The Cold War
CW
40 years of tension where no shots were directly fired.
The Cold War occured between the USA and the Soviet union wuntio 1990
Allied leaders meet to discuss the post WWII world where the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference takes place
Yalata Conference
A meeting held in February 1945 between the leaders of the United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom to discuss the post-World War II reorganization of Europe. They agreed on the division of Germany and the establishment of the United Nations.
Potsdam Conference
A meeting held in 1945 between the leaders of the Allied powers (United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom) to discuss the post-World War II reorganization of Europe and the administration of Germany and Poland.
United Nations
The Cold War was brewing even while WWII was still happening.
They wanted to give peace a second chance with the establishment of the United Nations
Purpose: Settle differecnes peacefully, promote justice, and prevent future war
All member nations are part of the general assembly.
Satellite Nations
Satellite Nations: Nations that were aligned with, but also under the influence and pressure of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
East Germany
1949: Stalin establises national control of all East-German resources installs a brutal totalitarian communist government
The Iron Curtain: A term used to describe the political and ideological division between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.
The Truman Doctrine: A policy introduced by President Harry S. Truman in 1947 that aimed to contain the spread of communism by providing economic and military aid to countries threatened by communist expansion during the Cold War.
Containment: America's policy of limiting the spread of communism during the Cold War Era.
2 Wins of the US
The Marshall Plan: The U.S. initiative to provide economic aid to Western European countries after World War II, aimed at preventing the spread of communism and promoting economic stability and recovery.
1948: the usa, Britain, and France combine their occupation zones to create a new nation - West Germany.
1949: The Soviets form a new country in the occupational zone - East Germany
Berlin is surrounded by communism
People begin crossing into west Berlin to book flights to the USA, Canada, and Western Europe
6/1948: Food and supply shipments to West germany are blocked by Stalin
Berlin Aircraft: 200,000 flights over 15 months to deliver food, fuel, and other supplies. 13 tons of goods every single day.
5/1949: Soviets give up blockade. Airlift ends in september. The Marshall plan had already stabilized Western Europe
8/1949: The Soviets test an atom bombm with hydrogen
1949: China becomes a communist country.
Life in the USA During the Cold War
Federal Employee Loyalty Program: All new employeed hired by the government had to be investigated
HUAC (House Un-American Activites Committee)
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC): A congressional committee in the United States that investigated alleged communist activities during the Cold War era.
The Hollywood 10
The Hollywood Ten: A group of film industry professionals who were blacklisted and jailed in the 1940s for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation into alleged communist ties in Hollywood.
Pat Macarran
“The most disloyal Americans are immigrants from communist-dominated parts of the world"
Macarran Walter act: A law that limeted potential immigrants from Asia and Central Europe by setting an immigration quota.
The Immigration and Naturalization act of 1965 does away with the quota system
The Korean War
6/1950: Fighting breaks out when North Korean troops cross the 38th parallel to unify Korea by force.
Truman believed the spread of Korea’s communism would start a 3rd world war
After the communist takeover, the USA blocks China’s admission to the UN
North Korea is officially named the aggressor. 16 UN Countries signed to help South Korea but 80% of the supplies are from the USA.
About North Korea
3 past leaders, is a dynasty
reports of gulags
General Douglas Macarthur led the allied powers into the Korean war
A power struggle occurs, back and forth and a stalemate develops.
Macarthur suggests the UN invades mainland China
The Firing
Macarthur and Truman disagree about how to break the stalemate
Macarthur is fired for insubordination
Eisenhower
Dwight D Eisenhower is the next president after Truman. He threatens to nuke during the Korean War.
1953 Armistice is signed and the new Korean border is the 38th parallel
McCarthyism
Buzzwords have made mass amounts of people freak out.
Senator Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy had an uneventful first term as senator. He needed an issue to gain public support. That issue was communism. His tactics and accusations were called McCarthyism
McCarthyism: The practice of making accusations of disloyalty without proper regard for evidence.
Many senators (and other American leaders) feared McCarthy. If they opposed him they could have been seen as communist.
1954: When one of his assistants is drafted he states “The army is full of communists”
McCarthy remained a senator but his power was gone.
The Space Race
Ike and Containment
Eisenhower supports divided Vietnam with cash (like North and South Korea)
He also commits to keeping the Middle East and Latin America free of Communism
The Eisenhower Doctrine: Ike’s commitment to safeguard the independence of any country or group of countries in the Middle East requesting aid against Communist-inspired aggression.
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet Premier from 1958-1964 (The height of the Cold War)
Arms Race
The US tests bombs 750x more powerful than ones used in WWII
Deterrence: The policy of making the military power of the United States and its allies so strong that no enemy would dare attack for fear of retaliation
Brinkmanship: A policy of risking war to protect national interests
The Soviets used ICBMs (Intercontinental ballistic missiles) to transport their bombs to testing sites.
Soviets also sent the first Sattilite into space
The U-2 Incident
The U-2 incident, which occurred in 1960, resulted in heightened tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The incident exposed American espionage activities and led to a temporary setback in U.S.-Soviet relations.