Cold War

Notes

1945-1991

Origins
- US and Russia emerge out of WWII as world powers
- Both had different goals causing tension
- Stalin never trusted the US or Britain
Containment policy
- Policy to contain communism where it existed
- Truman doctrine
  - US would support free people resisting communism
  - Greece and turkey
- Marshall plan
  - Provided aid to european nations in need
  - Helped Europe rebuild
Cold war in Europe
- Berlin was split into 4 zones
- Stalin closed off all land access to west berlin
- Berlin airlift
  - Allies dropped supplies
  - Lasted 11 months
- May 1949- stalin lifted the blockade
- N.A.T.O created
  - Created after Stalin invaded Czechoslovakia
  - Defensive alliances
  - US and western Europe
Cold war in asia
- China became communist
- Domino theory
  - If a nation fell to communism all nations around them would fall
Korean war
- In 1950 north korea invaded south korea
  - 38th parallel
  - Used soviet supplied weapons
- South Korea was almost conquered
- US troops intervene
- Chinese troops intervene
- Peace reached
  - After 3 years of fighting
  - 38th parallel becomes DMZ
Cold war at Home
- Second red scare
  - Joseph McCarthy
  - Believed communist has infiltrated the state department
  - McMarthysim
G.I Bill
- Helped pay for college
- Helped buy homes and get jobs
Baby boom
- 1945-1960 50 million babies
Fair deal
- Compulsory health care
- Increase the minimum wage
- Extended social security
- Low income housing
Arms race
- Us monopoly on nukes ended in 1949
- In 1952, US detonated first hydrogen bomb
  - 1000X stronger than nuke dropped on hiroshim
  - USSR had one by 1953
- ICBM’s were invented 1959
  - Could deliver nuclear warheads long distances
  - MAD
    - Mutually Assured Destructions
34th president- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Modern republicanism
  - Ike’s domestic policy
  - Conservative on money and liberal on people
    - Increased minimum wage
  - “More bang for the buck”
    - Develop nuclear weapons downsize the conventional army
U-2 conflict
- US was spying on russia
- U-2 shot down and captured bu russian
OPEC created
- Organization of petroleum exporting countries
Cuba
- Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban government
- Became communist
Eisenhower doctrine
- US would use force to defend the middle east for communism
Sputnik
- First satellite launched into orbit
- Started the space race
- NASA created
Culture of the 50s
- Music
  - Doo-Wop dominated the 50s
  - Rock and roll soon challenges doo-wop
  - Elvis Presley
- Teenagers
  - Had leisure time and money
  - Businesses target teens for their products
  - Hollywood made movies about teenage delinquents
JFK- 35th president (1961-1963)
- Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ) - vice president
- Created the peace corp
- Bay of pigs
  - JFK approved CIA trained Cuban exiles to invade cuba
  - They were defeated
- Berlin wall
  - Built by the Russians in 1961
  - Symbol of the cold war
  - Tore down in 1989
- Cuban missile crisis
  - Russians were building nuclear missile sites in Cuba
  - JFK orders naval blockade till weapons were removed
- JFK Assassination
  - November 22, 1963
  - Lee Harvey Oswald
  - Warren commission

LBJ
- Vietnam war (bashed/ hated)
- Civil rights movement (good for him)

Vocab terms

Satellite nations: Countries dependent upon and dominated by the Soviet Union
Containment: American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world
Iron curtain: Term used by Churchill in 1946 to describe the growing East-West divide in postwar Europe between communist and democratic nations
Cold War: (1945-1991) The period after the Second World War marked by rivalry and tension between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the communist government of the Soviet Union.
Truman Doctrine: 1947, policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey
Marshall Plan: A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe (1948-1952)
Berlin Airlift: airlift in 1948 that supplied food and fuel to citizens of west Berlin when the Russians closed off land access to Berlin
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: NATO, 1949 alliance of nations that agreed to band together in the event of war and to support and protect each nation involved
Korean War: (1950-3) A conflict between UN forces (primarily US and South Korea) against North Korea, and later China; Gen. Douglas Macarthur led UN forces and was later replaced by Gen. Ridgeway; Resulted in Korea remaining divided at the 38th parallel.
38th Parallel: demilitarized line that divides Korea - Soviet Union occupied the north and United States occupied the south
Demilitarized Zone: DMZ, zone from which military forces or operations or installations are prohibited
House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC): committee during the Second Red Scare that investigated communist influence inside the government
Hollywood Ten: A group of actors, writers, directors, musicians, and other entertainers, who were barred from working in the industry because of their affiliations or suspected affiliations with the Communist Party of America.
Blacklist: a list of people who are out of favor
Joseph McCarthy: 1950s; Wisconsin senator claimed to have a list of communists in the American government, but no credible evidence; took advantage of fears of communism post WWII to become incredibly influential.
McCarthyism: The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Second Red Scare: Post-World War II period in which there was widespread fear of communism, communist, and the potential of them to undermine American democracy.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: Arrested in the Summer of 1950 and executed in 1953, they were convicted of conspiring to commit espionage by passing plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
Brinkmanship: The principle of not backing down in a crisis, even if it meant taking the country to the brink of war. Policy of both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): An agency created after World War II to coordinate American intelligence activities abroad. It became involved in intrigue, conspiracy, and meddling as well.
Warsaw Pact: An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO
Eisenhower Doctrine: Policy of the US that it would defend the Middle East against attack by any Communist country
U-2 Incident: A 1960 incident in which the Soviet military used a guided missile to shoot down an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory
Suburbs: Residential areas surrounding a city, grew in the 1950s
Dixiecrats: southern Democrats who opposed Truman's position on civil rights. They caused a split in the Democratic party.
Fair Deal: Truman's economic plan that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, and constructed low-income housing
Baby boom: A large group born in the US post-WWII until the 1960s
Bay of Pigs: An unsuccessful invasion of Cuba in 1961, which was sponsored by the United States. Its purpose was to overthrow Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Cuban Missile Crisis: an international crisis in October 1962, the closest approach to nuclear war at any time between the U.S. and the USSR.
Warren Commission: The U.S. commission in charge of investigating the assassination of JFK. It came to the conclusion that Oswald acted alone.