The Cold War

marshall plan

(European Recovery Act) Based off of the Truman Doctrine. It offered financial aid to countries in W. Europe, hoping to stop the spread of communism. It "Contained" communism in western Europe, achieved economic recovery in W. Europe, stimulated American economy, influences American foreign aid policy, today.

Korea after the war and today

AFTER: unsuccessful negotiations for peace TODAY: NK is communist, SK is a capitalist democracy

berlin blockade and airlift

England, France and the US had merged their occupation zones into a new West German republic. In response, Stalin blockaded all surface traffic through East Germany into Berlin, cutting off Western supplies of food and fuel in an effort to take over the whole city. The West, rather than concede the city to the Soviets or go to war over it, instituted an airlift to provide essential supplies. Every day for almost a year, American and British cargo planes landed in West Berlin, as often as one per minute. The Berlin Airlift succeeded, and Stalin ended the blockade in May 1949. Berlin was split between east (communist) and west (free) until the end of the Cold War. East Germany built a wall to prevent people from leaving. Danger of WWIII was averted.

Bay of Pigs

Fidel Castro seized private businesses (including American companies on the island). Castro began to make anti-American speeches, and he began to trade with the Soviets. Eisenhower then cut off all American ties with Cuba. Organized and equipped by the US CIA and supported by the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, trained exiled Cubans landed at the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba. They hoped to spark a general revolt against Cuba's Communist government. Crushed by Fidel Castro's forces, most of the invaders were killed or captured. The failure was a political setback for President John F. Kennedy and the US in Latin America and drove Castro even more firmly into the Soviet camp.The Bay of Pigs was a huge failure. It strengthened Castor's ties to the Soviets.

cold war

Following WWII, the US and the Soviet Union entered an era of high political and military tension known as this

containment

George Kennan (diplomat & expert on Soviets) advised "containing" Soviet expansion. The idea was to "contain communism". The US used this as their policy throughout the war.

results of McCarthyism

He was censured by the US government, many people lost their jobs,

hydrogen and atomic bomb

Hydrogen: 500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb, uses energy that comes from fusing hydrogen atoms together Atomic: (used @ Hiroshima and Nagasaki) uses energy that comes from splitting apart atoms

roots of the cold war

Ideological differences (democracy vs communism, capitalism vs command economy, resentments from WWII, resentments from the Yalta & Potsdam conferences)

Rosenbergs

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted on espionage charges of giving the Soviet Union information about US nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Public protests and appeals to the Supreme Court failed. Executed in 1953, they became the first US citizens ever put to death for wartime spying.

korea before the korean conflict

Korea was divided into northern and southern parts. The 38th parallel divided Korea. The Soviet Union controlled korea north of the 38th (tried to institute communism) parallel. South of the parallel, the US had control (tried to institute democracy. NK called itself the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. SK called itself the Republic of Korea.

Berlin wall

Krushchev wanted the US to recognize East Germany as a communist independent nation, but Kennedy refused. A barrier built by East German soldiers and police to separate East and West Berlin and stop the exodus of refugees from Communist rule in East Germany. A barbed-wire fence, later replaced by a 5 foot cement block wall topped with barbed wire and broken glass, made escape from East Berlin nearly impossible. Guards patrolled the wall with orders to "shoot to kill" anyone trying to scale it. To the surprise of the free world, in the wake of a citizens' revolt, the East German authorities with the tacit approval of Soviet ruler Mikhail Gorbachev allowed open traffic between East and West in November 1989 and the wall was dismantled (1989-90). In response to the wall, Kennedy sent troops from West Germany to West Berlin.

reasons McArthur was fired

McArthur wanted to bomb the Chinese and bring the Nationalist Chinese forces into the war. He called for the use of atomic weapons as well. But he was wrong. Matthew Ridgway stopped the chinese attack and pushed them back the the 38th parallel. His success brought doubts about McArthur. Truman did not like McArthurs attitude, as he challenged the authority of the president. To Americans, McArthur was a hero. But Truman had to fire him because he did not want to widen the war.

NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration. US program for exploring outer space.

Mao Zedong

Nationalist forces under Chiang Kai-shek were defeated by the communist forces led by this person. The communist leader in China.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization, A Western military alliance of 12 Western nations formed to defend against Soviet aggression, the North Atlantic Treaty declared that an attack against one would be considered an attack against all. NATO countries maintained a military force in Europe as defense against a possible Soviet invasion. (it still exists)

arms race

Race between the US and Soviet Union to have the most and most advanced weapons

Joseph McCarthy

Republican senator from Wisconsin who led an anti-communist campaign. He claimed that 205 communists were working for the US gov. His accusations fed an already-brewing national hysteria in the country, and his vicious attacks cost several people their careers and livelihoods. The televising of his Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954 made clear his tactics and bullying manner, and led to the loss of public support. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure him.

affect on US when soviets exploded the atomic bomb in 1949

Soviet Atomic Bomb Test Stunned the West (Joe-1) & Led to Arms Race bt. US & Soviet Union. Atomic weapons led to nuclear ones.

soviet resentments from WWII

The Nazis attacked USSR in 1942. The Soviets wanted US & GB to attack Nazi Germany from the west, in order to relieve pressure on Soviets. Instead, US & GB fought in N. Africa, in 1942 & then invaded Italy. The lack of support from the US and GB led to loss of soviet lives. Also, Truman never told Stalin about the atomic bomb at the Potsdam Conference

truman doctrine

The US sent $400 million in military aid & advisers to Greece & Turkey to counter communism. Truman Doctrine successful in "containing communism". Result: dictatorships, not democracies, but allied w/US & capitalist

Cuban missile crisis

The origins of the crisis can be found in the policies of the US and the Soviet Union. A confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union regarding Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's placement of missiles in Cuba. The Unites States found evidence of missile bases capable of launching nuclear attacks on American cities and protested to the United Nations. JFK assembled a group called Ex Comm to help him decide on a response to cuba. President JFK ordered quarantine, or naval blockade of military equipment being shipped to Cuba and persuaded the Soviet Union to remove all offensive weapons from the island. This confrontation was the most crucial conflict between the two superpower s during the Cold War and is considered to have been the closest brush with nuclear warfare in the 1960s. The US, Soviet Union, and Great Britain signed the Limited Nuclear Ban Treaty to end the testing of nuclear weapons under water and in the air.

massive retaliation

The pledge that the US would use overwhelming force against the Soviet Union, including nuclear weapons, to settle a serious conflict.

iron curtain

The term William Churchill used to describe the communist and non-communist division in Europe. It descended across Europe, separating the communist Eastern Block from the Free West (it was symbolic, not actually real)

fundamental cause of the cold war

ideological differences

warsaw pact

in response to NATO, the Soviet Union + 7 other communist countries in Eastern Europe formed this. Agreed to aid each other if attacked.

JFK

president after Eisenhower, a senator from Massachusetts and a former congressman. Receiving 50% of the popular vote, was the first Catholic president, and his religion was an issue in the election.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

president after Truman

Nikita Khrushchev

soviet leader after Stalin's death, the soviet union remained a communist dictatorship

Sputnik

soviets launched this first-ever artificial satellite. The launching of this satellite worried the US, because Americans thought that the Soviets had passed the US in technical skills and knowledge. In response, the US formed NASA. (space race)

red scare

term used to describe the fear of communism. "Loss of China" helped fuel a "Red Scare" in US and several spy cases in US also helped fuel this

involvement of US UN and China in the Korean War

the US had to take a stand against communist aggression in SK, because it could not defend itself. During the war, NK forces pushed back SK defenses and captured the city of Seoul. Truman asked the UN to approve the use of force to stop a North Korean Invasion. The UN voted for the use of force. The soviet union could not veto the decision because the representative was protesting the admission of a Nationalist China. The effort was known as a UN police action. The US never declared war. As the UN moved into north korea, the chinese attacked.

US involvement in the middle east

the conflict in the ME was between the Jews & Arabs. The crisis got out of hand when Israel declared its independence. When Gamal Abdel Nasser rose to power in Egypt, he sought the support of the Soviets to unite and strengthen the Arab nations. The US was unhappy with this, and withdrew its financial support for an Egyptian building project. So, Egypt seized control of the Suez Canal. Britain and France sent forces to take control of the canal. The Soviets threatened to fight on the side of Egypt. This would have brought the US into the conflict (France and Britain are US Allies)

brinkmanship

the diplomatic art of going to the brink of war without actually getting into war. This was the belief of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.