Peace with Problems: 1945-1955



WEAPONS OF THE COLD WARInternational Peace EffortsMany meetings took place among the Allies after the war, but they failed to agree on a general peace treaty. A new and very different world power structure arose.FORMATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSWoodrow Wilson’s great dream of a League of Nations failed to provide a lasting peace. Between the two world wars, nations refused to make sacrifices for the sake of a better world.At the end of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to renew Wilson’s dream. He believed that a new structure, the United Nations, could be built from the wartime cooperation among the Allies. At the wartime summit meetings, FDR bargained with Stalin to make the U.N. a reality. Unfortunately, Roosevelt died just before the U.N. began to operate. On 25 April 1945, President Harry S Truman opened a world conference at San Francisco to write the charter for the United Nations. The charter created:The General Assembly: a legislative body of all member nationsThe Security Council: Executive group which investigates and takes action on international disputesAn International Court of Justice: settles disputes among nationsAn Economic and Social Council: carries out non-political programsThe Security Council is supposed to take emergency action on global problems. The U.N. Charter gives each of the five permanent members of the Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia, and U.S) veto power. Any of these nations can block any action by the group. This has happened so often that the Security Council has often failed to achieve its peace-keeping goals. However, since it began, the United Nations has been able to:Bring world problems to public attention quickly and debated them openlyTake important actions through the U.N.’s health, economic, and cultural aid programs in underdeveloped regionsGuide former colonies toward becoming independent nations through its trusteeship programs.YALTA & POTSDAM CONFERENCESThe Wartime Alliance Breaks Up At the end of the war, the Allies failed to agree on a proper structure for world peace. The old balance of power built around European nations no longer existed. Only two strong industrial powers remained in the world: the Soviet Union and the United States. These two “superpowers” had very different political views. They began a long struggle to shape the world.At the Yalta Summit Meeting, Stalin told Roosevelt that the Soviet Union wanted to protect its long borders. Soviet leaders wanted to set up friendly governments in the areas they had liberated from the Nazis.Stalin also promised free elections in countries taken from the enemy. In 1945-46, Soviet officials in the occupied lands made sue the Eastern European nations would have communist governments (“satellites”). American and British diplomats protested. They said that the Soviets violated their promises at the Yalta Summit Meeting.At the Potsdam Summit Conference, Churchill and Truman again brought up the question of free elections in Poland, but Stalin brushed it aside. The Soviets had a plan to have communist satellite nations become buffers between themselves and Western Europe. American leaders saw polarization developing. Nations throughout the world were allying themselves with one of the two “political poles” (U.S. or Soviet Union) of the new global power structure. Winston Churchill and the “Iron Curtain”At the end of the war, Congress and the American people wanted to concentrate on the problems of returning to peacetime. There were problems with the Soviets, but Americans felt the problems could be worked out. Under Truman, the State Department was run by men who had experience serving as diplomats in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. These diplomats told the president that he had to stand up to the Soviets. Communist influence had to be contained.In February 1946, the Soviets refused to end their occupation of Iran. When the U.S.S.R. ignored the American and British complaints in the U.N., U.S Secretary of State Byrnes issued a threat of American force. The Soviets withdrew. This incident proved to Truman that the diplomats were right. The U.S.S.R. was going to be a real challenge to world peace.In March of 1946, former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill delivered a speech in Missouri. Americans admired Churchill. He referred to Soviet power in Eastern Europe as an “Iron Curtain.” His dramatic speech shocked the public and drew attention to the hostile actions of the U.S.S.R. Public support of Truman’s toughness began to grow. Truman Doctrine: Greece and TurkeyThe next year, the Soviets again tried to influence events on their Southern border. The Soviets pressured the weak Turkish government to accept an agreement on the Straits of the Dardanelles. The Straits are the gateway to Soviet ports on the Black Sea. The agreement increased Soviet military power in the area. The U.S. and Britain protested and the Soviets toned down their pressure. Soviet leaders also attempted to help communist rebels trying to overthrow the government of Greece. Truman knew he had to make a strong move in the Mediterranean area to stop the Soviets. The President went before Congress. Truman said it was America’s responsibility to protect democratic nations. This idea gradually came to be known as the Truman Doctrine.Congress gave Truman $400 million for military aid and training in nations resisting communist take-overs. This was the first step in America’s new foreign policy of containment. The Marshall PlanA second step in the containment policy came shortly afterwards: economic aid to strengthen Western Europe. On 5 June 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed the European Recovery Act.The program became known as the Marshall Plan. It was centered on the idea that Europe’s economy could be revived by efforts of the European countries and the United States. Congress had to be pushed by Truman again. A communist takeover in Czechoslovakia brought home the seriousness of the situation in Europe. Congress agreed to pay the $12 billion for the Marshall Plan. In the long run, the Marshall Plan improved the western European economies. It also helped us avoid a recession in our own economy.The Marshall Plan opened the door for greater cooperation among the nations of Europe. Berlin Blockade and AirliftRelations between the United States and the U.S.S.R. grew strained as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan succeeded. The U.S.S.R. wanted to keep Germany weak and would not agree to create a new nation. At the end of the war, it was agreed that the capital city of Berlin would be divided into four zones. The U.S., Britain, and France agreed to join their occupation zones in Germany. A single Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was organized.At the end of the war, the Allies agreed to divide the German capital city of Berlin into four zones. The agreement did not guarantee land and water routes into Berlin through the surrounding of the Soviet Zone. The Soviets made it more and more difficult for the Allies to operate their half of Berlin.On 24 June 1948, the Soviets blockaded all road, railroad, and canal routes to Berlin. They wanted to force the other occupying nations to leave. Truman knew he must act. The Western Allies could force their way through the Soviet blockade or fly over it. He decided on the Berlin Airlift. For 321 days, the U.S. and British air forces kept West Berlin alive. West Berlin received nearly 2.5 million tons of essential goods. The success of the airlift embarrassed Stalin. He lifted the roadblocks in May of 1949. Formation of the NATO Alliance & WARSAW PACTThese experiences with the Soviets convinced Truman that containment of communism had to become America’s new policy. Soviet aggression could not be stopped by economic aid or emergency military measures. Alone, Western Europe could not stop a Soviet attack.The third part of containment was put in place when America set up a permanent defense alliance for the first time since 1778. Dean Acheson, who had become Secretary of State, set up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO united ten nations of Western Europe with Canada and the United States. Any attack on one member would be considered an attack on all. This idea became known as collective security.In 1955, the Soviet Union responded by forming its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact. It included the U.S.S.R. and seven satellite states in Eastern Europe. Unlike NATO, however, the Warsaw Pact was a weapon used by the Soviets to keep its satellites in order. ................
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