Cold War

Chiang Kai-Shek

• Nationalist leader 

  • Supported by the US

  • Fought communism for 25+ years

  • Corrupt and inefficient gov

    • Undermined nationalist support

Mao Zedong

• Communist leader

• Won peasant support

• Gained control of northern china by 1945

Jieshi vs Zedong

primary antagonists in 20th-century China's struggle for power, representing Nationalists (KMT) vs. Communists (CCP), respectively.

The People’s Republic of China vs the Republic of China 

two distinct, rival governments resulting from the Chinese Civil War.

The PRC controls mainland China (communist),

ROC governs Taiwan (democratic).

• Both historically claimed sovereignty over all China, but now operate as separate entities. 

USSR north of the 38th parallel

• Occupied by North Korea

• Led by Kim Ill Sung

• Capital - Pyongyang

US. South of the 38th parallel

• Occupied South Korea

• Led by Syngman Rhee

• Capital - Seoul 

North Korea Attacks!

• Crossed 38th parallel

• Deep into South Korea

• South Korea appealed to UN

  • UN agreed to send troops

  • Where was Russia?!

6/27/1950 - Truman sent

• American troops to Korea

• American fleet to protect waters between China and Taiwan

• Gen. Douglas Mac Arthur is in charge. 

North Korea: Unstoppable?

• Captured Seoul … pushed troops back to Pusan

• Mini animation

• MacArthur plans BOLD counterattack 

MacArthur’s Counterattack

• Surprise amphibious landing behind enemy lines at Incheon

  • Troops move north from Pusan

  • Forced North Korean troops to surrender. Remaining fled back behind 38th parallel 

  • UN troops followed

    • Got as far as north n the yalu river

  • OH NO!

  • China responds aggressively

  • Recaptured seoul and pushed back us troops further south

Truman’s Orders

• Wants MacArthur to back down

  • Mac Arthur recommends nuclear war

• Orders MacArthur to retake Seoul and re-establish the 38th parallel 

• MacArthur goes above Truman's head

• Truman fired mac arthur (4/11/1951)

• Congressional investigation ensues 

Stalemate

• USSR Recommends a cease-fire

• What is done:

  • Established the DMZ back at the 38th parallel

  • Prisoner exchange negotiated (1951)

  • 7/1953 - armistice

• Agreement = stalemate !

Effects of the Korean War: Abroad

• Communism contained

• Avoided use of atomic weapons

• Korea still divided

Effects of the Korean War: At Home

• Casualities 

• Expenditures

• Democratic Party lost popularity

• Increased fear of communism 

Fear of Communism

• Could communism spread in the US? To what extent?

• To whom were American communists loyal?

Truman’s Loyalty Board

• Truman was accused of being “soft of communism”

• Federal Employee Loyalty Program

  • Established by Executive Order 9835 (3/1947)

  • Purpose: to investigate government employees and to dismiss those who were disloyal attorney generals → generated list of “subversies” → fired!

• Investigated 3.2 million employees (1947-1951)

  • Accused could not see evidence against hem

• Led to HUAC.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

• Investigated communist activities in movie industry 

  • Soviet propaganda in film?

• Subpoenaed 43 witnesses

• “Hollywood Ten”

  • Refused to testify

  • Believed hearings were unconstitutional 

  • Imprisoned

• Blacklists

  • Ruined peoples careers!

The McCarran Act

• Congress felt Loyalty Review Board = too lax

  • 1950 - Passed McCarran Internal Security Act 

    • Illegal to plan any action that might lead to the US becoming a totalitarian state 

    • Vetoed by Truman → violated First Amendment rights

    • Overturned by congress

Spies in the US?

• Alger Hiss

• The Rosenbergs

• Klaus Fuchs

McCarthyism

McCarthyism was a intense period of anti-communist paranoia and political repression in the U.S. during the late 1940s and 1950s, characterized by unsupported accusations of disloyalty, blacklisting, and "witch hunts"

Joseph McCarthy -- R senator from wisconsin

• Most famous anti-communist

• All accusations made on the Senate floor → immunity

• Republicans do nothing to stop

McCarthy’s Downfall

• Accuse people in the US army (1954)

• Charged with misconduct → censored

Air Raid Drills 

• Duck and Cover 

• Common during the Truman years

  • Authorized building of H-bomb

• Fear of nuclear attack motivated the arms race during the cold war

• Families built fall out shelters

• Schools practiced drills

Brinkmanship

• Definition: The art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, typically in politics. 

  • Most commonly associated with IKE’s administration

Secretary of State

 John Foster Dulles

CIA

• Created 1947 by Truman

• Used by IKE to gather information from spies

• Carried out covert operations

• Used to weaken and or overthrow unfriendly governments in middle east/latin america

Iran

Prime Minister = Mohammed Mossadegh

• Nationalized oil fields (owned by England)

• England boycotted Iranian oil

• US feared Mossadegh would turn to USSR for help

1953 - CIA gave millions to anti-Mossadegh supporters 

• Helped pro-American Shah (Mohammed Reza Pahlavi) of Iran to regain power

• Shah returns to power and turned over control of Iranian oil fields to Western companies 

1954 - Guatemala 

• Local government gave 200,000 acres of US owed land to peasants

• CIA trained army invaded Guatemala

• Guatemalan army refused to protect/defend president

  • President resigned

• Army leader took over Guatemalan government

Stalin Dies!

• 1953 - of natural causes

• Who will replace him?

  • It’s complicated

  • 1958 - Nikita Khrushchev takes over the CP officially 

• Khrushchev as a leader

  • Denounced Stalin and his practices

  • Is the Cold War about to “thaw”? 

A New Alliance Is Developed

• 1955 - NATO admits West Germany

• USSR forms the Warsaw Pact (1955 - 1991)

  • Albania

  • Bulgaria

  • Czechoslovakia

  • East Germany 

  • Hungary

  • Poland

  • Romania

  • Soviet Union

Geneva Convention (7/1955)

• IKE and Soviet leaders to met

• IKEA proposes “open skies”

  • US and USSR to allow flights over each other’s territory to ensure no nuclear attacks were being planned

  • Rejected by the USSR!

• “Spirit of Geneva”

The Suez War

• Prime Minister of Egypt → Nasser

• 1955 - US and Great Britain finance the Aswan Dam on the Nile

  • Nasser wants more funding → plays the US against the USSR

  • Dulles - pulls out US financing (1956)

  • Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal (owned by England and France)

    • France and England angry

    • Israel affected, too

  • France, England, and Israel sent troops, seized Mediterranean side of canal 

  • UN steps in → asks for withdrawal of troops

    • →Egypt given control of the canal

The Eisenhower Doctrine

• USSR supported Egypt

• 1/1957, Ike issues warning

  • US would defend any nation in the Middle East against attacks by a communist country

  • Approved by Congress

The Hungarian Uprising

• Hungary - behind the iron curtain

  • Revoted in 1956 … wanted a democratic government

  • Imre Nagy -- (non-Stalinist) communist leader → led revolution

• USSR responded

  • Killed 30,000 Hungarians

  • Overthrew nagy

• US did NOT help Hungarians DESPITE Truman Doctrine 

• ** policy of containment did NOT extend to USSR’s satellite states

• UN did not help

  • USSR vetoed all attempts

Nikita Khrushchev

• Believed communism would eventually take over the world (like Stalin)

• Believed takeover would be peaceful (unlike Stalin)

• Favored policy of peaceful coexistence

  • Still, there would be competition of economic and scientific superiority

The “Space Race”

• Soviets led the Space Race

  • 10/4/1957 - launched Sputnik

    • * symbolized soviet superiority in technology

  • US poured money into technology

    • Game of catch-up

    • Embarrassing first attempt to launch a satellite

    • Successfully launched a satellite on 1/31/1958

U-2s and “Open Skies”

• 1955 - Open skies proposal rejected

• CIA = secret high altitude flights over Soviet territory (using U-2s)

  • Photographed troop movement and missile sites

• By 1960, US became nervous about using these flights

  • US press knew about them

  • Soviets found out about them (1956)

• IKE wants to discontinue flights

  • Convinced by Dulles to have ONE MORE before the next summit (5/15/1960)

• Last flight launched (5/1/1960)

  • Shot down by Soviets

  • Imprisoned for 10 years

  • Summit conference cancelled

Renewed Confrontation

• IKE denied the US was spying

  • Had to admit it

• Krushchev demands an apology

  • IKE = NO WAY!

  • IKE promises never to do it again

• Krushchev cancelled summit

  • Withdrew invitation for IKE to go to USSR

• U-2 incident increased the tension of the cold war to new heights