Transcript Yalta and Potsdam Section 1 – 798-803

Yalta and Potsdam
Section 1 – 798-803
• In early 1945, the “Big Three” met in the town of Yalta in the
Soviet Union.
– Big Three = Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill,
Joseph Stalin.
– During the Yalta Conference, the Big Three worked out an
agreement that:
• Supported the creation of a world peacekeeping
organization.
• Called for elections and democratic governments in the
nations being freed from Axis control.
– Stalin would not honor this agreement because he
opposed the democratic ideal.
Yalta and Potsdam
• In April 1945, FDR died, and VP Harry Truman was sworn in
as president.
• In July 1945, Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met in Potsdam,
Germany for the Potsdam Conference.
– They agreed to:
• Divide Germany into four zones of occupation.
– The U.S., Great Britain, France, and the Soviet
Union would each control a zone.
» Germany’s capital, Berlin, was in the Soviet
zone. It would also be divided into four zones.
The World after War
• In an effort to prevent future wars, representatives from
50 nations met in San Francisco in 1945 to write the
United Nations(UN) charter.
– United Nations = An international organization that
works for world peace.
The World after War
• In late 1945, the allies held war crimes trials in Nuremberg,
Germany.
– The purpose of the Nuremberg Trials was to try Nazi
officials for crimes against humanity – mainly the
Holocaust.
• 12 Nazi officials were found guilty and sentenced to
death.
• Many others were imprisoned.
• Many Nazis committed suicide before they could be
convicted or escaped to countries in Central and South
America and created false identities.
The World after War
• The Nuremberg Trials exposed the horrors of the Holocaust
and as a result, many people favored the creation of a
Jewish homeland.
– Great Britain had occupied Palestine since WWI.
• In 1948, the UN General Assembly divided Palestine
into two states – one Arab and one Jewish.
– The British Army moved out and the independent
Jewish state of Israel was formed.
» David Ben-Gurion was Israel's first Prime
minister.
The World after War
• Since 1948, the area shared by Israel and Palestine has
been in a constant state of tension and violence.
– There have been brief periods of peace, but neither
side wants to accept the other.
– During conflicts, the well equipped and trained Israeli
military and intelligence services have proved a
formidable force.
• As a result, Israel has been able to expand its
territory at the cost of many Palestinians losing
their homes.
– Currently, Israel is about the size of New
Jersey.
Allies Become Enemies
• During WWII, the U.S. and the Soviet Union(SU) worked
together to defeat Germany.
– After Germany’s defeat, they returned to the
unfriendly relationship they had prior to the war.
• The conflict was based on two very different
economic and political ideas.
– U.S. = capitalism and democracy
– SU = communism
Allies Become Enemies
• Both countries wished to spread their particular ideas
around the world however; the immediate postwar
conflict focused on Germany.
– Western Allies = Wanted Germany to be united,
demilitarized, and independent.
– SU = Feared an independent Germany (Rightly so,
they lost 24 million people in WWII.)
• The SU created an Iron Curtain or buffer of
communist “satellite states” in Eastern Europe.
Allies Become Enemies
• Winston Churchill first used the phrase “Iron Curtain” to
describe the SU’s domination of Eastern Europe.
• In time, the phrase Cold War would be used to describe
the U.S. and SU competition for world power.
Allies Become Enemies
• During the Cold War, which raged from the late 1940s to
the late 1980s, the Red Scare was a topic of discussion.
– Anti-Communist propaganda showed democracy’s
distrust of communism.
Allies Become Enemies
• Also during the Cold War, especially from the early 1950s
to the mid 1960s, Nuclear War was a topic of discussion.
• Cities and towns across the U.S. made plans for a
possible nuclear attack.
– Communities had air raid drills and built air raid and
fallout shelters.
– Families built fallout shelters in their homes or on
their properties.
– The government printed pamphlets and other
information on what to do in the event of a military
and/or nuclear attack.
The Marshall Plan
• General George C. Marshall became Truman’s Secretary of
State in 1947.
– He felt that European countries that were rebuilding after
WWII had greater needs than they could afford to fulfill.
• This situation was a threat to world peace and to the
U.S. economy which depended on trade with those
countries.
– Congress approved the Marshall Plan in 1948.
» Between 1948 and 1951, the U.S. gave or loaned
more than $13 billion to Western European
countries.
Containment
• At the start of the Cold War, the U.S. started the foreign
policy of containment = the effort to prevent the SU from
expanding into strategically important areas.
– In 1948, the U.S., Great Britain, and France joined
their areas of occupied Berlin into one area which was
known as West Berlin.
• In response, the SU blocked all rail and road traffic
from East Germany(the SU zone) into West Berlin.
– Not only were food supplies running low, but
the SU reduced the amount of coal available for
heat and cooking, and they cut the electricity to
only 4 hours a day.
Containment
• The U.S. government saw a need to help the people of
West Berlin because they were down to only 36 days
worth of food.
– They also wanted to avoid direct confrontation with
the SU, so…
• The Berlin Airlift was launched. U.S. and British
planes flew tons of food and other supplies that
were distributed to more than 2 million West
Berlin residents.
– The Berlin Airlift continued for 11 months.
• In 1949, Germany was split into West
Germany(democratic) and East Germany(communist).
Containment
• In 1949, The U.S., Canada and 10 Western European
nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO).
– NATO nations agreed to defend one another if
attacked.
• Also in 1949, the SU exploded its own atomic bomb.
• In 1955, the SU copied the NATO model by creating the
Warsaw Pact.
– The SU and its Eastern European satellite nations
agreed to protect one another if attacked.
Containment
• By the early 1950s, tension around the world had
increased as the Cold War became more global in its
reach.
– The U.S. quadrupled its defense budget and
developed more powerful nuclear weapons.
Returning to Peace
Section 2 – 804-807
• Following WWII, the U.S. had the challenge of returning to a
peacetime economy.
– 15 million Americans were discharged from the armed
services and needed jobs.
• The government created the GI Bill of Rights to help
veterans.
– The GI Bill offered affordable home and business
loans.
» Since veterans could afford homes, the
construction industry boomed. Since they
started businesses, existing companies supplied
them and prospered.
Returning to Peace
• The GI Bill also offered financial aid to attend colleges
and technical schools.
– Veterans were able to enter the workforce at higher
wages.
• Because they were earning good money, they could
also purchase more things, thus stimulating the
economy even further.
Labor Unrest
• Following the end of the war, rationing was cancelled,
and people who had reasonable incomes rushed to buy
goods.
– Prices on goods skyrocket because of supply and
demand.
• By mid 1946, millions of workers went on strike
demanding higher wages to compensate for the
tremendous increase in prices on the goods they
wished to buy.
– Labor unions across the country leveraged
business owners with massive walkouts.
Labor Unrest
• Republicans in Congress wanted to weaken the power of
unions.
– They set their sights on closed shops = workplaces
where job applicants must join a union before being
hired.
• Ohio senator Robert Taft proposed the TaftHartley Act = made closed shops illegal and made
union leaders swear they were not Communists.
– Gave the president the power to prevent strikes
by forcing striking union to take a mandatory
80-day “cooling off” period.
– Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode
his veto.
The 1948 Election
• Because of problems with unions, many Americans
began to doubt Truman’s ability to be president.
– In 1948, the Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey
and Earl Warren for president and vice president.
– Many southern Democrats from Truman’s own party
would not support him b/c of his pro-equality stance
towards African American voting rights
• These members became Dixiecrats when they
joined the new States’ Rights Party.
• Many other Democrats left the party to join other
parties that didn’t support Truman.
The 1948 Election
• Despite negative reaction towards his policies, Truman
campaigned hard while delivering hundreds of speeches.
– In the end, it all paid off as Truman won the election.
The Cold War in Asia
Section 3 – 808-811
• During the 1920s the Chinese Nationalist Party and the
Chinese Communists began a civil war.
– In 1934 100K Communists, led by Mao Zedong,
retreated 6K miles to northwestern China. Their
flight is known as the Long March.
The Cold War in Asia
• The Nationalists and the Communists joined to fight the
invading Japanese during WWII, but resumed the civil
war after WWII ended.
– In 1949, the Communists defeated the Nationalists
and forced them to flee to the island of Taiwan.
• The People’s Republic of China was formed on the
mainland.
– Mao Zedong was its leader from 1949 until his
death in 1976. It remains a Communist nation
today.
The Cold War in Asia
• Japan controlled Korea from 1910 until 1945.
– After WWII, the US and Soviet Union split Korea, and
each country established its own form of government
in the half it occupied.
• Northern half = pro-Soviet Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea.
• Southern half = Republic of Korea.
– When both the U.S. and S.U. militaries pulled
out of Korea in 1949, both the North and South
Korean governments claimed the entire
country.
The Korean War
• When the S.U. withdrew in 1949, they left a wellequipped and trained North Korean(N.K.) Army behind.
– In June 1950, N.K. forces advanced across the 38th
parallel = the line of latitude that divides the two
Koreas.
• Two days after the invasion, the UN called on its
member countries to support South Korea.
– Truman ordered U.S. Air and Naval forces to
assist the South Korean(S.K.) troops.
The Korean War
• By September 1950, the NK Army had driven UN forces
to the port city of Pusan.
– At Pusan, the UN forces created a perimeter defensive line to
hold back the NKs.
The Korean War
• The Pusan perimeter was holding, but a breakout was needed
to turn the tide of the war.
– UN military leaders devised a plan to attack the NKs from
behind.
• The UN landed a force at Inchon which is northwest of
Pusan.
– They attacked the NKs from behind, and in just over
a month they had captured the NK capital of
P’yongyang.
The Korean War
• The UN forces, under the command of US Army general
Douglas MacArthur drove the NK Army north almost all the
way to Yalu River that separates NK from China.
– Quite unexpectedly, the Chinese entered the war on the
side of NK and sent hundreds of thousands of troops
across the Yalu River, and they attacked the UN force.
• The Chinese pushed the UN forces back below the 38th
parallel.
The Korean War
• Hundreds of thousands of NK citizens began to flee south to
escape the advancing Chinese and the war.
– These people are so desperate to escape, they’re crossing a
bomb-damaged bridge.
The Korean War
• President Truman did not want the war to go beyond the
borders of Korea.
– MacArthur knew that, but still ordered air strikes on
Chinese cities and ground attacks on the Chinese coast.
• For disobeying orders, Truman fired MacArthur.
MacArthur returned to the US and was given a hero’s
welcome.
– Many Americans disagreed with Truman’s policy to
not attack China.
The Korean War
• By the spring 0f 1951, The UN forces counterattacked
and pushed the NK and Chinese forces back across the
38th parallel.
– There, both sides dug in and fighting settled into a
standstill.
• Peace negotiations began in the summer of 1951.
The End of the War
• President Truman did not seek re-election as he felt that
most Americans blamed him for the Korean War.
• The two nominees for the 1952 election were:
– Democrat = Adlai Stevenson
– Republican = Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower.
• He pledged to end the war and that probably was
the main reason why he won.
The End of the War
• The war dragged on for two more years until a cease-fire was
signed in the summer of 1953.
– Casualties:
• U.S. = 155,000
• NK and Chinese = 1.5 million
• Today, almost 40K U.S. military personnel are stationed in
Korea, many of which patrol the 38th parallel with our South
Korean Allies.
– The NKs have approximately 1 million soldiers on the
opposite side of the line.
A New Red Scare
Section 4 – 812-815
• The Cold War created strong fears of Communism in the U.S.
– The new Red Scare started in the late 1930s and reached its
height in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
• Many Americans were concerned about:
– the growth of the U.S. Communist Party
– The SU’s expanding control over Eastern Europe
– Communist success in China
– Communist involvement in the Korean War
A New Red Scare
• In 1938 Congress created the House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC).
– HUAC’s purpose was investigate disloyal citizens and
harmful foreign influences.
– In 1947 HUAC began widely publicized public hearings of
suspected Communists.
• Most times the citizen(s) who were accused of being
Communist had their rights violated.
• Many American citizens, especially those working in the
State Department and Hollywood became Blacklisted
as a result of the HUAC hearings.
– They had a very difficult time finding employment.
Spies in Government
• In 1947 President Truman created the Loyalty Review Board
to do background investigations of thousands of federal
workers.
– No Communists were ever found, though some people did
lose their jobs b/c it was suspected that they were not loyal
to the U.S.
• In 1950 Congress passed the Internal Security Act which had
two main points:
– All organizations thought to be Communist had to register with
the government.
– The government could arrest people suspected of treasonous
activities during times of national emergency.
Spies in Government
• The most prominent Cold War spy case involved the
conviction and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
– The Rosenbergs received atomic weapons information
from Ethel’s brother who was working in Los Alamos
NM on the Manhattan Project.
• They passed this information on to the SU.
McCarthyism
• Senator Joseph McCarthy began a campaign to find
Communists in the U.S. government.
– McCarthy felt that the spread of communism was due
to government leaders who were involved in making
foreign policy.
• He accused members of the U.S. government of
being Communists w/o offering any solid proof =
McCarthyism.
McCarthyism
• Many Americans were looking for an explanation for the
spread of communism in Eastern Europe and Asia and,
McCarthy gave them one.
– McCarthy’s accusations had no “substance” to them,
but many Americans wanted a reason for the spread
of communism around the world and he gave them
one.
McCarthyism
• In late 1953, McCarthy’s accusations went too far when
he claimed that there were Communists in the U.S.
military.
– He and his supporters in the Senate held televised
hearings called the Army-McCarthy Hearings.
• Over time, the Army’s attorney was able to prove
that McCarthy was a fraud and a bully.
• McCarthy’s supporters in the Senate turned on him
after his lies were exposed.
McCarthyism
• Following the Army-McCarthy hearings, the senator
continued to work in the Senate, though his reputation
had been severely damaged.
– Eventually his presence in the Senate was largely
ignored and he died of complications from alcoholism
as the age of 48.
Chapter 26
• All information for this PowerPoint taken
from “Call to Freedom” – Holt, 2005