1. The Cold War Heats Up

2. Atomic age
After US dropped the atomic bombs in Japan the Soviet Union wanted to acquire similar weapons

3. Marshall Plan
Peacemakers did not want to repeat the mistakes of post WWI era
21 million people were homeless after WWII
20% of Poland's population died
25% of houses in France and Belgium were destroyed or damaged
Industries and transportation were in ruins
Agriculture suffered from the loss of livestock
Ex France's damage equaled three times the nation’s income

4. Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan- called for nations of Europe to draw up a program for economic recovery from the war
United States would support the program with financial aid
America was concerned because communist parties were growing
Feared that the Soviet Union would intervene
U.S. believed that it would promote democracy and open new markets
Soviets were invited to participate in the Marshall Plan
Refused the help and pressured satellite nations to do the same

5. Congress approves In 1948 Congress approves the Marshall Plan
Became known as the European Recovery Program
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and West Germany
In 4 years the U.S. gave $13 billion in grants and loans
Economies restored
U.S. gained strong trading partners

6. Shipments financed by the Marshall Plan, 1948-1951
Total Value (in millions of dollars)
Food, feed, fertilizer
3,209.5
Fuel
1,552.4
Cotton
1,397.8
Other raw materials
2,327.6
Machinery and vehicles
1,428.1
Other
88.9
Total
10,004.3

7. The Berlin Airlift By 1949 Germany was completely divided
The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
Berlin (Germany’s Capital) was located in East Germany and was also divided
Many citizens in communist areas would go to East Berlin and then make their way to West Berlin. From there they would go to U.S., Canada or Western Europe
Stalin did not like this and saw it as a threat

8. Stalin blocked all shipments to West Berlin from the allies
Threatened shortages of food and supplies needed for the 2.5 million citizens
Truman did not want to start a war because of this so he moved supplies into West Berlin by plane
For 15 months more than 200,000 flights were made to deliver food, fuel, and other supplies
At the height 13,000 tons of goods arrived daily
Soviets gave up the blockade in May 1949 and the airlift ended

9. NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
The UN was used to deal with most postwar problems
But the Soviets were often using their veto power
Western Europe felt they needed to look beyond the UN
“association of democratic peace-loving states”
U.S., Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal
Agreed that an armed attack against one of them would be considered an attack against all of them.
Soviets responded by creating the Warsaw Pact- military alliance with satellite nations of Eastern Europe

10. Communist advances Soviets tested an atomic bomb 1949
1950 Truman approved development of Hydrogen bomb- and was tested in 1952
Federal Civil Defense Administration- made plans to protect against nuclear attack

11. The Cold War at Home
Many Americans joined the communist party during the depression
After war most left the party
Growth of communism in the world led to fear of an overthrow of the government
Anyone who was communist or had communist ties were persecuted
Federal loyalty program all federal government employees were to be investigated and brought before a Loyalty Review Board
The program examined several million employees but only a few hundred were removed from their positions
Regardless it added suspicion to the country

12. HUAC House Un-American Activities Committee
Established in 1938 to investigate disloyalty
Believed that movies had the power to influence the public
Charged Hollywood figures had communist leanings in their filmmaking
They were put on trial in Sept and Oct 1947
“are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”
Hollywood Ten- refused to answer whether or not they were communist.
Cited for contempt of Congress and served jail time
Blacklists were created to not hire the Hollywood Ten and others who were subversive or opposed the idea of the blacklist

13. The McCarran-Walter Act
Senator Pat McCarran felt that all disloyal Americans were from Communist nations
The law set a quota system for each country that was established in 1924
Discriminated against immigrants from Asia and Southern and Central Europe
This bill was vetoed by Truman because he said it was one of the most “un-American” acts

14. Spy Cases
Alger Hiss was charged for being a communist in the 1930’s and a Soviet spy.
Went to jail for 4 years
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg- members of the communist party were accused of passing atomic secrets to the soviets during WWII.
Convicted of espionage and executed in 1953
Both convictions have been debated for years and caused a people to fear that there were spies in the U.S.

15. McCarthy Era
Senator Joseph McCarthy stated that he had a list of 205 people who were known communists and working for the government.
Sparked an anti-communist hysteria and national search for subversives- Second Red Scare
Anyone who opposed him was considered to be a communist
McCarthy even accused people in the Army as being communist
This led to the Army to charge McCarthy with seeking special treatment for his aide.
The Army-McCarthy hearing began in 1954
The hearing was televised
McCarthy lost most of his followers by the end because he was seen as a bully

16. Arms Race
The United States and Soviet Union were in a constant struggle for world leadership
Each nation wanted to have weapon superiority
Deterrence- policy of making the military power of the United States and its allies so strong that no enemy would dare attack for the fear of retaliation
Between 1954 and the U.S. conducted 19 Hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific
Ex one explosion was 750 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Nagasaki. A Japanese fisherman 90 miles away suffered radiation burns

17. Brinkmanship

18. Cold War in the Skies
In order to attack the Soviet Union the United States had to use planes to transport the bombs
The Soviets focused on ICBM’s- Intercontinental ballistic missiles- long range rockets
In 1957 the Soviets used their rockets to launch Sputnik
Scared American’s because the rocket could also carry hydrogen bombs
U-2 incident
Soviet used missiles to shoot down an American U2 spy plane over Soviet territory
Americans thought they could not be hit because they were 15 miles high. This hurt American confidence