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The Beginnig of The Cold War To 1953
The Beginnig of The Cold War To 1953
The Beginnig of The Cold War To 1953
1. The United States decided to alter their policy towards Germany. Instead of
punishing the German nation, Congress agreed that reconstruction would be
the best option. This was due to the growing Soviet power in Central Europe
and the cost of supplying the Germans in the American zone with minimum
food, clothing, and heating. It cost the United States over $700 million.
THE IRON CURTAIN
SPEECH
2. THE UNITED STATES PRESENTED THE BARUCH PLAN TO THE
UNITED NATIONS. THE GOAL OF THIS PLAN WAS TO
REMOVE ANY SOVIET FEARS ABOUT THE US’S NUCLEAR
MONOPOLY BY PLACING THESE WEAPONS UNDER
INTERNATIONAL CONTROL. HOWEVER, THE US WOULD BE
ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THESE WEAPONS AND
TO RETAIN THEM FOR SOME TIME. THE BARUCH PLAN WAS
VETOED BY THE SOVIET UNION IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL.
• The United States must create a “containment policy” to stop the spread of
communism. This would require resistance to Soviet expansion by diplomatic
means backed by force, followed by negotiations when the Soviet Union was
prepared to make concessions.
• If the United States continued to match the expenditures spent of the Cold War
as those spent by the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union would eventually be
bankrupt.
Bringing the Economic
Zones Together
■ By 1947, the United States and Great Britain
merged their German economic zones together and
called it Bizonia. By 1948, Bizonia became Trizonia
when the French zone was added on. They also
introduced a new currency, the Deutschmark. The
United States government released a statement
declaring “an orderly and prosperous Europe
requires the economic contribution of a stable and
productive Germany.” With one-fourth of the
German population living in the Soviet zone, this
statement marked the end of cooperation with the
Soviet Union.
Truman Seeking Congressional
Help
1. In the recent elections in Italy and France, the Communist party received one-fourth
of the vote. Truman thought that Stalin was behind this communist push but he was
wrong. Capitalism was losing support because of the poor harvests across Europe in
1946 and a severe winter in 1946-47. In addition, many people were attracted to the
role that communism played in fighting against fascism.
Stalin’s True Colors Come Out
2. In the six Soviet bloc countries, Stalin did three things that
worried Truman. They were:
– Stalin exploited the bloc countries to help pay for the devastation
brought on by the war. This resulted in tighter restrictions of freedom.
PROBLEMS IN GREECE
3. A civil war broke out in Greece. The Greek Communist party launched a guerilla movement
that was in the process of overthrowing the Greek government. Truman thought that Stalin
was supporting the communist revolutionaries. In reality, it was Tito who was supporting
them, not Stalin.
THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE
In Western Europe, the United States could improve the economies of these nations. Thus, the people would
see the success brought forth by capitalism and would steer them away from communism.
In Eastern Europe, the United States could try to make the Soviet bloc countries experiment with capitalism
and democracy.
The mobilization of international communist support for the Soviet Union led to
three new developments. They were:
• Tensions mounted over Germany when the Soviet Union (ACC member) insisted on $10
billion in reparation payments for the damages incurred during World War II. The US (ACC
member) rejected this idea until the German economy recovered.
• Infuriated by the ACC declining reparations, the success of the Marshall Plan across Europe
and the introduction of the Deutschmark by Trizonia led Stalin to blockade the city of Berlin in
1948. He closed the roads, rails, and canals into and out of Berlin. Electric power was cut off
from East to West Berlin.
THE BERLIN AIRLIFT
• In 1948, Stalin put Kim Il-Sung in charge of North Korea. The United States put Syngman Rhee in
charge of South Korea. Both men were determined to invade each other in an attempt to reunite the
peninsula.
A DIVIDED NATION LEADS TO A HOT WAR
• Kim pushed for the idea of invading South Korea.
He knew that Rhee was unpopular within his own
country and he believed most Koreans would view
him as a national hero if he reunited the country.
Japan had been a harsh ruler of Korea, and Kim
resented the US attempts to rebuild Japan as a pro-
Western regional power.
1. Stalin was sending a message to Mao proving that the Soviet Union
still dictated political control over Asia…not China.
NSC-68, which focused on the need to expand both conventional and nuclear forces, abandoned containment
and replaced it with confrontation. Confrontation should take the form of an offensive “rollback” of
communism across the world.
Revisionist historian William Chase Taubman viewed NSC-68 as an excuse for an always-intended US
expansionism, deliberately exaggerating the Soviet Union’s own expansionist intentions in order to persuade
the US public to agree to a massive increase in defense spending.
The United Nations Steps In
In response to the 90,000 North Korean troop invasion of the South, Truman
immediately turned to NSC-68 and sent US forces and military supplies to the
region. In addition, Truman asked the United Nations to commit troops to Korea.
The UN agreed to send forces (260,000 of the 300,000 were American). These
combined forces would be led by General Douglas MacArthur.
This was an interesting development because the Soviet Union had the authority to veto
this decision. The Soviets did not show up for the vote because they were protesting
the failure of the UN to give a seat to Communist China.
MacArthur Fights Back
By August 1950, the North Koreans had captured Seoul
and by September they had conquered the whole
country, except for the area of Pusan (south-eastern
port). In a desperate situation, MacArthur launched a
counter-invasion at Inchon. Soon he was pushing
northwards to the 38th parallel. At the same time, UN
forces were able to fight their way out of Pusan and
began pushing the North Korean forces back.
Why Did The US Care About Korea?
The reason why the United States came to the defense of South Korea was that:
2. If the United States did not respond to the invasion, the rest of world would
have considered the containment policy as weak and unreliable.
3. Some politicians felt that by letting South Korea fall to communism would
be eerily similar to the appeasement of Hitler.
4. The US politicians started to embrace the “Domino Theory” which said that
if one Asian country (South Korea) fell to the communist than the rest of
Asia would follow, putting the entire region in danger.
Nearing China
MacArthur was able to capture
Pyongyang, the North Korean
capital, and continued to push
north. By November 1950,
MacArthur was nearing the Yalu
River, which was the border
between North Korea and China.
Mao Joins in the War
Since Mao had no diplomatic contact with the US, he was afraid that the US
might invade China through North Korea. Thus, Mao decided to become more
actively involved in the Korean War by initially committing 300,000 troops to the
conflict. Mao was determined to control the political developments in Asia.
– In addition, Mao was convinced that the US military power was overrated. Mao
referred to the United States as “a paper tiger.”
– To challenge the United States, the Chinese troops were also preparing for a full
invasion of Formosa (the home of the Kuomintang). To prevent this from
happening, Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet to sail into the Straits of Formosa.
MACARTHUR AND TRUMAN DON’T SEE EYE TO EYE
1. Stalin died and the new leaders of the Soviet Union saw no point in continuing the
war.
2. Mao was running out of financial resources. In addition, he lost nearly 750,000 men.
3. Dwight D. Eisenhower became president of the United States and warned China that
the US would consider using the A-bomb if no progress towards ending the war was
made. This was part of Eisenhower’s “New Look” US foreign policy which focused
on brinksmanship.
A Forgotten War?!
In reality, the United States was victorious in
the Korean War. North Korean forces were
forced back across the 38th parallel and
South Korean remained a democratic nation.
However, the American public did not view
this war as a success because many lives
were lost and the war ended right where it
began. No land was gained and communism
still existed in Asia (North Korea and China).
American casualties: 100,000
Chinese casualties: 1 million
Stalin Dies….Now Who?
On March 5, 1953, Stalin suffered a severe stroke and died. His death left two positions open within the
Soviet Union: General Secretary and the Premier.