I US and Soviet Union were allies in WWII A We had very little in common except that Hitler was a threat to all in Europe B US saw this as an attempt to spread influence around the world C Soviet refusal to be a part of the post war world 1 Thought new policies were capitalist tricks D US couldn t understand what was going on in Soviet Union at this point 1 Asked US Embassy and Moscow what was going on a George Kennan is expert and is asked the question Why are the soviets being dicks Long telegram how Kennan responds 32 pages why and suggestions for the US We re handling US policy towards Soviets in the wrong way Dealing with Russians insecurity about the world around them not driven by communism ideology A Needs an enemy to focus people of Russia to distract them from the bad state of their life country B Enemy is United States no matter what we do Russia needs us to be the bad guy II Russia was a dictatorship 1 fictional threat 2 All about maintaining power C Long Telegram suggest a way to deal with Soviet Union containment 1 No more concessions to the Soviet Union we won t give them anything 2 Prevent Soviet Union from taking anymore territory 3 No attempt to liberate places taken by Soviet Union but won t let them take anymore 4 Economic containment not military containment a Countries around Soviet Union could resist pressures from Soviet Union not rely on them 5 US did not have the military power to fight the Soviet Union to have military containment policy 6 5 Main powers Great Britain Japan Germany US Soviet Union a As long as Soviet Union doesn t take these places besides Russia everything is OK III Greece and Turkey ask for American aid against Russia A Truman Doctrine Address departure from Kennan s ideas US needs to stop the spread of communism B Marshall Plan reconstruct major trading partners in Europe rebuild European economy create markets for American goods and products 1 Kennan advocates this plan fear that these European countries might turn away from capitalism because that was the reason their economies were failing perhaps they would turn to communism to try it out because capitalism wasn t working a Americans had to do something so these countries wouldn t fall to communism b If you build strong economies in countries around Soviet Union they can resist Soviet Union communism 2 Gave billions of dollars to European countries economies who needed it 3 This plan rebuilt Europe works extremely well IV Truman rethinks Kennan plans A Coup in Czechoslovakia communism takes over B Berlin blockade 1 Berlin is far inside Soviet Territory Stalin shuts off this road so people can t get food water supplies C Losing China Mao Zedong is communist leader and takes over China D Soviet atomic bomb 1 Paul Nitze is hired 1 1949 Soviet developed their own nuclear bomb US had nuclear monopoly before this E All of these events lead Truman to fire Kennan and make us feel like we re losing the cold war a NSC 68 Nitze s plan to win the cold war he argues Soviet Union is driven by communism world power ideology b Soviets are going to look for warfare and fight so US must dramatically increase defense spending c Build up our military everything we had demobilized after WWII d Idea of only 5 important places is not working everywhere is considered important 2 We re essentially transferring to Soviet Control they re deciding what s important dictating American policy a If they want us to consider Vietnam important they ll send money supplies to Vietnam etc F NSC 68 doesn t gain a lot of traction in government V June 25 1950 Korean War begins A North Korea supported by Communist powers invades South Korea 1 Some American forces there 2 Do we let Korea fall B US decides to send troops to South Korea to fight against North Korea 1 US is able to cut off North Korean supplies and North Korea has to give up 2 China sends millions of men to fight Americans a Although US has much better fighting tactics and weapons they are overwhelmed by the amount of men 3 Cease fire 1953 after 3 years of stalemate a No formal ending to war no territory gain or loss C Significant consequences this is what militarizes the cold war added billions of dollars to the defense budget 1 We now have a military 10 times the size of what it was 2 Puts us in a position to fight the cold war VI Impact of nuclear weapons A Transformative Weapon 1 First time that every living thing on earth is threatened 2 Potential massive overkill B Keps the Cold War cold MAD 1 MAD Mutually Assured Destruction 2 US has so many nuclear weapons Soviet has so many nuclear weapons they ll both fire and the world will end 3 No major war because of this No WWIII 4 Nuclear weapons most dangerous weapon on earth makes for peace counterintuitive C Makes the United States a European power 1 Our geographical isolation ends threat of being destroyed becomes a reality 2 Soviets could bring the war to us
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