1. Post World War II

2. February 1945

3.  Constant global confrontation between the Soviet Union and United States.  Avoidance of direct armed conflict between the two “Superpowers”.

4.  Winston Churchill  Speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March 5, 1946.  “An iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”  Describes Soviet sphere of influence and control in eastern Europe.

6.  United Nations established.  Security Council - Veto power for permanent members.  General Assembly.  MacArthur commands U.S. army of occupation in Japan.  U.S., Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union divide Germany into zones of occupation.  Federal Republic of (West) Germany - 1949.  U.S. initially enjoys atomic bomb monopoly.  Neglect of conventional military forces begins.  Communist control of Eastern Europe.  “Puppet” states dominated by the Soviet Union.

8.  Pacific  China - Civil War between Communists and Nationalists.  Leaders: Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek.  Japanese Constitution adopted - relies on U.S. for defense.  Europe  Communist threat to Turkey and Greece.  Great Britain unable to supply enough aid.  Truman Doctrine - March 1947  “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressure.”  Economic and Military aid to Greece and Turkey.  Non-communist governments secured.

9.  Marshall Plan - June 1947  U.S. economic aid to rebuild western Europe.  George Kennan's "X Article" in Foreign Affairs, July 1947  Enunciated the theory of “containment” of communism.  Official U.S. doctrine and policy by 1950.  Berlin Airlift: June 1948 - May 1949.  Communist Coup in Czechoslovakia - February 1948.  1949 - Chinese Nationalists evacuate to Formosa.  Communist People’s Republic established on mainland China under Mao.  Pact signed with Soviet Union.  U.S. supports Chiang’s Nationalist government on Formosa (Taiwan) as legitimate government of China.

11.  Established in 1949.  Military Alliance between U.S., Canada, and western Europe with a formal command structure.  Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (Brussels, Belgium)  U.S. Commander in Chief, European Command  Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (Norfolk, Virginia)  U.S. Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command  Warsaw Pact established by the Soviet Union to counter NATO in 1955 - includes eastern European communist states.

13.  “National Military Establishment”  Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  Secretary of Defense on President’s Cabinet.  Unified Commanders established in geographic areas.  Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency.  Joint Chiefs of Staff direct military operations.  Effects on Navy and Marine Corps:  Preserves naval aviation and the Marine Corps.  Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal becomes Secretary of Defense.  Defense Reorganization Act - 1949: Department of Defense  Strengthens Secretary of Defense: Louis Johnson replaces Forrestal.