Cold War: Yalta, Berlin Airlift and China

• The Cold War spanned from 1947-1989.

Yalta Conference

• In February 1945, Churchill, Stalin, and FDR convened in Yalta, USSR, to decide the fate of Germany.
• Germany would be divided into four Allied-occupied zones.
• The USSR pledged not to interfere with new Eastern European democracies.
• The USSR violated the Yalta agreement by establishing communist governments in Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Poland.
• In response to Soviet actions, Truman issued the Truman Doctrine.
• The Truman Doctrine stated the US would aid "free peoples resisting outside subjugation".

Berlin Airlift

• In 1948, Stalin blocked access to Berlin.
• The US conducted an airlift for 327 days to combat starvation in the French, British, and US sectors of Berlin.
• Bombers stationed in London heightened fears of war, but conflict was avoided.

China

• In 1949, the Chinese Civil War ended with the Communists, under Mao Zedong, taking over the government, despite $3 billion in US aid to the Chinese government.

Containment

• A primary US foreign policy goal during the Cold War was containment.
• Containment was blocking Soviet attempts to spread influence through alliances and support for weaker countries.

Second Red Scare

• Growing fears of communism in America led to a "hysterical" environment.
• In 1947, Republicans in Congress formed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to investigate alleged Communist activities.
• HUAC initially targeted the film industry.
• Actors, writers, and producers were questioned about their political beliefs.
• Some were jailed for contempt for refusing to answer questions, while others were blacklisted.
• In 1950, the Truman administration created a program to fire federal employees deemed "bad security".
• By 1951, 2,000 employees had resigned and 212 were fired.
• Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed in February 1951 to have evidence of over 200 communists in the US State Department.
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a NY couple, were convicted in 1951 of providing atomic bomb secrets to the Russians.
• The couple was executed on June 19, 1953.

Korean War

• The Korean War lasted from 1950-1953.
• Before WWII, Japan colonized Korea.
• After Japan's surrender, Korea was divided, like Germany, with hopes for unification.
• The Soviets controlled the north, and the US controlled the south.
• The situation became contentious with the start of the Cold War.
• With Soviet aid, North Korea invaded South Korea in June 1950, aiming to instill communism.
• Truman ordered US air, naval, and ground forces to support South Korea.
• The US was officially participating in a UN "police action," but most support and orders came from the US.
• Initial success for US forces included capturing North Korea's capital city.
• China intervened, sending troops to support North Korea.
• By January 1951, US troops were pushed back below the 38th parallel; Truman aimed to avoid full-scale war.
• General MacArthur advocated for war but was fired in April.
• Peace negotiations began in July 1951, but the war continued until 1953.
• The war resulted in 54,000 American deaths and 3.5 million Chinese, North Korean, and South Korean deaths.
• The war ended with the permanent division of Korea.

1950s Culture

• Credit cards and fast food emerged.
• Cheaper television prices led to widespread ownership by 1960
• TV advertising became a significant business.
• Televangelism emerged.
• TV was used in political campaigns, such as Nixon’s "Checkers" speech in 1952 and Eisenhower's ads.
• Based on black R&B music, Rock music was popularized by white artists like Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
• "Levittowns" were post-war suburban developments featuring identical, cheap, and quickly built homes.
• Suburbs offered cheaper, larger homes than cities.
• Most suburbs restricted access to white families due to prices or formal barriers.

Early Civil Rights Movement

• Jim Crow laws persisted throughout the South.
• These institutionalized Segregated public accommodations, restaurants, and transportation.
• Only 5-20% of eligible African Americans in the South were registered to vote.
• In 1954, in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Warren Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools as inherently unequal, mandating desegregation with "all deliberate speed."
• Southern states resisted desegregation.
• President Eisenhower did not publicly support the Brown decision.
• The Arkansas governor mobilized to prevent African American students from enrolling in Little Rock High School.
• Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort students to class.
• The 1955 lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till of Chicago galvanized the Civil Rights Movement.
• Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL.
• The Montgomery bus boycott, a year-long protest, brought Martin Luther King Jr. to prominence.
• In 1957, MLK established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to mobilize black churches for civil rights issues.
• "Sit-ins" involved African Americans peacefully refusing to leave segregated establishments.
• The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was created in April 1960 to organize student activism.

Beginnings of Vietnam Conflict

• The Eisenhower administration advocated for "massive retaliation" and "brinkmanship" to deter Soviet aggression.
• France ruled Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) from the late 1800s through WWII.
• The Indochinese Communist Party, led by Ho Chi Minh, staged revolts from 1930 and liked Communism because it ended colonialism.
• Japan took over Vietnam in 1940.
• Ho Chi Minh organized the Vietminh to free Vietnam from foreign rule and worked with the US to defeat Japan.
• After Japan's 1945 defeat, Ho Chi Minh believed he had achieved his goals.
• French leader Charles de Gaulle insisted on reclaiming France’s former colonies and sent troops to Vietnam, starting the First Indochina War in 1946.
• In 1950, Truman sent nearly $15 million in economic aid to France.
• Over four years, the US invested $1 billion in efforts against Ho Chi Minh.
• In 1953, France airlifted 15,000 troops to Dien Bien Phu near the Laos border.
• The Vietminh surrounded the base and launched a 55-day attack.
• France requested direct US assistance, but Eisenhower refused.
• He authorized military aid.
• The conflict resulted in 3,000 French deaths and 8,000 wounded.
• French and Vietnamese representatives met in Switzerland and agreed to peace terms in 1954.

Information summarizing the start of the Cold War, including the Yalta Conference, the Berlin Airlift and what happened in China. The USSR violated the Yalta agreement by establishing communist governments. Truman issued the Truman Doctrine.