Ch. 18: 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-1950s, 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 McCarthy made unsupported accusations against members of government (McCarthyism) In Cuba, communist dictator Fidel Castro received aid from the USSR; President Kennedy approved CIA support for an invasion at the Bay of Pigs

Continue 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

STAR REVIEW  Review the following concepts and terms on a separate sheet of paper: Enlightenment Ideals --Social Darwinism Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ --monopolies 1st and 2nd Great Awakening -Andrew Carnegie Puritanism and Religious Persecution -Pre-WWII Legislation Involving US in War --John D. Rockefeller --Sherman Anti-Trust Act --Open Door Policy Bill of Rights --Nativism --Americanization Nullification --NAACP --New Deal Policies Reconstruction --Causes of the Great Depression --The Great Society --’Camelot’ --Civil Rights Movement: Leaders and Advances