Transcript Document 7109165

Truman and
the Beginning
of the Cold
War
Causes of the Cold War
• Soviet domination of Eastern Europe
– Stalin had promised FDR that he would allow
free elections in the parts of Eastern Europe
occupied by the Soviet army once WWII ended
– Hoping to prevent a future invasion of the
Soviet Union from the west and to balance US
influence in Western Europe, the Soviets
prevented free elections and banned democratic
parties.
Causes of the Cold War
• Communist victory in China
– Containment failed as Mao Zedong’s communists
defeated Chiang Kai-shek’s nationalists.
– Republicans and Democrats alike criticized President
Truman for offering only limited aid to the nationalists.
They said he was “soft on communism”.
– In the following decades, American politicians had to
be very tough on the communists or suffer politically.
Causes of the Cold War
• Mutual suspicion between the US and
Soviet Union
– Each side feared a nuclear first-strike from the
other
– In a war between superpowers, whichever side
had the most allies would have the upper hand,
so the US and the Soviet Union competed for
influence throughout the world.
Immediate Effects of the Cold
War
• Truman Doctrine
– Established the policy of containment
– First used in Greece and Turkey, both in danger
of falling to a communist takeover
– US spent $400 million in aid in Greece and
Turkey, greatly reducing the threat of a
communist takeover
– Served as the basis for the Marshall Plan
Immediate Effects of the Cold
War
• The Marshall Plan
– Countries that are struggling economically are
more likely to support communist elements
– 1947: Secretary of State George Marshall
proposed US send massive economic aid to
help rebuild Europe
– US spent $13 billion over 4 years and the
Communist party lost much of its appeal to
voters
Immediate Effects of the Cold
War
• East-West tensions over Berlin
– After WWII, Germany divided into 4 occupation zones
among the Allies
– Berlin, in the heart of Soviet-controlled East Germany,
was itself divided into East Berlin (Soviet) and West
Berlin (US)
– When France, UK, and US consolidated their zones
into one (West Germany), Stalin responded by cutting
off all routes into West Berlin
– US and UK responded with the successful Berlin Airlift
the sustain the people of West Berlin
– Berlin would remain a focal point of the Cold War for
decades
Immediate Effects of the Cold
War
• Establishment of NATO and Warsaw Pact
– The Berlin crisis led to increasing fear in
Western Europe of Soviet aggression
– This led to the formation of NATO in 1949
– US entered a military alliance during peacetime
for the first time in history
– Ended any hope for a return to US isolationism
– Warsaw Pact organized in 1955 in response to
West Germany’s admission into NATO
Immediate Effects of the Cold
War
• McCarthyism
– Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) sought to
capitalize on the anti-communist hysteria for political
gain
– In order to draw publicity to himself and get reelected,
he claimed that communists were taking over the
government
– McCarthy made one unfounded accusation after
another without providing any evidence
– Few would stand up to him for fear of being labeled a
communist themselves
– Americans finally saw McCarthy for who he was
during the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954
Long-Term Effects of the Cold
War
• Arms race between superpowers
–
–
–
–
Race for the H-bomb
Threat of massive retaliation (brinkmanship)
Air raid drills and fallout shelters
Space race
• Soviets launch first man-made satellite (Sputnik)
• Soviets launch first intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM)
• Soviets send first man into space (Yuri Gagarin)
Long-Term Effects of the Cold
War
• Superpower rivalry for world power
– Korean War
– US uses CIA to weaken or overthrow
governments unfriendly to the US
• Iran: CIA installs the Shah in 1953
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfzrHY1Lywo
• Guatemala: CIA trained an army to overthrow
communist-leaning government
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1IO_Q6BCM&feature=related
The Suez Canal
Crisis
• In 1956, an incident brought the
Middle East to the attention of the
world.
• Egypt, upset with Israel (established
in 1948) and the West for their lack of
support for a new dam on the Nile,
seized the Suez Canal, which was
located in Egypt, but owned by
Britain and France.
• Israel fought back, joined by Great
Britain and France.
• The U.S. condemned Egypt and stated
that it would not tolerate such attacks.
At the same time, however, the U.S.
government was urging England and
France to withdraw from Sovietbacked Egypt to avoid a larger
conflict.
•Direct confrontation with
the Soviet Union was
avoided when the UN
imposed a cease-fire. The
canal reopened in April of
1957 under Egyptian
management.
• In January 1957, Eisenhower issued
the Eisenhower Doctrine, which said
that the U.S. would defend the Middle
East against attack by any Communist
country.
• Congress gave the president authority
to use American forces, at his
discretion, against armed aggression in
the Middle East by any nation
“controlled by international
communism.”
European
Revolts
• Even though Secretary of State
Dulles spoke of “liberating”
the people of Eastern Europe,
Eisenhower did nothing when
there were efforts at revolts in
East Germany, Poland, and
Hungary during the 1950s.
•The Soviet Union was
determined to hold onto
their satellite nations.
•Soviet tanks rolled into
each of these countries and
crushed the rebellions with
ease.
The U-2
Incident
• In May 1960, the Soviets shot
down an American U-2 “spy
plane”, which was taking
photographs over Soviet territory.
• President Eisenhower at first said
that the plane was not on a spy
mission but had been a weather
plane that had been blown off
course.
• When the Soviets showed the
world the plane and its pilot, Gary
Powers, Eisenhower was forced to
admit the truth.
• Khrushchev tried to use the
incident for Soviet propaganda
purposes and paint the United
States as evil.
http://www.history.com/topics/1950
s/videos#1950s
http://www.history.com/topics/1950
s/videos#cold-war
http://www.history.com/topics/1950
s/videos#jackie-robinson-changesthe-face-of-america
http://www.history.com/topics/1950
s/videos#castro-and-the-cubanrevolution
Berlin Airlift
NATO
The
Marshall
Plan
Civil War in
China
The Korean
War
The New Red
Scare
McCarthyism
Eisenhower
and the Cold
War
Cold War
Around the
World
Yalta
• In Feb. 1945, FDR had met with
Churchill and Stalin at the Soviet city
of Yalta on the Black Sea.
• At this Yalta Conference, the 3 leaders
made a number of important decisions
about the future.
• They agreed to move ahead in creating
a new international peacekeeping
body, the United Nations (UN), based
on the principles of the Atlantic
Charter.
• In exchange for Japan’s Kuril and
Sakhalin Islands, Stalin promised
to enter the war against Japan after
the surrender of Germany.
• He also promised “free” elections
in Poland and in other Sovietoccupied Eastern European
countries.
United
Nations
•In April 1945,
delegates from 50
nations met in San
Francisco to draw up
the Charter of the
United Nations.
• Additional members could be
admitted by a two-thirds vote of the
General Assembly, which included
delegates from all member nations
and was to meet annually in regular
session to approve the budget,
receive annual reports from U.N.
agencies, and choose members of
the Security Council and other
bodies.
• The Security Council, the
other major charter agency,
would remain in permanent
session and would have
“primary responsibility for the
maintenance of international
peace and security.”
• Its eleven members included six
elected for two-year terms and five
permanent members: the United States,
Russia, Britain, France, and China.
• The Security Council might investigate
any dispute, recommend settlement or
reference to the International Court,
and take other measures including a
resort to military force.
• The United States Senate ratified
the U.N. charter by a vote of 89 to
2 after only six weeks of
discussion.
• The permanent home of the United
Nations is in New York City.
• The current U.N. Secretary
General is Kofi Annan.
Potsdam
• After FDR’s death, Harry Truman
met with Churchill and Stalin at
Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, in
June 1945.
• There the decision was made to
divide Germany into four zones of
occupation (U.S., Britain, France,
and the Soviet Union).
•Berlin, in the Soviet
zone, was also divided
into four zones.
•They also agreed to
disarm Germany and to
destroy the Nazi Party.
Nuremberg
Trials
• Six months after the Germans
surrendered, an international military
tribunal convened in Nuremberg,
Germany, to bring civil and military
leaders of the Nazi regime to trial as
war criminals.
• Judges and attorneys from the four
nations occupying Germany
participated in the first of a series of
trials.
• The crimes the defendants
were charged with included
planning a war of aggression,
using slave labor, and
exterminating the Jews.
• Twelve of the accused were
sentenced to death, seven
received prison terms, and
three were acquitted.
• Trials of thousands of lesser figures
were conducted in each of the four
occupation zones.
• Many Nazi leaders managed to blend
into the general population and escape
at the end of the war. Many concealed
their identities and fled to Latin
America. Some were eventually
discovered and brought to trial.
Occupation
of Japan
• As supreme commander for the Allied
powers, General Douglas MacArthur
ruled Japan after its surrender.
• The primary goals of the occupation
were to demilitarize and democratize
Japan.
• During the occupation, Emperor
Hirohito remained in the imperial
palace, but only as a figurehead.
• A new constitution set up a
democratic system of government,
which extended voting rights to
women and established separation of
church and state.
• The constitution abolished the
Japanese army and navy and
prohibited Japan from ever again
becoming a military power.
• The occupation ended in 1952.
Tokyo Trials
• Early in 1946, the International
Military Tribunal for the Far East,
consisting of representatives from
eleven Allied nations, convened in
Tokyo to try twenty-five Japanese
civil and military leaders for
planning an aggressive war and
committing crimes against
humanity.
• Seven of the defendants, including
former prime minister Hideki Tojo,
were hanged; the others received
prison sentences.
• In addition, numerous Japanese army
and navy officers were brought to trial
for violating the rules of war. Of those
accused, approximately 6,000 were
found guilty.
• After the Potsdam meeting in the
summer of 1945, Stalin continued to
oppress most of Eastern Europe,
forcing loyalty to the Soviet Union
through phony trials and executions.
• The Soviet Union felt justified in
staying in Eastern Europe because they
had suffered more than 20 million
deaths and extensive damage during
WWII and felt vulnerable to attack.
• The Soviet Union needed friendly
neighbors – Communist countries that
they could control.
• Stalin installed or propped up
Communist governments in Albania,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Romania, and Poland. These countries
became known as satellite nations,
countries dependent upon and
dominated by the Soviet Union.
• On Feb. 9, 1946, Stalin added to
growing tension with an important
speech in which he declared that
capitalism was a danger to world
peace. Capitalism and communism, he
said, would eventually clash.
• Because of that danger, Stalin would
protect Soviet security by stopping
trade with the West and develop
modern weaponry no matter how high
the cost.
• The United States interpreted
this speech as virtually a
declaration of war.
• Truman did not trust Stalin and
was concerned about the
danger of Soviet expansion
and the spread of communism.
• The European economy had been
destroyed by the war and Truman was
worried that the Communists might
take over the governments of western
Europe.
• Communist countries of eastern
Europe kept their citizens from free
contact with western ideas. They
established restrictions on visitors,
newspapers, magazines, books, and
movies.
• Speaking in Fulton, Missouri, at a
time when this barrier was first
appearing, Winston Churchill said
that an “iron curtain” had fallen
across Europe. He encouraged
English-speaking people should join
forces against the Soviet threat.
• In the future, the West, led by the US,
would resist any Soviet attempts to
expand its influence in the world.
• The cold war had begun.
• The cold war would involve the
United States and the Soviet Union in
a constant struggle to gain power in
the world by persuading other
countries to accept their ideologies,
either by propaganda or by force.
• During the cold war, there was no
direct war between the superpowers.
• President Truman officially
adopted the concept of
containment, the effort to restrict
communism to its current borders.
• He told the American people that
the U.S. would go to the aid of
nations threatened by outside
aggression.
• U.S. policy was that the U.S.
would have to stand up to the
Soviet challenge at that time or
eventually be forced to surrender
in World War III.
• Truman’s vision of how
containment would work became
known as the Truman Doctrine.
•The Truman Doctrine was
first applied to Greece and
Turkey. Beginning in 1947,
the United States sent over
$650 million worth of help
over a three year period.
• Secretary of State George Marshall
developed a plan to help the
countries of Europe reestablish
their economies which had been
destroyed by the war.
• He proposed all European
countries, including the Soviet
Union and her satellites, make
plans to rebuild their cities,
factories, homes, etc.
• The United States offered to pay for
this rebuilding, but the Communist
countries of eastern Europe refused to
participate in the Marshall Plan.
• Western Europe gladly said yes.
• The US Congress was ready to reject
the plan when in February 1948, the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia,
with the help of Soviet tanks, took
over that country’s government.
• Congress quickly approved $5.3
billion as the first installment of
the Marshall Plan.
• The economies of western
European countries were able to
recover and Communist parties
began losing their appeal.
• The Soviets did not appreciate the
Marshall Plan. They also did not like
the fact that the other three zones of
Germany had joined together in 1948
to form a West German Republic.
• As a result the Soviets closed off all
highway, water, and rail traffic into the
western zones of Berlin (which was in
the Soviet zone of Germany) to the
other countries in spite of agreements
at Yalta.
• No supplies could get in, so the city
faced starvation.
• Stalin believed this threat would force
the Western nations either to give up
the idea of a reunified Germany or to
surrender control of Berlin.
• In an attempt to break the blockade,
American and British officials started
the Berlin Airlift to fly food and
supplies into West Berlin.
• For 327 days, planes took off and
landed every few minutes, around
the clock. At its peak, more than
8,000 tons of supplies were flown
into Berlin every day.
• Finally, after 11 months, the
Soviets abandoned the blockade,
and the airlift ended.
• By the fall of 1949, the Federal
Republic of Germany, commonly
called West Germany, had been
established, with its capital in
Bonn.
• The Soviet Union turned its zone
into the German Democratic
Republic, commonly called East
Germany, with its capital in East
Berlin.
• The Berlin blockade increased
Western European fear of Soviet
aggression.
• In response, ten Western European
nations joined with the U.S. and
Canada on April 4, 1949, to form a
defensive military alliance called the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO).
• All members countries promised that
an attack on one would be regarded as
an attack on all – which they would
resist with armed force if necessary.
• Soon after the formation of NATO,
the Soviet Union and its satellites
signed the Warsaw Pact. It pledged
mutual defense as NATO members
had.
• WWII had interrupted a civil war in
China, as the two groups of Chinese
who had been fighting each other
joined forces to fight the Japanese.
• Mao Zedong led the Communist
forces in the northern part of China.
• The Chinese Nationalist forces of
Chiang Kai-shek fought the Japanese
in the south.
• After the Japanese were defeated in
1945, the Communists and
Nationalists went back to fighting
each other for control of China.
• The U.S. backed the Nationalists
because they were anti-Communist.
• But Chiang often acted like a dictator.
His government was wasteful,
ineffective, and corrupt.
• Chiang overtaxed the Chinese people
even during times of famine.
• He did not have the support of the
people.
• Mao won the support of the Chinese
peasants (over 90% of Chinese were
farmers).
• He distributed land to them and
reduced rents. He had an experienced
army with high morale.
• President Truman refused to send
American troops to help the
Nationalists fight communism, but
he did send aid.
• Even so, in 1949, Chiang and his
forces had to flee to Formosa
(Taiwan), an island off the coast of
China.
• China was now communist.
Containment in China had failed.
• American conservatives said that the
U.S. had “lost” China because not
enough had been done to help the
Chinese Nationalists.
• Truman’s followers said that the
Communist success was because
Chiang could not win the support of
the Chinese people.
•Conservatives claimed that
the United States
government was filled with
Communist agents.
•American fear of
communism began to reach
new heights.
• Korea, a former Japanese colony, had
been divided at the end of WWII into
two parts at the 38th Parallel.
• The Soviets supported North Korea,
while Americans supported South
Korea.
• It was the hope of the UN that one
day the two nations would be united
after free elections were held.
• But Stalin would not allow
elections in North Korea.
• In June 1950, the North Korean
Army invaded South Korea.
• American leaders felt that Stalin
had instructed the invasion.
They must act instead of
appease.
• The U.S. went to the UN, which
condemned North Korea for
aggression.
• The U.S. asked its member to “furnish
such assistance to the Republic of
South Korea as may be necessary to
repel the armed attack.”
• The Soviet Union was absent from
this meeting of the Security Council.
• Troops from 16 nations – most
of them American – were sent
to South Korea.
• They were under the command
of General Douglas
MacArthur.
• The following is a brief
chronology of the Korean War:
1) The North Invades
• The North Koreans had driven deep
into South Korea, capturing Seoul, the
capital of South Korea.
• After a month of bitter combat, the
North Koreans had forced UN and
South Korean troops into a small
defensive zone around Pusan, in the
southeastern corner of the peninsula.
2) MacArthur’s Counterattack
• In September 1950, MacArthur
launched a counterattack behind
enemy lines at the port of Inchon.
• Other troops moved north from the
Pusan Perimeter.
• About half of the North Korean troops
th
surrendered. The rest crossed the 38
Parallel into North Korea.
3) Invading the North
• In October 1950, MacArthur and the
UN forces go on the offensive and
cross the 38th Parallel in and effort to
unite Korea.
• China warned the UN forces against
the invasion of the North and of
coming too close to the Chinese
border.
4) Chinese Intervention
• A quarter of a million Chinese
soldiers entered the war on the side of
the North Koreans.
• The UN forces were driven back into
South Korea.
• Seoul was recaptured by the
Communists.
5) Truman Fires MacArthur
• Many Americans were calling for an
attack on China.
• MacArthur wanted to bomb supply
bases in China. He also suggested
using troops from Taiwan.
• Truman did not want to widen the
war. He wanted to hold the line at the
38th Parallel.
• MacArthur could not accept Truman’s
reluctance to fight. He even publicly
criticized Truman.
• Truman finally removed MacArthur
as commander.
• MacArthur returned to the U.S. to a
hero’s welcome and gave a speech
before Congress in which he said,
“Old soldiers never die, they just fade
away.”
5) Stalemate
• Peace talks began in July 1951, but
dragged on for months without
success.
• In 1952, the first Republican president
in 20 years (Dwight D. Eisenhower)
was elected.
th
• The troops in Korea were at the 38
Parallel.
• Eisenhower went to Korea for an
inspection of the troops.
• An armistice was signed in July 1953
at Panmunjon, South Korea, fixing the
dividing line once again at the 38th
Parallel.
• Communism had been contained
without a world war and without the
use of atomic weapons.
• The United States, now fearful
of Communist aggression in
Asia, joined SEATO, the
Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization.
• This was a defensive alliance
that promised help to any
member that was under
communist attack.
End of Material for
Quiz #1
• Many Americans felt
threatened by the rise of
Communist governments in
Europe and Asia.
• Some even felt that
Communists could threaten the
U.S. government from within.
• Several factors contributed to this
growing suspicion.
• At the height of WWII, about 80,000
Americans claimed membership in
the Communist Party; some feared
that these Communists’ first loyalty
was to the Soviet Union.
• These fears increased when people
found out about spies selling U.S.
government secrets to the Soviets.
• Republicans accused the Truman
administration of being “soft on
communism.”
• In response to this pressure,
Truman set up a Loyalty Review
Board.
• The Board investigated over 3
million people who worked for the
federal government.
• About 200 government employees
were fired. Another 2,900 resigned
because they did not want to be
investigated or felt that the
investigation violated their
constitutional rights.
• The accused were not allowed to see
the evidence against them or face
their accusers.
• In 1947, Congress set up the
House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC). Its
purpose was to look for
Communists both inside and
outside the government.
• HUAC concentrated on the movie
industry because of suspected
Communist influences in
Hollywood.
• Many people were brought
before HUAC. Some agreed
that there had been Communist
infiltration of the movie
industry.
• They informed on others to
save themselves.
• Ten people called before
HUAC refused to testify. They
said that the hearings were
unconstitutional.
• The Hollywood Ten, as they
were called, were sent to
prison for their refusal.
• In response to the HUAC hearings,
Hollywood executives created a
list of some 500 people they
thought were Communistinfluenced.
• They refused to hire the people on
this blacklist. Many people’s
careers were ruined as a result.
• In 1950, Congress passed the
McCarren Act. It outlawed the
planning of any action that might lead
to a totalitarian dictatorship in the
U.S.
• Fear of communism reached new
heights in America in 1948 following
the conviction of former State
Department official Alger Hiss.
• Hiss was convicted of lying about
documents that indicated that Hiss
had handed over secret documents
to communist agents.
• A young conservative Republican
congressman named Richard
Nixon gained fame for pursuing
charges against Hiss.
• In 1950 Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg were convicted of
providing secret information about
the atomic bomb which had
enabled the Soviets to explode the
bomb in 1949.
• The Rosenbergs were executed in
1953.
• In 1950, Republican Senator Joseph R.
McCarthy of Wisconsin decided to use
the threat of Communism at home as
the basic issue in his next reelection
campaign.
• In a speech he said that he had a list of
205 people who were known “as being
members of the Communist Party and
who, nevertheless, are still working
and shaping policy of the State
Department.”
• No one ever saw the list and McCarthy
refused to name anyone for quite
awhile.
• In the next few months the number
dropped from 205 to 57, and then up to
81.
• McCarthy charged that the Democratic
Party was guilty of “20 years of
treason” for allowing Communist
infiltration of our government.
• McCarthy’s technique became known
as McCarthyism. When challenged on
his “facts,” he would respond by
making another accusation.
• However, he was always careful to do
his name-calling only in the Senate,
where he had legal immunity that
protected him from being sued for
slander.
• The Republicans did little to stop
McCarthy’s attacks because they
believed they would win the 1952
presidential election if the public saw
them as purging the nation of
Communist influences.
• Those that did challenge McCarthy
were accused of being Communists
themselves, so few voiced their
objections.
• Finally, in 1954, McCarthy made
accusations against the U.S. Army,
which resulted in a nationally televised
Senate investigation (Army-McCarthy
hearings).
• McCarthy was upset at the army for
not giving a young friend of his special
privileges.
• During the proceedings, McCarthy
bullied war heroes and lost public
support.
• Most senators agreed that
McCarthy had gone too far. The
Senate condemned him for
improper conduct that tended “to
bring the Senate into disrepute.”
• Three years later, McCarthy died a
broken man, suffering from the
effects of alcoholism.
• There was a lot of support for
Communist witch hunts in the early
1950s.
• Many were forced to take loyalty oaths
in order to get jobs. States passed laws
making it a crime to speak of
overthrowing the government. People
became afraid to speak their views.
Fear of communism made many
Americans willing to give up their
constitutional rights.
• Americans’ fear of nuclear war
heightened as the Soviet Union and
the U.S. raced to develop more
powerful nuclear weapons.
• In 1950, American scientists began to
work on a hydrogen bomb, or Hbomb, which they said would be
1,000 times more powerful than the
atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
• The first H-bomb test in 1952
completely vaporized a small island in
the Pacific.
• Nine months later, the Soviet Union
tested its own H-bomb.
• J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the
creators of the atomic bomb, was
opposed to the development of the Hbomb.
• The Eisenhower administration
viewed nuclear arms and technology
as central to the government’s priority
of ending Communist expansion.
• Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
called for the liberation of all nations
that had fallen under Soviet control
since 1945.
• This policy was referred to as
rollback.
• To fulfill this aim, the U.S. would
have to confront Communist
aggression and not back down – even
if that meant going all the way to the
brink (edge) of war.
• This policy was referred to as
brinkmanship.
• “The ability to get to the verge of war
without getting into war is the
necessary art.” – John Foster Dulles
• This policy of brinksmanship
(going to the edge of war) rested
on the threat of massive retaliation,
including the use of nuclear
weapons.
• The arms race began in earnest
when the Soviet Union answered
this development by also
producing huge quantities of
nuclear bombs.
• As a result, many Americans became
convinced that Soviet weapons were
aimed directly at their cities.
• Students practiced air-raid
procedures, and some families built
underground fallout shelters in their
back yards.
• Fear of nuclear war became a constant
in American life for 30 years.
• The U.S. was in competition with the
Soviet Union all over the world.
• President Eisenhower began to rely on
the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA). The CIA used spies to get
information abroad. It also carried out
covert actions, or secret operations, to
weaken or overthrow governments
unfriendly to the U.S.
• One CIA action involved Iran. In
1951, the CIA convinced the Shah, or
monarch, of Iran to get rid of a prime
minister who was not friendly to the
West.
• In 1954, the CIA took action in
Guatemala. Eisenhower believed
Guatemala was friendly to the
Communists. The CIA trained an
army that overthrew Guatemala’s
government.
• Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died in
1953 and was eventually replaced by
Nikita Khrushchev.
• In time, Khrushchev would denounce
Stalin for the atrocities he committed
against Soviet citizens and others.
• There was hope that the American
relationship with the Soviet Union
under Khrushchev would be better
that it had been under Stalin.
• The United States and the Soviet
Union also competed in the skies.
• At first, the U.S. was sure it was
ahead of in military technology.
• But in 1957, the Soviets developed an
ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic
missile. This was a rocket that could
travel much farther than American
rockets and could carry nuclear
weapons.
• On October 4, 1957, the Soviets
shocked the world by launching
Sputnik I, the first artificial
satellite to orbit the earth.
• Americans knew it took a very
powerful missile to launch this
satellite – a missile that could
reach the United States.
• It was obvious that the U.S. was
behind in the arms race.
• This made Americans feel inferior to
the Soviets in science and technology.
• Americans responded by making
changes in education. New courses in
science and mathematics were added
to the high school and college
curriculum.