PostWar Containment and the Cold War The Atomic

Post-War, Containment, and the Cold War

The Atomic Bomb • Japan was warned that it would face ‘prompt and utter destruction’ if it did not surrender immediately • President Truman chose to drop two bombs and said “I…never had any doubt it should be used. ” • Hiroshima: 8/6/45 and Nagasaki: 8/9/45 • Around 100, 000 people killed instantly • By the end of 1945 about 100, 000 more had died from injuries and radiation poisoning • Japan surrendered about a week after bombs were dropped

The Marshall Plan • Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a plan to aid any countries in Europe rebuilding from the destruction of the war • It required European countries cooperate to develop a common plan for recovery; the Soviet Union refused to participate • Under the Marshall Plan, the U. S. provided $13 billion in aid to 16 countries between 1947 and 1952 • By the mid-1950 s, most countries of Western Europe were U. S. allies with strong economies

Military Alliances During the Cold War • The USSR was dedicated to expanding communism to other countries around the world after the war • Countries in Eastern Europe were dominated by the USSR, which stationed troops and stockpiled weapons in countries bordering democracies of Western Europe • NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO • Established as a military alliance for mutual protection; included 10 European countries as well as Canada and the U. S. • Used for containment of communism in Europe • In response, Eastern European nations formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955 when West Germany was allowed to re-arm • NATO today includes some formerly communist countries

Containment • The two most dominant after the war were the U. S. and the Soviet Union • The Soviets declared that communism and capitalism were incompatible • Both superpowers were engaged in a nuclear arms race; a doctrine of mutually assured destruction kept both countries on the brink of nucelar war

The Korean War • 1951 -1953: Communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea; U. S. and UN troops contained the communist threat • Increased fear of communism at home; Republican Senator Joseph Mc. Carthy made unsupported accusations against members of government (Mc. Carthyism) • In Cuba, communist dictator Fidel Castro received aid from the USSR; President Kennedy approved CIA support for an invasion at the Bay of Pigs

Continued • The invasion failed and hurt American prestige • In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis took the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear war for six days; both sides eventually made concessions • Our fear was that a ‘domino effect’ would happen eventually with communism: that if one country fell, eventually the rest would follow