The Cold War Abroad and at Home

Angela BrownChapter 16 Section 2

WWII Costs

• WWII in Europe left 21 million people homeless.

• 20% Poland’s population died.• 1 out of 5 houses in France and

Belgium damaged.• Across Europe, Industry and

transportation in ruin (livestock and equipment lost).

Turning Point: The Marshall Plan

• The U.S. would help restore the war torn nations of Europe to create stable democracies and achieve economic recovery in order to avoid mistakes of Post-WWI.

• Truman Doctrine was one of two fundamental shifts in foreign policy - the Marshall Plan was the other.

• The Marshall Plan called for nations of Europe to draw up a program for economic recovery – The U.S. would then support the program with financial aid

• Unveiled by Sec of State George C. Marshall in 1947

• Soviet Union was invited to participate but refused and pressured satellite nations to do so.

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/C/catletgeorge/warnecke.gif

• Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov called Marshall plan a scheme to “buy its way” into European Affairs.

• 17 Western European nations joined plan:• 1948 Congress approved Marshall Plan –

Known in Europe as recovery program• U.S. sent $13 billion in grants and loans

to Western Europe over next four years.

The Berlin Airlift

• By 1948 America, Great Britain, and France convinced Stalin would not allow reunification of Germany – joined their three occupation zones to create Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany

• Hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans left their homes in Communist-dominated nations, fled to East Berlin – crossed into West Berlin – booked passage to freedom

http://www.cnn.com/US/9805/11/berlin.airlift/airlift.map.lg.jpg

• Stalin tried to close route by forcing Western powers to abandon West Berlin

• 1948 – dispute developed over using West German money in West Berlin – Soviets blocked all shipments through East Berlin – threatened to create severe shortages of food and supplies

• Truman did not want to risk war by using the military or give up West Berlin so began the Berlin Airlift – moving supplies into West Berlin by plane.

http://www.psywarrior.com/BerlinAirlift4.jpg

• For 15 months, U.S. and Great Britain military aircraft made more than 200,000 flights – 13,000 tons of food arrived in West Berlin daily

• Soviets gave up blockade in May 1949 – airlift ended in September

• Had achieved economic stability in Western Europe

• Berlin remained a focal point of East-West conflict

http://history.sandiego.edu/cdr2/USPics/58537.jpghttp://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/archives/MILK.JPG

http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/020930-O-9999G-002.jpg

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Air_Power/berlin_airlift/AP35G8.jpg

• Pilot, Gail Halvorsen, began to make airdrops of chocolate bars and chewing gum to crowds of West Berlin’s children.

• He was called “Uncle Wigglywings – signaled the children by rocking his planes wings as he approached the city.

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/img/77/0,1886,2696013,00.jpg

http://www.hill.af.mil/museum/history/halvorsen.jpg

http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/coldwar/G4/images/cs1_s6.jpg

http://img.search.com/thumb/0/01/Berlin_Tempelhof_Luftbrueckendenkmal.jpg/200px-Berlin_Tempelhof_Luftbrueckendenkmal.jpg

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson_images/lesson688/Berlin_Airlift_Girl.jpg

NATO

• Soviet Unions frequent use of its veto power in the Security Council prevented the UN from effectively dealing with a number of postwar problems.

• Clear that Western Europe would have to look beyond U.N. for protection

• In 1946,Canadian foreign Minister Louis St. Laurent proposed creating an “association of democratic peace-loving states “to defend Western Europe.

• Truman did not want the U.S. to be the only nation in Western Hemisphere pledged to defend Western Europe

• April 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) formed “an attack against one = an attack against all”

• Collective Security – principle of mutual military assistance = U.S. actively involved in European Affairs

• 1955 – Soviet Union responded to formation of NATO by creating the Warsaw Pact – a military alliance with satellites in Eastern Europe

• In 1955, The Civil Defense Administration (CDA) staged first nationwide nuclear air raid drill, dubbed “Operation Alert 55”.

• 60 cities underwent mock hydrogen bomb attacks and were evacuated.

http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/pwerth/Europemap-1955.jpg

Communist Advances The Soviet Atomic Threat

• September 1949 Truman announced Soviets successful test of atomic bomb jolted Americans.

• Truman responded in 1950 by approving development of hydrogen or thermonuclear bomb.

• First successful thermonuclear test in 1952

• Federal Civil Defense Administration – flooded nation with posters and other info. to survive a nuclear attack

• Included plans for building bomb shelters and instructions for holding air raid drills in school.

• Privately experts ridiculed these programs as almost totally ineffective.

• People built backyard bomb shelters – students had “duck and cover” drills at school.

http://intranet.dalton.org/ms/8th/students/decades99/Muffins1950/Images/bombshelter.gif

China Falls to the Communists

• Civil War between Communist Mao Zedong and Jiang Jieshi prewar leader.

• 1947 Mao forces occupied most of countryside – Jieshi ask Truman for additional aid – Truman considered China lost – focused on Western Europe

• 1949 Capital Peking (now Beijing) fell to communists.

• Mao proclaimed creation of People’s Republic of China.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/images/mao-zedong-2.jpg

• Jiang and followers withdrew to island of Taiwan, off Chinese mainland.

• They continued as the Republic of China – claiming to be the legitimate government of the entire Chinese nation.

• With U.S. support, the Republic of China held on to China’s seats in the UN’s General Assembly and Security Council.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/china.50/asian.superpower/view.from.taipei/taiwan.taipei.lg.jpg