The Cold War:America1945-1991

Do Now

How do clashes of ideologies impact

governments and how people live?

Fear of Communism• Loyalty Review Board – for government employees• The House of Un-American Activities Committee

(HUAC) – investigated communist influences in the movie industry– Hollywood Ten – Blacklists

• McCarran Internal Security Act - unlawful to plan any action that might lead to totalitarian dictatorship

Spy Cases• Alger Hiss – Accused by Whittaker Chambers of

spy for the Soviet Union – jailed for perjury • Rosenberg's –

– Klaus Fuchs admitted to giving info about the bomb to the Soviets

– Rosenberg’s implicated in the case denied the charge and pleaded the Fifth but convicted of espionage and sentenced to death

McCarthy and McCarthyism• Joseph McCarthy – Senator from

Wisconsin• McCarthyism – – Attack on suspected Communists in the

1950’s– Referred to as an unfair tactic of

accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence

Fear of Nuclear Attack• 1949 – Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb

– Schools begin doing bomb drills– People build their own bomb shelters– This fear of nuclear attack lasts for over 30 years

• Both countries race to create the H-bomb (hydrogen bomb)– This would be 67 times more destructive than the atomic bomb– November 1952 – U.S. explodes a H-bomb– August 1953 – Soviets explode a H-bomb

Policy of Brinkmanship• 1952 – Eisenhower is president• John Foster Dulles is Secretary of State– Staunchly anti-communist – Willing to use all U.S. force, including the nuclear

weapons, against any aggressor nation– Willingness of the Eisenhower administration to go

to the edge of all-out war was known as brinkmanship

Cold War Around the World

• Shift to a dependence on nuclear arms

• Eisenhower administration begins to rely heavily on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for information abroad to stop communism– Action was taken in Iran– Guatemala

Warsaw Pact• Stalin dies in 1953 tensions begin to thaw– Soviets recognized West Germany– Concluded peace treaties with Austria & Japan

• 1955: West Germany was allowed to rearm and join NATO made the Soviets fearful

• Created their own military alliance: Warsaw Pact– East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,

Romania, Bulgaria, Soviet Union

The Suez War• 1955: Britain and the U.S. agreed to help Egypt

finance a dam at Aswan on the Nile• Gamal Abdel-Nasser (Egypt’s head of gov’t) tried to

play the Soviets and U.S. against each other in order to get Egypt more aid

• U.S. withdrew their support Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez Canal (owned by France & G.B.)

• Britain, France, and Israel sent troops UN stopped the fighting and Egypt kept control of the canal

Eisenhower Doctrine• Soviet presence in the Middle East

rose because of its support for Egypt• January 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine– Said that the United States would

defend the Middle East from attack by any communist country

Revolt in Hungary

• 1956, Hungary revolted against the Soviet Union• Soviet Union responded brutally and the

Hungarians were crushed• U.S. did not step in and enforce the Truman

Doctrine this made a statement that the policy did not extend to Soviet satellite countries

Soviets Replace Stalin• Stalin dies in 1953 Nikita Khrushchev

eventually replaces him• Believed communism would take over

the world but it could be done peacefully the two powers would compete economically and scientifically

Space Race• Soviets took a quick lead on the space race• October 4, 1957 launched Sputnik, first

artificial satellite • Americans worked frantically to catch up

January 31, 1958 they launched their first satellite

Cold War Takes to the Skies• July 1955 – Eisenhower met with

Soviet leaders Geneva – Proposed the idea of “open skies” this

would allow flights over each other’s territory to guard against surprise nuclear attacks

• Soviets reject the proposal

U-2 Shot Down• CIA was secretly flying over Soviet territory

U-2 plane took pictures of troop movement and missile sites

• U.S. was nervous some members of the press knew and Soviets knew since 1958– Eisenhower wanted to stop the flights – Dulles persuaded him to authorize one last flight

U-2 Shot Down• May 1st U-2 plane shot down • U.S. tried to deny they had been spying but the

Soviets had evidence• Khrushchev wanted an apology and promise to stop

the flights– Eisenhower agreed to stop the flight but would not

apologize – 1960’s began with renewed tensions between the

countries