America: Pathways to the Present | Chapter 19: The Cold War (1945–1960)
This chapter discusses the aftermath of World War II and the development of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The chapter is divided into four sections: Origins of the Cold War, the Cold War Heats Up, the Korean War, and the Continuing Cold War.
Section 1: Origins of the Cold War
Main Ideas
- The United States and the U.S.S.R. had differing goals at the end of the war. These differences led to increased hostility between the two countries.
- Joseph Stalin established satellite nations subject to Soviet rule, thus creating an “iron curtain” between Eastern and Western Europe.
Summary and Analysis
As World War II was coming to an end, it became clear that the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas of what the nature of postwar Europe should be. The Americans felt they had fought the war to preserve democracy and economic opportunity in European countries. On the other hand, the Soviets under Stalin wanted to protect themselves from another war and to spread Communism throughout the world. These differences brought conflict as early as the Allied conference at Yalta in early 1945 when FDR and Stalin disagreed about the future of Poland.
What all the countries could agree to at Yalta was the groundwork for the
United Nations (U.N.). Unfortunately, FDR did not live to see the founding of the U.N. He died suddenly on April 12, 1944, and was succeeded by his new vice president, Harry Truman. Truman’s first meeting with Stalin did not go any better than earlier meetings. Stalin demanded war reparations from Germany and still wanted control of Poland. By 1950, Stalin had created a network of satellite countries owing allegiance to the Soviet Union to provide a buffer zone against outside attacks. These satellite countries were taken over with or without the agreement of their citizens and included Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The only countries to maintain their independence were Finland and Yugoslavia.
Truman led the Americans in a policy called containment. They would not try to help those Eastern European countries already under Soviet domination, but they would help any other countries threatened by Soviet domination. Truman also established the Truman Doctrine, which stated that the United States had an obligation to support the free peoples of the world to choose their own government. To that end, Truman sent aid to both Greece and Turkey to fend off Communist takeovers.
Section 2: The Cold War Heats Up
Main Ideas
- The Cold War intensified as the United States focused on providing financial aid to rebuild Europe from the destruction of WWII.
- At home, the Cold War caused a new “Red Scare” as Americans feared Communist spies and sympathizers.
Summary and Analysis
One of the major causes of the Cold War, a war without any sustained military action, was the development of the atomic bomb. After seeing the effects of the atomic bomb in Japan, it became clear to world leaders that any “hot” war could lead to world devastation: war as a tool of foreign policy was not a realistic for anyone. Furthermore, the American and Western European governments did not want to repeat the disastrous mistakes made after World War I. American policy makers felt that helping the ailing economies of Western Europe would be an effective tool against Communist uprisings and so implemented the Marshall plan, which gave financial aid to countries recovering from the war. The Soviet Union and her satellites chose not to take part in that aid, seeing it as a capitalist plot.
There were several events that threatened to heat up the Cold War. The first was the Soviet blockade of Berlin, which led to the Berlin Airlift. Secondly, the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in which twelve European and North American countries pledged mutual military assistance, also caused friction. The Soviets responded with a similar alliance called the Warsaw Pact. The threat of nuclear attack and the beginning of the arms race also heightened concerns about war.
On the home front, Americans were worried about Communist infiltration, and the Truman administration responded with the Loyalty Program (which investigated the backgrounds of government employees for suspicious activities) and the House Un-American Activities Committee (which looked at other cases of disloyalty, especially in Hollywood). The sensational trials that convicted spies Alger Hiss as well as Ethel and Julius Rosenberg also shook up Americans and made the Communist threat seem even more real.
Section 3: The Korean War
Main Ideas
- While most Americans worried about Communism in Europe, it was in Southeast Asia that actual military actions took place. The Korean War, an undeclared war, was fought from 1950 to 1953.
- The Korean War brought about several economic and social changes to the United States.
Summary and Analysis
Communist expansion in Asia as well as the Japanese conquest of Korea prior to World War II were both factors in causing the Korean War. The Japanese had taken Korea at the end of World War I, and the Koreans hoped to get their freedom after the Japanese defeat in World War II. However, at the end of the war Korea was divided: Soviet forces accepted the Japanese surrender north of the 38th parallel, and U.S. troops accepted the surrender south of that line. Thus a democratic, pro-American government was set up in the south, and a Communist regime was set up in the north. Meanwhile, in 1949, Mao Zedong's Communist forces finally took power in China, exiling the democratic government to the island of Taiwan.
The Korean War broke out in 1950 when North Korean troops attacked South Korea to reunite the country by force. The United Nations, without the Soviet Union in attendance, called for a police action to protect South Korea and restore its original land boundaries. Truman sent Douglas MacArthur to lead the troops. Driving North Korean troops north of the 38th parallel and all the way to China, MacArthur thought the “police action” would be over by Christmas. Then the Chinese got involved by coming to the aid of North Korea and thus extending the war. MacArthur wanted the exiled Chinese government on Taiwan to intervene, but Truman disagreed, afraid of bringing the Soviets into the conflict. The disagreement led to MacArthur’s dismissal. The Korean War dragged on until 1953, and in the end the boundaries of North and South Korea were returned to almost the same boundaries as before the war.
The Korean War had several effects on Americans, who were dissatisfied with the results of a war that had killed or wounded over 150,000 soldiers. Warfare had changed because it needed to remain more limited to avoid nuclear involvement. Furthermore, the war had increased military spending and created strong ties between the military and industry. Eisenhower called this new dynamic the military-industrial complex. The Korean War also saw the integration of black and white troops in the same units.
Section 4: The Continuing Cold War
Main Ideas
- In the Unites States, McCarthyism created an atmosphere of fear and distrust.
- During the 1950s, the Cold War continued to spread around the world.
Summary and Analysis
In the United States, fear and mistrust of suspected Communists continued as Senator Joseph McCarthy fanned the flames of fanaticism. McCarthy used smear tactics rather than facts to spread fear about the menace of Communism. First charging that the government was full of Communists and then that the armed forces were infiltrated by Communists, he created an hysteria that encroached upon Americans’ rights to free speech, free association, and freedom to dissent. His tactics became known as McCarthyism. When his tactics were exposed nationwide on television during his army hearings in 1954, most Americans were horrified at his intimidation tactics and false accusations. He soon lost his credibility and power.
On the world scene, the Cold War spread in Southeast Asia to Vietnam when the country was also divided into a Communist North and a Democratic South. It spread to the Middle East in the foundation of Israel and the Arab-Israeli wars of the 1950s. The Cold War also affected Latin America as the United States helped to overthrow the government of Guatemala in 1954 because it suspected that its leaders were sympathetic to Communism.
The arms race also continued throughout the decade, and weapons were developed that made the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs seem weak in comparison. The United States used the great fear of nuclear war to achieve its objectives with a policy called brinksmanship, making it clear that the U.S. would risk war if necessary. Along with the arms race, the Cold War extended to the skies and beyond as the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. The space race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. had begun.
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