Intro to COLD WAR
The Cold War
Truman Doctrine [1947] 1.Civil 1.Civil War in Greece. 2.Turkey 2.Turkey under pressure from the USSR for concessions in the Dardanelles. 3.The 3.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. 4.The 4.The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid. 5.United 5.United States shows it is focused on stopping the spread of communism
The Ideological Struggle Tensions arise in Post War Europe Soviet & Eastern Bloc Nations [“Iron Curtain”] US & the Western Democracies GOAL spread world- wide Communism GOAL “Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world. [George Kennan] METHODOLOGIES: Espionage [KGB vs. CIA] Arms Race [nuclear escalation] Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy] “proxy wars” Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
The “Iron Curtain” 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, 1946
YALTA (in the USSR) Date: Feb 1945 Present: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin
POTSDAM (Germany) Date: July 1945 Present: Churchill, Truman and Stalin
Post-War Germany
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 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.
Berlin Wall Berlin is Germany’s capital city. The Soviets built the wall to keep communists from escaping to the American sector. Berlin Blockade-Soviet Occupied Germany surrounded Berlin. Stalin chose to not allow any transportation of goods to come in to West Berlin (French/American/British Occupied) -Berlin Airlift-West Responds by airlifting in non-stop food/resources into West Berlin
Berlin blockade led to Berlin Airlift
Berlin Wall
Wall torn down in 1989.
The Arms Race: A “Missile Gap?” }The Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in }Now there were two nuclear superpowers!
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Military or defense alliance formed in 1949 by 12 countries in Western Europe and North America Original purpose – to protect its members from a possible attack from the Soviet Union (Containment) First peacetime alliance in U.S. history An alliance of nations with shared values. All members are DEMOCRACIES Has been the most important U.S. alliance for the past 66 years
NATO Treaty – Article 5 “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all…” No NATO member was ever attacked during the Cold War – it never had to use its military forces The first (and only) time a NATO member was attacked was… September 11, 2001
Who is in NATO? 1949 – 12 Original Members U.S.CanadaBritain FranceIcelandPortugal BelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourg 1952 – A Little Farther from the North Atlantic (Demonstration of Truman Doctrine) GreeceTurkey 1954 – A New Democracy Germany 1982 – Death of Fascist Dictator Franco Spain
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949) United States Belgium Britain Canada Denmark France Iceland Italy Luxemburg Netherlands Norway Portugal 1952: Greece & Turkey 1955: West Germany 1983: Spain
The Warsaw Pact The Soviet response to the creation of NATO Consisted of the Soviet Union and its six satellite countries in Eastern Europe East Germany Poland Hungary Czechoslovakia Bulgaria Romania The Warsaw Pact no longer exists
Warsaw Pact (1955) }U. S. S. R. }Albania }Bulgaria }Czechoslovakia }East Germany }Hungary }Poland }Rumania
Mao’s Revolution: 1949 October 1 st, 1949-Mao Zedong and the Communists took control over China from Chang Kai-Shek and the Nationalists whom retreated to Taiwan Who lost China? – A 2 nd Communist Super Power Now Exists! Chang Kai-Shek (Nationalist)(Ally to U.S. vs Japanese Mao Zedong- Communist Leader to overthrow Nationalists