the cold war for u.s. history
TRANSCRIPT
Cold War1945-1992
U.S. History Ch 22 & 24.2
#22
April 25, 1945Elbe River, Germ.
The End of WWII-East meets West
American & Soviet Troops
Yalta – Feb. 1945
The Big 3
High Pt. of cooperation – but tensions existed
agreed to divide Germany into 4 zones
Mistrust Existed Between America & The Soviet
Union Am. Tried to undo the communist revolution of 1917 Stalin felt Am. didn’t open a 2nd front sooner- let Soviets & Germans kill each other
Reasons for Americans not to trust the Soviets?
Why wouldn’t they trust us?
• We feared communism with its focus on
world revolution
• Felt they couldn’t be trusted:1917 – WWI1939 WWII
After FDR died – tensions boiled over
Potsdam Conference July 1945
• How to administer punishment to Nazi Germany / Japan
• Truman mentioned an unspecified "powerful new weapon" to Stalin
• Tensions grew between East & West
Soviet Dominated Europe
This caused a fear in the West of Soviet Expansion The Red Army
stayed in Eastern Europe after the war
America had to decide how to deal with the Soviet threat
If you know NBA opponents approach to dealing with Michael Jordan, then you will understand
American foreign policy towards the USSR during the Cold War
“You can’t stop him, you can only hope to…………………..”
The Ideological StruggleSoviet &
Eastern Bloc Nations[“Iron
Curtain”]
US & the Western
Democracies
GOAL:spread world-wide Communism
GOAL:“Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world George KennanMETHODS of each Side:
Espionage [KGB vs. CIA] The Arms Race [nuclear escalation] Ideological Competition for the “minds and
hearts” of Third World peoples [Comm. govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy]- the Space Race & Olympic Games, etc
Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)
United States Belgium Britain Canada Denmark France Iceland Italy
Luxemburg Netherlands Norway Portugal 1952: Greece &
Turkey 1955: West
Germany 1983: Spain
Warsaw Pact (1955)
} U. S. S. R.} Albania} Bulgaria} Czechoslovakia
} East Germany} Hungary} Poland} Rumania
Truman Doctrine [1947]attempt to contain communism
into its already established borders
(Military & Economic Aid)1. Civil War in Greece – U.S. gave $$2. Turkey under pressure from the USSR
for concessions: Dardanelles – U.S. gave $$
3. The U.S. should support free peoples desire for (self-Determination) against communists
The Three Worlds
“Hearts & Minds”
European Cities were destroyed following WWII
Dresden, Germany London, Great Britain
Would they turn to the Communists for Support?
Marshall Plan [1948]1. “European Recovery Program”2. Sec. of State/George Marshall3. The U. S. should provide
aid to all European nations that need it
“This move is not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos” -George Marshall$12.5 billion of US aid to W. Europe / & to E. Europe & USSR [but this was rejected]
Why?
The U.S. gave over $12 billion in aid to European countries between 1948-1952, helping to improve their economies and lessen the chance of communist revolutions.
First Major Cold War Crisis
Berlin Blockade• June 1948 – May 1949• Stalin attempted to cut off the 2 mill.
residents of West Berlin• Truman & the Allies responded with
the Berlin Airlift• Tensions increased between the U.S. &
Soviets
Berlin Blockade & Airlift: 1948-494 minutes
The “Iron Curtain”
From Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and Eastern Europe. -- Sir Winston Churchill, 1946
Assignment
The Arms Race:} The Soviet
Union exploded its first A-bomb in 1949
} Now there were two nuclear superpowers!
The Nuclear AgeAtomic Bomb Hydrogen Bomb
A-Bomb H-Bomb
USA 1945 1952
USSR 1949 1953
Sputnik launched - 1957
Ivy Mike H-Bomb TestNovember 1, 1952
Sputnik I (1957)
The Russians have beaten America in space—they have the
technological edge!
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
About the capitalist states, it doesn't depend on you whether we (Soviet Union) exists.If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations, and don'tinvite us to come to see you. Whether you like it our not, history is on our side. We will bury you. -- 1956
McCarthyism / 1950’s Red Scare
• McCarthy (R) Wisconsin - February 9, 1950 Claimed to have a list of 205 at State Dept. who were members of the Communist Party
• Made wild accusations• Finally Discredited in
1954
FCDA – Federal Civilian Defense Adm.Atomic Anxieties:
“Duck-and-Cover Generation”
Atomic Testing:1946-1962 : U. S. exploded 217
nuclear weapons overPacific and in
Nevada
The Paranoia of a possible WW III led many
Americans to build Fallout Shelters
Inspired by Sputnik & Wernher von Braun
NASA is Created in 1958
NASAcreated in 1958 - Ike
Manned Missions into space• Project Mercury – 1958
Could Man Survive in Space?• Project Gemini – 1965
Space Walks and Docking w/other vehicles• The Apollo Program – 1969• Sky Lab – 1973 • Space Shuttle – 1981 to 2011• International Space Station – 1998• Mission to Mars?
The Space Race Heats up
The Soviets beat America again Yuri Gargarin soviet cosmonaut• 1st Human to orbit
the earth April 12, 1961
America starts to catch up to the Soviets - Project Mercury – 1 min
1961 – Alan Shepard1st American in Space
1962 – John Glenn1st American to Orbit the Earth
John F. KennedySpeech at Rice University, Houston
Sept. 12, 1962
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.
Then America took the lead in the Space Race…….
“The Eagle has Landed”July, 20 1969
• Apollo 11- 1 min
• The 1st humans landed on the Moon- Neil Armstrong
Buzz AldrinMichael Collins
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”."
Major Cold War Incidents
Both Concern Territories Controlled by Japan during WWII
- After the Japanese were defeated- What side would they turn to? • Korean Conflict “The Forgotten War”• Vietnam “The Ten Thousand Day War”
Also Incidents in:Cuba & The Berlin Wall
The Korean War: A “Police Action” (1950-1953)
Syngman RheeKim Il-Sung
“Domino Theory”
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
Vietnam represented a Failure in American Containment of Communism
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Checkpoint
Charlie
Ich bin ein Berliner! (1963)
President Kennedy tells Berliners that
the West is with them!
The Cold War Spilled over into the Olympic Games
Boycotts – ’80 & ‘84 Miracle on Ice / ESPN pollGreatest Sporting Event in U.S. History
The Collapse of the USSR• 1989 – The Berlin Wall Comes Down• 1990 – Republics Begin Breaking Away• 1991 – The Dissolution of the USSR
Dec. 26, 1991
Part II:CubaKennedyCastro
Khrushchev
Khrushchev Embraces Castro,1961
Bay of Pigs Debacle (1961)
Paris, 1961
Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev
thinks JFK is young, inexperienced, and can be pushed around.
U-2 Spy Incident Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ plane was shot down over Soviet airspace.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, and the other man
blinked!