WWII COLD WAR KOREAN WAR American History II

WWII, COLD WAR, KOREAN WAR American History II - Unit 5 Ms. Brown

Review • How was life for farmers different in WWII than in the 1930 s? • Very prosperous – good weather, improvements in technology and agriculture science, and the payment of debts • What was the GI Bill’s purpose? • To help returning GIs readjust at home – education, technical training, loans to buy farms or homes • What was Executive Order 9066? • FDR’s declaration to intern Japanese Americans on the west coast • What was the ruling in Korematsu v. US? • The federal gov’t and the POTUS have the right to make any discriminatory law or order if it serves an extremely compelling national interest • Internment of Japanese Americans was constitutional in order to protect national security.

5. 7 – ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR

Former Allies Clash • US • Capitalism – private citizens controlled almost all economic activity • POTUS and Congress elected by the people from opposing parties • Furious Stalin supported Hitler for a period of time • USSR • Communist dictatorship – state controlled all property and economic activity • Stalin established a totalitarian government with no opposing parties • Stalin resented the western Allies for waiting so long to attack Germany directly • Frustrated that the US kept the atomic bomb development secret

The United Nations • April 25, 1945 – 50 nations met in San Francisco, CA to establish new peace keeping body June 26, 1945 – United Nations charter signed • Intended to keep peace, but US and USSR used it as a forum to spread influence over others • UN has four goals: • To keep peace throughout the world; • To develop friendly relations among nations; • To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms; • To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

The Potsdam Conference • July 1945 – Big Three (US, USSR, Britain) met at final wartime conference in Potsdam, Germany • 4 things had changed since Yalta Conference in Feb 1945 • • USSR occupied eastern Europe New British Prime Minister - Attlee New POTUS – Truman US tested atomic bomb • USSR prevented free elections in Poland (violation of Yalta Conference compromises) Truman angered • Spread of democracy/self- determination in eastern Europe halted • Hard to sell US goods to eastern European countries

Stalin and Eastern Europe • USSR felt justified in dominating eastern Europe • Huge war deaths (20 M), many civilians • Physical destruction caused by warfare • Wanted to stop future invasions • Stalin set up communist gov’ts in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Poland satellite nations (countries dominated by USSR) • 1946 – Stalin gives speech • Communism and capitalism incompatible • Another war inevitable

Goals: US vs. USSR • US • Self-determination for all nations • Gain access to raw materials and markets for industries (unrestricted trade) • Rebuild European countries and economies stability and new markets • Reunite Germany and ensure productivity • USSR • Encourage communism • Rebuild economy using satellite nations’ raw materials • Control eastern Europe to balance US influence in western Europe • Keep Germany divided to prevent future threats

Containment and the Iron Curtain • Time to stop “babying the Soviets” – Truman • Feb 1946 – policy of containment – taking measures to prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries • West Europe vs. East Europe = “iron curtain”

Cold War • Cold War – conflict between the US and USSR between 1945 -1991 in which neither nation directly confronted the other on a battlefield

Truman Doctrine • US and Britain need to prevent communism in Greece and Turkey, but Britain broke US takes charge • March 1947, Truman and Congress allocated $400 M in economic and military aid to Turkey and Greece • “It must be the policy of the US to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside aggressors. ” Truman Doctrine – policy of providing aid to free nations threatened by internal/external opponents

Marshall Plan • European countries in postwar devastation and may look to Stalin for help… • 1947, Sec. of State George Marshall Plan • US provides aid to all European countries that need it • “not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. ” – Marshall • Revived Europe, by 1952… • 16 countries received $13 B in aid • Western Europe flourishing, preventing spread of Communism

Conflict Over Germany • 1948 – 4 sections combined into 2 • West Germany (and West Berlin) – US, Britain, France • East Germany (and East Berlin) – USSR • Stalin closed rail access to West Berlin no food or fuel, enough to last 5 weeks • Berlin Airlift – 327 day operation in which US and British planes flew food and supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet blockade in 194849 • 277, 000 flights • 2. 3 million tons of supplies

NATO Alliance vs. Warsaw Pact • 1949 • West Germany Federal Republic of Germany (included West Berlin) • East Germany German Democratic Republic, USSR controlled (included East Berlin) • April 4, 1949 – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed • Belgium, Denmark, France, Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, US, and Canada (later Greece, Turkey, and West Germany) • Pledged military support to each other in the event of an attack • First time in history the US entered a military alliance during peacetime No more US isolationism! • 1955 – Warsaw Pact – military alliance between USSR and 7 eastern European nations