The Beginnings of the Cold War

1945 - 1953

Lividia Palace, Yalta, Crimea

Yalta Conference (Feb. 4 – 11, 1945) Poland moved west & govt.

broadened Germany & Berlin divided

into 4 occupation zones USSR to declare war on

Japan 2-3 months after V-E Day & recognize Nationalist China Would regain what it lost in

Russo-Japanese War Korea divided at 38th parallel

Declaration of Liberated Europe promised to est. democracies & rebuild economies of liberated nations

Winston Churchill, Franklin D.Roosevelt & Josef Stalin at Yalta(copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s)

Post-WWII Eastern Europe

The United Nations Charter devised at

Dunbarton Oaks (1944) & San Francisco (1945)

General Assembly – all nations have a vote

Security Council – 5 permanent members (US,

USSR, Britain, France & China) each have veto power

Other members serve limited terms

Other arms: UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, etc.

Potsdam Conference (July 17 – Aug. 2, 1945)

Germany disarmed & industry dismantled

Occupiers take reparations out of zones

Council of Foreign Ministers to settle Italy, Finland, Hungary, Bulgaria & Romania (treaties in 1947)

Nuremberg Trials (Nov. 1945 - Oct. 1946) result in execution of top Nazis for “crimes against humanity”

Clement Attlee, Harry Truman& Josef Stalin at Potsdam, Aug. 1,1945 (from the Truman Pres. Library & Museum collection)

Nazis on Trial at Nuremburg

Atomic Diplomacy Decision to use A-bombs at end

of WWII partly influenced by desire to impress Soviet Union

Henry Wallace warned of dangerous arms race leading to nuclear war

Truman saw nuclear weapons as effective deterrent to Soviet aggression

Soviets tested their own A-bomb in Sept. 1949

U.S. began building H-bomb in 1950 (tested in 1954)

Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s

Atomic Culture: Bikini

The Bomb and Containment Policy MAD = mutually assured

destruction George F. Kennan

Long Telegram (1946) warned Soviets couldn’t be trusted, but should be met with patient resolve

“X Article” (1947) called for containing Soviet expansion & proving superiority of U.S. ideals

NSC-68 (1950) codified containment policy By all means short of war, block

Soviet expansion, expose lies, induce retraction, & sow “seeds of destruction” within USSR

The Beginnings of the Cold War in Europe 1945: Soviets est. puppet regimes in Poland & Romania

Truman blasts Molotov for violating Yalta agreements 1946: Soviets reject Baruch Plan to share atomic

secrets Churchill gives “Iron Curtain” speech

1947: Communist coup in Hungary U.S. announces Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan National Security Act:

Dept. of Defense unified old War & Navy Dept.s Joint Chiefs of Staff coordinates military plans between the 4

service branches National Security Council: President, Vice President, Sec. of

State, Sec. of Defense, CIA & FBI Directors, National Security Advisor

Central Intelligence Agency conducts spying & covert operations

The Division of Germany 1948: Soviets est. puppet

regime in Czechoslovakia Soviets blockade W. Berlin U.S. stages Berlin Airlift

(1948-49) British, French & U.S.

occupation zones merged into “Trizonia” – becomes West Germany in 1949

Soviets est. puppet regime in East Germany

Divided Europe, 1949-1989 North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (1949) = 1st permanent alliance for U.S.

Soviets created Warsaw Pact & COMECON to counter NATO & Marshall Plan

Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s

The Beginnings of the Cold War in Asia Japan occupied & rebuilt solely by U.S.

Caroline, Marshall & Mariana islands put under U.S. trusteeship

Gen. Douglas MacArthur wrote new Japanese constitution

Permanent treaty signed in 1951 Mao Zedong’s Communists took over

China in 1949 Jiang Jieshi’s Kuomintang fled to Taiwan

Korea divided at 38th parallel by Yalta agreement UN held elections in South in 1948 North more industrialized, but fewer people

Mao Zedong

Jiang Jieshi

The Korean War (1950-1953) Kim Il-Sung got reluctant approval

from Stalin Mao wanted Soviet aid to take Taiwan 80% of Chinese industry in Manchuria

Truman got immediate UN action – saw it as 1930s all over again British, Canadian, Turkish & other troops,

too Est. defensive line around Pusan, then

staged Inchon landing War prolonged due to Synghman

Rhee’s desire for reunification Invasion of North brought Chinese into

war Armistice signed July 27, 1953

Cost to the U.S.: 54,000 dead; 103,000 injured; $69.5

billion 1.5 million Chinese & N. Korean

casualtiesCopyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s

The Home Front Executive Branch Loyalty

Program (1947) Soviet Spy Cases:

Alger Hiss convicted of perjury (1950) Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted

of espionage (1951) & executed (1953) McCarran Internal Security Act

(1950) Unlawful to contribute to the est. of a

totalitarian gov’t “Communist front” org. members had

to register; denied travel visas & gov’t jobs

Sen. Joseph McCarthy led Senate Permanent Investigation Committee (1953-54)

Copyright 2000, Bedford/St. Martin’s

Alger Hiss Julius & Ethel Rosenberg

Spies Like Us

Postwar Conservatives Classic liberals – feared expansion

of government power Many were former Communists

disillusioned with Stalin & USSR. Argued that liberal Democrats were

either dangerously naïve or else traitors James Burnham argued

containment wasn’t enough – too defensive, and not spiritually inspiring

Whittaker Chambers said that the transcendent issue was religious – both Communism & secular humanism were atheistic

James Burnham

Whittaker Chambers