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The Yalta Conference
With the war in Europe nearly over, Roosevelt, Churchill & Stalin met at Yalta to plan the postwar world. Poland was discussed. The Soviets encouraged Polish Communists to set up a new government. Two governments claimed the right to govern Poland: one Communist & one non-Communist. Roosevelt & Churchill argued that the Poles should be free to choose their own government. Eventually the three leaders compromised. Roosevelt & Churchill agreed to recognize government set up by the Soviets. -
The Red Scare
The Red Scare began when a clerk Igor Gouzenko walked out of the Soviet Embassy carrying documents showing a Soviet effort to infiltrate government agencies in Canada & the U.S., with the specific goal of obtaining information about the atomic bomb. It implied that spies had infiltrated the American government. Soon rumors & accusations Spawned fears that Communists were trying to take over the world. -
Presidents in Office
-Allen Dulles
-John Foster Dulles
-Ho Chi Minh
-Nikita Khrushchev
-Douglas McArthur
-Joseph McCarthy
-Gamal Abdel Nasser
-Harry S. Truman
-Dwight D. Eisenhower -
The Creation of the United Nations
Delegates from 39 countries met to discuss the new organization, which was to be called the United Nations. They agreed that the UN would have a General assembly, in which every member nation in the world would have one vote. The UN would also have a Security Council with 11 members. The General Assembly was given the power to vote on resolutions. The Security Council was responsible for international peace and security. It could ask its members to use military force to uphold a UN resolution. -
End of WW2
As World War II was coming to an end, the Allied powers set up a peacekeeping organization(UN) to prevent future wars. Soon, however, tensions arose over the amount of freedom the Soviets would allow the nations they controlled. -
The Long Telegram
U.S. diplomat George Kennan expressed his opinion that the Soviet Union had major economic & political weaknesses & proposed a policy of containment. In Kennan's opinion, if the U.S. could keep the Soviets from expanding their power, it would only be a matter of time before their system would fall apart, beating communism without going to war. -
The Marshall Plan
Postwar Western Europe facing grave problems such as ruined economies & starvation. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed the European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall Plan. This would give European nations American aid in order to rebuild their economies.An important part of the Containment Policy. This plan revived economies in Western Europe & weakened the appeal of communism & opened new markets of trade. -
Truman Doctrine
Soviet’s were making moves to control the Middle East.
At the same time Britain was working to help Greece in the
Guerrilla Warfare with Greek Communists. Britain cold no longer afford to help Greece. Truman asked congress for $400 million to fight communist aggression in Turkey & Greece.This policy was called the Truman Doctrine; its goal was to aid those who worked to resist being controlled by others. It pledged that the United States would fight the spread of communism worldwide. -
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
The U.S., France & Britain merged their German & Berlin zones;the Federal Republic of Germany also known as West Germany.This move convinced the Soviets that they would never get the reparations they wanted & so Soviets blockaded West Germany hoping to force the U.S. to reconsider its decisions. Truman hoping to avoid war ordered the air-force to fly in supplies rather than troops.The airlift(may 12, 1949)symbolized the American determination to contain communism & not give into Soviet demands. -
The Creation of NATO
After the Berlin Blockade many Americans were convinced that the Soviets were bent on conquest. Public began to support a military alliance with Western Europe. A mutual defense alliance; the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created. 12 Countries were included:U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg & Iceland. These members agreed to come to the aid of any member that was attacked. The U.S. committed to maintaining peace in Europe. -
McCartyhism
Senator Joseph R. McCarthy & claimed he had a list of communist.
McCarthy proclaimed that Communists were a danger at home & abroad. He distributed a booklet accusing Democratic Party leaders of corruption & of protecting Communists. McCarthy often targeted Secretary of State Dean Acheson. He also accused George C. Marshall, former army chief of staff & secretary of state, of disloyalty. The prevailing anxiety about communism made many Americans willing to accept McCarthy’s claims. -
The Rosenburgs
A spy case centered on accusations that American Communists had sold secrets about the atomic bomb to the Soviets to help them produce a bomb. The hunt for spies led the FBI to arrest Julius & Ethel Rosenberg, a NY couple who were members of the Communist Party. The government charged them with spying for the Soviets. -
The Korean War
Korea was divided, the Soviets controlled the north, while the U.S. controlled the south. June 25 North Korean troops invaded the south, driving back the South Korean forces. Truman ordered American naval & air power into action. American & South Korean troops were driven back into a small pocket of territory. MacArthur ordered a invasion at the port of Inchon which took the North Koreans by surprise. They were later in full retreat. MacArthur pushed the North Koreans north to the Yalu River. -
Duck & Cover
Americans prepared for a surprise Soviet attack. Schools created bomb shelters and held bomb drills to teach students to “duck-and-cover” to protect themselves from a nuclear bomb blast. Although “duck-and-cover” might have made people feel safer, it would not have protected them from nuclear radiation. -
The Warsaw Pact
6 years later after the creation of NATO, West Germany was allowed to rearm and join. This alarmed Soviet leaders & in response they organized a military alliance in Eastern Europe known as the Warsaw Pact, included the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, & Romania. -
The Suez Canal
Eisenhower wanted to prevent Arabs from aligning with the Soviets. To build support, Secretary of State Dulles offered to help Egypt finance the construction of a dam on the Nile River. The deal ran into trouble because Egypt had bought weapons from Communist Czechoslovakia. Dulles was forced to withdraw the offer. Later, Egyptian troops seized control of the Suez Canal from the Anglo-French company that had controlled it. The Egyptians intended to use the canal’s profits to pay for the dam. -
Eisenhower Doctrine
Eisenhower asked Congress to authorize the use of military force whenever the president thought it necessary to assist Middle East nations resisting Communist aggression. The policy came to be called the Eisenhower Doctrine. It essentially extended the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment to the Middle East. -
U-2 incident
Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to visit the United States in late 1959. The visit’s success led the two leaders to agree to hold a summit in Paris.The Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 spy plane. At first Eisenhower claimed that the aircraft was a weather plane that had strayed off course. Then Khrushchev dramatically produced the pilot, Francis Gary Powers. Eisenhower refused to apologize, saying the flights had protected American security. In response, Khrushchev broke up the summit. -
Iron Curtain
The term "iron curtain" described the Communist nations of Eastern Europe & the Soviet Union. With the iron curtain separating Eastern Europe from the West, the WW2 era had come to an end.
