1. The Beginning of the Cold War
Events & Ideas #1
The Beginning of the Cold War
U.S. History
Unit 6

2. Contains One Crash Course Video:
Episode #37 – The Cold War

3. Essential Questions:
How did the different interests of the United States and Soviet Union after WWII cause each world power to enter the Cold War?
The United States put in place many policies to protect the US and other countries from the Soviets. What were they and what did they do?

4. Beginning of the Cold War
USA – Capitalist Superpower
Soviet Union – Communist Superpower
Each side had different interests in the post-WWII world.
Americans looked to correct economic causes of the world.
The U.S. also wants democracy, individual freedoms, and capitalism to spread.
Soviets looked to protect its territory.
They also supported the spread of communism.
Each side had different interests in the post-WWII world.
Soviets looked to protect its territory.
i. Soviets had been invaded by Germany twice in 30 years.
ii. For the Soviets, security was much more important than things like freedom, democracy or capitalism.
iii. For the Soviets, security meant space between herself and Germany.
iv. Communism, the Soviets thought, was superior to capitalism and would one day replace it.
v. Lenin theorized that capitalist systems would see communist systems as a threat and would attempt to destroy them.
Americans looked to correct economic causes of the world.
i. Many Americans believed that the Great Depression started WWII.
ii. Without the Great Depression, Hitler would not have come to power.
iii. By 1945, FDR and advisors were convinced that economic power was the key to a healthy non-warring Europe.

5. Beginning of the Cold War
USA – Capitalist Superpower
Soviet Union – Communist Superpower
Americans wanted economic stability to avoid factors that contributed to dictatorships and WWII.
Many Americans believed that the Great Depression started WWII.
Without the Great Depression, Hitler would not have come to power.
By 1945, FDR and advisors were convinced that economic power was the key to a healthy non-warring Europe.
Each side had different interests in the post-WWII world.
Soviets looked to protect its territory.
i. Soviets had been invaded by Germany twice in 30 years.
ii. For the Soviets, security was much more important than things like freedom, democracy or capitalism.
iii. For the Soviets, security meant space between herself and Germany.
iv. Communism, the Soviets thought, was superior to capitalism and would one day replace it.
v. Lenin theorized that capitalist systems would see communist systems as a threat and would attempt to destroy them.
Americans looked to correct economic causes of the world.
i. Many Americans believed that the Great Depression started WWII.
ii. Without the Great Depression, Hitler would not have come to power.
iii. By 1945, FDR and advisors were convinced that economic power was the key to a healthy non-warring Europe.

6. Beginning of the Cold War
USA – Capitalist Superpower
Soviet Union – Communist Superpower
Soviets had been invaded by Germany twice in 30 years.
For the Soviets, security was much more important than things like freedom, democracy or capitalism.
For the Soviets, security meant space between herself and Germany.
Communism, the Soviets thought, was superior to capitalism and would one day replace it.
Lenin theorized that capitalist systems would see communist systems as a threat and would attempt to destroy them.
Each side had different interests in the post-WWII world.
Soviets looked to protect its territory.
i. Soviets had been invaded by Germany twice in 30 years.
ii. For the Soviets, security was much more important than things like freedom, democracy or capitalism.
iii. For the Soviets, security meant space between herself and Germany.
iv. Communism, the Soviets thought, was superior to capitalism and would one day replace it.
v. Lenin theorized that capitalist systems would see communist systems as a threat and would attempt to destroy them.
Americans looked to correct economic causes of the world.
i. Many Americans believed that the Great Depression started WWII.
ii. Without the Great Depression, Hitler would not have come to power.
iii. By 1945, FDR and advisors were convinced that economic power was the key to a healthy non-warring Europe.

7. Crash Course Video Episode #37:
Complete the worksheet that goes with the following video:

8. Yalta Conference Feb. 1945 Control of Poland disputed:
Churchill wanted free elections
Stalin wanted communist control
FDR wants Russia to join fight in Pacific against Japan.
Russia becomes member of United Nations.
Plans are made to divide up Germany after the war.
The Yalta Conference was a meeting with Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt early in February as WWII was winding down
Yalta, Feb Crimea, Soviet Union
Poland had 2 governments.
Stalin agreed to include both and hold free elections.
Declaration of Freedom.
Divided Germany.

9. Postwar divisions in Germany decided on during the Yalta Conference

10. Potsdam Conference Aug. 1945
Decisions made regarding:
German demilitarization, reparations.
Territorial disputes.
Sovereignty Issues in Eastern Europe.
Many Cold War disputes begin at Potsdam.
Potsdam Conference
Jul 1945 At the Potsdam conference, plans to stop the Japanese once and for all were discussed. President Truman met with Stalin and the British leaders for 17 days. They issued an ultimatum to Japan.
German reparations.
Stalin wanted reparations.
Truman said no.
Stalin finally agreed.

11. Cold War
Definition:
The state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc and powers in the Eastern Bloc.

12. Iron Curtain Definition:
The boundary that separated Europe into two separate areas after WWII until the end of the Cold War.
States behind the curtain were influenced by the Soviet Union (militarily and economically) and were communist.
Communist countries of Eastern Europe were called satellite nations.
Most states outside of the curtain were either independent or influenced by the United States.
Soviets refused to commit to ‘Declaration of Freedom’ at Potsdam.
i. Truman presses Stalin at Potsdam to uphold the ‘Declaration of Freedom’ for all European countries made at Yalta.
ii. Stalin refuses.
iii. Truman “attempts” to influence Stalin by mentioning that the US had a “devastating new weapon.”
iv. Stalin – who already knew about the Manhattan Project (US didn’t know then that the Soviets already knew) – told Truman that if he had a devastating weapons then he should use it.
Presence of Soviet army in Eastern Europe ensured communist governments.
i. Pro-Soviet Communist governments would be established in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.
ii. Stalin said, “this war is not in the past… whoever occupies a territory also imposes his own social system… It cannot be otherwise.”
Communist countries of Eastern Europe came to be called satellite nations.
i. Not under direct control of the Soviet Union.
ii. Had to remain Communist and friendly to the Soviet Union.
iii. Had to follow policies approved by the Soviets.
In one of the most famous orations of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Churchill's speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War.

13. Winston Churchill coined this phrase concerning the communist takeover of Eastern Europe in this famous speech:
“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…all these famous cities and populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence, but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control form Moscow.”

14. Countries of the Iron Curtain = red NATO members = blue
Militarily neutral countries − gray.
Story about when I traveled through Yugoslavia during the Cold War…
Yugoslavia, although communist-run, was independent of the Eastern Bloc..

15. Border fences between Eastern (Communist) and Western (Democratic) Europe.

16. Crisis in Iran and Turkey
The Dardanelles, a long narrow strait dividing the Balkans (Europe) along the Gallipoli peninsula from Asia Minor.
April 1946: Stalin refused to remove Soviets troops from Iran.
Soviets also demanded joint control of Dardanelles.
USS Missouri and the aircraft carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt forced the Soviets to withdraw.
The Iran crisis of 1946, followed the end of World War II and stemmed from the Soviet Union's refusal to relinquish occupied Iranian territory.
In 1941 Iran had been jointly invaded and occupied by the Allied powers of the Soviet Red Army in the north and by the British in the center and south.
Iran was used by the Americans and the British as a transportation route to provide vital supplies to the Soviet Union's war efforts.
Diplomatic pressure on the Soviets by the United States eventually led to Soviet withdrawal. The crisis is seen as one of the early conflicts in the growing Cold War at the time.
Missouri departed Istanbul on 9 April 1946 and entered Phaleron Bay, Piraeus, Greece, the following day for an overwhelming welcome by Greek government officials and anti-communist citizens.
Greece had become the scene of a civil war between the communist World War II resistance movement and the returning Greek government-in-exile. The United States saw this as an important test case for its new doctrine of containment of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets were also pushing for concessions in the Dodecanese to be included in the peace treaty with Italy and for access through the Dardanelles strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
The voyage of Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean symbolized America's strategic commitment to the region.
News media proclaimed her a symbol of U.S. interest in preserving both nations' independence.[5]

18. Truman Doctrine August, 1946 Greek Communists threaten a takeover.
Britain cannot afford to continue supporting the Greeks.
Truman gets $400 million from Congress to help the Greek governments fight against Communism.
Harry S. Truman
August, 1946 Greek Communists threaten a takeover.
i. For about six months, the Britain’s help the Greeks fight Communist rebels.
ii. Weakened by the war effort, the Brit’s can not afford to continue the fight.
Britain can not afford to continue supporting the Greeks.
i. Britain informs the United Nations that they can not continue the fight.
ii. It falls to the U.S. to pick up the fight.
Truman gets $400 million from Congress to help governments fighting Communism.
i. The $400 million request is to aid “free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
ii. The $400 million helped to stabilize the Greek government and help the Turkish government resist the Soviet Union.
iii. In the long run, it set the stage for America to fight Communism worldwide.

19. Truman Doctrine
By March America would support Greece and Turkey economically and militarily to prevent them from falling into the Soviet “sphere of influence”.
Many historians refer to this date as the start of the Cold War.
Philosophy used later for rationale to contain Communism

20. Truman Doctrine Definition:
the principle that the US should give support to countries or peoples threatened by Soviet forces or communist uprising, the communists saw it as an open declaration of the Cold War
Truman Doctrine
First expressed in 1947 by US President Truman in a speech to Congress seeking aid for Greece and Turkey
In fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government allocated the following amounts for aid:
Total economic and military assistance: $48.4 billion
Total military assistance: $17.2 billionTotal economic assistance: $31.2 billion

21. General, Secretary of State,
Marshall Plan
Definition:
June a program by which the U.S. gave large amounts of economic aid to European countries to help them rebuild after WWII.
Economic aid was offered but political “strings” were attached.
Aid was offered to the Soviet Union but they refused the conditions and influenced other eastern bloc nations to reject the aid.
Goal was to avoid the post-WWI economic depression that led to political instability and the rise of dictators and encourage democracy and a free-market economy.
General, Secretary of State,
Secretary of Defense
George C. Marshall
June, 1947: George C. Marshall proposes a recovery program for Europe.
European nations receive American aid to rebuild after WWII.
i. Offered to European nations under Soviet control but they “refuse.”
Truman gets Congress to put $400 million to help contain communism.
i. August, 1946: Great Britain was supported democratic government in Greece but could no longer afford to do so.
ii. March, 1947: US steps in to help Greece out with communist rebels trying to overthrow the country.
Stabilizes Greek and Turkish governments against communists.

22. Bombed out Hamburg, Germany in 1943.
Marshall Plan
Post WWII European economies were ruin and people were starving.
The Marshall Plan sent billions of dollars worth of supplies, machinery, and food into Western Europe.
The United States economic support gave European counties the badly needed recovery
This recovery weakened the appeal of communism.
The Marshall Plan, page 634
Post WWII Europe economies were in ruin and people were starving.
i. Political chaos reigned with most areas either controlled by the Allied or Soviet forces.
Marshall Plan pumped billions of dollars worth of supplies, machinery, and food into Western Europe.
i. European Recovery Program was first advocated by Secretary of State George C. Marshall in June of 1947.
ii. Truman saw the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine as “two halves of the same walnut.”
iii. Both were essential for containment.
Europe’s recovery weakened the appeal of communism.
i. Soviet Union and its satellite nations (who didn’t really have a choice) refused the offer.
ii. Soviets developed their own aid program (which was largely ineffective in rebuilding Europe).
iii. Soviets were adamant that they would control all of Eastern Europe and so blockaded the land route to West Berlin.
Bombed out Hamburg, Germany in 1943.

23. United States – Open Bank Account?
How much money did the U.S. government give in aid to other countries in 2012?
Military aid: 17,000,000,000
Economic aid: 31,000,000,000
Total: 48.4 billion
In fiscal year 2012, the U.S. government allocated the following amounts for aid:
Total economic and military assistance: $48.4 billion
Total military assistance: $17.2 billion
Total economic assistance: $31.2 billion

24. Containment Definition:
To keep communism within its present territory through the use of diplomatic, economic and military actions
New foreign policy objective and strategy throughout the Cold War
George Kennan’s Long Telegram (5,540 words).
i. Ambassador for America stationed in the Soviet Union.
ii. Responding to a request for information on the Soviets, he writes the Long Telegram.
Kennan said that Soviets were in a long term struggle with capitalism.
i. Soviet view of the world came from a sense of insecurity and a fear of the west.
ii. Soviets were in a long term historical struggle with capitalism.
Kennan argued that no settlement could be reached so contain them.
i. “a long term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.”
He said they would fall apart.
i. Kennan thought the Soviets were economically and politically weak and that sooner or later they would fall apart on their own.
ii. Truman accepts Kennan’s view and the policy of containment is born. .

25. “Every individual… has a right… to a fair deal”
Truman is re-elected (or elected for the first time since he took over when FDR died)
Definition:
an ambitious set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Truman to put into place his plan for the postwar domestic agenda for the U.S.
Legal minimum wage to $.75
Extended Social Security to 10 million more people.
“Every individual… has a right… to a fair deal”
“Every individual… has a right… to a fair deal”
Sets Truman apart form FDR’s “New Deal”
Legal minimum wage to $0.75
Extended Social Security to 10 million more people.
National Housing Act of 1949.

26. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
McCarthyism 1950–54
Definition:
a intense campaign against alleged communists in the US government and other institutions carried out under Senator Joseph McCarthy
Many of the accused were blacklisted or lost their jobs, although most did not in fact belong to the Communist Party.
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
Loyalty review program screen all federal workers in 1947.
i. Early 1947 to 1951, all 6 million federal employees were screened for loyalty.
ii. You could be accused of being disloyal for reading certain books, belonging to certain groups, or even seeing certain foreign films.
iii. A Red Scare grows in America.
McCarran Act makes it illegal to conspire with communists.
i. In 1950 with the Korean War underway and Senator McCarthy looking for Communists in American government, Congress makes it illegal to associate or conspire with Communists.
McCarthy conducted a witch-hunt for communists.
i. McCarthy used flimsy evidence and irrational fears to damage reputations with vague and unfounded charges.
The first Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. A group of studio executives, fired the artists—the so-called Hollywood 10
On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet entitled Red Channels was published. Focused on the field of broadcasting, it identified 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of "Red Fascists and their sympathizers."
Soon most of those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in most of the entertainment field.
The blacklist lasted until 1960, when Dalton Trumbo, an unrepentant communist and member of the Hollywood Ten, was credited as the screenwriter of his highly successful film Exodus.
A number of those blacklisted, however, were barred from work in their professions for years afterward.
The Hollywood 10 with
their attorneys

27. McCarthyism Loyalty review program to screen all federal workers.
McCarran Act makes it illegal to conspire with communists.
McCarthy conducted a witch-hunt for communists.
Loyalty review program screen all federal workers in 1947.
i. Early 1947 to 1951, all 6 million federal employees were screened for loyalty.
ii. You could be accused of being disloyal for reading certain books, belonging to certain groups, or even seeing certain foreign films.
iii. A Red Scare grows in America.
McCarran Act makes it illegal to conspire with communists.
i. In 1950 with the Korean War underway and Senator McCarthy looking for Communists in American government, Congress makes it illegal to associate or conspire with Communists.
McCarthy conducted a witch-hunt for communists.
i. McCarthy used flimsy evidence and irrational fears to damage reputations with vague and unfounded charges.

28. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
Formed in 1938 to investigate both Communist and Fascist activities in the U.S.
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was not satisfied with Loyalty Review Program.
Encouraged that the HUAC hold public hearings on communist activities.
Definition:
(1938–75) A committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, created to investigate disloyalty and subversive organizations - specifically those related to communism.
House Un-American Activities Committee.
i. Formed in 1938 to investigate both Communist and Fascist activities in the United States.
ii. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was not satisfied with Loyalty Review Program.
iii. Encouraged that the HUAC hold public hearings on communist activities.
iv.

29. Alger Hiss A lawyer and government official
Accused of being a Communist and spy by another communist, Whittaker Chambers Convicted of perjury – served 3 years
Alger Hiss was an American lawyer and government official. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and U.N. official.
On August 3, 1948, Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist Party member, testified under subpoena before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that Hiss had secretly been a Communist/spy, while in federal service. Called before HUAC, Hiss categorically denied the charge.
Hiss claimed his innocence his whole life, but in 2001 reports came out casting serious doubts to his credibility.
Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950.
Chambers testifying before the HUAC with Hiss observing (circled to the left). Hiss testifying his innocence

30. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
American citizens convicted and executed for conspiracy to commit espionage related to passing information about the atomic bomb to the USSR
Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (September 25, 1915[1] – June 19, 1953) were American citizens executed for conspiracy to commit espionage, relating to passing information about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
The other atomic spies who were caught by the FBI offered confessions and were not executed, including Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, who supplied documents to Julius from Los Alamos and served 9 12 years; Harry Gold, who identified Greenglass and served 15 years in Federal prison as the courier for Greenglass; and a German scientist, Klaus Fuchs, who served nine years and four months.
In 1995, the United States government released a series of decoded Soviet cables, codenamed VENONA, which confirmed that Julius acted as a courier and recruiter for the Soviets, but did not provide definitive evidence for Ethel's involvement. Ethel's brother David Greenglass, whose testimony had condemned her, later stated that he had lied to protect his own wife Ruth, who had been the actual typist of the classified documents he stole, and that he was encouraged by the prosecution to do so. Morton Sobell, who was tried with the Rosenbergs, served 17 years and 9 months of a 30-year sentence.[9] In 2008, Sobell admitted he was a spy and stated that Julius Rosenberg had spied for the Soviets, but that Ethel Rosenberg had not.
Julius also passed the Soviets a proximity fuse and recruited his brother-in-law to pass along secrets from Los Alamos

31. Soviet Spies
David Greenglass (Ethel’s brother) worked at Los Alamos and passed documents to Gold – convicted, served 9 ½ years
Harry Gold was a chemist and delivered documents to Klaus Fuchs – convicted, served 14 years
Klaus Fuchs a German refugee physicist working for the British portion of the Manhattan Project passed the documents to the Soviets throughout WWII –convicted and served 9 years
The USSR and the U.S. were allies during the war, but the Americans did not share information or seek assistance from the Soviet Union for the Manhattan Project.
The Soviets were aware of the project as a result of espionage penetration of the U.S. government.
After the war, the U.S. continued to protect its nuclear secrets, but the Soviet Union was able to produce its own atomic weapons by 1949.
The West was shocked by the speed with which the Soviets were able to stage their first nuclear test, on August 29, 1949.
In January 1950 the U.S. discovered that Klaus Fuchs, a German refugee theoretical physicist working for the British mission in the Manhattan Project, had given key documents to the Soviets throughout the war.
Fuchs identified his courier as Harry Gold, who was arrested on May 23, Gold confessed and identified Sergeant David Greenglass, a former machinist at Los Alamos, as an additional source.
Greenglass confessed to having passed secret information on to the USSR through Gold. Though he initially denied any involvement by his sister, Ethel Rosenberg, eventually he claimed that she knew of her husband's dealings and typed some documents for him. In a 2001 interview he said, "I told them the story and left her out of it, right? But my wife put her in it. So what am I gonna do, call my wife a liar? My wife is more important to me than my sister. And she was the mother of my children."
Greenglass also claimed that his sister's husband, Julius, had convinced his wife Ruth Greenglass to recruit David while on a visit to him in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in He said Julius had passed secrets, and linked him and Ethel to a Soviet contact agent.

32. Answer the Essential Questions in five or more complete sentences:
How did the different interests of the United States and Soviet Union after WWII cause each world power to enter the Cold War?
The United States put in place many policies to protect the US and other countries from the Soviets. What were they and what did they do?