An Overview of the War that Never Happened…..

Differing Post-War Plans  United States  Encourage the spread of democracy  Rebuild European governments to promote stability and a new market for American goods  Reunite Germany to stabilize it  Soviet Union  Encourage communism (worldwide workers’ revolution)  Control Eastern Europe to protect Soviet borders  Keep Germany divided to prevent it from waging war ever again

The “Iron Curtain”  “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe…” o Winston Churchill March5, 1946  In 1947, Truman decides it’s time to stop “babying the Soviets” and develops the policy of containment.  Containment- a policy designed to do whatever it takes to halt the spread of communist influence

Truman and Marshall get involved  Truman Doctrine- Truman’s support of any nation that rejected communism regardless of the nation’s governmental policies  Marshall Plan- the promise of aid to any European nation that would stand against the Soviet Union billion  Berlin Airlift (1948)- Stalin cut off road and rail access to West Berlin hoping to scare the West. For nearly 11 months, took off and landed ever 3 minutes.  277,000 flights  2.3 million tons of supplies  Food, fuel, medicine  Stalin ended blockade in 1949

Formation of Rival Alliances  North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- military pact to meet any aggression on a member nation with force  1 st ever US peacetime military commitment  Warsaw Pact- Soviet answer to NATO.  Soviet Union detonates its first atomic weapon. This begins the nuclear standoff

Containment in Action  1949 (China)- China falls under communist control under Mao Zedong  1950 (Korea)- North Korean forces cross the 38 th parallel and begin a three year war that involved China and North Korea vs. the US, NATO, and South Korea.  Treaty is never signed, only a cease-fire  1964(Vietnam)- Gulf of Tonkin incident leads to US involvement. At height, over 500,000 troops engaged in active combat.  US withdraws last troops in 1973  Domino theory  Vietnam falls to communists within two years  1979 (Afghanistan)- Soviet Union invades to protect the communist regime  Afghan fighters (mujahadeen) trained in guerilla combat by CIA and armed with Stinger missiles to counter Soviet helicopters  After 10 years, Soviets withdraw in defeat

Non-battle confrontations  1959 (Cuba) Fidel Castro overthrows the US friendly regime and takes control of US sugar refineries.  “Ike” orders a boycott on Cuban goods  Cubans turn to Soviets for help  1962 (Cuba) Cuban Missile Crisis occurs when Soviets secretly build 42 nuclear missiles 90 miles off Florida  Both sides brought to brink of war  Khrushchev agrees to pull back missiles for US guarantee to not invade Cuba  1980 (Olympics) In response to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, US boycotts 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

The end cometh….  Under Nixon, the US began a policy of détente (trying to peacefully exist and establish diplomatic ties) towards the communist nations, especially China  Reagan throws that out the window and begins a massive arms buildup which helps to finish off an already declining Soviet Union  Final Soviet Institutions close on Dec. 31, 1991