Introduction to the Cold War

What is a Cold War?

• diplomacy versus combat (hot war)

• international chess match

• proxy wars

Cause of the Cold War: Conflicting Goals of the USA and USSR

• Who would be the most influential world super power?

• Buffer Zone vs Self Determination (Atlantic Charter)

• Fear!

• individual vs collective

• competition vs cooperation

• religion vs atheism

• relationship between the government and its people

International

Domestic

Early Strains Between the U.S. and USSR

• Russian Revolution and Civil War

• Warnings--Op Barbarossa

• Berlin

• A-bomb

Impact of World War II

• 6,100,000 from the USSR

• 3,250,000 from Germany

• 360,000 from England

• 291,000 from the United States

• USA spent $296 billion

These stats are for soldiers only:

57 to 70,000,000 military and civilian casualties

The Marshall Plan (June ‘47)• Nations that accepted aid: England, France, Belgium,

W. Germany, Italy, Austria, Norway...

• 13 billion in 1947 = $136,684,540,038.96 in 2007

• When the economy is in the gutter.....

Berlin Airlift

• Soviet blockade of Berlin in June 1948

• 3 Possible moves by the U.S. gov.

• Significance

• link: Colbert Report

Berlin Wall built in 1961

Foundations of U.S. Cold War Policy

• 1) George Kennan’s Long Telegram (Feb. ‘46)

• USSR was an “’aggressive giant’” that was “’uncompromising’” and responsible for most of the world’s disturbances” (Paterson 126)

• 2) Truman Doctrine (March ‘47)

• CONTAINMENT!Contain ‘em!

Foundations of U.S. Cold War Policy

• 3) Formation of NATO (April ‘49)

• protect the Marshall Plan

• USSR forms the Warsaw Pact

• 4) NSC-68 (April ‘50)

• U.S. has the “responsibility of world leadership” (Chomsky 22)

• massive increases in military spending

History of U.S. Defense Spending

Currently, we still spend just over 20% of the budget on defense

Cold War Case Studies

• Asia: China, Korea and Vietnam

• Latin America: Guatemala, Cuba, Chile and Nicaragua

• Middle East: Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan

Impact on the Home Front

• Red Scare!

• bomb shelters

• the pledge of allegiance

• villains