end of wwii “ freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. our support goes to those...

END OF WWII

• “Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.”

• --Franklin Roosevelt, January, 1941

Yalta ConferenceFebruary 1945

• “Big Three”: Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt design Post War World

• Each nation would control part of Germany• Soviet Union is allowed influence over Eastern

Europe: communist governments installed• Formation of United Nations

Issues After Yalta

• Truman inexperienced, ill-informed

• Soviet Union wants control over Eastern Europe to protect itself from future aggression—anti self determination

• Truman gets tough with Soviet ambassador Molotov: why no free elections in Poland?

Potsdam ConferenceJuly, 1945

• Truman’s first conference wants to be seen as tough

• Truman learns U.S. has successfully exploded atomic bomb; continues hard line approach with Soviets

• Outcome of conference: Germany gets divided: France, U.S. and Britain take control of west, Soviets take control of East– Berlin divided into four zones

• World being divided between U.S. and U.S.S.R.

The Atomic Bomb• Invasion of Japan planned• Truman learns about secret

weapon; hopes to end war without costly invasion

• August 6, 1945--Hiroshima• 100,000 people die instantly;

100,000 more die later• August 9, 1945 -- Nagasaki

after Japan refuses to surrender

• August 14: Japan surrenders

World War II: Impact

• First war to bring mass civilian deaths• Soviet Union loses 8% of population (over

21 million soldiers and civilians)• Thousands of cities and towns devastated

throughout Europe and Asia• Transformed the lives of millions of

Americans on the home front

7 Future American Presidents 7 Future American Presidents Views of the World Were Views of the World Were

Formed by Their Service in Formed by Their Service in World War IIWorld War II

7 Future American Presidents 7 Future American Presidents Views of the World Were Views of the World Were

Formed by Their Service in Formed by Their Service in World War IIWorld War II

Cold War/Containment

What Was the “Cold War?”

•An era of tension between democratic capitalist countries led by the U.S. and Communist countries led by the USSR

•There were various military conflicts and “hot wars” within the Cold War

•The dividing line between the free world and the Communist world was Berlin, Germany

How did the U.S. and Soviet Union become Cold War adversaries?

• Superpowers distrust each other:

• Soviets: U.S. tried to overthrow our Revolution; didn’t help enough during war– Weakened economy, 25 million refugees

– Want ring of pro-Soviet states to protect eastern border

• Americans: Deep fear of Communism– Booming economy, won a “good” war

– American mission: build a free world

NATO vs. The Warsaw Pact

The Spread of Communism

•USSR: goal of expanding its reach:

--encouraged/ caused communist revolutions in surrounding countries

•The USSR came to control “satellite” nations in Eastern Europe and Asia.

New Communist States of Note

•China

•North Korea

•North Vietnam

•Cuba

The Truman Doctrine

•To use all necessary resources to contain the spread of Communism in the world

•To strengthen the political and economic systems of countries “at risk” of falling to Communism

•Continue to support and praise Democratic governments around the world

Early Examples of “Containment” policy

The Marshall Plan – Economic aid to democratic countries struggling after WWII - meant to resist Communism and strengthen US trade relationships

The Korean War - Preventing China and the USSR from spreading into democratic South Korea.

Domestic “Watchdog” Groups - House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) & The “Hollywood 10” blacklist , Taft-Hartley Loyalty Act, McCarran Act

Korean War: Lasting Effects

First major “test” of Truman’s containment policy

Precedent for Executive-ordered military action without Congressional approval

Re-affirmed the need for a massive military buildup as outlined in NSC-68

Korean War: Lasting Effects

Truman’s policy of “limited war” and decision not to use the bomb: guilt over WWII policy and anxiety about all-out nuclear war

Push for peace talks: Truman was not interested in completely eradicating Communism, but simply containing it.

The General as President:Dwight D. Eisenhower (IKE)

•Supreme Allied Commander during World War II

•Campaigned on the promise: “early and honorable” end to the war in Korea •Traveled there himself three weeks after winning the election

Eisenhower’s Korea Strategy

• Weighed options of full-scale war with China and nuclear attacks on Korean targets

• Stalin dies March 1953:

• opportunity to make peace without war - N. Koreans, uncertain of future Soviet help, sign truce.

Korean Armistice Line

July 27, 1953 North Korea:

Communist

South Korea:

Democratic

Eisenhower Re-evaluates US Cold War Policy

• Key questions he considered:

– Who would replace Stalin?– How long could the US afford to keep

expanding its military forces and nuclear arsenal?

– Was containment the best possible strategy?– How do nukes factor into our policy?


SOLUTION:“The New Look” - downsizes costly army and navy and relies on air power and tactical nuclear weapons

Saves the US $4 billion per year in defense spending


• Truman policy: limited war replaced with a new policy:

• Massive Retaliation: an instant nuclear attack “by means and at places of our choosing”

• Critics call this new policy “brinksmanship” - the art of never backing down from a crisis even if it meant bringing the nation to the brink of war


• Nikita Krushchev: New Soviet leader• Eisenhower sees opportunity for friendlier US-Soviet

relations• Ike proposes “open skies” policy at Geneva, 1955

Krushchev dismisses it as an espionage ploy• Soviet test of intercontinental ballistic missile with

nuclear warhead and launch of Sputnik, Fall 1957 fire up the arms race*Between 1955 and 1965, US arsenal of nukes increases from 2,600 to 32,400!

“Ike the Spy”• Pearl Harbor + distrust of the Soviets = Eisenhower pushe

for massive investment in intelligence and espionage headed by the CIA

• Expansion of CIA sets tone for future presidents: Reliance on “Covert Operations”

• “Covert-Ops” included: assassination plots, inciting revolutions, supporting friendly pro-west regimes and/or replacing political leaders with pro-Western dictators

The Eisenhower Doctrine• Supporting pro-Western governments with military

and economic aid, in order to prevent the spread of Communism in the Middle East

CONSEQUENCE:

The US may have to fight Arab countries that refuse to join the pro-West camp in addition to fighting communism

CIA Cold War Covert Ops Attempted to overthrow governments in:

• Iran - 1953 (successful) (Lessons of History - Coup 1953)• Guatemala - 1954 (successful)• Indonesia - 1957 (unsuccessful)• Dominican Republic - 1960 (successful)• Cuba - 1961 “Bay of Pigs” invasion (unsuccessful)

Attempted to assassinate:

• Patrice Lumumba - leader of the Congo - 1961 (Political opponents killed him before the CIA got to him…or did they?)

• Fidel Castro - Cuba - 1960-1970’s “Operation Mongoose”(multiple failed attempts)

Favored/Supported friendly pro-West regimes in: Vietnam, Laos

Consequences of Regime Change Policy

• United States is seen as a “bully” unable to mind its own business

• Many of the dictators the US installed or supported were corrupt and brought poverty and chaos to the countries they ruled (consider Middle East revolutions of 2011)

• Citizens of various countries around the world come to blame American greed and capitalism for their own shortcomings - engage in aggressive acts of anger and revenge (terrorist attacks,violent protests, kidnappings, etc)

Ike’s Farewell Warning

• In a televised farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower warns of the “undue influence - either sought or unsought - by the military-industrial complex”

• Worried that keeping a nation permanently mobilized for war was dangerous - could lead us into wars of choice rather than wars of necessity

• Additional concerns:– US economy becoming too dependent on the arms industry– Federal funds could be better used in other areas

Cuba: The Soviet Playground•After the revolution of 1958, Fidel Castro demanded control of US business and properties

•When the US refused to negotiate, Castro turned to the USSR for aid.

•Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader saw Cuba as a strategic foothold only 90 miles from the US and poured millions in Soviet aid into the tiny island.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion

•Threatened by this new relationship, the US plans to depose Castro and regain political and economic influence in Cuba

•Plan is to train a group of Cuban exiles called “La Brigada” to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. It would look like a native revolution, rather than an American invasion

•Without US air support, La Brigada fails - many are killed or captured - Castro remains in power

The Cuban Missile Crisis•In order to protect Cuba from future US invasion, the USSR places long and medium range nuclear missiles in Cuba

•When American spy planes discover this, it causes an intense standoff between JFK and Khrushchev

•After intense secret negotiations and threats of nuclear war, the Soviets agree to dismantle the missiles in Cuba if the US promises never to invade again and dismantles missiles based in Turkey.

Vietnam - Containment’s final test

•The US began giving aid to France in order to help resist Communism in Vietnam in 1950. (Spent $2.6 billion between 1950 and 1954)

•When Ho Chi Minh’s Communist Army successfully overthrew French rule, a US-led coalition intervened to broker a peace agreement

The 1954 Geneva Peace AgreementVietnam divided in half at 17th Parallel

North Vietnam = Communist, led by Ho Chi Minh

South Vietnam = Democratic, led by French and Ngo Dinh Diem

Free popular elections to be held in 1956 to reunify the country

The Assassination of Diem•Diem failed to make reforms necessary to win support of the people

•Canceled the election promised in 1954 Peace Agreement

•Held a bogus “referendum” in which he won 98% of the vote!

•South Vietnam erupted in civil war, US fed up with Diem plotted with local generals to overthrow him

•Diem assassinated November 1, 1963, Nguyen Van Thieu installed as his replacement

US Intervention in the WarAs the Communist resistance continued to grow, America re-evaluated its approach

Fear of the “Domino Effect” of Communism occuring in Asia leads Lyndon Johnson to action

“I am not going to be the President who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went”

Gulf of Tonkin IncidentLike FDR, Johnson needed a reason to rally

American support for war

August 1964, two US destroyers are torpedoed by North Vietnamese ships in an “unprovoked attack”

Johnson gets declaration from Congress to take “all necessary measures to prevent further aggression”

Years later it was revealed that the US destroyers had been aiding South Vietnamese naval forces in invading North Vietnamese island territory

The Trouble With Vietnam

• US troops young and inexperienced, limited training• Vietnam is a “war of attrition” - kill as many enemies

as possible & force surrender - no clear goal.• Viet Cong uses guerrilla warfare - the enemy is

everyone, everywhere (women and children included!)

• Many S. Vietnamese helped the Viet Cong, saw US as brutes, wanted us out of their country!

• Terrain is tough - hot, dense jungle, intense rain, bugs, disease

Johnson Says “No” in ‘68 With the situation in Vietnam

worsening by the minute and fierce debate and protest at home, Lyndon Johnson decides not to run for re-election.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnnxfUgPUg

Nixon and Detente President Richard Nixon pushed for a

“peaceful coexistence” with the Communist world. This was called “Détente”

Nixon did, however, order intense bombing raids on Cambodia and North Vietnam in order to beat back Communist forces, before completely withdrawing US troops in 1973.

Supported a policy of “Vietnamization” which meant preparing the Vietnamese people to assume responsibility for their own defense

The Vietnam War at a Glance Over 500,000 US troops stationed

in Vietnam by 1968 Average age of combat soldier: 19 $150 Billion spent on

“Containment” 58,000 Americans dead Over 300,000 wounded End Result - US withdraws troops

in 1973, North Vietnamese overrun South Vietnam, take Saigon in 1975.

CONTAIMENT FAILED!

Nixon and Detente After the war ended, Nixon

made a groundbreaking trip to communist China to open diplomatic relations with the Chinese government

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.





What Ended the Cold War? Decades of military spending to keep up

in the arms race eventually doomed the Soviet Economy

Communism failed to address the issues of poverty and need within the population - contrast to the success of democratic capitalist countries around the world (Fall of Berlin Wall - 1989)

Resistance in Soviet satellite countries - wanted independence and self-determination

Failed coup attempt in August 1990 harmed the Communist party, which was eventually banned, and free elections were held “liberalizing” the former Soviet Union





Fall of the Berlin Wall - 1989



Cold War Connections to the Middle East: ISRAEL

• US support of Israeli statehood following WWII --> alliance with the only democratic government in the Middle East as a way to ward off communism in the region (Truman/Eisenhower Doctrine)

• Now seen as a major democratic foothold in a region dominated by Islamic Theocracies

Cold War Connections to the Middle East: IRAN &

AFGHANISTAN

• IRAN - overthrow of Mossadeq (alleged Communist) and support of the Shah led to the 1979 Iranian revolution and US hostage crisis

• AFGHANISTAN- support of Mujahedeen against Soviet invasion - we empowered Bin Laden and Muslim extremists to fight a jihad against the Atheist Communists

Cold War Connections to the Middle East: IRAQ

• IRAQ - supporting Saddam and his Ba’th Socialist Party (very much like Soviet Communism) during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s to combat the Ayatollah’s fundamentalist islamic rule

(Iran-Contra affair shows that we actuallyfunded and supported the Iranians, as well!)

end of wwii “ freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. our support goes to those...

Documents