Foundations
Containment
US policy to stop the spread of communism without trying to roll it back.
MASSIVE RETALATION
Massive retaliation (Eisen Hower) = any soviet attack would be met with nuclear response, cheaper than large conventional army, creating constant fear for nuclear war. Arms race defined the cold war, both sides knew war meant total destruction.
Korean War (1950-1953)
War between communist North Korea (backed by China/USSR) and South Korea (Backed by UN & U.S). US led UN forces, fought to a stalemate. Ended where it started, 38th parallel- no formal peace treaty - still technically at war today
McCarthyism
anti communist hysteria led by joseph McCarthy (senator)- reckless accusations, guilt by association.
Containment
Long telegram (1946) = George Kennan's analysis explaining soviet hostility and recommending containment.
Iron curtain
the iron curtain was Churchills term for the division between communist eastern Europe and free western Europe
MAD (mutually Assured Destruction)
both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other - neither would attack first
Bay of Pigs (1961)
failed CIA backed invasion of Cuba to overthrown Castro, major embarrassment for Kennedy.
Levitown/suburbs
Mass-produced suburbs housing symbol of postwar prosperity. the suburbs were largely white , refusing to sell to black families, with the federal housing policy reinforced racial segragation.
NSC-68
Secret report calling for massive permanent military buildup to counter soviet threat. presenting perm military readiness
Truman Doctrine (1949)
US pledged to support nations resisting communism, first applied to Greece and turkey.
this alongside the Iron curtain marked the start of the Cold War foreign policy, US committed for Anti - communism
NATO (1949)
military alliance of western nations, attack on one = attack on all
Cuban Missle Crisis
US discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in cuba, 13 day standoff- closest cold war became nuclear war. later soviets removed missiles, us secretly agreed to remove missiles from turkey.
Television Impact
Replaced Newspapers as a main source of info, became leading Leisure activity, shaped politics, spread consumer culture through ads, portrayed civil rights movement
Marshall Plan
Massive US economic aid program to rebuild western Europe after WW2, 13 billion over 4 years, with the goal being prevent communism by creating prosperity, being extremely successful, western Europe recovered and stayed allied with USA.
Marshal Plan
Massive US economic aid program to rebuild western Europe after WW2, 13 billion over 4 years, being the goal to prevent communism by creating prosperity. It was extremely sucesseful, western europe recovered and stayed allied with USA.
How MAD impacted the Cold War
MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction - both sides could survive a first strike and destroy the other, Neither side would attack 1st because it ment total destruction for both. Created a constant state of fear, nuclear war always possible. it also led to arms race, both sides kept building more weapons to maintain deterrence
Paradox: more weapons built, the safer both sides felt-but the more dangerous the world would become.
Sputnik (1957)
Soviet Union Launched 1st satellite, shocking Americans, seemed like US was falling behind
Baby Boom
1946-1964= huge increase in births after ww2, shaping American culture for decades
Kennan's Containment Theory
Kennan argued the US should stop Soviet expansion without trying to roll it back, Soviet hostility came from deep historical insecurity, not just communist ideology. he recommended political and economic pressure, not just military force. it was written in the Long telegram (1946) and X Article (147). Later opposed NSC-68, thought military buildup went too far beyond his original idea
Truman Docterine vs Marshal Plan vs. NSC-68
TRUMAN DOCTERINE (1977) = political/military commitment to support anti-communist nations - Greece and turkey 1st.
Marshal Plan (1948) = Economic aid to rebuild western Europe, 13 billion, to prevent communism through prosperity.
NSC-68 (1950) = secret report calling for military buildup - 4x defense spending - permanent military state,
truman docterine= commitment/marshal plan=money/NSC-68=military
Detente/ Nixon Foreign Policy
Detente = Relaxation of Cold War tensions through Diplomacy
Nixon visited China (1972)= historic opening to communist China, used to pressure soviet Union
SALT 1 = arms limitation treaty with Soviet Union
Nixon used realism over ideology - dealt with communists when it served U.S interests
VIETNAM WAR OVERVIEW
US fought to protect communist unification of Vietnam, saw it as part of containment. over 500,000 US troops deployed by 1968. war was brutal - napalm, search and destroy, civilian casualties. it revealed the danger of viewing the world through the lens of the Cold war
Anti communist hysteria after Bolshevik Revolution and post war labor unrest, attorney General Palmer Launched Raid- arrested thousands, deported hundred. Sacco- Vanzetti Case - Italian Anarchists, executed- many believed for their beliefs, not evidence. Set precedent for McCarthyism- shows pattern of using fear to suppress dissent.
Iron curtain speech
Winston Churchill coined the term, "Iron curtain in a 146 speech in Fulton Missouri, described the division between free western Europe and communist Eastern Europe. from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended. it warned Americans that the soviet expansion was a serious threat, and helped build public support for containment policy.