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Communism & the beginning of the Cold War
1945-1991
Background on communism
• Founded by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels in 1848 when they wrote the Communist Manifesto
• Marx & Engles believed that “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
• Marxist/communist view of history: hunter-gatherers agriculture feudalismcapitalismsocialism
communism (last stage of history)
Communism (continued)• Communism pitted the bourgeoisie
(middle class) against the proletariat (working class)
• Marx & communists argued for greater control of property & money by the state; this would be a precursor to the ultimate goal of communism: a stateless, classless society
• Communists wanted a complete abolishment of private property eventually
Some things to remember:
• Since 1848, communism has meant different things to different people
• If you ask 1000 Christian what Christianity is, you’ll get 1000 different answers; same with communism
• Usually, Marxism = communism• Socialism does not always equal
communism
Russian Revolution of 1917• During WWI, the Russian army,
economy, & government collapsed• Communists led by V.I. Lenin took
control of the government, thus establishing the first communist state in the world
• Lenin had his own version of Marxism, believing a revolutionary party was needed to establish socialism and then communism by force, and to establish a dictatorship of the proletariat
How did this help start the Cold War?
• Lenin, Stalin, & the USSR did not sit idly by and wait for the proletariat to revolt, as Marx seemed to; instead they promoted & agitated for communist revolution
OPVL Practice:
• Origin: who? Where? Date?• Purpose: why? Is it trying to
persuade? Who is the intended audience?
• Value: what does it say about the author and/or event being described?
• Limitations: any biases or omissions?
Speech by President Truman, March 12, 1947
Truman Doctrine & Containment
• Truman Doctrine: U.S. would support Greece & Turkey economically & militarily against communist aggression
• Containment: U.S. policy “containing” communism where it already exists, but actively intervening in certain cases to stop its spread
Speech by Winston Churchill @ Westminster College in Missouri,
March 5, 1946
The “iron curtain”
• Iron curtain: symbolic term given to the division of Europe between capitalist/democratic areas and communist/Soviet areas
Divided Europe
Blue/democratic countries alligned w/ U.S.: Spain, Portugal, France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, West Germany, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Turkey; Pink/communist countries: East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, USSRGreen/non-Soviet communist: Yugoslavia; Gray: Ireland, Switzerland, Austria
Divided Germany & Berlin
Original NATO Members:
HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee
Marshall Plan: Propping up Europe
Korean War breaks out in 1950
The Korean War: 1950-1953
The 1950s• Eisenhower
administration• Consumer culture &
economic prosperity• The baby boom• Rock n Roll• Beginning of the Civil
Rights Movement
Launch of Sputnik: Oct 1957
American Reaction to Sputnik
Sputnik I