IB History HL Paper 3 Topic #16 - The Cold War in the Americas

• The USA refused to recognize the USSR's existence until they became allies in WW2
• The USA was multi-party and capitalist while the USSR was single-party and communist
• The greatest source of tension between the USSR and USA pre-Cold War was the atomic bomb
• The US kept the USSR in the dark about the Manhattan Project
• During WW2, the USSR facilitated the establishment of communist regimes in Eastern Europe
• In 1945, the US had better standing than the USSR because:

  • USSR had suffered loss of industry and agriculture
  • The US had remained untouched
• The orthodox interpretation of why the Cold War began is that the USSR wanted to expand their influence and Stalin was mainly to blame
• The Revisionist interpretation of why the cold war began is that America had a desire for economic dominance and it was mostly at fault
• The post-revisionist interpretation of why the Cold War began is an equal blame between the US and USSR, clash between competing political systems, and mutual misunderstandings
• The Truman Doctrine speech happened in 1947 and stated that the US would provide aid to countries that were threatened by communism, causing Soviet-US relations to deteriorate further
• Pre-Cold War, there were tensions over communism, Iranian oil, occupation of Germany, and civil unrest in Greece and Turkey
• In March 1947, Truman obtained $400 million to combat the spread of communism in Greece and Turkey
• The USSR wanted Turkey as it gave them better access to the Mediterranean Sea
• Containment: the Truman administration's policy of preventing the spread of communism by any means
• The Truman doctrine was a major cause of US involvement in the Korean and Vietnam wars
• The Truman Doctrine resulted in increased involvement in Europe, such as the Marshall Plan, which was $13 billion in aid to help rebuild West Europe
• In 1949, NATO was established as a response to the Berlin Blockade
• The Berlin Blockade hastened the development of an anti-Soviet West Germany
• One criticism of the Truman Doctrine is that the USA's commitments were unimportant and expensive
• When Truman sought an anti-Communist alliance with Latin America, the countries had different goals: industrialization, democracy, and economic development. They believed the greatest threat to Latin America was poverty, not communism
• September 1947: Conference of American Nations in Rio. Truman wanted collective security, and Latin America wanted economic aid, so Latin America agreed with the US hoping to get their own Marshall Plan.
• The Rio Treaty: an attack on one American nation is an attack on them all, and merits resistance if 2/3 of the countries agree to take action
• Brazil, Chile, and Cuba banned communist organizations in 1948 and cut ties with the USSR
• 1948: The Union of American Republics became the Organization of American States (OAS). This group wanted hemispheric consultation and military strategy.
• 1949: Truman's Point IV Technical Assistance program aimed to promote development in underprivileged countries but Latin America was grouped with Asia and Africa
• Between 1949 and 1953, Latin America received a total of $79 million in aid from the US while the rest of the world got $18 billion
• The Red Scares: fears of the rise of communism in America. The first one occurred after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 but it recurred often leading up to the cold war
• HUAC: Hearings on Un-American Activities Committee, 1938-1950. Suggested to be made permanent in 1945 and became permanent in 1947 after Republicans won Congress
• 1950 internal security act: members of Communist-affiliated organizations must register with the government or face punishment in the form of passport denial or deportation
• Executive Order #9835: loyalty investigation into federal employees
• In 1949, the Soviets tested their first hydrogen bomb
• In 1950, many scientists who had worked on the atomic bomb were arrested for giving information to the Soviet Union
• By 1948, 73% of Americans though Truman was too soft on communism
• Joseph McCarthy's 1946 campaign relied heavily on on lies about his war record and fearmongering about communists in US government
• In 1952, McCarthy headed Congressional investigations into U.S. Communists. In 1953, these investigations were all over the media
• McCarthyites attacked the US Information Agency libraries for containing "radical" works
• McCarthy helped ensure the defeat of the democrats in the 1952 presidential election through slander and accusations of communism
• Truman's successor was Republican Pres. Eisenhower
• McCarthy fell from grace due to his rudeness and drunkenness in the Army-McCarthy hearings
• The senate censured McCarthy in March 1954 and he died in 1957