COLD WARCOLD WARMr. Goddard | PLUSH | April 2009Mr. Goddard | PLUSH | April 2009

YALTA CONFERENCEYALTA CONFERENCE

• Feb 1945• Big Three

– FDR– Churchill– Stalin

• Agreement to govern Germany jointly– Allied Control Council

MARSHALL PLANMARSHALL PLAN

• On June 5, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall – proposes a massive aid

program to rebuild Europe from the ravages of World War II.

• Nearly $13 billion in U.S. aid was sent to Europe from 1948 to 1952. – The Soviet Union and

communist Eastern Europe decline U.S. aid, citing "dollar enslavement."

TRUMAN DOCTRINETRUMAN DOCTRINE• March 12, 1947• Greece and Turkey

in danger of falling to communist insurgents

• Truman requested $400 million from Congress in aid to both countries.

• Successful effort

The Truman Doctrine in March 1947 promised that the USA “would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”. Triggered by British inability to hold the line in Greece, it was followed by aid to Greece and Turkey, and also money to secure upcoming elections in Italy and the advance of Communist trade unions in France.

It signalled the end of “isolationist” policies.

CONTAINMENT POLICYCONTAINMENT POLICY• George F. Kennan, Senior State Department

official, posted to USSR during war.• July 1947, article in Foreign Affairs journal, under

author “X”– War originally a Long Telegram sent back to State

Department, then published in Foreign Affairs– “...we are going to continue for a long

time to find the Russians difficult to deal with. It does not mean that they should be considered as embarked upon a do-or-die program to overthrow our society...

COMMUNIST TAKEOVER IN COMMUNIST TAKEOVER IN CZECHOSLOVAKIACZECHOSLOVAKIA

• Feb. 1948• Key members of Czech gov’t die mysteriously• Pro-western President forced to resign, new

constitution ratified– Complete takeover by Czech communists

BERLIN AIRLIFTBERLIN AIRLIFT

• Blockade of Berlin began on June 24, ’48

• From June 1948 to May 1949, U.S. and British planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin.

• After 200,000 flights, the Soviet Union lifts the blockade.

OPERATION VITTLESOPERATION VITTLES

• All of the necessities for the city's 2.5 million residents -- an estimated 4,500 tons of food, coal and other materials each day -- had to enter the city by air.

• On its biggest day, the "Easter parade" of April 16, 1949, the airlift sent 1,398 flights into Berlin -- one every minute.

• Before it was all over, more than 278,000 flights would carry 2.3 million tons of relief supplies.

BERLIN AIRLIFTBERLIN AIRLIFT• The airlift marked a rise in tensions between the West and the

Soviets, but it also helped heal divisions left by World War II. • Almost immediately, The United States, Great Britain, and

France shifted from Germany's conquerors to its protectors. • "The airlift was the starting point for Germany's inclusion in

the West and for the reconciliation with the Western powers," Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen says.

• Allied cooperation paved way for formation of new military alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO

• Soviets formed their own alliance called Warsaw Pact in 1955

1949 – FALL OF CHINA1949 – FALL OF CHINA

• In June, Jiang Jieshi defeated by Mao– Flee to island of Taiwan

• Oct 1, Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China (PRC)

• Two months later, Mao travels to Moscow,– negotiates the Sino-Soviet

Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

KOREAN WAR, 1950-1953KOREAN WAR, 1950-1953

• On June 25, North Korean communist forces cross the 38th parallel and invade South Korea.

• On June 27, Truman orders U.S. forces to assist the South Koreans

• The U.N. Security Council condemns the invasion and est’d a 15-nation fighting force.

• Chinese troops enter the conflict by year's end.

• Cease fire eventually brings war to close by 1953

DIEN BIEN PHUDIEN BIEN PHU• May 1954 –Dien Bien Phu –

France holds area for 50 days and then falls to Ho and his men. Major turning point – France will pull out of Vietnam after this defeat.

• In July, the Geneva Accords divide the country at the 17th parallel, creating a North and South Vietnam.

• The United States assumes the chief responsibility of providing anti-communist aid to South Vietnam.

REASONS FOR U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN REASONS FOR U.S. INVOLVEMENT IN VIETNAMVIETNAM

• Pres. Truman’s policy of containment – American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world.

• Pres. Eisenhower’s – domino theory – belief that if one country falls to communism, neighboring countries would fall.

MASSIVE RETALIATIONMASSIVE RETALIATION

• On January 12, 1955 U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles first announces the doctrine of Massive Retaliation.

• It threatens full-scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union in response to communist aggression anywhere in the world.

• Since USSR had nuclear weapons led to MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction

John Foster Dulles and MacArthur in Korea, 1950

SPUTNIK – SPACE RACESPUTNIK – SPACE RACE

• On October 4, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth.

• In 1958, the U.S. creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the space race is in full gear.

1959 - CASTRO TAKES POWER1959 - CASTRO TAKES POWER• January 1, 1959 leftist

forces under Fidel Castro overthrow Fulgencio Batista

• Castro nationalizes the sugar industry and signs trade agreements with the Soviet Union.

• The next year, Castro seizes U.S. assets on the island.

1960 - THE U-2 AFFAIR1960 - THE U-2 AFFAIR

• On May 1, an American high-altitude U-2 spy plane is shot down on a mission over the Soviet Union.

• After the Soviets announce the capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers, the United States recants earlier assertions that the plane was on a weather research mission.

THE U-2 AFFAIRTHE U-2 AFFAIR

• Powers was sentenced to ten years in prison, including seven years of hard labor, following an infamous show-trial.

• He served less than two years, however, and was released in 1962 in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

•Suffering major embarrassment, Eisenhower was forced to admit the truth behind the mission and the U-2 program, although he refused to publicly apologize to Khrushchev.

•This refusal caused the Paris Summit to collapse when Khrushchev stormed out of negotiations.

1961 - BAY OF PIGS1961 - BAY OF PIGS • U.S.-organized invasion force

of 1,400 Cuban exiles is defeated by Castro's government forces on Cuba's south coast at the Bay of Pigs.

• Launched from Guatemala in ships and planes provided by the United States, the invaders surrender on April 20 after three days of fighting.

• Kennedy takes full responsibility for the disaster.

Captured Cubans

1961 - BERLIN WALL1961 - BERLIN WALL• On August 15,

communist authorities begin construction on the Berlin Wall to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin.

1962 - CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS1962 - CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS• After Bay of Pigs invasion, the

Soviet Union installed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

• After U-2 flights Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba on October 22 until the Soviet Union removed its missiles.

• On October 28, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles, defusing one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War.

1962 - CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS1962 - CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

1964 - GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION1964 - GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION

• North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on the USS Mattox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2.

• On August 7, the U.S. Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson authority to send U.S. troops to South Vietnam.

1968 - TET OFFENSIVE1968 - TET OFFENSIVE• Viet Cong guerrillas and

North Vietnamese Army troops launched attacks across South Vietnam on January 30, the start of the lunar new year Tet.

• In Saigon, guerrillas battle Marines at the U.S. Embassy.

• In March, Johnson orders a halt to the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam and offers peace talks.

1969 - VIETNAMIZATION1969 - VIETNAMIZATION• 1968, Richard Nixon elected President,

defeating Hubert Humphrey• On June 8, 1969 U.S. President Nixon

announced his "Vietnamization" plan, designed to withdraw U.S ground forces from Vietnam and turn control of the war over to South Vietnamese forces.

• “Peace with Honor” – Pres. Nixon wanted to maintain U.S. dignity in the face of withdrawal from the war.

1969 -- SALT1969 -- SALT• On November 17, the 1st

phase of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began in Helsinki, Finland.

• The finished agreement, signed in Moscow on May 26, 1972, placed limits on both submarine-launched and intercontinental nuclear missiles.