The American Odyssey

1. Chapter Seventeen – The Uneasy Peace Section One – The Cold War Begins The American Odyssey

2. Guide to Reading • Main Idea of the Section • The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II deeply distrustful of each other and with conflicting visions for the future. • Key Vocabulary • Containment • Cold War

3. Important People of this Chapter • Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) • Josef Stalin • Harry Truman • Winston Churchill • George Kennan • George Marshall

4. Did You Know? • In evaluating his presidency, Harry S. Truman said: “History will remember my term of office as the years when the cold war began to overshadow our lives.”

5. An Iron Curtain Falls (p.563) • After WWII, there were two superpowers – the United States and the Soviet Union. • During WWII, both countries were members of the Allied alliance. But after the war each country the U.S. and the U.S.S.R had differing perspectives of the world.

6. The United States • When the war ended, Americans saw a booming economy and a thriving democracy. • Many Americans felt they had a mission to build a free world, with the United States leading the way. • The free world was democratic with capitalistic free markets. • Russia did not fit in this world.

7. The Soviet Union • When the war ended, the Soviets saw awful destruction. • Their main objective, after the WWII, was to protect their nation from a rearmed Germany and rebuilding their shattered economy.

8. Discussion Question • In Stalin’s view, possession of a ring of pro-Soviet satellite nations such as Poland was “not a question of honor for Russia, but one of life and death.” • What may have prompted this comment?

9. Turning Point at Yalta (p.564) • Near the end of WWII, the leaders from of the Allied countries – Franklin Delano Roosevelt (U.S.), Winston Churchill (U.K.), and Josef Stalin (U.S.S.R) met in the Soviet city of Yalta to work out control of the postwar world. • At Yalta, Stalin agreed to support the United Nations and to join the fight against Japan after Germany surrendered. In exchange, Stalin would receive territories in Asia.

10. Yalta Conference FDR, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin at the Yalta Conference in 1945

11. Turning Point at Yalta (cont.) • When agreement broke down over Germany and Eastern Europe, the three leaders agreed to joint control of Germany until a commission could settle the issue of war payments. • With war still raging in the Pacific, Roosevelt and Churchill had little choice but to accept Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe.

12. Turning Point at Yalta (cont.) • Roosevelt felt confident that he could win the trust of Stalin and convince him to release his grip of Eastern Europe. • Roosevelt died before getting his opportunity. • He died on April 12, 1945 • Fears of Stalin’s intentions were correct; he installed “puppet” Communist governments in all of the Soviet territories in Eastern Europe.

13. Truman Comes to Power (p.564-567) • After the death of FDR, Vice President Harry Truman became President of the United States. • Truman was elected VP of the United States in 1944. • He spent 83 days as Vice President before becoming President of the United States. • During his Vice Presidency, Truman was not updated on foreign policy decisions.

14. Harry Truman Harry Truman became President in 1945 after the death of FDR in 1945.

15. Truman Comes to Power (cont.) • FDR attempted to maintain friendly relations with Stalin and the Soviets, but Truman was much more of anti-communist then FDR. • With Truman in office, the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union became much more tumultuous. • This quickly reinforced Stalin’s actions in Eastern Europe.

16. Truman Comes to Power (cont.) • Formation of the United Nations • At Yalta, it was agreed in principle to an international peacekeeping organization. • On April 25, 1945, 50 countries met in San Francisco to draft the charter for the United Nations. • The first article of the charter stated the purpose of the United Nations was maintain international peace and security. • Truman established a tough stance against the U.S.S.R and he demanded to know why free elections had not been held in Poland.

17. Truman Comes to Power (cont.) • Potsdam • Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met in Potsdam , a suburb of Berlin, in July of 1945. • Germany had already surrendered at this time, but Japan was still fighting. • These leaders met at this time to tie up loose ends made at Yalta. • Truman came to the meeting with his hard stance against the Soviets and Communism. • In spite of Truman’s attitude, the respective countries came to an agreement on Germany. • Germany would be divided into three zones; Germany would also be completely disarmed and its war industries would be dismantled.

18. Map of Divided Germany after WWII

19. Truman Comes to Power (cont.) • The Idea of Containment • As Truman’s and Stalin’s mistrust of one another grew, they began to see the world from different perspectives – one dominated by capitalism, the other by communism. • In 1946, Stalin declared that capitalism was a danger to world peace. Truman responded by adopting the policy of containment.

20. Truman Comes to Power (cont.) • In March of 1946, Churchill gave a famous speech in Fulton, Missouri where he referred to the Soviet Union as the “Iron Curtain”. • In 1946, Truman received a momentous telegram from a young American Diplomat George Kennan. The letter stated the U.S. needed to pursue “long-term, patient, but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” • Kennan served as an American Diplomat at the United States Embassy in Moscow.

21. The Cold War

22. Cold War Declared (p.567-568) • The Cold War was a conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union in which the two powers would avoid fighting each other directly but would block each other’s goals around the world.

23. Cold War Declared (cont.) • The Truman Doctrine • In 1947, the British gave the U.S. a chance to put their containment policy to work. They asked the United States to take over support of the Greek and Turkish governments. • The Soviet Union was trying to force the Turks to share a key shipping channel the Black and Mediterranean Sea. Also, in Greece, the government was fighting Communist rebels. • The Soviet Union was involved with the Communist rebels in Greece.

24. Cold War Declared (cont.) • The Truman Doctrine (cont.) • Truman did not want the Soviets to have a presence on three continents. • He and his advisors decided they must scare Congress and the American people into supporting his plan containment, financially. • The speech he presented gave a grim picture of communism, and he received the monetary support he needed.

25. Cold War Declared (cont.) • The Marshall Plan • Named after Secretary of State George Marshall. The Marshall Plan involved spending billions of dollars to help European countries rebuild, including the U.S.S.R. • To qualify for the aid, nations had to agree to spend the money on American goods. • This plan was a huge success; Capitalism was flourishing, and Communism was not. • The Soviets did not take advantage of the plan. They criticized that the U.S. was attempting to take over Europe. • During this time, tension between the Americans and the Soviets continued to grow.