The Cold War,

Origins Originally centered around Europe, especially concerning the fate of Germany (which was split into four zones of occupation after the 1945 German surrender)

Two Superpowers The United States of American and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (U.S.S.R. or Soviet Union)

What is a ‘cold war’? Regular forces do not face off against one another Instead, each side attempts to undermine the other through different means: propaganda, espionage, infiltration, & proxy wars

East vs West Mistrust Has a history that goes back as far as WW1 America mistrust of the USSR can be traced to: Bolsheviks (a.k.a. Communists) and the 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Communist International (a.k.a. Comintern) sought worldwide revolution The Red Scare ( ) Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (1939)

Soviet mistrust can be traced back to: USSR not invited to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference Allied intervention in Russian Civil War ( ) No official recognition of the USSR until 1930s Allies not opening up a second front against Germany (1941-June 1944)

First leader of USSR Vladimir Ilyich (Codename Lenin) (Born Died 1923) Leader of the Bolshevik Party & of October Revolution in Chairman of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

What did Lenin want? the overthrow of capitalism through communist revolution, to be followed by a “dictatorship of the proletariat...” in the place of a bourgeois democracy.

A New Leader of the USSR Joseph Vissarionovich (Codename: Stalin) Born Died 1953 By 1927 the leader of the USSR Wanted to consolidate Soviet power and control over Eastern Europe to protect the Motherland from future attacks

Mistrust Stalin was angered because the Allies took too long to open up a second front against Germany (D-Day, June 6, 1944) The Red Army bore the brunt of the fighting. Russian civilian death total: 20 million Russian military death total: 10 million

Post-WW2 Europe At the Yalta Conference, 1944, Stalin promised a free, democratic election in Poland. When the election was eventually held, only communists were allowed to run for office. The same pattern of “free elections” was repeated in other Eastern European nations.

A new president in the house Harry S. Truman Born Died 1972 Democrat V.P President,

U.S. Foreign Policy The Truman Doctrine is a set of principles with which to guide American foreign policy in the aftermath of WW2. In a speech to Congress, Truman declared that the U.S., as “leader of the free world,” must support democracy worldwide and fight against the spread of communism.

Truman went on to propose “...a policy of firm containment, designed to confront the Russians with counter-force at every point where they show signs of encroaching upon the interests of a peaceful and stable world.”

Where did “containment theory” come from? American embassy worker stationed in Moscow, George F. Kennan ( ). A 1947 Foreign Affairs article he wrote under the title “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” “[I believe] Soviet power bears within it the seeds of its own decay... and that the sprouting of these seeds are well advanced.”

Containment in Practice: Case #1 Greek Civil War ( ) Greek Communist Party (supported by the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria & Yugoslavia) attempted to overthrow the democratic Greek government At first Britain, then the USA, supported the Greek gov’t. After over 3 years of fighting, the communists forces lost. The West saw this as a victory over the USSR, whereas the East said they never actually supported the Greek communists.

Containment in Practice: Case #2 Truman authorized the American investment in European post- WW2 recovery. However, Stalin refused to allow Eastern European countries behind the “Iron Curtain” from accepting U.S. money. The Marshall Plan allocated $13 billion. It was named after U.S. Secretary of State, General George C. Marshall ( )

Containment in Practice: Case #3 The Berlin Blockade & Airlift

Containment in Practice: Case #3 Korea

Containment in Practice: Case #4 Cuba

Containment in Practice: Case #5 Vietnam

Containment in Practice: Case #6 Afghanistan

Containment in Practice: Case #7 Iranian & Nicaraguan Revolutions