Cold War Notes

Ch 21

American History

Nuremburg Trials- former Nazis put on trial for war crimes by international court

- many executed

Cold War- Period of confrontation between the US and USSR

- hostility starts even before WWII is completely over

- stems from:

- USSR:

o Wanted security (had been invaded by Germ in WWI and WWII)

§ Keep germany weak, have friendly neighbors

o Spread communism

- US

o Solve economic probs (this is what led Germ/Jap to try and expand)

o More world trade

Yalta Conference-

- Poland- pre-war gov’t was in England

o Allies agree to let USSR pick post war govt if free elections

- Germany

o Divided into 4 occupation zones (Fr, Eng, US, USSR)

o Same with Berlin which was located in USSR zone

o USSR/Eng wants $

§ Eng/US say maybe in the form of machinery

Potsdam Conference-

- Truman decides cant back down to the USSR b/c that what Eng did w/ Germany pre-WWII

Iron Curtain- dividing line between Communist east and democratic west

- satellite nations

o eastern European countries (Poland, Czech, Hungary) that were essentially under Soviet control

Sec 2

Containment- policy of keeping communism where it was by using diplomatic, economic and military actions

Near spread of communism-

- civil wars erupt in Turkey and Greece (commies vs. others)

o US/England help vs. commies

o Truman Doctrine- US will help free peoples resisting armed minorities or outside pressure

§ Brings US into fight against communism in the world (Vietnam?)

Marshall Plan- US gives $ to western Europe to help them to rebuild

- turned down by USSR, E. Europe

- West rebuilds faster as a result

Division- Germany becomes 2 separate countries (West = democratic, East = communist0

- Berlin- totally in East Germany but 2 cities (West Berlin = democ, East Berlin = commie)

o East Germany- wants to pressure W. Berlin to collapse and become part of E. Germany

§ Cuts off supplies (trains) from W. Germany

o Berlin Airlift- for the next year, US flies in supplies to West Berlin

§ US shows it won’t let anyone fall to communism

§ East Germany allows trains to run again after a year

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Org.

- US, Eng, Canada, others agree to help each other if attacked

Warsaw Pact- alliance between USSR and E. European countries

China- civil war after WWII, commies win

Korea- divided, occupied by USSR, US (North and South)

- communist North invades South

- United Nations- says North must leave S, allows US (and others) to send troops to force them out

- War- US troops push North Korean way north

o China starts to get nervous, tells us to back off

o We don’t back off, Chinese troops get involved

- MacArthur- wants to expand war into China (even use atomic weapons)

o Truman wants war to remain limited, fires MacArthur

- End- after 3 years, war ends with boundary between countries where it was at 1^st

Sec 3

Red Scare- many feared commies in the US were spying on the country

- feared there were commies working in the gov’t

HUAC- House Un-American Activities Committee

- investigated possible communist activities in the US

- FBI also used to try to find them

Alger Hiss- gov’t official, accused by Whittaker Chambers (Time reporter) of having been a communist

- said under oath he never was, convicted of perjury

- people afraid there are more commies in gov’t

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg- husband and wife, accused of selling atomic secrets to the USSR

- executed for treason

Joe McCarthy- US Senator, said he had a list of 200 communists working for the State Dept.

- used fear of communism to gain popularity, fed off the public fear

- McCarthyism- using vague and unfounded charges to attack opponents

o A witch hunt (The Crucible, about the Salem Witch Trials was written during this time.)

- Said the Army had many known commies in it also

- Army-McCarthy Hearings- held on national TV

o Whole country got to see him bully witnesses, cut them off (“Have you no sense of decency sir…”)

Nuclear Threat- 1949 USSR tests its first Atomic Bomb

- US- first Hydrogen Bomb, 1952, USSR 1953 (much more powerfull)

- “Duck and Cover” drill for kids at school

- homes made “fallout proof,” gov’t educated people how to protect themselves

- preparedness would have done little, but it did help people not be scared

Sec 4

Nuclear policy-

- Eisenhower wanted more reliance on nuclear weapons

o “more bang for the buck”- cheaper than a large standing army

- massive retaliation- use threat of nuclear attack to keep USSR from expanding

o (if you invade W. Germany….BOOM!)

- brinkmanship- push other side to brink of war to force them to back down

o used w/ China to end Korean War

§ China to have them back off of Taiwan

§ w/ USSR, GB, France to end Suez Crisis

Sputnik- 1^st man made earth satellite, launched by USSR 1957

- showed 1. USSR is technologically advanced, 2. have ability to launch missiles at US (ICBMs)

- causes-

o US to put more emphasis on science/math in schools

o US to create NASA to get US in the space race

Covert Operations- CIA created after WWII to gather intelligence in other countries

- gave money to/trained groups that fought commies

- prevented over-throws of pro-US gov’ts

- broadcasts anti-USSR propaganda in Eastern Europe

o encouraged an uprising in Hungary

§ Hungarians expected US aid, it didn’t come and revolt was crushed

U-2 Incident-

- 1950s, US over flying USSR to take pictures of bases

- U-2- high altitude plane, US didn’t think USSR had capability to shoot it down

- USSR didn’t protest, b/c didn’t want the world to think it was powerless

- 1961- U-2 shot down

- USSR goes to UN, tells them US is overflying their country, US says, of course not

- well then, who is this guy…