Several more factors added to the fear of Communists. One was that in America, at the height of WWII, approximately 100,000 people claimed loyalty to the Communist party. Many high-profile spy cases during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s also heightened America’s fear about Communists and our nation’s security.

Fear of Communism Builds in America

One of the most sensationalist spy cases involved secrets about the Atomic Bomb. On September 3, 1949, Americans learned that the Soviets had exploded their own atomic bomb. Most Americans felt that it would have taken the Soviets a few more years to develop this technology and assumed that they had secret Manhattan Project information.

Fear of Communism Builds in America

In 1950, a physicist working on the Manhattan Project, Klaus Fuchs, admitted to giving the USSR information about the American atomic bomb. Implicated in his case were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. The Rosenbergs were activists for the communist party, and the trail of people leading from Fuchs led to Julius Rosenberg as the person who passed this information to the Soviets.

Fear of Communism BuildsIn an attempt to force more

information out of Julius, the prosecution also put Ethel on trial. Neither gave any information, and instead they pleaded the 5th amendment. The Rosenbergs were found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death by electric chair. Their lawyer fought for their lives, but in June 1953, they were both executed in the electric chair; they left behind two young sons.

Fear of Communism Builds in America

Later Soviet information seems to indicate that Julius was exchanging information with the USSR, but that Ethel played no major role in the espionage. With the spread of communism around the world, the possibility of it at home, and these high profile espionage cases, America’s fear of Communism grew into the largest Red Scare seen in this country.

From Fear to a Red Scare

The first step on the hunt against communism was when the government set up the Loyalty Review Board. It existed to determine whether or not employees of the government where loyal to the United States. The U.S. attorney general created a list of 91 “subversive” organizations.

From Fear to a Red Scare

If you were a member of one of these, you were considered suspicious. From 1947 – 1951, the Loyalty Review Board investigated 3.2 million employees and dismissed 212 as security risks. Almost 3000 more resigned because they did not want to be investigated or because they were protesting the investigations as civil rights violations.

From Fear to a Red Scare

The next step was the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). This committee’s first target was Hollywood. They believed that Communists were sneaking propaganda into movies. In September 1947, 43 witnesses were called before HUAC. Most were friendly and agreed that the movie industry was tainted by Communism, though they had problems naming specific examples.

From Fear to a Red ScareTen witnesses were

called to testify, but they refused because they felt that HUAC was unconstitutional. These men were sent to prison because they refused to answer questions – they became known as the Hollywood Ten.

From Fear to a Red Scare

To show support for HUAC, Hollywood executives started a blacklist of people who they felt had a Communist background. In all, approximately 500 actors, writers, producers, and directors had their careers ruined because they could no longer work in Hollywood.

From Fear to a Red Scare –

The Hollywood Ten

From Fear to a Red ScareThe Red Scare was growing at such a pace that

Congress soon decided the Loyalty Review Board was not effective enough. They passed the McCarran Internal Security Act in 1950. This made it unlawful to plan any action that might lead to the establishment of a totalitarian dictatorship in the U.S. President Truman vetoed the bill by saying that in America, “we punish men for the crimes they commit, but never for the opinions they have.” Congress passed the bill over his veto.

From Fear to a Red Scare

Ok, let’s stop for a minute – are these actions helping America or hurting it? Why and how?

From Fear to a Red ScareThe peak of the Red Scare

became known as McCarthyism. Senator Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist activist who began to make a name for himself in 1950. In an attempt to make an election issue (to get himself reelected) McCarthy said that Communists were taking over America.

From Fear to a Red Scare

McCarthy soon stated that he had the names of 200 Communists who were working in the U.S. State Department. His “finger-pointing” tactics fed off of Americans’ fear of Communism. Few people spoke out against McCarthy because they either feared Communism or feared McCarthy turning his wrath on them.

From Fear to a Red Scare

In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the U.S. Army harboring Communists - this led to a public investigation. McCarthy’s tactics of bullying witnesses and forcing people to “name” other “communists” came to light and alienated many Americans.

From Fear to a Red ScarePart of the public’s investigation of McCarthy was

led by newsman Edward R. Murrow – his show fought against the general acceptance of McCarthy and enlightened Americans to his unconstitutional actions. After this final investigation, the Senate condemned McCarthy for improper conduct. In 1957, McCarthy died. His 20th century witch trials became a focus point for the dark side of the Cold War.

Watch Good Night and Good Luck

2-4 Movie Clip 1 - The Majestic