SOVIET UNION VS

THE UNITED STATES

The Cold War

The End of World War 2

As the war was ending cracks in the Grand Alliance were beginning to grow.

USSR wanted a sphere of influence in eastern Europe as a buffer against future aggression

Stalin had promised Free elections in countries USSR occupied Communists won all of these elections

The Iron Curtain

Churchill expressed the fears of many “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 some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow.”

• Winston Churchill-1946

The US response

The US wanted to set up Democratic governments in Europe

Most of Western Europe was in ruinsThe US saw the need to help these countries

rebuild as a way to stop Soviet expansion.

The Truman Doctrine

“I believe 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. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.”

• Harry S. Truman – 1947

This became the policy of Containment Goal to limit Soviet Expansion

The Marshall Plan

Congress appropriated $13.3 billion during the life of the plan for European recovery.

Provided much-needed capital and materials that enabled Europeans to rebuild the European continent’s economy.

The Marshall Plan provided markets for American goods, created reliable trading partners supported the development of stable democratic

governments in Western Europe.

Cold War Phase 1

US has Atomic Weapons Soviets test an A-Bomb in 1949

Civil Wars in Greece and Turkey Communism vs. Democracy

Decolonization Many colonies saw WW2 as their “out”

Vietnam was no different

Fall of China

Fall 1949 Communists under Mao Zedong win long running

Civil War against Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai Shek

Nationalists flee to Taiwan US insists the Nationalists are still the legal

government of China

Indochina

After the war, the French seek to reestablish their empire in Southeast Asia. FDR had stated that the war would not be about

keeping empiresSeptember 2 1945, Ho Chi Minh declares

independent VietnamUS initially supports but back awayConcern over France’s role in Europe leads

US to back French in regaining control

Korean War

June 1950 North Korea invades South KoreaUN and US come to the aid of SKMacArthur leads invasion that drive NK back

to Chinese BorderChina enters the war on NK sideWar continues until 1953 ends in Truce at

original borders First proxy war

Cold War in the US

McCarthyism Senator Joe McCarthy leads “witch hunt” for

communists in the US Accused many people of being communists often with

no proofEisenhower refused to support McCarthy

Leads to end of hearing Many careers and lives were ruined

The Domino Theory

Held that if one country fell under communist influence or control, its neighboring countries would soon follow

Justified military action to prevent spread of communism in Asia Was used often throughout the cold war as an excuse

to change governments that were not allied with US