Truman and the Early Cold War

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Truman and the Early Cold War
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Crisis in Europe, Winter 1946-47

• Cities and industry in ruins
• Harsh European winter

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Crisis in Europe, cont.

• Civil wars in Greece and Turkey Both countries
  struggle against Communist-supplied guerilla
  insurgencies and Soviet pressure to access the
  Mediterranean sea.

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Crisis in Europe, cont.

• 400 Million in Economic and Military Aid

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Crisis in Europe, cont.

• February 21, 1947

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Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson meets with
Truman

• Like apples in a barrel infected by the
  corruption of one rotten one...
• The fall of Greece or Turkey would open Asia,
  Western Europe, and the oil fields of the Middle
  East to the Red menace.
• The Soviet Union is playing one of the greatest
  gambles in history. We and we alone are in a
  position to break up that play.
• Achesons view would later become known as The
  Domino Theory

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Truman Doctrine speech to Congress, March 12,
1947

• Mr. President, youre going to have to scare
  hell out of the American people.
• The United States must support free peoples
  everywhere resisting subjugation by armed
  minorities or by outside pressures.

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National Security Act of 1947

• Truman reorganizes the U.S. government for
  permanent war mobilization
• Unified the Army, Navy, and Air Force into one
  structure
• Department of Defense

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The Marshall Plan, 1948

• Secretary of State George Marshalls European
  Recovery Program? Weapon against Communism
• Three goals (Make Europe prosperous again)

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Stalin tightens his grip

• Stalin takes over Hungary and Czechoslovakia in
  1947 and 1948 Stalin turns his attention to
  Germany.
• 1945 Potsdam Agreement divided Germany into 4
  separate zones next slide

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The Berlin Airlift

• Truman orders massive airlift to provide
  Berliners with thousands of tons of fuel and food
  needed to survive

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The Berlin Airlift
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Chaos in Asia

• To contain communism, Truman tries to crush a
  procommunist movement in the Philippines
• Also, help France to
• Civil War in China leads to China falling to
  Communism

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1949 A Really Bad Year.

• Sept. 1949 Soviet Union successfully explodes
  their first atomic bomb
• Oct. 1949 Founding of the Peoples Republic of
  China

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1950 Even worse.

• Jan. 1950 U.S. begins building a Hydrogen bomb,
  estimated force of 100 tons of TNT
• NSC-68
• http//www.history.com/this-day-in-history/preside
  nt-truman-receives-nsc-68
• http//www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsc-hst/nsc-68.htm
• June 24, 1950 Soviet-backed Communist North
  Korean troops invade U.S.-backed South Korea- The
  Korean War begins