The Cold War Begins • U.S. and Soviet Union were allies during WWII, not friends • U.S. provided military equipment to Soviets after Hitler’s invasion in 1941 through the Lend-Lease program • U.S. often promised to defend Soviet Union, but never delivered and hard feelings increased • Mistrust about the atomic bomb led Soviets to develop their own. The Cold War Begins Following WWII, the U.S. and the Soviet Union entered an era of high tension and bitter rivalry known as the Cold War. Americans were hostile to the ideas of communism and had feared its spread in the U.S. Despite this fear and though not truly friends, the U.S. and Soviet Union joined as allies against Nazi Germany. When Hitler’s forces invaded the Soviet Union, the Americans offered to help Stalin with military equipment. Not an expression of support, but a practical move aimed at defeating Hitler. The Cold War Begins Even as the U.S. sent supplies to the Soviet Union, the two countries argued over military strategy and hard feelings between the Soviets and the Americans and British grew. Another issue that created mistrust was that the Soviets had stolen the Manhattan Project plans. Soviet Scientists followed the plans closely and soon began to develop an atomic bomb of their own. After WWII, the U.S. and Britain were worried that the Soviet Union/Stalin aimed to gain control of Eastern Europe. The Cold War Begins Stalin had no intentions of giving up political and economic control over Eastern Europe. He felt justified in wanting to control Eastern Europe because more than 30 million Soviets died during WWII. He wanted to increase security of his country by creating a line of Soviet-friendly nations between the Soviet Union and its historic enemies in Western Europe. To achieve this, Stalin would do anything: ● ● ● outlawed political parties or newspapers that opposed the Communists jailed and killed some political opponents rigged elections to ensure success of Communist candidates The Cold War Begins Soon, every nation in Eastern Europe had a Soviet-friendly Communist government in place, most were under the direct control of Stalin. The lone exception was Yugoslavia with Josip Broz Tito firmly in control. The U.S. was alarmed by the way the Soviet Union treated Germans living in Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe. After the war, the Soviets relocated the Germans with great brutality. Several hundred thousand Germans died, as millions were forced to relocate to the western section of Germany, which was occupied by the U.S., Britain, and France. The Cold War Begins Fearing that Stalin would not stop at Eastern Europe, President Truman urged his secretary of state, James Byrnes, to get tough with the Soviets. In 1946 former British prime minister Winston Churchill traveled to Missouri and delivered a speech sharply attacking the Soviet Union for creating an Iron Curtain (reflecting Churchill’s belief that communism created a sharp division in Europe). The Cold War Begins In reaction to Churchill’s words, Stalin persuaded his people to believe that the U.S. and Britain were enemies of the Soviet Union. He used that excuse for rebuilding the the Soviet Union’s military while ignoring the shattered Soviet countryside. U.S. leaders felt they needed a new policy to deal with the situation. Containment means keeping something harmful under control or within limits. The U.S. adopted a foreign policy called Containment using different strategies to prevent spread of communism. U.S. foreign service officer George F. Kennan for the coined the term ‘containment of communism’. The Cold War Begins The Truman Doctrine was the name given to a policy announced by President Truman in March 1947 establishing that the U.S. would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces. Fearing that the poverty, unemployment, and post-war misery would make communism seem appealing to Western Europeans, Secretary of State, George Marshall, shared the Marshall Plan in June 1947: ● ● ● designed to recover the economies of 17 countries European nations received $13 billion in aid. From 1948-1952 European economies grew at an exceptional rate. The Cold War Begins After WWII, the Allies had divided Germany into 4 zones of occupation British/French/American in the western area and Soviet in the east. The capital of Berlin, which lay with the Soviet Zone, was also divided into four zones. With the start of the Cold War, it became clear that the Soviets planned to keep their zone under Communist control. The British, French, and Americans began to set up a free, democratic government within their zones (West Germany). The Cold War Begins They also wanted to set up a democratic government in West Berlin. The Soviets were not pleased by this and took drastic action -they blocked all roads, rail, and river traffic into West Berlin. 2.1 million residents were cut off from sources of food, coal, and other basic necessities. British and American leaders took the risk of airlifting supplies to the residents of West Berlin creating the Berlin airlift. For months, planes flew daily to deliver supplies. After 280,000 flights, the Soviets relented and lifted their blockade. The Cold War Begins The widening conflict with the Soviet Union had many Western Europeans very fearful. If war were to break out, they would be no match for the huge Soviet army. In order to provide a measure of security, in 1948 several countries joined together in a system of common defense: ● ● ● ● ● Belgium France Luxembourg the Netherlands the United Kingdom These countries, U.S., and 6 more countries formed a military alliance - NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). An attack on one member, was an attack on all. The Cold War Begins