ORIGINS OF
THE COLD WAR
Interpreting
Primary Sources
Soviet-American
Confrontation
From Stettin
on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across
the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of
central and eastern Europe. Warsaw,
Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, and Sofia, all these
famous cities and the populations around them lie in the Soviet sphere and all
are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very
high and increasing measure of control from Moscow....Police governments are
prevailing in nearly every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is
no true democracy.
--Winston S.
Churchill
One cannot
forget the following fact: the Germans carried out an invasion of the U.S.S.R.
through Finland, Poland, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Hungary....One can ask,
therefore, what can be surprising in the fact that the Soviet Union, in a
desire to ensure its security for the future, tries to achieve that these
countries should have governments whose relations to the Soviet Union are
loyal?
--Joseph
Stalin
How do
American actions since V-J Day appear to other nations? I mean by actions the concrete things like
$13 billion for the War and Navy Departments, the Bikini tests of the atomic
bomb and continued production of bombs, the plan to arm Latin America with out
weapons, production of B-29's and planned production of B-36's, and the effort
to secure air bases spread over half the globe....
How would it
look to us if Russia had the atomic bomb and we did not, if Russia had 10,000
bombers and air bases within a thousand miles of our coast lines and we did
not?....Most of us are firmly convinced of the soundness of our position when
we suggest the internationalization and defortification of the Danube or of the
Dardanelles, but we would be horrified and angered by any Russian
counter-proposal that would involve the internationalizing and disarming of
Suez or Panama. We must recognize that
to the Russians these seem to be identical situations.
--Henry A.
Wallace
Today the
ruling circles of the U.S.A. and Great Britain head one international grouping,
which has as its aim the consolidation of capitalism and the achievement of the
dominations of these countries over other peoples. The countries are headed by imperialist and anti-democratic
forces in international affairs, with the active participation of certain
Socialist leaders in several European states.
--V.M.
Molotov
Whether it
be the control of atomic energy, aggression against small nations, the German
or the Austrian peace settlements, or any of the other questions, the majority
of nations concerned have found a common basis for action. But in every case the majority agreement has
been rejected, denounced, and openly attacked by the Soviet Union and her
satellites whose policy she controls....What the world needs in order to regain
a sense of security is an end to Soviet obstruction and aggression.
--President
Harry Truman
Questions
to think about:
1. What were the post-war goals of the United
States and Soviet Union?
2. Was post-war conflict between the United
States and Soviet Union inevitable?
3. What was the underlying source of
international tension--an aggressive and intransigent Soviet Union or an
overwhelmingly strong and uncompromising America?
The
Containment Policy
Soviet
power...bears within itself the seeds of its own decay, and the sprouting of
these seeds is well advanced...[If] anything were ever to disrupt the unity and
efficacy of the Party as a political instrument, Soviet Russia might be changed
overnight from one of the strongest to one of the weakest and most pitiable of
national societies....This would...warrant the United States entering with reasonable confidence upon a policy of
firm containment, designed to confront the Russians with unalterable counter-force
at every point where they show signs of encroaching upon the interests of a
peaceful and stable world.
--George
Kennan
At the
present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between
alternative ways of life. The choice is
too often not a free one. One way of
life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free
institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of
individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political
oppression. The second way of life is
based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a
controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal
freedoms.
I believe
that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are
resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
--Truman
Doctrine, 1947
The truth of
the matter is that Europe's requirements for the next three or four years of
foreign food and other essential products--principally from America--are so
much greater than her present ability to pay that she must have substantial
additional help or face economic, social, and political deterioration of a very
grave character....
Our policy
is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty,
desperation, and chaos. Its purpose
should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the
emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can
exist.
--The
Marshall Plan, 1947
Article
5 The parties agree that an armed
attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be
considered an attack against them all; and consequently they agree that, if such
an armed attack occurs, each of them...[will take] such action as it deems
necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the
security of the North Atlantic area.
--The North
Atlantic Treaty, 1949
Why, by
inter-weaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace
and property in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or
caprice? It is our true policy to steer
clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.
--George Washington,
1796
The security
of the United States would again be seriously endangered if the entire European
continent were once more to come under the domination of a power or an
association of powers antagonistic to the United States....Today, the weakened
condition in which the nations of Europe find themselves as a result of the
destruction and privation of war has afforded a golden opportunity for a new
aggressor....It is believed essential to the security of the United States,
therefore, that it consolidate the friendship and support which it now enjoys
from free and friendly nations.
--State
Department
The pact
destroys the chances of European recovery.
A permanently militarized Europe is doomed to living on an American
dole. The pact is not an instrument of
defense but a military alliance designed for aggression. It bypasses the United Nations and violates
its Charter in a most flagrant manner.
It divides the world permanently into two armed camps. And it provocatively establishes military
bases on the borders of the Soviet Union.
--Henry
Wallace
Questions
to think about:
1. Describe the containment policy. What was its goal?
2. Why did the United States decide to broaden
its overseas commitments? Did the
Soviet threat justify this expansion of America's commitments?
3. Was the containment policy essentially
offensive or defensive?
The Korean
War
In Korea the
Government forces, which were armed to prevent border raids and to preserve
internal security, were attacked by invading forces from North Korea....The
attack upon Korea makes it plain beyond all doubt that communism has passed
beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations and will now use
armed invasion and war.
--President
Harry Truman
Once war is
forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available
means to bring it to a swift end. War's
very object is victory--not prolonged indecision. In war, indeed, there can be no substitute for victory.
--General
Douglas MacArthur
It seems
strangely difficult for some to realize that here in Asia is where the
Communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest, and
that we have joined the issue thus raised on the battlefield; that here we
fight Europe's war with arms while the diplomats there still fight it with
words; that if we lose the war to communism in Asia the fall of Europe is
inevitable, win it and Europe most probably would avoid war and yet preserve
freedom.
--General
Douglas MacArthur
We do not
want to see the conflict in Korea extended.
We are trying to prevent a world war--not to start one....But you may
ask why can't we take other steps to punish the aggressor. Why don't we bomb Manchuria and China
itself? Why don't we assist Chinese
Nationalist troops to land on the mainland of China? If we were to do these things we would be running a very grave
risk of starting a general war....If we were to do these things, we would
become entangled in a vast conflict on the continent of Asia and our task would
become immeasurably more difficult all over the world.
I believe
that we must try to limit the war to Korea for these vital reasons: To make
sure that the precious lives of our fighting men are not wasted, to see that
the security of our country and the free world is not needlessly jeopardized
and to prevent a third world war. A
number of events have made it evident that General MacArthur did not agree with
that policy. I have, therefore,
considered it essential to relieve General MacArthur so that there would be no
doubt or confusion as to the real purpose and aim of our policy.
--President
Harry Truman
General
MacArthur...would have us, on our own initiative, carry the conflict beyond
Korea against the mainland of Communist China, both from the sea and from the
air. He would have us accept the risk
of involvement not only in an extension of the war with Red China, but in an
all-out war with the Soviet Union. He
would have us do this even at the expense of losing our allies and wrecking the
coalition of free peoples throughout the world. He would do this even though the effect of such action might
expose Western Europe to attack by the millions of Soviet troops poised in
Middle and Eastern Europe.
--George
Marshall
Questions
to think about:
1. What was America's mission in Korea?
2. How far should the United States go in
accomplishing that mission?
3. Did President Truman improperly interfere in
military operations in Korea?
Anti-Communism
at Home
Sec. 2:
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person--
(1) to knowingly or willfully advocate, abet,
advise, or teach the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of
overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or
violence, or by the assassination of any officer of such government;
(2) with the intent to cause the overthrow or
destruction of any government in the United States, to print, publish, edit,
issue, circulate, sell, distribute, or publicly display any written or printed
matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or
propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by
force or violence;
(3) to organize or help to organize any
society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the
overthrow or destruction of any government in the United States by force or
violence; or to be or become a member of, or affiliate with, any such society,
group or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof.
--The Smith
Act, 1940
Part I.
1. There shall be a loyalty investigation of
every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of
the executive branch of the federal government.
Part II.
2. The head of each department and agency shall
appoint one or more loyalty boards...for the purpose of hearing loyalty
cases....
Part V.
1. The standard for the refusal of employment
or the removal from employment in an executive department or agency on grounds
relating to loyalty shall be that, on all the evidence, reasonable grounds
exist for belief that the person involved is disloyal to the government of the
United States.
2. Activities and associations of an applicant
or employee which may be considered in connection with the determination of
disloyalty may include one or more of the following:
a. Sabotage, espionage, or attempts or
preparations therefore, or knowingly associating with spies or saboteurs;
b. Treason or sedition or advocacy thereof;
c. Advocacy of revolution or force or violence
to alter the constitutional form of government of the United States;
d. Intentional, unauthorized disclosure to any
person, under circumstances which may indicate disloyalty to the United States,
of documents or information of a confidential or nonpublic character obtained
by the person making the disclosure as a result of his employment by the
government of the United States.
f. Membership in, affiliation with or
sympathetic association with any foreign or domestic organization, association,
movement, group or combination of persons, designated by the attorney general
as totalitarian, fascist, communist, or subversive, or as having adopted a
policy of advocating or approving the commission of acts of force or violence
to deny other persons their rights under the Constitution of the United States,
or as seeking to alter the form of government of the United States by
unconstitutional means.
--Executive
Order 9835, 1947
(1) There
exists a world Communist movement, which, in its origins, its development, and
its present practice, is a world-wide revolutionary movement whose purpose it
is, by treachery, deceit, infiltration into other groups (governmental and
otherwise), espionage, sabotage, terrorism, and any other means deemed
necessary, to establish a Communist totalitarian dictatorship in the countries
through the medium of a world-wide Communist organization.
(15) The Communist movement in the United States
is an organization numbering thousands of adherents, rigidly and ruthlessly
disciplined. Awaiting and seeking to
advance a moment when the United States may be so far extended by foreign
engagements, so far divided in counsel, or so far in industrial or financial
straits, that overthrow of the Government of the United States by force and
violence may seem possible of achievement, it seeks converts far and wide by an
extensive system of schooling and indoctrination.
Sec. 8
(a) Any individual who is or becomes a
member of any [communist] organization...[shall] register with the Attorney
General as a member of such organization.
--The McCarran
Act
Sec. 2 The
Congress hereby finds and declares that the Communist Party of the United
States, although purportedly a political party, is in fact an instrumentality
of a conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the United States. It constitutes an authoritarian dictatorship
within a republic, demanding for itself the rights and privileges accorded to
political parties, but denying to all others the liberties guaranteed by the
Constitution. Unlike political parties,
which evolve their policies and programs through public means, by the
reconciliation of a wide variety of individual views, and submit those policies
and programs to the electorate at large for approval or disapproval, the
policies and programs of the Communist Party are secretly prescribed for it by
the foreign leaders of the world Communist movement....Therefore the Communist
Party should be outlawed.
--Communist
Control Act of 1954
Six years
ago this summer America stood at what Churchill described as the "highest
pinnacle of her power and fame."...What do we find in the summer of
1951? The writs of Moscow run to lands
which, with its own, number upward of 900 millions of people--a good 40 percent
of all men living....
During all
this time the administration preaches a gospel of fear and [Secretaries of
State] Acheson and Marshall expound a foreign policy in the East based upon
craven, whimpering appeasement....
How can we
account for our present situation unless we believe that men high in this
government are concerting to deliver us to disaster? This must be the product of a great conspiracy, a conspiracy on a
scale so immense to dwarf any previous such venture in the history of
man....What can be made of this unbroken series of decisions and acts
contributing to the strategy of defeat?
This cannot be attributed to incompetence.
--Senator
Joseph McCarthy, 1951
Questions
to think about:
1. Why were many post-war Americans concerned
about the domestic threat posed by communism?
Was fear of communism a response to legitimate threats to national
security or an irrational response to other tensions within American society?
2. Were the federal government loyalty programs
intelligent and constitutional methods of preserving American values?
3. Can the government legitimately require
employees to take loyalty oaths?
4. What, if anything, can society do about
people who hold opinions that the majority finds abhorrent?
INTERPRETING
STATISTICS: POSTWAR SOCIETY
United
States in 1947
Proportion
of world's manufacturing 50 percent
Proportion
of world's steel production 57
Proportion
of world's electricity usage 43
Proportion
of world's oil production 62
Proportion
of world's automobiles 75
Proportion
of world's automobiles manufactured 80
automobiles
manufactured
Questions
to think about:
1. What factors contributed to American
industrial preeminence in l947?
2. In your view, is it realistic to think that
the U.S. could have maintained this preeminence in subsequent years?
Geographic
Distribution of the U.S. Population
1950 1960 1970
Central
Cities 32.3 32.6 31.4
Suburbs 23.8 30.7 37.6
Rural
Areas 43.9 36.7 31.0
Questions to
think about:
1. How did the geographic distribution of the
U.S. population change after 1950?
2. What factors encouraged this shift?
Weekly
Earnings of Manufacturing Workers, 1940-1960 (1967=100)
Index of Weekly Earnings Index
of Real Weekly Earnings
(adjusted
for inflation)
1940 21.9 53.1
1945 38.6 72.8
1950 51.6 72.8
1955 66.4 84.3
1960 78.1 89.5
Questions
to think about:
1. Describe the changes that took place in
earnings after the war?
2. How would you explain this increase?