Module 8

The Cold War Begins: Political Responses, 1945-1953 (Part 1)

  1. US v USSR, democracy v communism
    1. aggressive international stance by US met by USSR, each side aligned over fundamental differences for their political futures.
    2. Post-WWII, most counties hoped that the formation of the United Nations would provide collective security. As the restructured form of the League of Nations, the UN largely operated along the sidelines of the Cold War without specifically choosing sides. It was able to provide effective humanitarian aid and prosecute Nazi war criminals.
  2. Containment as the new democratic torch, America as its standard bearer
    1. Why did the US react this way?
      1. The US and the USSR had an agreement post-WWII that the USSR would have a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, mostly terms outlined at the Yalta Conference. Probvlem occurred when the USSR brutally installed communist governments in Poland and Bulgaria and then occupied eastern Germany.
      2. To deal with this apparent breach of faith, Truman rejected appeasement as had been used ineffectively in the Munich Conference (1939) which Nazi Germany later ignored; Truman was unwilling to concede Soviet supremacy beyond its borders and was concerned about American access to raw materials from those countries’ markets. He was also cognizant that millions of American voters of East European heritage awaited his response to Soviet domination of their former countries, in which many family members still resided.
    2. “containment”–(1946) idea by George F. Kennan that communism must be contained where it currently exists to keep other nations from falling under its influence or from communism gaining allies on its borders
      1. Containment was adopted quickly as friction increased after several incidents: Winston Churchill coined the idea of an “Iron Curtain” which was followed by Soviet refusal to withdraw from Iran, movement of the US 6th Fleet to the Black Sea, and failure to control atomic weaponry. The concurrence of these events led the US to declare containment as US foreign policy initiative.
      2. The US assumed a five-pronged approach:
        1. Development of atomic weapons
        2. Conventional military power
        3. Military alliances
        4. Programs of economic and military aid to friendly nations
        5. Extensive espionage networks to subvert Soviet expansion
      3. Along with these ideas came “finite deterrence“–aimed at deterring through force and threat the enemy’s war making potential as well as targeting its civilian population to prevent nuclear war. This plan was endorsed by the US Navy and other military/political leaders felt it would keep American power sufficient to devastate the USSR without effective Soviet retaliation.
      4. These new ideas were tested by national liberation movements across the globe’s third world–Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
    3. American as the Containment Leader and the Creation of a National Defense System
      1. “Truman Doctrine“–(1947) in response to British inability to continue to support the governments of Turkey and Greece against communist insurgents, Truman asked Congress for military assistance for those two countries. So, the doctrine he established is that the United States would aid European and other countries in danger of communist infiltration to safeguard democracy and contain Communist threats while also containing the Soviet Union within its existing borders. Keep in mind that the USSR had control of most of Eastern Europe through direct and indirect means so little of the status quo post-WWII would change due to this policy.
      2. “Marshall Plan“–(1947) idea of George C. Marshall, Secy of State and former army chief of staff
        1. US would aid war-torn Europe with generous loans,
        2. opened European markets to US trade,
        3. gave relief to the poor, homeless, and hungry,
        4. kept communist influence out of Europe, particularly the west.
      3. National Security Act (1947) created National Security Council, Department of Defense, and Central Intelligence Agency–modified in 1949 to subordinate war department to Secy of Defense, increase control over the military, and strengthen the power of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  3. Challenges to American containment and the US response
    1. USSR rejected these American and UN plans and then were further antagonized by the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)–(1949) whose sole aim was to prevent the spread of communism and contain the Soviet Union to its borders. America’s first military alliance since the American Revolution (then it was with the French), and also first peacetime alliance ever for military ends. In response, the USSR, Poland, and other nations joined in the Warsaw Pact, creating a communist bloc of military and political power similar to NATO. A stalemate of military alliances—In effect, “I have my guys, you have yours, where do we go from here?”
    2. In Asia, US set a democratization policy for Japan, aided the Philippines in its defense versus the communist threat, but failed to contain communism in China. In fact, when Mao Zedong declared a victory for communism in December 1949, with the formation of the People’s Republic of china, many began to doubt US assurances. Americans at home and countries at risk felt US promises to prevent communist oppression were untenable.
    3. China’s collapse to communist rule resulted in their move on Taiwan and a further split of the Korean peninsula.
  4. The Korean War, 1950-1953
    1. Why did the US get involved in Korea?
      1. to test its policy of containment in practical application
      2. communist forces from North Korea violated the 38th Parallel boundary and tried to overrun South Korea’s conservative government
      3. collective response from UN would test its ability to enforce international law and rules of war
    2. Though containment was achieved in Korea when the truce line of the 38th Parallel was reestablished, Truman chose to violate this principle when he authorized an offensive to retake the entire Korean peninsula. Why did he do this?
      1. vulnerable to attacks on the US stance versus communism
      2. rising tide of anticommunism at home (largely fueled by the Red Scare and McCarthyism)
      3. sensitivity to charges that the US had “lost” China to communism
    3. The Results?
      1. Massive American and UN casualties
      2. recapture of Seoul, South Korea by the Communist North, who were aided by the Chinese
      3. retreat of American policy back to containment—negative blow to American sense of democratic supremacy
      4. likely reason for Truman’s loss to Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 election
      5. armistice between North and South Korea which still exists today (negotiated by Eisenhower shortly after the election), however, no formal treaty has ever been signed between the parties to officially “end” the war

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