IB History-The Cold War: The Early Cold War & The Americas
Summary
TLDRThis lecture delves into the early Cold War era from 1945 to the 1950s, focusing on the United States' pursuit of an American Cold War alliance akin to NATO, aiming for collective security and to curb communism in the Americas. The Rio Conference in 1947 led to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, with Brazil, Chile, and Cuba banning communist organizations to foster economic ties with the U.S. However, Latin American nations felt neglected compared to Western Europe's Marshall Plan aid. The lecture also covers the Red Scare in the U.S., the Hollywood blacklist, and the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, which impacted civil liberties, education, and American society, including the early civil rights movement.
Takeaways
- 🌍 The early Cold War years from 1945 to the early 1950s had a significant impact on the Americas, with the United States seeking to establish a collective security alliance to counter communism, similar to NATO in the North Atlantic.
- 💼 Latin American countries, post-war, were more focused on receiving economic and technological aid from the United States, which led to negotiations and agreements like the Rio Conference and the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance.
- 🚫 Brazil, Chile, and Cuba banned communist organizations and severed ties with the Soviet Union in 1948, hoping for increased U.S. economic assistance, while other Latin American nations felt the U.S. commitment was insufficient.
- 🇺🇸 The United States provided financial aid to Latin American countries, but it was significantly less compared to the Marshall Plan's aid to Western European countries, leading to anti-American sentiments in Latin America.
- 🔍 The post-war period in the U.S. was marked by a "Red Scare," characterized by fear and hatred of communism, which manifested in various ways, including investigations into Hollywood and the creation of blacklists in the film industry.
- 🤔 The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) focused on left-wing extremism, leading to the Hollywood Ten being accused of promoting communist ideology, and the Screen Actors Guild, led by Ronald Reagan, assisted in investigations.
- 📜 The McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 and Executive Order 9835 by President Truman were responses to the Red Scare, aiming to root out communist influences within the U.S. government through loyalty oaths and investigations.
- 🕵️♂️ There were real instances of espionage, such as the cases of Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs, which fueled the anti-communist sentiment and justified the aggressive actions taken by the U.S. government.
- 🗣️ Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations and investigations into alleged communist activities within the U.S. government led to a widespread fear and the dismissal of many officials, but eventually, his tactics were condemned, and he was censured by the Senate.
- 📚 The Cold War influenced American society, with changes in education, such as duck and cover drills, and the National Defense Education Act funding for subjects that could counter communist threats.
- ✝️ The Cold War also saw a rise in religious affiliation in the U.S., with communism being viewed as atheistic, leading to a stronger emphasis on Christian values and the addition of 'under God' to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Q & A
What were the competing goals between the United States and Latin American countries during the early Cold War years?
-The United States wanted to create an American Cold War alliance for collective security and to prevent communism in the Americas, while Latin American countries sought economic and technological aid from the United States.
What was the Rio Conference, and what agreement emerged from it?
-The Rio Conference, held in September 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, resulted in the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance. This treaty stated that an attack on any one nation in the Americas was an attack on all, and if two-thirds of the nations agreed, they could take collective military action.
What measures did Brazil, Chile, and Cuba take in response to the Rio Conference agreements?
-Brazil, Chile, and Cuba banned communist organizations and cut ties with the Soviet Union in 1948, hoping to receive more economic assistance from the United States.
Why did some Latin American countries feel hesitant about committing to agreements with the United States?
-Some Latin American countries felt that the United States was not committing enough economic aid to justify their involvement in such agreements.
What was the Organization of American States (OAS), and what were its objectives?
-The Organization of American States, created in 1948, included the United States and most Latin American countries. Its objectives were to organize consultation between American nations, coordinate military strategy, and assert the sovereignty of American states by prohibiting interference and coercive measures against any member state.
How did the United States' financial aid to Latin America compare to its aid to Western Europe after World War II?
-From 1949 to 1953, Latin American nations received only about $79 million in American foreign aid, while the rest of the world, especially Western Europe, received nearly $18 billion, leading to growing anti-American sentiments in Latin America.
What triggered the second Red Scare in the United States, and how did it manifest?
-The second Red Scare was triggered by fear and hatred of communist ideology, heightened by Soviet and Chinese communism, patriotism after World War II, and Soviet military threats, especially the detonation of a Soviet atomic bomb in 1949. It manifested through investigations into Hollywood, loyalty oaths for government employees, and numerous accusations and trials.
What role did the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) play during the Red Scare?
-HUAC, originally created to investigate extremist groups, focused on left-wing extremism and communist influence in the United States after World War II. It investigated Hollywood for communist propaganda, leading to the blacklisting of the Hollywood Ten.
How did President Truman respond to the Red Scare, and what were some key actions taken during his administration?
-President Truman attempted to counter accusations of being soft on communism by signing executive orders for loyalty oaths, supporting investigations, and enacting the McCarran Internal Security Act despite initially vetoing it. This Act required government employees to pledge loyalty to the U.S. and targeted communist organizations.
What were some real examples of espionage in the United States during the early Cold War?
-Real examples included Klaus Fuchs, who shared atomic secrets with the Soviet Union, and the Rosenbergs, who were implicated in espionage and executed. Alger Hiss, a State Department official, was also found guilty of passing classified information to the Soviet Union.
What impact did Senator Joseph McCarthy have on the Red Scare, and how did his actions ultimately lead to his downfall?
-Senator McCarthy's aggressive investigations and accusations of communism within the U.S. government and military led to widespread fear and the firing of many individuals. His overreach, particularly targeting the U.S. military, resulted in his censure by the Senate in 1955 and his eventual disgrace and death in 1957.
How did the Cold War impact American society and civil liberties?
-The Cold War led to threats to civil liberties, changes in education with duck and cover drills, increased funding for science and language studies, censorship in Hollywood, a rise in religious affiliation, and significant actions in the civil rights movement, including Truman's desegregation of the military and the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision.
Outlines
🌎 Early Cold War Alliances and Latin America's Economic Struggles
The script discusses the early years of the Cold War, from 1945 to the early 1950s, and its impact on the Americas. It focuses on the United States' goal to establish an American Cold War alliance similar to NATO, aimed at collective security and keeping communism out of the region. The U.S. sought to create a united front through the Rio Conference in 1947, leading to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance. However, Latin American countries were primarily interested in economic and technological aid, which they did not receive to the extent they had hoped. Brazil, Chile, and Cuba took steps to ban communist organizations and cut ties with the Soviet Union in hopes of gaining more U.S. support. The script also highlights the disparity in U.S. foreign aid, with Latin America receiving significantly less than Western Europe, leading to anti-American sentiments in the region.
📽 Hollywood, Red Scare, and the Hunt for Communists
This paragraph delves into the Red Scare period in the United States, characterized by fear and hatred of communism, especially after the Soviet Union and China became communist powers. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated Hollywood for potential communist propaganda in films, leading to the Hollywood Ten being accused and blacklisted. The Screen Actors Guild, headed by Ronald Reagan, assisted the FBI in these investigations. President Truman's actions, such as the McCarran Internal Security Act and Executive Order 9835, were influenced by the Red Scare, requiring loyalty oaths from government employees. The FBI also investigated communist organizations, leading to numerous resignations. The paragraph mentions real spy cases, such as Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs, and the political exploitation of anti-communism by Senator Joseph McCarthy, which led to widespread fear and the damaging of careers and reputations.
🕊️ McCarthyism, Cold War Impact on Society, and the Fight for Civil Rights
The final paragraph examines the extreme measures taken during the Cold War, such as McCarthy's communist witch hunts, which eventually led to his censure by the Senate. The impact of the Cold War on American society is explored, including the threat to civil liberties, changes in education with duck and cover drills, and the National Defense Education Act's funding for science and math studies. Hollywood's self-censorship and the rise in religious affiliation are also discussed. The Cold War's influence on the early civil rights movement is highlighted, with President Truman's desegregation of the military and the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education case, which challenged racial segregation. The Soviet Union's use of American race issues for propaganda is noted as a factor in these civil rights advancements.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cold War
💡Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
💡Economic and Technological Aid
💡Organization of American States (OAS)
💡Marshall Plan
💡Red Scare
💡House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
💡McCarthyism
💡National Defense Education Act
💡Civil Rights Movement
Highlights
Discussion of the early Cold War years from 1945 to the early 1950s and their impact on the Americas.
The United States aimed to establish an American Cold War alliance similar to NATO for collective security and to prevent communism in the Americas.
Latin American countries sought economic and technological aid from the U.S. post World War II.
The Rio Conference in September 1947 led to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, signifying an attack on one American nation as an attack on all.
Brazil, Chile, and Cuba banned communist organizations and severed ties with the Soviet Union in 1948 to encourage more U.S. economic assistance.
Other Latin American nations felt the U.S. aid commitment was insufficient to warrant such agreements.
The Organization of American States was created to foster consultation and coordinate military strategy among American nations.
A declaration of sovereignty among American states was established, prohibiting interference in each other's affairs.
U.S. financial aid to Latin America was significantly less than the Marshall Plan's aid to Western Europe, causing resentment.
The post-war period in the U.S. transitioned into a 'Red Scare' period marked by fear and hatred of communism.
The Hollywood film industry was investigated for promoting communist ideology by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
The Hollywood Ten were accused of inserting subversive ideas into their work, leading to blacklisting in the industry.
President Truman's loyalty oath program for federal employees and the FBI's investigation into communist organizations.
Real spy threats within the U.S., including the convictions of Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs for espionage.
Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations and investigations into communist activities within the U.S. government.
The censure of McCarthy by the Senate in 1955 and his subsequent death in disgrace.
The impact of McCarthyism on U.S. politics, including a harder line against communism and its influence on the Korean War and civil rights movement.
The Cold War's effect on American society, including changes in education, Hollywood, religious affiliation, and the civil rights movement.
Transcripts
all right today we are going to talk
about uh the early cold war years uh
1945 to the early 1950s and their impact
on the americas and this is going to be
some some material that focuses on paper
three of the ib exam we're dealing with
some competing goals here between the
united states and some latin american
countries the united states want an
american cold war alliance
like they are going to build with the
the north atlantic countries with with
nato
to provide collective security in the
americas and keep the threat of
communism out of the americas while
latin american countries in the post-war
years are looking for economic and
technological aid from the united states
this process is going to get rolling in
september of 1947 with a meeting in rio
de janeiro
called the rio conference
and out of this
will be drafted this inter-american
treaty of reciprocal assistance
basically an agreement that an attack on
any one nation in the americas is an
attack on all nations of the americas
and that two-thirds of those nations
would if they agreed to join in on
military action that could could lead to
a united american force
for their part brazil chile and cuba
would ban communist organizations in
their nations and cut ties with the
soviet union in 1948 with the idea that
doing that will lead to more economic
assistance and support coming from the
united states
but other nations in latin america
didn't feel that there was enough
commitment of american aid to tie them
to such agreements
uh in the next year the organization of
american states will be created that
includes the united states and most
latin american countries
and this is meant to organize uh and
lead to consultation between american
nations
to coordinate military strategy within
the americans american states it also
will lead to uh to a statement of
sovereignty of american states that no
state could interfere or intervene in
the affairs of any other american state
and that no economic or military
coercive force could be used against
another state and we'll be able to look
back in in a few weeks as to whether or
not this agreement is upheld with the
actions of the united states and the
soviet union
now we want to recognize that the united
states was giving some financial aid
foreign aid to latin american countries
but it is going to pale in comparison to
what the marshall plan is going to be
providing for western european countries
the united states simply does not see
latin america as immediately threatened
by the soviet union in the way that
western europe was so for example from
1949 to 1953 latin american nations will
only receive about 79 million dollars in
american foreign aid while the rest of
the world received nearly 18 billion
dollars of that money with most of it
going to western europe
and this is going to lead some
anti-american sentiments to grow in
latin america from both leaders and
populations that feel the united states
was ignoring their economic problems
now in the united states the post-war
years are going to lead directly into a
red scare period now this is the second
red scare in the united states the first
started after the 1917 bolshevik
revolution in russia that led to the
soviet union being developed
but this early cold war red scare
stemmed from many of the same things
largely fear and hatred of the communist
ideology
now recognizing it's not just the soviet
union that is communist but china as
well
we also see uh this this world war ii
era patriotism uh that is that is
elevated following the victory in the
second world war and then fears over the
soviet military threats that were ever
present especially with the detonation
of the soviet atomic bomb in 1949
this red scare will manifest itself for
example uh by by looking into hollywood
and the productions of the hollywood
industry the film industry in the united
states
that that may have been pushing some
communist ideology onto its viewers and
this would be looked into
by a house representatives uh committee
called the house un-american activities
commission or huak uh and this was
created before world war ii in the late
1930s to investigate extremist groups of
both the right and the left for
subversive activities but after world
war ii the commission focused
exclusively on left-wing extremism and
the concerns about communism in the
united states
through huax actions uh the hollywood
ten would be accused of of of putting
communist propaganda in their film this
is a group of writers and directors and
producers uh that worked within the
hollywood film industry um that were
accused of of inserting these subversive
ideas and content into their work
the screen actors guild the the actors
union uh that was had that time headed
by future president and current actor
ronald reagan would assist the fbi in
their investigations of communist
sympathizers within the hollywood film
industry and this would lead to the
development of a black list of of
workers writers actors directors that
would ultimately keep them frozen out of
the hollywood film industry for years to
come
now truman for his part also played into
some of these red scare fears um in the
19 in 1950 the mccarran internal
security act um was said uh created by
congress to um to try to
out communist organizations um that had
looked for members within the united
states federal government and it
essentially would force government
employees to sign loyalty oaths
to pledge their loyalty to the united
states now president truman initially
vetoed attempted to veto this act citing
concerns for for civil liberties
but ultimately that veto was overridden
by a deeply republican
congress um
the
executive order 9835
drafted by truman himself would order
loyalty oaths by federal employees this
is that attempt by by president truman
to to try to not appear to be soft on
communism uh amidst the accusations that
were coming from the political right at
the time and the fbi under the justice
department began investigating communist
organizations in the united states that
would lead to thousands of individual
investigations and many hundreds of
people simply resigning from their their
work rather than to deal with difficult
questions
so so was there a real threat of
communism in the united states well
there there were some spies in the
united states that were aiding the
soviet union and contributing to the
development of the soviet atomic weapon
and federal investigations and criminal
trials had proceeded that showed that
this spy threat was real
famously klaus fuchs a and a former
employee with the manhattan project was
convicted of espionage for sharing
atomic secrets with the soviet union
and his trial would reveal information
about ethel and julius rosenberg the
rosenbergs who were implicated within
that investigation and ultimately
themselves um uh
found guilty of espionage and and later
executed now there is some modern
scholarship that has some questions
about uh ethel rosenberg's uh connection
to her husband's actions uh but
ultimately both of them would be uh
would be convicted and executed uh for
for espionage uh state department
official alger hiss was found guilty in
1950 of passing classified information
uh to the soviet union back in the 1930s
so there were real examples of spies in
the united states
now this is just going to lead to
republican attacks uh and and the
senator joseph mccarthy out of wisconsin
to target the truman administration and
the democratic-led
led government at the time for being
soft on communism and they will use this
anti-communism platform as a means to
one try to push communist ideology out
of the united states and two try to win
elections
so joe mccarthy a wisconsin republican
senator became that leading voice
for this threat of communism in the
united states government he'll claim
that over 200 communists were working
for the u.s state department although
his evidence was incredibly flimsy and
the numbers would change depending on
who he was giving speeches to
in 1952 a series of hearings out of the
senate began with mccarthy leading
investigations into communist activities
within the united states from government
officials
hundreds of government officials and
university employees would later be
fired because of possible communist
connections
and fears of mccarthy and his tactics
would lead others to to ultimately
resign from their positions
now over time mccarthy began to to
overstep some bounds but not before the
republican party found success in the
1952 elections
and ultimately took control of the
presidency the senate and the
congressional
houses
now mccarthy goes a little bit too far
and then far too far uh with his
communist witch hunts um in the
mid-1950s accusing secretary of state
dean atchison and secretary of defense
george marshall also a world war ii
general and hero
but it was ultimately his targeting of
the united states military and the army
mccarthy hearings that would be his
final straw
where he would in march of 1955 be
censored by the senate and then he would
pass away in disgrace in 1957
but the impact of mccarthy was real
fears of mccarthy led truman and other
politicians to take a harder line
against communism which had implications
with the korean war
when stalin's death opened up a
possibility of of easing tensions with
the soviet union um eisenhower's new
administration had to be concerned about
how mccarthy would react to the united
states trying to ease tensions with the
soviet union
the cold war also had a number of
impacts on the on americans themselves
the red scare in the u.s government
actions did threaten the civil liberties
of americans during the cold war uh we
see changes in education where children
are having to take part in duck and
cover drills that would offer them
supposed protection in the
if they saw the flash of an atomic bomb
in 1958 the national defense and
education act offered funding for
science math and language studies that
would be needed to help defeat the
communists and create a new body of um
of weapons developers and and foreign
agents that could be working for the
soviet union
hollywood became careful to avoid
producing films that dealt with social
and economic problems like they might
have done in earlier times
entertainers that were seen as leftists
including one of the most famous
entertainers in the world charlie
chaplin were ostracized from the united
states
we would see a rise in religious
affiliation during the cold war as
communism was seen as an atheist
ideology so the united states would
would firmly implant itself as a as a
christian godly nation and we we would
see that manifested in the uh placing
under god to the end of the pledge of
allegiance to our flag
and the cold war would also impact the
early civil rights movement in the
united states president truman threw an
executive order desegregated the
military in 1948
the supreme court would also hear the
brown versus board of education case in
1954 that would ultimately rule that
separate but equal facilities were
inherently unequal and and this was
in large response not only to the the
horrid nature of jim crow america and
the segregation that that it had led to
but also that the soviet union was using
its own propaganda to target the united
states and our handling of race issues
so that's all we got for today we'll
talk to you later
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