Chapter 27 Chills and Fever During the Cold War, 1945-1960 The American People, 5th ed.

I. Origins of the Cold War

The American Stance/ Soviet Aims The United States emerged from World War II more powerful than any other nation and it sought to use that power in the creation of a world order based on the ideals of democracy Soviet aims included rebuilding after the ravages of war, and a restructuring of her borders to prevent a repeat German invasion

Early Cold War Leadership Eisenhower saw Communism as a overreaching world force bent on domination through subversive activity Joseph Stalin, the soviet Leader, possessed almost unlimited power and answered to no one Americans distrusted Soviet political aims and generally equated Communism with the Nazi state

Containing the Soviet Union

Containment Defined George Kennan is generally credited with defining Americas response to the aggressiveness of the Soviet Union Containment theory taught that the Soviets would never turn from their plans of world domination unless hindered by force at every turn Containment created the need for America to assist any country that was perceived to be falling under the influence of the Soviets

The Truman Doctrine “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” --Harry Truman

The Next Steps The Marshall Plan: rebuilding the devastations of war-torn Europe with massive American aid NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a twelve-member alliance that vowed that an attack on one nation-member would be an attack on all

Containment in Asia and the Middle East

Asia Internal conflict in China produced a revolution to Communism that the U.S. was in no position to stifle War on the Korean peninsula produced a stalemate between a communist North and a democratic South that exists to this day Vietnam, an American conflict inherited from the French, closely resembled the problems of Korea with one exception: communism won

The Middle East The state of Israel, created by the United Nations as a homeland for the Diaspora Jews of the Holocaust, unfortunately displaced thousands of Palestinian Arabs from their traditional lands along the Mediterranean This action solidified Arab hatred of the western sponsors of Israel and put in motion a series of war and death that survives to this day

The Cold War at Home

Truman’s Loyalty Program Truman, worried about the influence of communism within the borders of the U.S., created the Employee Loyalty Program in 1947 Although only dismissing several hundred employees overall, Truman’s program set a precedent for government review of who could be considered a threat due to a belief system

Joe McCarthy The key anti-Communist Senator of the 1950s Virtually unknown beforehand, he make a reputation uncovering Communist plots and targeting anyone outside his narrow version of “American” General public alarm over the evils of Communism allowed McCarthy the latitude to destroy many reputations needlessly