Dawn of the Cold War

World History II – March 2012

Dawn of the Cold War

Stalin is distrustful of the West U.S. and Great Britain had taken

so long to open the second front against Germany (Normandy landing)

U.S. possession and use of atomic bomb against Japan

Deep ideological differences between communism and capitalism

Stalin wants to maintain a “buffer zone” in Eastern Europe

Winston Churchill describes this communist expansion as an “iron curtain”

At the close of WWII

Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947) We must contain communism and keep it from spreading by

sending money and troops to support any country in danger of falling under Soviet control

U.S. Military Response

“This is no more than a frank recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed upon free

peoples, by direct or indirect aggression,

undermine the foundations of

international peace, and hence the security of the

United States.”

The Marshall Plan (1948)Based on the premise that communism thrives

only in economically backward countriesGiving large amounts of aid to European

countries willDeprive communist of poor countries to take overSave Western Europe from CommunismProvide the U.S. with stable trade partners and

marketsU. S. offered aid to any country (including

USSR)USSR and satellites in Eastern Europe refused aid

U.S. Economic Response

The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan establish an official anti-communist policy for the U.S. and can be seen as the beginning of the Cold War A period of hostility and competition between the U.S. and the

USSR that always stopped short of direct war between them

The Cold War

The Berlin Crisis (1948-49)

Western Allies introduced new Deutschmark to stabilize West Germany’s economy

Stalin feared that this would threaten his dominance in East Germany and throughout Eastern Europe

Stalin cut utilities in West Berlin and closed western routes into the city

Western Allies must decide:Abandon West Berlin and risk more communist aggression?Crash blockade and risk war with the Soviets?

Third option: air lift all supplies to West BerlinContinue round-the-clock flights only 30 seconds apart for

11 monthsStalin lifts the blockade, and the crisis ends

The Berlin Crisis

Resolution of the Berlin Crisis leads to the formation of NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955)

New Alliances