The Cold War

Ch. 26

Cold War: The era of confrontation and competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union that lasted from 1946-1990. Soviets wanted: Thought that communism was superior to capitalism. Communism should be spread. Guard against capitalism. Democratic government with protection for rights. Free enterprise with private ownership of property. Limited government involvement in the economy.

U.S. Wanted:

At the Yalta conference, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed to divide Germany in to fourth zones. England, U.S., Soviet Union, and France would all control one zone. Berlin would also be divided.

Tensions rose when the U.S. and Soviet Union could not agree on how democratic Poland would be. Iron Curtain: The political and social barrier that isolated East Europe from West Europe.

Causes of the Cold War 1. Soviet Union controls Eastern Europe after World War Two. 2. Chinese Communists win control of mainland China 3. U.S. and Soviet Union explode atomic bombs.

Effects of the Cold War 1. Marshall Plan provides aid to Western Europe 2. Western nations form NATO, Communist nations respond with Warsaw Pact. 3. Korean War erupts. 4. American/Soviet arms race begins. 5. Red Scare leads to hunt for Communists in the United States.

Containment: Keeping communism within its present territory though the use of military, economic, and diplomatic actions.
Truman Doctrine: Its goal/vow was to aid free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. Its effect: In the long run, it pledged the U.S. to fighting communism worldwide.

Marshall Plan: Gave European nations American aid to rebuild their economies.

West Germany was founded in early 1948 when the U.S. France, and England merged their occupation zones together.
Its official name was the Federal Republic of Germany.

Its birth convinced the Soviets they would not get the reparations they wanted. In late June 1948, Soviet troops cut all road and rail traffic to West Berlin. The blockade provoked a crisis.

Berlin Airlift
The challenge was to keep West Berlin alive without provoking war with the Soviets. For 11 months, cargo planes supplied Berliners with food, medicine, and coal.

NATO: (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) The mutual defense alliance between West Europe and the U.S. NATO members agreed to come to the aid of any member who was attacked.

Warsaw Pact: The Soviet response to NATO, which was a military alliance in Eastern Europe.

To prevent a Communist revolution in China , the U.S. sent 2 billion in aid to Chinas nationalist government. It squandered this aid and by 1949, China had fallen to the Communists.

The Korean War

After World War Two ended, the Allies and the Soviet Union formed North and South Korea on the Korean Peninsula. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops attacked South Korea and rapidly drove back the South Korean forces.

FYI: American forces were ordered into battle. American and South Korean forces were pushed back to a small pocket of territory. The war turned when MacArthur invaded the port of Inchon behind enemy lines

In November of 1950, the Chinese joined North Korea.

Limited War: A war fought to achieve a limited objective, such as containing communism.
The war settled into a stalemate, and then a draw.

Subversion: Is the effort to secretly weaken a society and overthrow its government.

HUAC: Formed n 1938 to investigate Fascists and Communists in America. It was a small organization until FBI Director Hoover catapulted it to prominence.

Rosenbergs: A New York couple who were members of the Communist Party. The government charged them with heading a Soviet spy ring. They were executed.

The McCarran Act: Also called the Internal Security Act. The act made it illegal to combine, conspire, or agree with any other person to perform any act which would substantially contribute to the establishment of a totalitarian government. McCarthyism: McCarthys tactics of damaging reputations with vauge and unfounded charges. His tactics left a cloud of suspiction that McCarthy and otehrs interpeed as guilt. Furthermore people were afriad to challenge him for fear of becoming targets themselves.

During the Army-McCarthy hears, millions of Americans watched him bully witnesses. His popular support started to fade. When he tried to strike at the defense lawyer, Welch, exploded at McCarthy. McCarthy lost the power to arose fear.
Censure: Formal disapproval.

American life and government was dominated by a fear of communism and of nuclear war. Fallout: Radiation left from an atomic blast. Fallout shelter: Shelters built in the backyard stocked with food. Americans would live in them to survive a nuclear war.

Eisenhower was elected because Americas were looking for someone they could trust to lead the nation in its Cold War struggle against communism.

Massive Retaliation: To threaten the use of a nuclear weapons if a Communist state tried to seize territory by force.

Sputnik: The first artificial satellite to orbit the earth. Launched by the Soviets. Americans were horrified that the Soviets had better missile technology than America.

NASA: Coordinates research and space exploration.

NDEA: Provided funds for education and training in science, math, and foreign languages.

Brinkmanship- the willingness to got to the brink of war to force the other side to bck down.
The threat of nuclear war seemed to work for Korea. In July 1953, negotiators signed an armistice. North and South Korea set up a demilitarized zone. American troops are still in South Korea.

CIA: Established by Eisenhower to prevent Communist uprisings. Eisenhower decided to use covert, or hidden operations.

The U.S. stopped developing nations from joining the Communist camp by providing them with financial aid. The CIA also staged covert operations to overthrow anti-American leaders and replace them with pro-American dictators.

Nikita Khrushchev- In 1953, Stalin died. Khrushchev emerged as the leader of the USSR.

Summit: Formal face to face meeting from leaders of different countries to talk about important issues. FYI: While at the summit meeting, Khrushchev requested to visit Disneyland. Citing security reasons, he was denied. He was very upset. Eisenhower warned America during his farewell speech to be on guard against the immense influence of a military-industrial complex in a democracy.

Lasting Cultural Effects: