Early Cold War Up to the Cuban Missile

Early Cold War— Up to the Cuban Missile Crisis Lecture Notes

Questions to Consider: 1. What were the sources of tension between the U. S. and the U. S. S. R. prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis? 2. Was U. S. policy towards the U. S. S. R. prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis a reasonable reaction to Soviet threat or an overreaction? 3. What was the impact of the early Cold War on “liberty” domestically and abroad?

WWII Conference: WWII Conference Big Three at Yalta, February of 1945 • FDR • Churchill • Stalin

Issues Discussed • Postwar Germany • Japan • Eastern Europe (particularly Poland) • United Nations • Agreements—to govern Germany jointly, zones of occupation, war crimes tribunals, reparations • How would these issues continue to be sources of tension between the superpowers?

Divided Germany Divided and Occupied Berlin

Stalin’s Demand Against Japan Was Yalta an example of “appeasement” of a dictator, or was it the best deal FDR believed he could get?

Last of the WWII Conferences Potsdam—July 17 to August 2, 1945 The New Big Three—FDR has died, and Churchill has been replaced by Clement Atlee during the conference.

A Tough Warning “We have a weapon of unusual destruction. ” • Unlike FDR, who thought he could at the least negotiate with Stalin, Truman wanted to “get tough” and viewed Stalin as not trustworthy or worse. • At Potsdam, the three leaders agreed to issue a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally and hold Nazi War-Crimes trials.

Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech “From Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and Eastern Europe. ” -- Sir Winston Churchill March, 1946 Fulton, Missouri “I’m tired of babying the Soviets. ” —Truman, January, 1946 How did Churchill’s speech predict the Cold War?

Containment • George F. Kennan, senior State Department official, posted to U. S. S. R. during war. • July 1947 article in Foreign Affairs journal under the pseudonym “X” • Originally a Long Telegram sent back to State Department, then published in Foreign Affairs “. . . we are going to continue for a long time to find the Russians difficult to deal with. It does not mean that they should be considered as embarked upon a do-or-die program to overthrow our society. . . ”

Containment cont’d. • Soviet Goal—Expand Communism • U. S. Goal—Contain Soviet aggression until that aggression collapsed «How to contain/expand? «Espionage [KGB vs. CIA] «Arms race [nuclear escalation] «Ideological competition for the minds and hearts of third world peoples [Communist government & command economy vs. democratic government & capitalist economy] «Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]

The Truman Doctrine, 1947 • Communist-led uprising in Greece • U. S. S. R. pressuring Turkey for territorial concessions • “The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. ” • The U. S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid.

The Marshall Plan, 1947 • U. S. Secretary of State George Marshall proposes a massive aid program to rebuild Europe. • Nearly $13 billion in U. S. aid was sent to Europe from 1948 to 1952. • The Soviet Union and communist Eastern Europe decline U. S. aid, citing "dollar enslavement. "

Berlin Blockade & Airlift, 1948 -1949 • World waited for war • Day after day, week after week, the airlift continued. • Stalin didn’t challenge the airlift. • In May 1949, Stalin ended the 11 -month blockade and opened the highway to Berlin.

U. S. S. R. Gets the Bomb and “Fall” of China to Communism, 1949 When China and the U. S. S. R. sign a Sino. Soviet Pact, it seems proof there is a worldwide communist conspiracy. The question in America was who “lost” China?

Domino Theory: The Korean War (Police Action), 1950 -1953 Stalemate Kim Il Sung Mac. Arthur and Syngman Rhee

Domino Theory: Vietnam and Dien Bien Phu, 1954

Sputnik and NASA • In 1957 the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first manmade satellite to orbit the Earth. • In 1958, the U. S. creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the space race intensifies.

1959 Castro Leads Communist Takeover of Cuba Castro with Khrushchev and with Che

The U-2 Incident, 1960 Soviets shoot down Francis Gary Powers and his high-altitude spy plane over the Soviet Union.

The Failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961 Kennedy takes full responsibility. Captured Americantrained Cubans

1961 Berlin Wall and 1963 JFK Speech in Berlin

JFK Speech in Berlin “Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put up a wall to keep people in. . . As a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ (I am a Berliner). ” -- John F. Kennedy, 1963