POST WAR ERA

The Cold War and Civil Rights

Mr. Perse

Social Studies

THE BIG QUESTIONS:

Why

did the United States and

Soviet Union enter into the Cold
War?
Why did the Cold War last so
long?
How did Civil Rights leaders
change Global Society?

THE COLD WAR

The SUPERPOWERS, the U.S.

and Soviet Union were the big
rivals after WWII
Called the Cold war because
both sides had nuclear weapons
but never confronted each other
directly in open warfare

ROOTS OF THE COLD WAR

Competing

ideological systems (democracy/free

enterprise vs. communism)
The U.S. wanted to spread democracy and free
enterprise
The Soviets wanted to spread Communism.
Stalin was supposed to be creating a
classless society that helped all workers, but
actually established a brutal dictatorship
under his absolute control.
Suspected critics and opponents were
arrested and sent to gulags (forced labor
camps) in Siberia

Category
Political
System
Organizations

Economic
System

Religion
Individual
Rights

Soviet Communism

American Democracy

THE SOVIET UNIONS IDEOLOGY

One

political party Communism

All labor groups and associations are run by
the Communist Party
Industries and farms are owned by the state,
central planners determine economic needs for
the nation, private property was limited,
education and health care provided by the
state
Religion was discouraged
Secret police arrested opponents, censorship
was common, people could not exercise beliefs
freely

AMERICAN IDEOLOGY
A

multi-party democracy
Unions and other organizations negotiated
openly with employers
Free enterprise, private ownership of
property, supply and demand determined
prices, people met their own needs with
some limited government involvement
Freedom of religion
Freedom of the press and expression

USE THE NOTES ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDES TO COMPLETE THE

GRAPHIC ORGANIZER BELOW.

Category
Political
System
Organizations
Economic
System

Religion
Individual
Rights

Soviet Communism

American Democracy

THE YALTA AND POSTDAM CONFERENCES

In

Feb. 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin

met at Yalta to plan the reorganization of
Europe at the end of the war
Agree on the formation of the United Nations
Agreed that Germany would be divided into 4
occupation zones
Agreed to allow free elections in the countries
they liberated (including Poland)
6 months later, when Truman and Stalin met
at the Potsdam Conference in Germany,
serious differences began to emerge

TRUMAN
DOCTRINE

1947:

British help Greek government

fight communist guerrillas.

They appealed to America for aid,
and the response was the Truman
Doctrine.
America promised it would
support
free countries to help fight
communism.
Greece received large amounts of
arms and supplies and by 1949 had
defeated the communists.
The Truman Doctrine was significant
because it showed that America, the
most powerful democratic country, was
prepared to resist the spread of
communism throughout the world. 11

TRUMAN DOCTRINE

P R I M A RY S O U R C E
One way of life is based upon the will of the
majority, and is distinguished by free
institutions . . . free elections . . . and freedom
from political oppression. The second way of
life is based upon the will of a minority
forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies
upon terror and oppression . . . fixed elections,
and the suppression of personal freedoms. I
believe it must be the policy of the United
States to support free people . . .
resisting attempted subjugation [control] by
armed minorities or by outside pressures.
PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN, speech
to Congress, March 12, 1947

Why did
Truman
establish this
doctrine?
What did it
imply?
What type of
containment
was this?
What did it
do?

MARSHALL PLAN

In 1947, US Secretary of State Marshall announced the Marshall Plan.

This

was a massive economic aid

plan for Europe to help it recover
from the damage caused by the
war.

There

were two motives for this:

Helping Europe to recover

economically would provide
markets for American goods, so
benefiting American industry.
A prosperous Europe would be
better able to resist the spread of
communism. This was probably
the main motive.

Secretary of State George

Marshall.

13

SUCCESS OF THE MARSHALL PLAN

Greatly

benefited the American

economy in helping to rebuild wartorn Europe
Speeded the economic recovery of
Western Europe (from 1948 to 1952,
European economies grew at an
unprecedented rate)
Created good will towards the U.S.

NATO: NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION

In 1949 the western nations formed the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization to co-ordinate their
defense against the USSR.
NATO flag

It

originally consisted of:

America
Belgium
Britain
Canada
Denmark
France
Holland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Portugal

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in

1991,some former Soviet republics have applied
for membership to NATO.

16

Greatest extent of Warsaw Pact

WARSAW PACT:
Warsaw

Pact: organization of communist states in Central and

Europe.
Established May 14, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland
USSR established in in response to NATO treaty
Founding members:
Albania (left in 1961 as a result of the Sino-Soviet split)
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Poland
Romania
USSR

Eastern

17

The Cold War:

A Proxy War

THE KOREAN WAR

1950-1953

REVIEW
Yalta

Conference
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
NATO
Warsaw Pact

TRUMAN DOCTRINE:
When

Communist rebels threatened

Greece and Stalin pressured Turkey,
Truman offered them military aid
He believed that economic and
financial aid should be used first
Did not want to make the mistake of
appeasement that had failed
against Hitler
WHAT WAS APPEASMENT?

THE MARSHALL PLAN (1948)

After

6 years of war, much of Europe faced

famine due to decreased farm production
Whole cities had to be rebuilt
Truman believed miserable and desperate
people were more likely to turn to Communism
George C. Marshall (Sec. of State) proposed
that massive aid be given to war-torn
European countries to help rebuild their
economies
Unlike WWI, it included aid to Germany and
Italy
Created strong allies and trading partners for
the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7nbwFxGRU
~WARNING: Voice is boring and monotone

ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What

were the
causes and effects of
the Korean War?

BACKGROUND AND CAUSES

Japan

had taken over Korea during

WWII and after the Japanese
surrendered the Allies divide Korea
(much like Germany) along the 38th
parallel
U.S. will occupy the south
Soviets will occupy the north

TWO KOREAS
South

Korea democratic,
capitalist
Ally

of the U.S. and Europe

Ally

of China and the Soviet Union

North

Korea totalitarian,
socialist/communist

BEGINNING OF THE WAR

North

Korean troops invade South

Korea in June 1950
Why? to spread communism and
have one Korea
Did not think the U.S. would get
involved
North Korean troops push the South
Koreans back

INTERNATIONAL INVOLVEMENT
South

Korea asks UN and US for

help
U.S. and the United Nations send
troops under General MacArthur
US

Push

wants to contain communism

the North Koreans all the way

to the Chinese border
However, China enters the war to
help the North Koreans

STALEMATE
In

July 1953, UN forces and North

Korea sign a cease-fire agreement
(no victory)
Borders are set at 38th parallel
(nothing changed)
Approx. 5 million soldiers and
civilians died
U.S. continues to keep troops in
South Korea at the DMZ.

NORTH KOREA TODAY

SOCIALISM

SOUTH KOREA
TODAY: CAPITALISM

TENSIONS TODAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uojhwx0k8A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWdQFWsv
FM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGU_BrRlvB8

THE COLD WAR BEGINS

After

the war, the Soviets saw a growing

threat from capitalist governments
Stalin distrusted the West
He created a wall of satellite countries as a
buffer against future invasions
Refused to allow free elections in Poland and
other countries it occupied in Eastern Europe
Cut off trade between Eastern and Western
Europe (closed the East to the West)
The U.S. refused to share the secrets behind
the atom bomb

ORIGINS OF THE U.S.

CONTAINMENT POLICY
American

leaders responded to the

Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
by developing a policy of
containment.
Under this policy, they did not
attempt to overturn Communism
where it already existed, but
resolved to prevent it from spreading
further

APPLYING WHAT YOU HAVE

LEARNED:

Speaking on a visit to Missouri, Winston

Churchill told Americans in 1946 that from
Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an
iron curtain has descended across the Continent.

What did Churchill mean by the phrase iron

curtain?

An Iron Curtain
The "Iron Curtain"
speech defined postwar
relations with the Soviet
Union for citizens of
Western democracies.
Although it initially
provoked intense
controversy in the
United States and
Britain, criticism soon
gave way to wide public
agreement to oppose
Soviet imperialism.

Winston Churchill

THE BERLIN CRISIS: JUNE 1948-MAY 1949

1948:

three western controlled zones of Germany united; grew in prosperity due

to the
Marshall Plan
West wanted East to rejoin; Stalin feared it would hurt Soviet security.
June 1948: Stalin decided to gain control of West Berlin, which was deep inside the Eastern
Sector
Cuts road, rail and canal links with West Berlin, hoping to starve it into
submission
West responded by airlifting supplies to allow West Berlin to survive
May 1949: USSR admitted defeat, lifted blockade

Map of Berlin divided

into zones after WWII

40
Map of Germany divided
into zones after WWII

A plane flies in supplies during the Berlin Airlift.

A DIVIDED GERMANY
In

1948, the French, British, &

Americans merged their German
zones of occupation into a single
state, West Germany
Berlin, the old capital, was located in
the Soviet zone
The Soviets reacted to the merging of
the Western zones by announcing a
blockade of West Berlin, closing all
highway and railroad links to the
West

Divided Berlin

THE BERLIN AIRLIFT

Western

Allies refused to abandon

West Berlin
They began a massive airlift to feed
and supply the city
Within a year, Stalin lifted the Soviet
blockade
The U.S. and its allies had shown that
they would not retreat when faced with
aggressive behavior by the Soviet
Union

ASSIGNMENT:
Using

the previous slides on the

powerpoint, complete the first three boxes
on your graphic organizer Roots of The
Cold War.

Soviet vs. American

Systems:

Truman Doctrine

Marshall Plan:

ROOTS OF THE COLD WAR

Berlin Airlift:

Formation of NATO:

Communism in China:

FORMATION OF NATO AND THE

WARSAW PACT
The

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) was made up of the U.S., Canada,
and 10 Western European countries (1949)
Based on the concept of collective security
Each member pledged to defend every other
member if attacked
The U.S. extended its umbrella of
protection from nuclear weapons to Western
Europe
The Soviets responded by creating the
Warsaw Pact with its Eastern European
satellites in 1955

FRICTION BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN

Although

Americans condemned Soviet acts

of force, the U.S. never directly intervened
behind the Iron Curtain
Soviet leaders successfully suppressed an
anti-Communist revolution that broke out in
Hungary in 1956
They erected the Berlin Wall in 1961 to
prevent East Germans from escaping to the
West
invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968 to overthrow
a Czech reform government

CONTAINMENT IN ASIA
Just when Americans believed their containment
policy had stopped the spread of Communism in
Europe, the worlds most populous country
became Communist in Asia
The question was raised: could American leaders
check the spread of Communism, not only in
Europe, but around the world?

CHINA FALLS TO COMMUNISM, 1949

Communists had tried to overthrow the
Nationalist government in China since the 1920s
After 1945, they were helped by the Soviets
Communists led by Mao Zedong defeated the
Nationalists in 1949
Nationalist leaders fled to the island of Taiwan
Mao created the worlds largest Communist state

U.S. REACTION TO COMMUNIST

CHINA
Considered

a crushing blow to the U.S.

Truman refused to extend diplomatic
recognition to Communist China
Using its veto power in the United
Nations, the U.S. also prevented Red
China from being admitted to the U.N.
Also pledged to protect the Nationalist
government on Taiwan against any
Communist attacks

ASSIGNMENT:
Using

the previous slides on the

powerpoint, complete the graphic
organizer Roots of The Cold War.

THE KOREAN WAR

Many

Americans criticized U.S. foreign

policy, because they believed the
government had not done enough to
prevent the fall of China to
Communism
After WWII, Korea (a former Japanese
colony) was divided into two zones
The South was a non-communist state
with an elected government
The North was under communist rule

CONTINUED
In

1950, North Korean forces invaded South

Korea to try to unify the country under
Communist rule
Reminded of Nazi aggression before WWII,
President Truman decided to oppose the
North Koreans
The U.S. was able to get the United Nations
to pass a resolution to send U.N. troops to
Korea
This was the first time an international
peace keeping force was used to force a halt
to aggression

CONTINUED
General

Douglas MacArthur commanded U.N.

forces
The U.N. forces were able to push the North
Koreans back to their border and liberate
Seoul
MacArthur then attacked North Korea and
advanced toward the North Korean border
with China
This brought a large Chinese army into the
war, forcing MacArthur to retreat

CONTINUED
Truman

and MacArthur openly disagreed

about tactics of the war
MacArthur was relieved of his command (an
unpopular step in the U.S.)
In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower was elected
President and pledged to end the war
An armistice was signed in 1953
It provided for a demilitarized zone between
North and South Korea and a transfer of
prisoners of war (Korea was divided exactly as
it had been before the war)

COMPLETE THE FLOW CHART USING INFORMATION FROM THE POWERPOINT ABOUT THE KOREAN WAR:

KOREAN WAR FLOW CHART

In 1950, North
Korean forces
invaded South
Korea

An armistice was
signed in 1953
Korea is divided as it
was before the war

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How

did the Cold War

impact technology and
innovation around the
world?

ARMS RACE

The

rapid increase in the quantity

and quality of weapons and
military technology by rivals to
achieve superiority.
Who can create the most powerful
weapons?

THE ARMS RACE

By

1949, the Soviets had developed the atomic

bomb leading to a nuclear arms race
In 1952, the U.S. developed the hydrogen
bomb, which was immensely more powerful
than the original atom bomb
The Soviet Union exploded their first
hydrogen bomb a year later
In the 1950s, U.S. military leaders used
nuclear weapons as a deterrent rather than
rely on a large military force

1945: US DEVELOPS FIRST ATOMIC

BOMB

1949: SOVIET UNION CREATES

ATOMIC BOMB

1952: US CREATES HYDROGEN

BOMB

http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=NNcQX033V_M

1953: USSR CREATES HYDROGEN

BOMB

http://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=r0dUIq8gHgc

1955: US CREATES
INTERCONTINENTAL BOMBER

B-52 Stratofortress could drop nuclear bombs

on Soviet mainland

1956: USSR CREATES

INTERCONTINENTAL BOMBER

TU20 Bear could drop nuclear bombs on US

mainland

1957: SOVIETS CREATE ICBM

ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Could

be launched from own country and hit rival

1959: US CREATES ICBM

HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=AMYYESKVHVK

SPACE RACE
Competition

between rivals to
achieve supremacy in spaceflight
capability
Ideological

Socialism

Healthy
Created

battle: Capitalism vs

competition

spin-off technologies that we use today

THE SPACE RACE

In

1957, the Soviet Union launched the first

man-made satellite into space
Sputnik was a little larger than a basketball,
weighed 184 pounds, and orbited the earth
once every 98 minutes and was tracked by
transmitting radio signals
This began a space race, since Americans
were afraid the Soviets would use missiles to
launch bombs and felt the U.S. was falling
behind
The U.S. government started new programs in
science education and also launched its own
satellite in 1958

1957
Soviets

space

launch first satellite into

Sputnik

1958
US

launches its satellite into

space
Explorer

1960
US

launches first weather

satellite

1961
First

Soviet and person in space:

Yuri Gagarin

1961
Alan

Shepard is
first American in
space

1969

First manned moon landing Apollo Mission

U.S. is still the only nation to have ever placed people
on the Moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gD_TL1BqFg

ADVANCES IN MEDICINE
The

post-war period saw many advances in

medicine
Antibiotics treated infections and gave new
hopes for cures
Jonas Salk developed the first vaccine for
polio (paralyzed thousands of American
children each year). He used a dead virus as
the basis for the vaccine
Measles vaccine
First heart transplant
Discovery of streptomycin, an antibiotic to
treat tuberculosis

ACTIVITIES
COMMITTEE
Truman

established Loyalty Review

Boards to investigate individual unAmerican activities (such as
participation in the American
Communist Party)
Many Americans were accused of
actions on very little evidence and
had no way to defend themselves
(this violated their constitutional
rights)

CONTINUED
Congress

established the House Un-American

Activities Committee to conduct its own
loyalty checks
The committee questions actors, directors,
writers, and others about possible Communist
sympathies
Those identified with ties to Communism
were frequently Blacklisted and lost their
jobs
Some, like Alger Hiss, were later prosecuted
for perjury
Those that cooperated, were often asked to
inform on others

McCarthy, a Republican senator from

Wisconsin, did the most to whip up anticommunism during the 50s.
On February 9, 1950, he gave a speech
claiming to have a list of 205 Communists in the
State Department.
No one in the press actually saw the names on
the list.
McCarthy continued to repeat his
groundless charges, changing the number from
speech to speech.
During this time, one state required pro
wrestlers to take a loyalty oath before stepping
into the ring.
In Indiana, a group of anti-communists
indicted Robin Hood (and its vaguely socialistic
message that the book's hero had a right to rob
from the rich and give to the poor) and forced
librarians to pull the book from the shelves.
Baseball's Cincinnati Reds renamed
themselves the "Redlegs."

SENATOR JOE MCCARTHY (1908-1957)

84
Cincinnati Redlegs primary
logo in use from 1954-1959

In the spring of 1954, the tables turned on McCarthy

when he charged that the Army had promoted a
dentist accused of being a Communist.
For the first time, a television broadcast allowed the
public to see the Senator as a blustering bully and
his investigations as little more than a witch hunt.
In December 1954, the Senate voted to censure him
for his conduct and to strip him of his privileges.
McCarthy died three years later from alcoholism.
The term "McCarthyism" lives on to describe antiCommunist fervor, reckless accusations, and guilt by
association.

MCCARTHYS DOWNFALL

Movie poster for the 2005 film Good

Night and Good Luck about the fall
of Joseph McCarthy

Arthur Millers play The Crucible

was on the surface about the
Salem Witch Trials. Its real
target, though, was the
hysterical persecution of
innocent people during
McCarthyism. (poster for 1996
film version)

85

THE ROSENBERG TRIALS

In

1950, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were

charged with selling national secrets to the
Soviet Union about making the atomic bomb
They were found guilty and executed for
spying
Some people doubted their guilt (they were
reminded of the Sacco & Venzetti case in the
20s)
However, the Verona Papers (released in
1997) revealed the identities of several
Americans who had spied for the Soviets, and
Julius Rosenberg was on it

THE MCCARTHY HEARINGS

The

fall of China increased fears of internal

subversion (people wanting to break up our
democracy)
Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed he knew
the names of hundreds of Communists who
had influenced the State Department and
other government agencies
Like the Red Scare, McCarthys allegations
created fear
Three years of hearings never provided
concrete evidence or proof of his charges
McCarthyism is making harsh accusations
without evidence

THE ARMS RACE:

THE SPACE RACE:

ADVANCES IN MEDICINE:

THE COLD WAR AT HOME

HOUSE UN-AMERICAN
ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE:

ROSENBERG TRIAL/
VENONA PAPERS:

McCARTHYISM:

THE EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY (1953-1960)

Foreign

Policy:
Gave control of foreign policy to John Foster
Dulles, his Secretary of State
Sought to contain the spread of Communism
by preventing the Soviets from gaining
additional influence
In 1957, Eisenhower announced he would
send U.S. forces to any Middle Eastern
nation that requested help in defending
against Communism (Eisenhower Doctrine)
Signed a series of treaties around the world
to contain Communism

CONTINUED
Domestic

Policy:
The 1950s was a period of recovery and
economic growth
Veterans received special benefits like low
interest rates and educational grants
Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway
Act (1956) creating a system of federal
highways
Defense spending remained high because of
the Cold War
A time of prosperity and growth of the
middle class

Housing Boom. This was a time of high birth rates, known as the baby
boom. This boom and the G.I. Bill (Servicemens Readjustment Act of
1944) helping veterans led developers to build cheaper, mass-produced
housing. Home ownership increased by 50%. The movement of middle-income
families to the suburbs led to a declining urban tax base and decaying inner
cities.
DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE
EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY
Economic Prosperity. The
demand for consumer goods
reached all-time highs. Millions of
autos and TV sets were sold. The
use of refrigerators and other
appliances became widespread.
The gross domestic product
doubled between 1945 and 1960.
America dominated world trade.

Conformity. In the 1950s, there

was a greater emphasis on
conformity. Unusual ideas were
regarded with suspicion. Fear of
Communism strengthened the
dislike of non-conformist attitudes.