The Cold WarThe Cold War

Containment

US did not trust Soviet Union Feared they posed a threat to the

noncommunist world Regret decision at the Yalta Conference

Soviets place troops in Eastern Europe

Containment

Containment policy which advocated confining/limiting communism to areas it already existed

George Kennan

The Iron Curtain

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow…

The outlook is also anxious in the Far East and especially in Manchuria. The agreement which was made at Yalta, to which I was a party, was extremely favorable to Soviet Russia, but it was made at a time when no one could say that the German war might not extend all through the summer and autumn of 1945 and when the Japanese war was expected by the best judges to last for a further eighteen months from the end of the German war…

Last time I saw it all coming and I cried aloud to my own fellow countrymen and to the world, but no one paid any attention. Up till the year 1933 or even 1935, Germany might have been saved from the awful fate which has overtaken her and we might all have been spared the miseries Hitler let loose upon mankind.

The Iron Curtain

Truman Doctrine

Greece and Turkey were undergoing post-World War II political and economic upheaval

USSR wants to extend influence into these areas Under policy of containment, USA cannot let

this happen

Truman Doctrine

Truman Doctrine Pres. Truman asks Congress for $400 million in

aid for Turkey & Greece in 1947 Hoping pumping money into their economies would

prevent the turn to communism By 1950, US gave over $660 million to Greece and

Turkey Truman doctrine represents further movement away

from neutrality

Truman Doctrine

The Marshall Plan Most of Europe in shambles after WWII Communism seemed to offer a solution to the

problems caused by the war destruction and devastation

Sec. of State General George Marshall has an idea…

The Marshall Plan

The Marshall Plan Send $13 billion in economic aid to help rebuild Europe Help stabilize European

economies Restarted consumer

production in factories

Berlin Blockade (1948-1949)

Berlin Blockade (1948-1949)

Berlin Blockade (1948-1949)

Stalin blockades roads into West Berlin, so Allies cannot get supplies in

Stalin hopes to take complete control of Berlin Believes US will not

fight for Berlin Blockade

Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)

Allies airlift supplies into West BerlinAfter 321 days, Stalin gives up blockade

and creates communist East Germany

Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)

Operation Little Vittles Drop candy and gum

with handmade mini-parachutes for kids in West Berlin

NATO & Warsaw Pact

In 1949, US and 11 other nations sign collective security agreement North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Agreed that if one member were attacked, the others would come to their defense

Coordinated defensive/military arrangements Today there are 26 members

Warsaw Pact Soviets later form alliance in response to NATO

The Cold War

In 1949, Truman learns that Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb

Distrust + Military Alliances + Atomic Bomb = COLD WARDistrust + Military Alliances + Atomic Bomb = COLD WAR Cold War

What is it? Period of tense conflict, mistrust & uneasiness between the United States and Soviet Union

Capitalism/Democracy vs. Communism Period of militarism

• Build up of weapons of mass destruction

NO ACTUAL WARS EVER FOUGHT BETWEEN US & USSR