The Cold War 19451991 WWI Central and Allied

The Cold War 19451991

WWI

Central and Allied Powers

The Russian Revolution

Leader of the Bolshevik Party and the world’s first Socialist revolution; the Russian Revolution 1917 He will become the first leader of the new Soviet Union Vladmir Lenin

The Treaty of Versailles • Developed by the “Big Four” Britain, France, Italy, and the US • Each wanted something different: – US wanted security/peace: 14 Points (Wilson) – France wanted revenge on Germany – Britain wanted what US wanted but sided with France due to public outcry for revenge – Italy… wanted help!

What Was In The Treaty: • Germany: – Forced to take blame for the war – Loses territory (nearly half used to create Poland) – Loses military power – Loses monarchy: Weimar Republic installed – Reparations forced on them

Cold War • The Cold War was a time after WW 2 when the USA (and its allies) and the Soviet Union (and its allies) were rivals for world influence.

Conflicting Postwar Goals • US: – Make the world safe for Democracy and Capitalism – Protect our political and economic interests • Soviet Union: – Rebuild damaged economy and regain power – Safeguard its system from Democracy and Capitalism

YALTA (in the USSR) Date: Feb 1945 Present: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

The Yalta Conference • Talks focused on the future of Germany and Poland. • They agreed to break them into temporary “zones” of control among the allied powers. • Main disagreement: What to do with Poland. Soviets wanted control… reluctantly agreed to “open elections” • Greatest Achievement: Soviets agree to the creation of the United Nations

POTSDAM (Germany) Date: July 1945 Present: Churchill, Truman and Stalin

The Potsdam Agreement • Lots of topics of discussion, the main ones: – The division lines into zones for Germany – The “free elections” in Eastern Europe – Our big bomb (yet to be used on Japan)

Iron Curtain – A term used by Winston Churchill to describe the separating of Those communist lands of East Europe from the West.

Improve your knowledge • The Russians took very high casualties to capture Berlin in May 1945. They spent the early occupation trying to take over all zones of the city but were stopped by German democrats such as Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer. Reluctantly the Russians had to admit the Americans, French and British to their respective zones.

Rising Tensions • The talks at Yalta and Potsdam underscored the serious differences in National interests and world views between the US (and other western democracies) vs that of the Soviet Union. • Each great nation began making strategic moves to strengthen their advantage on the world stage.

Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine in March 1947 promised that the USA “would support free peoples who are resisting” communism. This led to Containment – policy of containing communism where it is.

Containment Policy • STOP the Spread of Communism – Early Success in Greece and Turkey Postwar Europe was vulnerable to Communism because of the immense amount of destruction and suffering…

Marshall Plan USA’s plan to send MONEY, food, blankets, fuel to Europe to help keep them from turning communist.

Satellite States • All these countries become “satellite states” or “subject to Soviet domination”.

The “Iron Curtain”

Two sides of Cold War • NATO – North • Warsaw Pact – pro Atlantic Treaty Soviet countries – Organization USSR, and all countries controlled • USA, France, Great by the USSR. Britain, West Germany • COMMUNISM • CAPITALISM

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Soviet Atomic Threat • 1949, Soviets test their first Atomic Weapon… Uh oh! • Truman organizes the Federal Civil Defense Administration (predecessor to today’s Homeland Security admin. ) • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Lg 9 sc. N l 9 h 4 Q • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=l. W 4 s 7 T ETt. JA

Improve your knowledge • The nuclear bomb gave America a lead which was expected to last at least 5 years. The rapid Russian development of nuclear technology, helped by the work of the “atom spies” was a shock. Significantly, Russia hurriedly declared war against Japan at the beginning of August 1945 and rushed to advance into Asia to stake out a position for the postwar settlement. This helped make both the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts more likely.

Communist Revolution in CHINA • China had been engaged in a revolutionary struggle since the 20 s… The Chinese Nationalists, led by Chiang Kaisheck vs Communist revolutionary forces, led by Mao Zedong. • During the war, our concern for China was the Japanese attempt to take over the country… we didn’t really consider the notion of a Communist take-over of China… we probably should have though. • BOTH, Nationalists and Communists reluctantly worked together and received aid from the allies to fight off the Japanese… as a result, the war strengthened Mao’s Communist take-over (with major Soviet assistance).

Chiang Kai -shek • Leader of Nationalist China. … he was our guy. We backed him and his government, but we couldn’t stop the Sovietbacked Communist Revolution

Formosa becomes Taiwan… and the Chinese have not stopped crying about it

Mao Zedong • Leader of the Communist Revolution in China

Like Germany, Korea was “temporarily” divided between the allies after WWII along the 38 th parallel…later called the DMZ (demilitarized zone) After the communist take-over of China, USSR backed a communist revolution in North Korea led by Kim il Sung. Soon after, North Korea mounted a massive invasion of South Korea leading to the Korean War. This was the first big test of America’s Truman Doctrine and containment policy.

Korean War • After the failure of the promise of Korean independence by the Allied nations, on June 25, 1950, communist North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Poorly armed, the South Koreans were no match for the North. The United Nations ordered North Korea to withdraw its troops. General Mac. Arthur was appointed to command all UN troops in Korea. After three years of fighting a stalemate, more than 54, 000 American troops perished.

Domino Theory Communism spreads like a disease

Meanwhile, back in the US: • Fueled by the US Government propaganda and media reports, the American society is becoming hysterically fearful of a global Communist take-over! – Don’t forget that communism was popular in America during the Great Depression as many Americans questioned the capitalist system crashing around them.

Let the Witch-Hunt BEGIN! • The fear of Communist conspiracies and infiltrations led to: – The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) – The Mc. Carran-Walter Act – Blacklists of actors, writers, broadcasters (the Hollywood Ten) – Alger Hiss Espionage Trial – Rosenberg Spy Trial These events led to an new “RED SCARE” in America

Nuclear Missiles!

ICBM

People built more bomb shelters.

1957 Sputnik – first satellite Score 1 for Soviets!

Space Race • The USA and the Soviet Union raced as the world watched to be the first to conquer space.

First man in space…RUSSIAN cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin • Score: USA – 0 • Soviets – 2 …THIS fires up the Space Race!

1958: National Aeronautical & Space Administration formed

1963: Apollo Program begins • USA spent the 60 s trying to catch up to the Soviets.

1969: Armstrong lands on moon! • What is the purpose of a space program?

Meanwhile. . . • After Korea and before Vietnam got really bad, America felt they had a problem closer to home.

Vietnam War 1960 s-1973 • Through the Kennedy years, US troops trained S. Vietnamese troops to fight the Reds. • After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, under LBJ, US troops started to fight more.

Vietnam, 1968

Helicopters!

Napalm!

Seeing this on TV led to a loss of support at home

Hippies/Anti-war

Berlin Wall • Berlin is Germany’s capital city. • The Soviets built the wall to keep communists from escaping to the American sector.

Berlin. Wall

A U 2 spy plane found these missile silos in Cuba, 1962.

End to a crisis! • The Soviets removed the missiles in Cuba. • In exchange, USA pledged to not invade Cuba again. And to remove missiles in Turkey (right).

Bay of Pigs • The CIA trained and funded an invasion of communist Cuba. The invasion failed, and Castro had some powerful friends!

Helped anti-communist troops

Wall torn down in 1989.