After 1945, one big problem disturbed most Americans: the threat of nuclear holocaust and war with the Soviet Union

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This fear would reinforce the inward, private
mentality of the American people that emerged
during the 1950s and also pressured them to
accept a social and political philosophy that
suspended all criticism of the status quo
After 1945, one big problem disturbed most
Americans the threat of nuclear holocaust and
war with the Soviet Union
The emergence of the Cold War not only increased
global insecurity and threatened the very
existence of humanity. It also had a profound
impact on politics and attitudes within the U.S.
itself
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UNITED NATIONS

• Few Americans expected the U.S. to withdraw from
  world affairs once the war was over
• That was the mistake we had made at end of WWI
  and no one wanted to repeat it
• American willingness to take an active role in
  international affairs illustrated by our strong
  participation in the San Francisco conference
  (April 1945) which led to the creation of the
  United Nations
• International organization formed to peacefully
  resolve disputes between nations

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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

• Conferences between Great Britain, U.S., and
  Soviet Union were held at end of war with the
  goal of settling issues of post-war boundaries,
  spheres of influence, and relations between U.S.
  and Soviet Union
• YaltaFebruary 1945
• PotsdamJuly 1945
• Though some headway was made, issues remained
  largely unresolved when the war ended and old
  tensions between the Allies resurfaced

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COLD WAR

• Cold War became common label for this
  increasingly chronic rivalry between the U.S. and
  Soviet Union
• Would ultimately become a global struggle waged
  by diplomacy, propaganda, economic pressure, and
  military intimidation
• Would occasionally involve physical combat
• Although direct nuclear war never occurred

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CAUSES OF COLD WAR

• Causes were complex and both sides contributed to
  them
• Both actively pursued their own interests
• Both saw these interests through the distorting
  lens of ideology
• Both were convinced that they alone were on the
  side of truth and justice
• Cold War was basically caused by the attempt of
  both the U.S. and Soviet Union to ensure their
  security in a new and dramatically transformed
  international environment

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NEW INTERNATIONAL SITUATION

• Balance of power after 1945 was very different
  from earlier
• Western Europe had emerged from the war
  profoundly weakened
• France was demoralized and unstable
• Germany and Italy totally shattered
• England was bankrupt and incapable of exerting
  the stabilizing international influence that it
  had before
• Decline of Western Europe created power vacuum in
  Africa and Asia
• In Asia, Japanese military successes had
  destroyed myth of European superiority and
  awakened long dormant nationalist feelings
• In the Middle East, Arab nationalism, formerly
  held in check by England and France, surfaced
  with considerable strength
• In Africa, western-educated native intellectuals
  began to strongly demand an end to Western
  colonial rule

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BIG QUESTIONS

• These changes presented both opportunities and
  dangers for U.S. and Soviet Union
• Who would be beneficiary of transformations?
• Would new nations in Africa, Middle East, and
  Asia be capitalist or communist?
• Neither country could afford to ignore these
  questions
• Both were the only great powers left in world
  otherwise made up of has-beens and would-bes
• Moreover, neither country was equipped by its
  history to handle this situation well

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SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY

• Soviet foreign policy was motivated by the same
  goals that had always informed Russian foreign
  policy for centuries
• Acquisition of a warm water port on the
  Mediterranean
• Establishment of a secure western border through
  domination of Eastern Europe
• To achieve these goals, the Soviet Union took
  over Eastern Europe at the end of the war
  endorsed and subsidized wars of liberation in
  the Third World and backed revolutionary groups
  in Western nations
• Covered this all with the excuse it was advancing
  the cause of world communism

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AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY

• U.S. foreign policy had aimed at isolating the
  Soviet Union
• Gradually resumed this policy after 1945
• In its goals to protect capitalism and isolated
  Soviet Union, it often supported conservative and
  dictatorial regimes in Third World
• Americans did not see themselves as conservative
  in international affairs
• Instead saw themselves as defending freedom
  against tyranny and communism
• But, viewed objectively, most American policies
  were reactionary and that was how most of the
  rest of the world saw it

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CHINA

• Biggest trouble spot in post-war Asia was China
• During WWII, U.S. and England had supported the
  KMT in struggle against Japan
• Government headed by Chaing Kaishek
• Extraordinarily corrupt and fundamentally
  incompetent regime that never won support and
  loyalty of Chinese peasants

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CHINESE CIVIL WAR

• Most Chinese peasants preferred the Communists
• Led by Mao Zedong
• Controlled parts of northern China during war and
  had given people free land and honest
  administration
• Much more effective in fighting the Japanese than
  KMT
• U.S. hoped to bring KMT and Communists together
  in a coalition government after the war
• But attempt failed and China was plunged into an
  ugly civil war

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PROBLEMS IN EUROPE

• Millions of displaced persons wandered the
  continent hungry, homeless, and despondent
• Excellent targets for Soviet propaganda
• Soviets had taken over Eastern Europe despite
  promise at Yalta to hold free elections in the
  region
• Soviet agents disrupted internal affairs of Italy
  and France
• Soviet took over their German occupation zone in
  violation of earlier promises

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DIVIDED GERMANY

• Germany was divided into 4 occupation zones
• One administered by the U.S., one by GB, one by
  France, one by the Soviet Union
• All occupiers were supposed to clean out all
  ex-Nazis, rebuild the economy, and re-educate the
  people in their zone
• Once this was done, the four zones were to be
  reunited
• But Soviets refused to cooperate
• They did punish ex-Nazis but economically raped
  their zone and imposed a communist regime on it
• Also refused to reunite with the other zones in
  1949
• Reunited zonesWest Germany
• Former Soviet ZoneEast Germany

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GLOBAL DOMINATION?

• Soviet Union also pressured Turkey to give up
  territory along their common border
• Also supported Communist rebels in civil war in
  Greece
• All Soviet Union was trying to do was achieve it
  traditional foreign policy goals of a secure
  western border and getting a Mediterranean port
• But U.S. policy-makers saw these actions as an
  attempt to achieve global communist domination
  and made up their minds that U.S. security
  demanded that the Soviet Union be stopped

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TRUMAN DOCTRINE

• In February 1947, GB informed the U.S. that could
  no longer afford to play traditional role of
  policeman in the Eastern Mediterranean
• If the U.S. wanted to stop the Soviet Union, it
  would have to do it itself
• In response, Truman asked Congress for 400
  million in military aid for Turkey and Greece
• March 1947
• At the same time, he announced his plan to stop
  the spread of communism outside of the region
  where it already existed
• Truman Doctrine
• Also known as containment
• Communist threat eliminated in Turkey and Greece
  as a result

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MARSHALL PLAN

• Secretary of State George Marshall proposed a
  massive economic aid program for Europe in order
  to restore the confidence of the European people
  in the economic futures of their own countries
  and of Europe as a whole and thus make them less
  susceptible to Communist propaganda
• Response of Europe was enthusiastic
• U.S. would give 12.5 billion to Europe
• Spectacular results agricultural and industrial
  output in 1950 was 25 higher than it had been
  before the war
• And as poverty receded, so did the attractions of
  communism

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BERLIN AIRLIFT

• Soviet Union took over Czechoslovakia in February
  1948
• In June 1948, it imposed an economic blockade on
  the western sector of Berlin
• Located in Soviet zone but which had been divided
  into zones of occupation
• Purpose was drive Western powers out of city
• U.S. sent vital supplies to the city by airplane
• Berlin Airlift
• Lasted 15 months until the Russians finally
  lifted blockade

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NATO

• Berlin crisis and Czechoslovakia takeover
  convinced U.S. that it needed to create a
  permanent military force in Europe to guard
  against future hostile Soviet actions
• Created North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
  in April 1949
• Military alliance between US and most Western
  European countries
• Designed to stop any future Soviet aggression, by
  force if need be

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ARMS RACE

• Cold War had potential of escalating into nuclear
  war at any time
• U.S. had atomic bomb first
• But Russians developed their own by September
  1949
• Relied on captured German scientists and
  espionage to do so
• U.S. then developed more destructive H-bomb in
  November 1952
• Soviets had their own H-bomb just ten months
  later

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DELIVERY SYSTEMS

• U.S. created Strategic Air Command in early 1950s
• Kept continual patrol of B-29 bombers in the air
• Each carrying a load of H-bombs
• Soviets concentrated on developing guided
  missiles (ICBMs) to deliver their bombs
• U.S. developed DEW line (Distant Early Warning)
  to detect incoming Soviet missiles
• Also worked furiously to develop their own ICBM
  system to supplement SAC
• Success came in late 1958 with the Atlas missile

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INCREASED MILITARY SPENDING

• American defense budget skyrocketed from 11.8
  billion in 1947 (33 of the federal budget), to
  45 billion in 1960 (50 of the federal budget)
  to 350 billion in 1985 (60 of federal budget)
• Some Americans criticized this spending, arguing
  that it diverted resources from domestic programs
• But most supported this spending because they
  believed we had to stop the Soviet Union from
  taking over the world

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BIRTH OF RED CHINIA

• Despite massive American aid, Chaing Kai-shek was
  defeated by Mao Zedongs communists and forced to
  flee to offshore island of Taiwan
• Many Americans viewed this as a horrible defeat
  for the free world and increased their fear of
  an international communist conspiracy to take
  over the world
• This attitude would determine the American
  response to a crisis that erupted in the tiny
  country of Korea

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KOREA BACKGROUND

• After defeat of Japan, Korea was divided into two
  occupation zones
• Northern zone administered by Soviet Union and
  southern zone administered by U.S.
• Talks to united the zones in the late 1940s
  failed
• Korea appeared to be permanently divided between
  a communist north and a more-or-less democratic
  south

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NORTH KOREA ATTACKS

• North Korea decided to unite country by force and
  invaded South Korea with 95,000 troops in 1950
• U.S. convinced UN to intervene and a peace
  keeping force (made up mainly of U.S. troops)
  arrived in South Korea in July 1950
• Under command of General Douglas MacArthur
• Concentrated in a small pocket around port of
  Pulsan
• MacArthur counter-attacked and, by October 1950,
  he pushed North Koreans back to 38th parallel

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THE CHINESE ATTACK

• MacArthur should have stopped then and opened
  negotiations
• He instead continued to advance northward,
  reaching the Yalu River (the border with China)
  in November
• This provoked the Chinese to attack him and they
  drove him back to 38th parallel
• Both sides then dug in for a brutal trench war
  that would last for two more years

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MACARTHUR FIRED

• Many Americans demanded drastic action to end
  frustrating stalemate
• MacArthur wanted to bomb China
• Truman wanted to negotiate a peace settlement
• Warned MacArthur on several occasions to stop
  making provocative statements that hindered the
  peace process
• MacArthur ignored him and even tried to sabotage
  Trumans efforts to get peace talks started
• When Truman learned of this, he relieved
  MacArthur of his command

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END OF THE WAR

• Even though conservatives condemned Truman, the
  presidents action did clear the way for
  negotiations
• Began in July 1951
• Dragged on until June 1953 when the two sides
  agreed to a truce that ended the fighting and
  left Korea divided at the 38th Parallel
• Cost 33,000 Americans dead, 100,000 wounded, and
  54 billion down the drain
• South Koreans lost one million men and North
  Korea/China lost 1 ½ million men

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JULIUS AND ETHEL ROSENBERG

• Fear of Soviet spies was rampant in U.S.
• In 1950, two scientists who had worked on the
  Manhattan Project were accused of giving American
  atomic secrets to Russians
• Many thought they were innocent and were only
  being persecuted for their left-wing beliefs and
  the fact that they were Jewish
• But they were found guilty and executed

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ALGER HISS

• Was a former high official in State Department,
  former delegate to UN, and prominent New Dealer
• In 1948, Whittaker Chambers claimed that he and
  Hiss had spied for the Russians in the 1930s
• Led by Richard Nixon, the House Committee on
  Un-American activities interrogated Hiss but he
  denied everything
• And because statute of limitations had lapsed, he
  could not be tried for espionage
• But Hiss sued Chambers for libel and in the
  ensuing trial, Hiss was found guilty of perjury
  and sentence to prison for five years

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JOSEPH MCCARTHY

• Hiss case created fearful atmosphere in the U.S.
• And Joseph R. McCarthy appeared to exploit it
• Junior senator from Wisconsin
• Gregarious and friendly but also a chronic liar,
  a crude opportunist, and an insensitive boor
• Had been swept into office during Republican
  Congressional landslide of 1946 but his chances
  for re-election in 1952 looked slim

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MCCARTHY ON THE RAMPAGE

• McCarthy needed good press exposure to survive
  and, to get it, he assumed role of public
  protector of Americans against Communist threat
• Opened campaign by charging that he had a list of
  205 State Department employees who were
  communists
• A naked lie but the press jumped on it and the
  country was soon in a rabid mood
• Congress asked McCarthy to prove his charges but
  he couldnt
• So to cover himself, he announced that Owen
  Lattimore, a professor and advisor on China
  policy, was a top Soviet spy
• Couldnt prove this either

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MCCARTHYISM

• McCarthys popularity skyrocketed after the
  Lattimore episode
• Conservative Republicans now used him as a weapon
  against liberals and Democrats
• And wherever McCarthy led, weasels like Nixon
  followed
• McCarthyism became a national attitude that
  penetrated all levels of American life with
  tragic consequences
• Committees from both the House and Senate now
  investigated alleged communist infiltration of
  universities, churches, private industry, and the
  broadcasting and entertainment industry

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HYSTERIA

• Many of the people called in to testify took the
  5th Amendment and refused to answer questions
  that might incriminate them
• They escaped prosecution but had their careers
  and reputations ruined
• In Hollywood, unofficial blacklists were drawn up
  of suspect actors, directors, and writers and
  studios refused to hire them
• Many were turned in by former colleagues and
  friends
• Ronald Reagan turned in many people who he had
  worked with and thought he was their friend
• Some state universities made faculty sign
  loyalty oaths and some state governments even
  made typists, clerks, and road workers sign them

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BAD TO WORSE

• Dark shadow cast over tradition American right of
  free speech
• Meanwhile, McCarthy went his merry way
• In late 1950, he used a doctored photo to charge
  that Senator Millary Tydings was a communist
• Tydings lost re-election bid as a result
• McCarthy, on the other had, was re-elected in 1952

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END OF THE ROAD

• McCarthy charged that Irving Peress, an army
  dentist, had been promoted because communists who
  had infiltrated the Army were rewarding his
  spying activities
• Senate held televised hearings on charges
• McCarthy came across as a mean, cruel, and rather
  stupid bully
• His popularity plummeted, his fellow senators
  censored him, and the media began to ignore him
• Died in 1957 from chronic alcoholism before the
  end of his second term