International Relations

1
International Relations

• Unit 5
• Beginnings of the Cold War

2
Yalta Conference

• War time meeting in February of 1945 between
• United States Franklin Roosevelt
• United Kingdom Winston Churchill
• Soviet Union Josef Stalin

3
Yalta Conference (Cont)

• Goal of the conference was to establish an agenda
  for post-war Germany
• Soviets felt they held the upper hand in the
  conference because the Red Army was 65 miles from
  Berlin
• FDR hoped to gain Stalins commitment to the UN
• Also hoped to get Soviet assurance for support in
  the Pacific theater
• Churchill pushed for free democratic elections in
  eastern and central Europe
• Stalin sought Soviet sphere of influence in those
  countries
• Especially Poland

4
Yalta Conference (Cont)

• Poland
• Stalin believed a strong Poland as the keystone
  to Soviet peace
• Yet agreed to allow free-democratic elections
• Later reneged and installed a communist puppet
  regime
• Red Army strongly held much of Eastern Europe at
  this time as well
• The Big Three reinforced the spheres-of-influence
  philosophy post-war

5
A Novel Burden Far From Our Shores

• Truman administration between 1945 and 1953
  turned traditional U.S. foreign policy
  assumptions upside down
• Unilateralism gave way to multilateralism
• Through the containment policy
• Signed a host of international commitments
• Mounted peacetime military buildup
• Created many new programs

6
Second World War

• Left a broad swath of destruction and human
  misery through the world
• Nearly 60 Million people killed
• Cities lay in ruins, factories demolished or
  idle, roads and bridges destroyed, fields unplowed

7
Second World War (Cont)

• Japan, Italy, Germany were defeated and reduced
  to second-rank powers
• Only the United States and the Soviet Union
  emerged from the war capable of wielding
  significant influence beyond their borders
• Middle East and South-SE Asia erupted into
  revolutions against their onetime colonial
  masters
• War created the rise and fall of new factions
  within many countries, increasing instability
• Also allowing intervention from U.S. and Soviets

8
Additional Changes

• Advances in transportation drastically shrank
  distances
• Especially the expansion of aviation
• Atomic Bomb destabilized international relations
• Many feared that a new war using Nuclear Bombs
  could be more devastating than WWII
• Only the U.S. emerged stronger and richer at
  WWIIs end
• It alone possessed atomic weapons
• UN was located in New York City
• A New Manifest Destiny
• We are now concerned with the peace of the
  entire world
• To straighten out the mess made by the Europeans

9
Truman

• Became president following the death of FDR
• Which FDR had kept Truman in the dark in concerns
  to public and foreign policy
• Saw a complex world in black-and-white terms
• Viewed people, races, and nations through
  stereotypes and sometimes ethnic slurs
• He preferred blunt talk to the silky tones of
  diplomacy
• Also used his subordinates much more frequently
  than FDR

10
Truman (Cont)

• Sought to use James Byrnes who was FDR Special
  Assistant and had been present at Yalta
• However used unilateralism, hurt him in the long
  run

11
U.S. Fears

• After V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day), the U.S.
  was at the pinnacle of power
• Yet felt insecure and threatened from events in
  Korea to Timbuktu
• Feared that an aggressive Stalin might exploit
  global instability
• Thus branding the one-time ally an enemy
• Americans felt that the atomic monopoly wielded
  them enormous power over other countries
• Yet the Soviets balked at threats to their own
  national interests

12
Soviets Power

• Eastern Europe played a critical role in the
  postwar transformation of American attitudes
  toward the USSR
• Moves to nationalize major industries was seen as
  a threat to a healthy world economy, according to
  the U.S.
• Political oppression and limited press increased
  U.S. fears
• Over western allies protests, the Soviets kept
  troops in Iran and Manchuria

13
Stalin

• The Soviet dictator was a cruel tyrant who
  presided over a brutal police state
• He Ruthlessly promoted his own power and security
  of his state
• Determined to have friendly governments, or
  buffer zones
• To guard against German threat
• He was devious yet cautious, opportunistic yet
  prudent, ideological yet pragmatic.

14
Council of Foreign Ministers

• Met in Moscow in December of 1945
• Reinforced sphere-of-influence principles in
  regards to East Asia and Eastern Europe
• Even developed a proposal for international
  control of atomic energy
• Truman viewed this agreement as an Appeasement
  Document

15
Council of Foreign Ministers (Cont)

• Began a more hard-line foreign policy of tough
  talk and no concessions
• Actions the following months only reinforced that
  U.S.-Soviet differences were irreconcilable

16
Long Telegram

• An eight-thousand word missive that assessed
  Soviet policies in the most gloomy and ominous
  fashion
• Written by George F. Kennan
• Stressed that Communist ideology reinforced
  traditional Russian expansionism
• Confirmed the futility and even danger of further
  negotiations and prepared the way for a policy
  called the Containment Policy
• Using military, economic and political mechanisms
  to deter the spread of Communism

17
Sinews of Peace

• On March 5, 1945 Winston Churchill gave a speech
  in Fulton, Missouri at Westminster College
• Churchill warned that from Stettin in the Baltic
  to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has
  descended across the (European) Continent
• The coining of a phrase used during the rest of
  the Cold War
• Initially the speech was received very negatively
  by many in the U.S.

18
Germany

• Throughout 1945-46 the former allies attempted to
  negotiate a peace treaty
• However their actions spoke louder than words
• Soviet vengeful treatment of Germans, promotion
  of leftist political parties, incessant demand
  for additional reparations, all reinforced U.S.
  suspicions
• The western occupation zones merged, among loud
  Soviet protests
• Byrnes gave speech in September 1946 stating U.S.
  intentions to preserve and protect a democratic
  Germany

19
Achieving Grand Goals

• Unprecedented economic aid programs were
  developed to combat ongoing insurgencies and
  clear up breeding grounds of economic want in
  which they believed Communism would flourish
• Formed an alliance with Western European nations
  that involved a binding commitment to intervene
  militarily
• U.S. canceled some of the UK war debt

20
The Cold Warriors

• Byrnes retired as Secretary of State and was
  replaced by George C. Marshall
• Greatly supported by Dean Acheson and Kennan
• Known as the Wise Elihu Root
• They were appalled by Marxist Dogma and Soviet
  totalitarianism
• New task was to restructure government for a new
  era of global involvement
• Organize its institutions and mobilize its
  resources to wage the Cold War
• Passed the National Security Act of July 1947
• Created the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National
  Security Council and the Central Intelligence
  Agency

21
A Containment Policy

• Economic and military aid were given to Greece
  and Turkey
• A Leftist victory could have a bandwagon effect
  on the already fragile political institutions in
  France and Italy as well
• Could create a Domino Effect
• U.S. assumption in all the revolutions, that the
  Soviets had a hand in the rise of leftist groups

22
A Containment Policy (Cont)

• Became known as the Truman Doctrine
• The U.S. needed to Support free peoples who are
  resisting attempted subjugation by armed
  minorities or outside pressures.
• Became the foundation for interventionism
  throughout the Cold War

23
Marshall Plan

• United States, unlike the years following WWI,
  gave in huge sums, money to help stabilize Europe
• Viewed Germany as most vital to European recovery
• Americans pushed European countries to integrate
  their economies and to create multilateral trade

24
Marshall Plan (Cont)

• The Marshall Plan was passed in April 1948, with
  the price tag of 13 Billion
• Provided capital to Western Europe without
  sparking inflation
• Started the process of integration that led to
  the Common Market and ultimately the European
  Union
• One of the Most successful 20th century
  initiatives

25
Covert Operations

• Truman Administration employed many of its new
  national security mechanism, including CIA covert
  operations, in order to prevent Communist
  victories
• Successful initially during the Italian election
  of 1948, producing an inflated faith in the
  utility of covert operations
• Operation Rollback sought to use sabotage,
  guerrilla operations and propaganda to stir up
  rebellion in Soviet Bloc countries
• Results were disastrous
• Either spies were captured or rebellions did not
  receive the type of support they anticipated from
  the U.S.

26
Berlin Airlift

• In July 1948, when U.S. began moving western
  Germany toward a nation, the Soviets sealed
  access to the city of Berlin by highway, rail and
  water
• Blockade posed a major challenge for the U.S. and
  its allies
• Created a volatile situation in which the
  slightest misstep could provoke conflict
• U.S. for eleven months flew 250 missions a day
  around the clock in order to maintain some
  semblance of a functioning economy in west Berlin
• This action greatly backfired on Stalin and
  backed down from the blockade

27
North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• Started after Britain and four European nations
  formed the Brussels Pact
• A mutual defense treaty
• Europeans feared Soviet intimidation and
  subversion more than its military power, thus
  seeking support from U.S. and Canada
• Nations would join together to protect one
  another from Communist intervention, using force
  if necessary
• U.S. Senate approved the treaty in July 1949

28
Cold War Policies in Latin America

• U.S. shifted from neglect to concern to active
  involvement centered around Anti-Communism
• However initially gave limited technical
  assistance, loans, private capital, and increased
  trade
• Created the Organization of American States to
  enforce regional security
• Passed an anti-Communist resolution sponsored by
  the U.S. delegation
• U.S. viewed Latin America as especially
  susceptible to Communist penetration

29
Cold War Policies in the Middle East

• In dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict, the
  U.S. was in a difficult position
• Recognize an independent Israel in the
  Palestinian territory
• Refuse Recognition of an independent Israel
• Either way isolate a either group and allow the
  Soviets an opportunity to gain more supporters
• Ultimately the U.S. recognized the new Jewish
  government within eleven minutes of its
  establishment
• Infuriated the Arabs and represented the first
  step in building what would be the U.S.-Israelis
  special relationship

30
Cold War Policies in East Asia

• Marshall, before being tapped to Secretary of
  State, was sent to negotiate a truce between
  Nationalist Chiang Kai-Shek and Communist Mao
  Zedong
• Tried to create a U.S. styled Democracy, with
  Chiang Kai-Shek having the upper hand
• Considered by many the most thankless missions
  every undertaken by a U.S. diplomat

31
Cold War Policies in East Asia (Cont)

• Nationalist began collapsing, creating a
  difficult situation for U.S. officials
• Intervene to prevent the spread of Communism?
• Ultimately they viewed that Chiang was
  insufficient as leader and that China was a
  Secondary Theater
• Japan gained even more importance following the
  demise of the Nationalist within China
• U.S. General Douglas MacArthur was given the task
  of creating a Switzerland of the Pacific in
  Japan

32
Cold War Policies in East Asia (Cont)

• Vietnam Revolution against France
• 1949 U.S. recognized the French puppet government
  headed by emperor Bao Dai
• Vietnamese independence movement was headed by
  longtime Communist operative Ho Chi Minh
• U.S. viewed Ho as a puppet of the Kremlin

33
The Tumultuous Years from 1949-1950

• A series of stunning events sharply escalated
  Soviet-American tensions
• Truman administration officials globalize the
  containment policy
• Assumed commitments in the world wide struggle
  against Communism and increased full-scale,
  peacetime rearmament
• Soviet explosion of an atomic bomb in September
  1949 challenged the U.S. superiority
• U.S. began development of the Hydrogen Bomb, even
  more powerful than the Atomic Bomb

34
The Tumultuous Years from 1949-1950 (Cont)

• A series of stunning events sharply escalated
  Soviet-American tensions (Cont)
• Fall of China seemed to shift power struggle
  toward Communism
• Began creating domestic turmoil in U.S. over
  Communist sympathizers undermined efforts
  within the State Department
• Began the Red Scare by Joseph R. McCarthy

35
The Tumultuous Years from 1949-1950 (Cont)

• NSC-68
• Drafted in late 1949 that proclaimed defending
  freedom across the world in order to save it at
  home
• Painted a zero-sum world in which any gain for
  Communism was automatically a loss for the Free
  World
• Pressed for shoring up Western European countries
• Huge boost to defense spending

36
Korean War

• Conflict began from occupation zones hastily
  carved out at WWIIs end
• Divided between U.S. and Soviet at 38th parallel
• Regimes emerged in each zone bearing the distinct
  imprint of the occupying power
• U.S. backed Syngman Rhee
• Soviets supported Communist zealot Kim Il-Sung
• Initially U.S. left South Korea out of its
  Defense Perimeter
• However Communist victory in China reinforced
  necessity in a buffer through Korea

37
Korean War (Cont)

• Kim Il-Sung pressed Stalin for the go-ahead to
  invade the South
• Stalin approved it provided that Kim got a quick
  victory
• To Soviet surprise, the Truman administration
  responded promptly
• Received UN support to back the military of the
  South Koreans

38
Korean War (Cont)

• Though the South was initially losing, UN
  commander General MacArthur devised a plan for an
  amphibious assault on the northern coastline
• An incredibly dangerous plan, that was extremely
  successful
• The South pushed the North Koreans back to the
  38th Parallel
• However Chinese intervention by 1950 ultimately
  helped stall the war near the 38th parallel
• Ultimately the fighting ended under Eisenhower
• MacArthur was suspended for insubordination
  before wars end
• Major victory for Chinese Communist party

39
Coexistence and Crises, 1953-1961

• By March 6, 1953 Joseph Stalin was pronounced
  dead
• His death, along with the development of nuclear
  weapons, fundamentally changed the Cold War
• New leaders on both sides struggled to cope with
  a more complex and menacing world

40
Coexistence and Crises, 1953-1961 (Cont)

• By 1950s, the Cold War was prominently between
  the U.S. and Soviet Union
• Each side saw each other as completely hostile
• They used imaginable weapons, alliances, economic
  and military aid, espionage, proxy wars, targeted
  assassinations and arms race
• Both sides primarily chose to wage conflict
  through client states, diplomacy, propaganda, and
  threats of force

41
Coexistence and Crises, 1953-1961 (Cont)

• During this time nearly 100 new nations were
  created
• Created a fertile breeding ground for great power
  competition
• These countries were labeled Third World
  Countries
• Areas were used for proxy wars

42
Life Post-WWII

• U.S. citizens were accustomed to conscription
• Nearly 3.5 million people were serving through
  the draft
• Through a global network of alliances, the U.S.
  was committed to defend forty-two nations
• Intelligence agencies used any means to monitor
  USSR actions
• To win global competition for hearts and minds,
  Americans stationed abroad helped grow crops,
  build schools, train military personnel, and
  manipulate the outcome of elections
• Public relations firms sought to boost their U.S.
  images and secure maximum economic and military
  assistance

43
Communist Hysteria

• Communist threat created a near hysterical fear
  and suspicion that Communist were everywhere
• Busy undermining your government, plotting to
  destroy your liberties and try to aid the Soviet
  Union
• U.S. government deported real and suspected
  Communists and even encouraged citizens to spy on
  each other
• Church membership soared during this period as
  well
• Dwight D. Eisenhower had In God We Trust added
  to coins

44
Communist Hysteria (Cont)

• Some U.S. officials viewed the Cold war as
  equivalent to a holy war
• Republican Joseph R. McCarthy wreaked havoc
  through investigations of alleged Communist
  influence in the government
• Claimed to have the names of known communist
  operatives within the U.S. government other
  influential positions
• Ultimately became so ridiculous that Congress
  censured him
• Ultimately ruining the lives of many dedicated
  public servants and eliminated much of its
  expertise on East Asia

45
A New U.S. Cast

• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Personified the values the nation clung to under
  external threat
• Also had a lifetime of experience in the national
  security matters that now held top priority
• He kept his military advisers at arms length
• Had the NSC meet weekly or more

46
A New U.S. Cast (Cont)

• John Foster Dulles
• Became the nations Secretary of State
• Related to previous famous secretary of states
• A cool pragmatist with a sophisticated view of
  the world and ample tactical skills

47
Handling Post-Stalin USSR

• New leaders Molotov, Beria and Malenkov attempted
  to shift toward a less confrontational mode with
  the U.S.
• However coolly received by U.S. officials
• U.S. officials viewed the peace overtures by USSR
  as designed to undermine Western morale and hold
  back Western rearmament
• Yet U.S. officials began moving away from NSC-68
  toward The NEW LOOK strategy
• Relied more heavily on nuclear weapons and
  collective security to maintain the containment
  policy
• Also believed even greater in propaganda and
  psychological warfare

48
East Asian Success and New Problems

• Eisenhower was able to negotiate an end to
  fighting on the Korean peninsula
• Yet there has never been an actual peace treaty
• Indochina became the new hotspot for the Cold War
• In 1954 Frances 8 year war against the
  Communist-led Vietminh seemed to be tipping away
  from France
• U.S. sought to help due to the famous domino
  theory,
• Warning that if Vietnam should fall to the
  Communist, the rest of SE Asia might soon follow
• Possibly leaving affects in Middle East and Japan

49
East Asian Success and New Problems (Cont)

• Indochina became the new hotspot for the Cold War
  (Cont)
• Despite agreements reached at Geneva to allow
  free elections, the U.S. the non-communist
  leaders refusal to participate in the national
  elections
• Fear that he would lose to Ho Chi Minh
• Dulles negotiated the Southeast Asia Treaty
  Organization (SEATO)
• Similar in design and purpose to NATO

50
East Asian Success and New Problems (Cont)

• China-Taiwan
• U.S. in 1955, fearful of Chinese intentions,
  recognized Chiang Kai-Sheks establishment of an
  independent country on the island of Taiwan
• With yet another country, we signed a
  mutual-protection agreement
• Today still a hot-bed issue
• Possibly the start of Chinese desire for Nuclear
  weapons

51
Eastern Europe

• Even more fervently, Eisenhower used
  psychological warfare to win hearts and minds in
  Eastern Europe
• Used the Radio Free European radio station,
  despite jamming by the Soviet Union
• These actions encouraged the Eastern Europeans
  countries to revolt, ultimately unsuccessfully
• Sobered U.S. expectations for quick uprisings in
  Eastern Europe

52
Eastern Europe (Cont)

• The United States during the 1950s even
  initiated cultural exchanges with the Soviet
  Union and blocs
• Music and especially jazz became a powerful
  weapon in the new arsenal of liberation
• 1955, Voice of Americas Music of America,
  reached an estimated thirty million people in the
  Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
• Became a very powerful tool to gain positive
  recognition of the U.S. throughout Eastern Europe

53
Arab-Israeli Conflict

• By 1955, Krushchev had struck an arms deal with
  Egypt
• Helped increase the Wests fear of Arab
  nationalism might veer to the left and that the
  West must work to keep them from Soviet influence
• In return, U.S. signed an arms deal with Israel

54
Arab-Israeli Conflict (Cont)

• Eisenhower and Dulles deepened U.S. involvement
  in the Middle East
• Military bases, lines of communication and huge
  reservoirs of oil
• Mounted covert operations to overthrow unfriendly
  governments
• However not realizing the amount of hate
  throughout the Middle East

55
Arab-Israeli Conflict (Cont)

• Iranian nationalist took control of British
  Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
• U.S. officials used interventionism, yet blurring
  the lines between local nationalism and communism
• Eisenhower called for CIA to overthrow the Prime
  Minister of Iran
• Replaced him with the Shah
• A friendly government, yet ended up becoming a
  brutal dictatorship
• Tried same thing in Syria, however unsuccessfully

56
Arab-Israeli Conflict (Cont)

• In 1954, signed the Baghdad Pact with Turkey,
  Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan
• Viewed by some as the Wests new form of
  imperialism
• Yet, most Arabian countries viewed Israel as a
  cancer, and must be removed
• The more the U.S. pressed for peace, the more
  strained Arab-Israeli relations became

57
Suez Canal of 1956

• In 1952, Nasser overthrew British puppet King
  Farouk in Egypt
• U.S. sought to win him over by giving 400
  million to help build a dam at Aswan on the Nile
• U.S. reneged due to Nasser seeking Soviet support
  as well
• Nasser then in 1956 overthrew British controllers
  of the Suez Canal

58
Suez Canal of 1956 (Cont)

• In 1952, Nasser overthrew British puppet King
  Farouk in Egypt (Cont)
• On October 29, 1956 (Supported, but not by France
  and the U.S.) Israel attacked and seize the Sinai
  and Gaza without significant opposition
• The West threatened to use sanctions against
  Israel and Soviet threatened to unleash rockets
  against London and Paris
• Through the Eisenhower doctrine, interventionism,
  Nasser became the Champion of Arabs

59
Latin America

• U.S. rebuffed Latin American pleas for a
  hemispheric Marshall plan
• Insisted instead that modest loans and private
  investment were the correct path to economic
  development
• Also warned about the dangers of Communism
• U.S. also continued to support dictators, as long
  as they were friendly
• Continued the practicing dating back to the 1920s

60
Latin America (Cont)

• Operation PBSUCCESS in 1954 was used to overthrow
  the Guatemalan government
• Mainly successful due to Arbenz resigning,
  fearful of U.S. doing anything to get rid of him
• The success of this operation created complacency
  and confidence in overthrowing unfriendly
  governments

61
Cuban Relations

• The rise of Fidel Castro, and his lean toward
  Soviet Union, brought the Cold War into the U.S.
  backyard
• With U.S. support, Fulgencio Batista governed
  oppressively in Cuba
• The Platt amendment had been reneged by 1934,
  however the U.S. domination continued
• Fidel had tried in both 1953 and 1956 to
  overthrow U.S. dominance
• Ended disastrously
• Finally on January 1, 1959, Fidel rode
  triumphantly into Havana on a tank given to
  Batista by the U.S.

62
Cuban Relations (Cont)

• Castro sought to free Cuba from U.S. domination
  and eventually saw the Soviet Union as a means to
  that end
• He legalized the Communist Party, executed
  Batista supporters, purchased weapons from the
  Soviet Union
• In response the U.S. began the Social Progress
  Trust Fund to help stabilize Latin America
• However U.S. launched a full-scale economic
  warfare, including trade embargo, broke
  relations, and sought to mobilize opposition
  groups

63
Beginnings of a Cooling, or Détente

• At the end of Eisenhowers 2nd term, politicians
  began questioning his foreign policy,
  specifically the New Look Program
• October 4, 1957 Soviet Union launched Sputnik
• It created a sense of profound vulnerability
• Also used by Democrats like JFK, who said the
  U.S. was dangerously behind the Soviet Union in
  weapons of mass destruction
• In response he created NASA, and ordered the
  construction of super-secret underground bunker
  complexes

64
Beginnings of a Cooling, or Détente (Cont)

• Both Khrushchev and Eisenhower began to come to
  agreements on nuclear disarmament and inspection
• Khrushchev was invited to the U.S. in the fall of
  1959
• Ended at Camp David (Named after Eisenhowers
  grandson)
• Meetings brought forth worldwide hope for peace

65
Beginnings of a Cooling, or Détente (Cont)

• On May 1, 1960 all hopes for quick peace were
  destroyed when a U.S. spy plane (U-2) was shot
  down over the Soviet Union
• Constituted an act of war
• Ultimately each side hardened their stance toward
  the other, substantially ending negotiations
• Used, among other things, to usher in JFK to
  office

66
Consequences of the Actions From 1950

• While covert actions seemed necessary and
  sometimes successful, it left long-term negative
  feelings throughout the world
• The Eisenhower administration left massive
  problems for the Kennedy and Johnson
  administration, that would lead to the most
  dangerous period of the Cold War