Cold War

Study Guide

1. Compare and Contrast the Soviet Union and the United States in terms of government, economy, and way of life. - In the United States they had a representative democracy with capitalism where people have the chance to achieve wealth. They also live their life with freedoms but based on laws and individual rights. While in the Soviet Union they have a totalitarian government with a communist economy, the exact opposite of the United States. When it comes to life in the Soviet Union it is the exact opposite where the government heavily restricts their lifestyles.

2. How was the experience of fighting World War II very different for the United States and Soviet Union? - It was very damaging to the Soviet Union, they also lost many soldiers in the process, whereas united states only took around half the damage and their land was fine. While the soviet unions were destroyed as they were right in the combat.

3. Based upon Russia's experience in both the First and Second World Wars, why was the Soviet Union determined to see Eastern Europe become communist nations following World War II? - Russia was left devastated from both wars due to being directly in between the conflicts. They wanted to have control and power over the countries that had destroyed them before so that they couldn’t do it again.

4. What was Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech? What did he warn was happening to Europe after World War II? What was he calling on the United States to do? - His speech was to warn America about the horror behind the iron curtain. He warned them that there were concentration camps where unspeakable things were happening similar to the holocaust. He was calling on the US to take action to help the people being persecuted.

5. What was the Truman Doctrine? Where did the Truman Doctrine see success? - The Truman doctrine was the US promise to aid any country fighting against communism. It successfully protected Greece and Italy from a communist takeover.

6. What was the policy of Containment? Which US diplomat came up with this idea? - Containment is the process of keeping communism in their current areas and not letting it spread similar to a disease. George F Kennan came up with this idea.

7. What was the Marshall Plan? How was the Marshall plan a successful example of the policy of Containment in action? - The Marshall plan was the plan to rebuild Italy France and West Germany to prevent them being taken over by communism. This is also a part of containment. It successfully rebuilt those three countries and prevented communism from taking them over.

8. Why and how were both Germany and Berlin divided after World War II? - Germany was divided into four parts, the soviets in the west, America, France, and Britain in the west each having a part. Berlin the capital was split in half, US had the west and the soviets had the east.

9. Why did Stalin blockade West Berlin in 1949? - He wanted to starve them so that they would accept communism in their government as it would help them get food.

10. What was the Berlin Airlift? How did it turn the Berlin crisis on Stalin and force him to submit? - The Berlin airlift was the US’s way of getting resources into east berlin during the blockade. To stop the airlift Stalin had to shoot down the aircrafts and he wasn’t willing to do that so he submits and freed berlin. He also did this because he knew it was a trap.

11. Why was the fall of China to communists such a blow to the United States? - It was such a blow to the US ecause china had the largest population in the world, it seemed like containment wasnt working, and when news broke out that China fell due to trumans pull of funds, it seemsd like we had given china to the communists. It began conspiracy about the topic and caused trumans ratings to tank.

12. How did the Soviet Union's acquisition of the atomic bomb change the nature of the Cold War? - It made the US not the only country with the atomic bomb. It heightened the stakes of the war knowing both sides had a weapon so destructive. It also raises fear of a spy in the Manhattan project, as the Soviets atomic bomb was very similar to ours.

13. Why did the United States get involved in Korea? - This is because Truman was determined to halt communism from spreading in Asia and have containment work again. They didn’t want to be the reason another country fell to communism.

14. What factors led to a second "red scare" in 1950? - The Soviets Union got the Atomic Bomb similar to the US’s causing another red scare. Due to the two bombs being very similar it raised concern about a spy, which was found out to be true at the end of the war.

15. What was the House Un-American Activities Committee? Who did it go after? - They were a committee that went after people who were suspected to be communists. They mostly went after people in Hollywood as they would pretend to be communists for fame.

16. Who was Senator Joseph McCarthy? What did he claim? Why did he receive such support among the American people? - Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin senator who claimed to have a list of communists working in the government but had no evidence. He got so much support because of the way he took advantage of the intense hysteria and paranoia that the red scare caused.

17. What factors brought down Joseph McCarthy and ended the second red scare? - Due to him accusing the army of all being communists he had gone to far and lost all credibility. The public opinion also started to change ending the second red scare.

Notes

The Cold War - The US Vs. The Soviet Union - 1945 - 1991

Timeline

1945: February 4-11 - Yalta Conference

1945: August 6 - United States first used atomic bomb in war

1945: August 8 - Russia enters war against Japan

1945: August 14 - Japanese surrenders, ending World War II

1946: March - Winston Churchill delivers "Iron Curtain" speech

1947: March - Truman announces Truman Doctrine

1947: June - Marshall Plan is announced

1948: February- Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia

1948: June 24 - Berlin blockade begins

1949: July - NATO treaty ratified

1949: May 12 - Berlin Blockade ends

1949: September - Mao Zedong, a communist, takes control of China

1949: September - Soviets explode first atomic bomb

1955: May – Warsaw Pact

What does “Cold War” mean

• An intense and harsh competition between two contries that involves threats, propaganda, and fight through through thrid party “proxy” conflicts

• never direct fighting

• proxy conflicts are when civil war breaks out the US supporting one side and the soviet union supporting the other

Differences between the two countries

Joseph Stalin

• Became premiere of the Soviet Union in 1929

• Transformed the government into a true totalitarianism regime

• Killed his way to the top

Totalitarianism

• Began in the Soviet Union in the 1920’s

• Beliefs of totalitarianism - centered around fear:

  • 1. Complete control of the economy by the government

  • 2. Complete control of a person’s life including thoughts and actions

  • 3. Us of violence and murder to incite terror, suspicion and paranoia among people

  • 4. Complete control over media education and information

  • Glorification and subjection to supreme leader

What is so dangerous about totalitarianism

1. secret police that is very effect - the Cheka and KGB

2. Brainwashing people to not have worth and accept the terrible conditions they live in

3. The Gulag - concentration camp system in Siberia

Peoples biggest fear was being disloyal, but they didn’t know the definition of it or when something was disloyal. If disloyal they would get a midnight knock by the KGB on their door. People would snitch on each other to stay safe and liked by the government.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final most essential command” - George Orwell, 1984

• Stalin had a “Cult of personality” form around him

  • people who lived their life to please him

• Had to refer to stalin as “father of all nations” or “Beloved”

• Each house had a stalin room

• Why did they worship Stalin? -

• “Ideas are more powerful than guns, We would not let our enemies have guns, why would we let them have ideas” - Joseph Stalin

America’s Government in the Cold War and Public opinion

• Many Americans wanted to return to isolation following WWII.

• Why has this been a consistent pattern in American history?

  • Americans are fearful of a standing army

  • thought that standing armies would lead to massacres and quartering along with eliminating privacy and having control

  • There was a great fear that standing armies will be used against the poeple eventually

• In 1945 people start pushing back on this idea

Opinions begin to change

• Many Americans felt that our isolation after WWI inadverantly caused WWII

• How?

  • The league of nations should’ve stepped into stop Hitler

  • If America was backing the league of nations, they wouldn’t have appeased Hitler

• What motivated stalins desire to expand westward?

  • he doesnt want to keep getting invaded by germany

    • wants this land to build a wall

    • do you believe him?

      • germany is weak and can’t invade

• Churchill’s iron curtain speech

  • “From Stettin in the baltic to triste in the adriatic an iron curtain had descended across the continent” - Churchill

• What was behind the iron curtain? - a prison camp with creamitoriums

• Cartoons tried to show the similarities between Stalin and Hitler

• Communist countries - China, Vietnam, Korea, Greece, and Turkey

US Response to the threat of communism

1. The Truman Doctrine

   • The US promised to aid any country fighting against a communist takeover

   • This aid included any amount of Money and Weapons

2. Containment - similar to stopping a disease

   • keep communism contained to its present boundaries

   • resist Soviet expansion in Western Europe, Asia and the middle East

3. Military Alliances - Most important and changed US history

   • The US breaks the policy of isolationism to fight communism across the globe

   • If one member of NATO gets attacked they all go to war

     • NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Truman Vs. Stalin

What prepared each man for his role as leader during the Cold War

Truman

• Not suited to be president

• only in government due to his connections with a corrupt person in power

• only president due to roosevelts death

• Came from a corrupt institution that allowed him to be vice president

• Extremely pooer and failed at many jobs (farmer, solider, than farmer again)

• Starts being a habitashery or a hat salesman in St. Louis giving him fame and wealth

• becomes close with pedigrast a horrid corrupt person who gets him power

• Was part of the KKK

• Starts as local politician - votes are bought by his corrupt wealthy friends and this is known

  • Sent to house of representatives via bought votes

• Didn’t want Civil rights plank in Midwest so Rooseevelt has to give it

• Vice presidency to truman to gain support

• Roosevelt doesnt trust him as he knows of hit corrupt past

• First decision is to drop the atomic bomb

  • Oppenhiemer meets with truman filled guilt saying “I cant but feel we have blood on our hands” Truman says “Well you made it but i dropped it” When oppenhiemer left truman said “I never want to see that cry baby again”

• Truman changed american policy with the truman doctrine, NATO and containment

Stalin

• Loved by the bolsheviks - was a murderer and got things done clean and quietly

• Was a robber and crook

• lenin kept stalin around because he does the things no one else wants too despite hating him

• He has no moral compass - very important

• “One persons death s a tradgedy, a million peoples death is a statistic” important quote from him

• After lenin’s death he killed his way to the top

• The kulaks are the first to stand up to him, he starves 2 million of them to death in 2 years

• Great purges to kill mass amounts of people

• Doesnt like any of trumans changes

• Want truman to back down

Germany After WWII

• the country was divided into 4 occupation zones

  • US, Britian, and France, in the west

  • Soviet to the east

Berlin after WWII

• Was the capitol of germany

• divided into 2 zones after WWII

  • West side is under US control

  • East is under Soviet control

• Stalin wants to starve people of west berlin into submission by cutting off supplies to them

1949 & 1950 - triumphs and tragedy in the Cold War

Trumans approval rating in 1949 - 70%

1949 - Year of triumphs

Truman doctrine

Did it work? - Successfully prevented a communist takeover of greece and italy

Communism can take over in poor and destroyed areas

Containment

did it work? - sucessfully prevented a communist take over by rebuilding italy, france, and West germany through the marshall plan

marshall plan - the rebuilding of poor and destroyed countries to prevent communist takeover

The Berlin Crisis

The solution was the Berlin Airlift

The Berlin airlift

• Truman had thousands of supplies dropped by aircraft into West Berlin

  • using this as a trap to get stalin to attack so the US can attack back

• Stalin had to be willing to shoot the aircraft down, he backed down and freed berlin

1950 - Year of Tragedy

Trumans approval rating in 1950 - 33%

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

• The goal of containment - stop the spread of communism around the globe

Trumans doctrine - gave weapons and supplies to any forces fighting against a communist takeover in their country

The fatal problem of the Cold War? - The US see communism as evil, anyone fighting it is seen as good, but what if they aren’t what do you do?

• It is easy to see morality in WWII but not in the Cold War

The Story of Chaing Kai-shek

• He is Chinese

• Leader of Nationalist party in china

• His great enemy is Mao zedong

• Mao is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party

• Nationalist vs Communist starting Civil War

• Shek thought no matter what communists and Mao must be defeated

• in 1938 china was invaded by japan

  • caused mao and Shek to comprimise for a little bit to try to defeat japan

• US likes Chaing better but worked with both to help fight off japan

• When Japan is defeated the civil war continues

• Chaing has US allship along with benefits of the doctrine and containment

• All the money given to Shek from US goes to wining at all costs

  • He funds the Juntan group with this money

  • Juntan group - A group similar to the Gestapo - German secret police

• Anyone accused of communist sympathy is captured and accused

• Shek wants to win by means despite its lack of morality

• These measures dont work as they get torture instead of necessites

• The money is only helping Shek and totouring his people

• Very important - Shek is no different than Stalin goes against the idea of if they fight communism they are good but if they are communist they are bad

• Truman stops giving money to shek because of what it is going toward

• This pull of funds causes china to fall to the communists

1950 - China Falls to the Communists

The Fall of China to the Communists to the communists had a devastating impact on the US

1. China had the largest population in the World

2. It seemed that containment wasn’t working

3. When news leaked that Truman had stopped giving aid to the nationalists, so it seemed like we had given China to the communists. Many blamed Trumans for it.

Causes rest of presidents to support all anti-communists even if they weren’t moral

The US is not the only atomic power in 1950 - The Soviets have the bomb

This leads to a crisis in the country - known as 2nd red scare

The Soviets needed one more piece to get Bomb - Same as the US’s bomb

Leads the question was is there a spy in the Manhattan project

There were 4 spies at los almos - found out at end of the war

    3 of the spies gave that info because of Allyship in WWII

PSA from Burt the Turtle

• Wasnt actually going to protect them - gave false hope

• Weak solution for the atomic bomb

What effect did this have on American people

• Creates cognitive dissonance - solution isn’t good enough or the people’s needs

• The Cold War produced unresolved anxiety over nuclear war

• This led to Duck and cover drills which provided false reassurance

• Solution doesn’t meet the dire anxiety

• This led to deep feelings of insecurity

• Insecurity is a huge problem almost crippling

  • creates out o control emotions - lead to doubt in handling threats

• Anger fueled by fear fueled by insecurity leads to a society that wants someone to blame and lash out on communists

Hysteria leads to a search for Scapegoating

HUAC - The House Committee on Un-American Activates

• Organized in 1947 to weed out subversives in the government and society

  • really is in action in 1950 due to soviet’s bomb and the fall of china

• Subversive - on enemy to the country

• HUAC focused on Hollywood and the film industry

  • lots in this industry claimed to be a colistedmmunists to gain popularity

• According to members of the HUAC, communists had infiltrated writers directors and actors in Hollywood

  • The star would become blacklisted

  • Blacklisting - losing everything in your life due to one thing

Scapegoating leads to the rise of a Demoguage

Demoguage - people who prey upon/ take advantage of fear to gain popularity

Joseph Mccarthy is a demoguage in the red scarf

Arthur Miller - McCarthyism through his eyes

• was a playwright in the 1950’s

• Married to Marylan monroe

• saw the devastating impact HUAC had on the film industry

• Had friends who were blacklisted

• Felt that the hunt for communists was much like the hunt for witches in colonial times

• This prompts him to write a play about the parallels called the crusible

The Korean War Begins

Surrounded by China, Russia and Japan

    Invaded by Japan in WWII

    Liberated by America

Two Governments form in Korea

• Kim il Sung created a communist government in North Korea

• Singham Ree created a Democratic government in South Korea

  • Not a great leader but US fully backed him

• The United Stated wanted to totally support this democratic government

• Why?

  • Truman was determined to halt communism’s spread in asia and make containment work

• Problem?

  1. Singham isn’t liked by his poeple

  2. All land bordering South Korea - China Russia and North Korea - were communists

• Crisis begins when north Korea invades south to make the Korean peninsula fully communist

North Korea invades South Korea

• As a leader, is it better to do what is popular or what is right?

• There is a huge cycle of violence in the 20th century

• Fusion Bomb which teller wanted to developed is 100 times worse than a nuclear fission bomb

• Truman wants the fusion/hydrogen bomb after the soviets get it

  • Oppenheimer denies this and causes him to be fired and replaced

  • people conspire that he was a communist

  • led to the first hydrogen bomb in America

  • Learned the hard way of what it does to people

What does Truman decide to do?

President Truman announces that this will be a limited war

    limited war - no nuclear weaponry

Critics say Truman is playing “politics” with Korea

He has to ask himself if hell do the right thing or what is popular

Truman in 1950

The presidents popularity is at an all time low

many fell this invasion of South Korea was the Start of WWII

Trumans decision to fight a “Limited war” was unpopular why?

To raise his popularity, truman decides to do something he knows is not right but popular

Truman chhooses a great but ruthless WWII general to help him

Gen. Douglas Macarthur

Hero of the pacific theatre in WWII

Was more popular than truman

Truman hated him due ot his arrogance and selfishness

Many americans trusted macarthur more than truman - they knew

Made leader of troops in South Korea

Was a leader of Japan post WWII

The Inchon Attack

Amphibean Attack

biggest amphibean landing since D-Day

Land at inchon causing disarray in North Korea

If US crosses 38th parallel China will join North Korea

China is very weak due to civil war lowering the chance of them joining

    The US is strong especially with Macarthur

    US and South Korea can beat China and North Korea easily

truman being known as the unifier of the korean peninsula will increase his popularity after losing China

    gives macarthur the go ahead but better win

Macarthur crossed teh 38th parallel and invaded North Korea

The North Korean army disintegrated and victory seems easily in Macarthurs grasp

Marines go to finish out the Norht Korea army in the reservoir while Macarthur left to japan and told truman their was a victory

However reports reach the americans that US troops were facing heavy counter attacks by the by the enemy and china

    These were not North Korean troop sbut Chineses troops

    China has entered the war - with so many people its overwhelming

Macarthur vs. truman

• truman wants to negotiate an end to the war as he is afraid of soviets joining

• Macarthur advies President Truman that the US needs to escalate the war in Korea

  • wants to take the war to China

  • suggests using 50 atomic bombs against Chinese cities

    • says it will cause North Korea to drop out due to fear also hopes soviets will follow too

    • US wants this and loves macarthur

    • If truman doesnt do this he has to be willing to do the right but unpopular thing

    • If they dont agree, truman has to fire him and lose the peoples support

• Truman decides to fre macarthur

1952 - Election

• The firing of macarthur had a devastating effect on trumans popularity and that of the democrats

• In 1952, dwight eisenhower is elected president in the republican party as he was a war hero

• He is the first republican elected presdient since hoover in 1928

• Every democratic president after this doesnt want to be another truman

  • dont want to be seem as weak like truman