Chapter 18 - "Cold War Conflicts"
This chapter includes:
- Section 1 - Origins of the Cold War
- Section 2 - The Cold War Heats Up
- Section 3 - The Cold War at Home
- Section 4 - Two Nations Live on the Edge
Section 1
Conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union arose after World War II. The leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, had allied with Hitler for a time. This bond broke as Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. This provoked Stalin's support for the Allies. The United States and Soviet Union became well known of each other. Learning about the United State's secret of the development of the atomic bomb, Stalin's relationship with the United States worsened. On October 24, 1945, the United Nations (UN) was established as a symbol for hopes of world peace. With intentions to promote peace, the UN instead caused fights between powers. Vice President, Harry S. Truman, stepped into office after the death of former president, Franklin Roosevelt. The United States, represented by Truman, Great Britain, represented by Clement Attlee, and the Soviet Union, represented by Stalin, all met at the Potsdam Conference. At the previous conference in Yalta, Stalin promised the United States that he would allow free elections. Stalin made it very clear that he did not keep his promise and prevented free elections in Poland and banned democratic parties. At the Potsdam conference, Truman objects to the Soviets wanting of reparations from Germany. Together, they all agreed on taking reparations mainly from their own zones within Germany. However, the Soviets suffered heavily from the war with 20 million deaths. As a result, the Soviets felt justified to take Eastern Europe allowing them to stop future invasions from the west. Stalin announced war between communism was inevitable as he spread communism through countries. The United States established a Policy of Containment to prevent the spread of communism. Europe was now divided into two sides, a democratic Western Europe and a communist Eastern Europe. Churchill described the division of Europe as the "iron curtain". When Stalin heard about the iron curtain, he declared that Churchill's words were a calling of war. The United States took immediate action to prevent the spread of communism. Truman created the Truman Doctrine to support against armed outsiders to aid Greece and Turkey. Secretary of State George Marshall, created the Marshall Plan that revived 16 nations by providing $13 billion in aid. By 1952, Western Europe grew and lost interest of a Communist party. Stalin also took action by closing highways and railroads that allowed transportation to West Berlin. America and Britain started the Berlin Airlift to fly food and supplies over the wall into West Berlin. This allowed West Berlin to survive and led to the Soviet Union lifting the blockade in May 1949. The fear of the Soviets led to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a defensive military alliance that maintained peace. Section 2 Communism spreads through China. Chinese Communists battle against the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. The United States supports Chiang even though his government is inefficient and corrupt. American government sent $3 billion dollars in aid to the Nationalists. Communist leader, Ma Zedong, worked to get peasant support. They encouraged peasants to learn to read and help improve food production. More recruits went to the Communists' Red Army and took communist control of northern China. From 1944 to 1947, the United States sent military aid to Nationalists to fend off communism. The aid of the US wasn't enough. Nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan in 1949 after communism ruled all of mainland China. Communists of China established a new government called the People's Republic of China. Americans were stunned when communism took over China. Conservatives blamed Truman for not sending enough aid to China. Fights began between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea. The 38th parallel separated these two zones. The North was backed up by the Soviets and the South was backed up by the United States. After World War II, the US cut back on armed forces in South Korea. The Soviets concluded that the US would not provide further aid to South Korea. The Soviets supported North Korea as they crossed the 38th parallel and surprise attacked South Korea. This sparked the Korean War. The UN passed a plan of military action to provide aid to South Korea. 520,000 troops were sent to aide South Korea. China gets involved to push South Korea back. The Soviet Union calls a cease-fire and ends the war. There was a lack of success for both sides as Korea was still divided. Section 3 Communist take over Eastern Europe. The fear of communism spreading around the world increases in the American public. Truman was accused of being soft on communism. This made Truman set up the Federal Employee Loyalty Program to investigate the loyalty of employees. Loyalty boards investigated 3.2 million people and dismissed 212. The House Un-American Activities Committee was another anti-communist group. They investigated possible communist influence in the movie industry. Ten witnesses known as the Hollywood Ten, refused to answer questions and were sent to prison. Hollywood executives instituted a blacklist to people who had a Communist back round. Congress passed the McCarran Act making it unlawful to plan action that might lead to totalitarianism. Two spy cases added fear to the nation. In 1948, former Communist spy named Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of spying for the Soviet Union. It was too late for prosecutors to charge Hiss of espionage. Instead, prosecutors accused Hiss of perjury for lying about passing documents. He was sent to jail. The second spy case was associated with Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. On September 3, 1949, Americans found out that the Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb. It was predicted that the Soviet Union would take at least 3 more years to finish the construction of the bomb. Suspicion of information about the United States secret bomb grew. Klaus Fuchs admitted giving the Soviet Union information about the bomb. The Rosenbergs were implicated in the Fuchs case and were both found guilty of espionage sentencing them to death. Senator Joseph McCarthy was known as the most famous anti-Communist activist. He needed a winning issue that would allow him to be reelected in 1952. McCarthy made attacks on suspected Communists known as McCarthyism. McCarthyism became referred as accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence. In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the U.S. Army causing his public support to drop. McCarthy would die three years later from alcoholism. Section 4 The Hydrogen Bomb was known as a nuclear weapon more powerful than an atomic bomb. In 1952, the United States exploded the first H-bomb. Not long after, the Soviets exploded one of their own. The brinkmanship policy, proposed by John Foster Dulles, was the United States willingness to use nuclear weapons to prevent the spread of communism. Fear of nuclear war became a constant for the next 30 years. The Eisenhower administration formed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to gather information. The CIA took action in the Middle East, helping Iran's prime minister, and in Guatemala, removing Guatemala's president. West Germany joined NATO, making the Soviets fearful. The Soviets formed there own military alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. It consisted of the Soviet Union and seven Eastern European countries. In July 1955, Eisenhower traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with Soviet leaders. He asked for an "open skies" proposal. The Soviet Union rejected this offer, but the world recognized it as a step toward peace. Later on in the year, Great Britain and the United States agreed to finance the construction of the dam at Aswan on the Nile River. However, Egypt's head of government, tried to improve relationships between Americans and the Soviets to get more aid. After learning this, Dulles withdrew his loans to Egypt. This enrages Nasser and he nationalizes the Suez Canal. The UN quickly stopped the fighting and Egypt was allowed to keep the canal. The Soviets reputation in the Middle East rises as they support Egypt. The United States creates the Eisenhower Doctrine to defend the Middle East from communists. In Hungary, the Hungarian people called for a democratic government. Imre Nagy, liberal Hungarian Communist leader, formed a new government that promised free elections, denounced the Warsaw Pact, and demanded for Soviet troops to leave. The Soviet responded to this uprising by killing 30,000 Hungarians. Nagy was overthrown and executed while being replaced by a Soviet leader. New Soviet leader, Nikita Khruschev, favors peaceful and scientific competition. The Soviets launch Sputnik on October 1957. This became the first artificial satellite in space. Americans were shocked and put more money into space programs. The CIA created a U-2 plane to spy on the Soviets. The Soviet Union spotted a U-2 plane and shot it down. The Soviets confronted the U.S. of this situation but Eisenhower first denies having anything to do with it but later confesses. The U-2 incident renews tension between these two nations. -Written By: Nathan Leung Published April 2015 |
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