Chapter One: the US and the Cold War: Historical Background
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Marshall Plan & Berlin Airlift
Objectives: 1. Explain how the Marshall Plan, the Berlin airlift, and the creation of NATO helped achieve American goals in postwar Europe. 2. Assess the impact of two Communist advances on American foreign policy. 3. Summarize the effects of the cold war on American life. Main Idea: As the cold war intensified, American policy focused on rebuilding and unifying Western Europe. At home, emotionally charged spy cases raised fears of Communist infiltration into American society and government. Marshall Plan & Berlin Airlift • Secretary of State George C. Marshall created an economic plan to rebuild Europe after World War II. The Soviet Union and their Eastern European allies refused to take part in the Marshall Plan, but 16 European countries did accept economic aid from the U.S. ($13 billion over 4 years). • In 1948, to keep people from fleeing communism, Stalin blockaded Berlin. To avoid a war, the U.S. and Britain airlifted supplies to Berlin for 15 months called the Berlin Airlift. 1948 Berlin Airlift NATO & Warsaw Pact In 1949, NATO created a military alliance between 10 Western European countries, the U.S., and Canada. The countries viewed an attack against one country, as an attack against them all. In 1949, China becomes communist and Soviets create their atomic bomb, causing the U.S. to drastically increase peacetime defense spending to enforce Containment. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower will continue with Containment, even though his Secretary of State John Dulles wanted to end communism. The U.S. did not interfere in situations involving Soviet Satellite Nations. President Eisenhower did not want the Cold War to become an actual war. -
Reagan's Victory
Reagan’s ictory How HeV Built His Winning Coalition By Robert G. Morrison Foreword by William J. Bennett Reagan’s Victory: How He Built His Winning Coalition By Robert G. Morrison 1 FOREWORD By William J. Bennett Ronald Reagan always called me on my birthday. Even after he had left the White House, he continued to call me on my birthday. He called all his Cabinet members and close asso- ciates on their birthdays. I’ve never known another man in public life who did that. I could tell that Alzheimer’s had laid its firm grip on his mind when those calls stopped coming. The President would have agreed with the sign borne by hundreds of pro-life marchers each January 22nd: “Doesn’t Everyone Deserve a Birth Day?” Reagan’s pro-life convic- tions were an integral part of who he was. All of us who served him knew that. Many of my colleagues in the Reagan administration were pro-choice. Reagan never treat- ed any of his team with less than full respect and full loyalty for that. But as for the Reagan administration, it was a pro-life administration. I was the second choice of Reagan’s to head the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It was my first appointment in a Republican administration. I was a Democrat. Reagan had chosen me after a well-known Southern historian and literary critic hurt his candidacy by criticizing Abraham Lincoln. My appointment became controversial within the Reagan ranks because the Gipper was highly popular in the South, where residual animosities toward Lincoln could still be found. -
A Review of the Social Science Literature on the Causes of Conflict
Research Report Understanding Conflict Trends A Review of the Social Science Literature on the Causes of Conflict Stephen Watts, Jennifer Kavanagh, Bryan Frederick, Tova C. Norlen, Angela O’Mahony, Phoenix Voorhies, Thomas S. Szayna Prepared for the United States Army Approved for public release; distribution unlimited ARROYO CENTER For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/rr1063z1 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface The recent spike in violence in places like Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen notwithstanding, the number of conflicts worldwide has fallen since the end of the Cold War, and few of those that remain are clashes between states. -
Social Science Department United States History II May 11-15 Content
Social Science Department United States History II May 11-15 Content Standard: Content Topic 5: United States and globalization: Cold war Flashpoints Practice Standard(s): 2. Develop focused questions or problem statements and conduct inquiries 3. Organize information and data from multiple primary or secondary sources 6. Argue or explain conclusions, using valid reasoning and evidence Weekly Learning Opportunities: 1. Cold War Primary Source Analysis 2. Cold War Annotated Timeline 3. Cold War Guided Readings 4. Newsela Text Set: Cold War Hot Spots Long Term Opportunities: 1. Cold War Impact on Other Countries DBQ 2. Historical Film Review Additional Resources: • The Cold War-CNN- The Complete Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3H6z037pboGWTxs3xGP7HRGrQ5dOQdGc • California History Social Science Project: https://chssp.ucdavis.edu/programs/historyblueprint/coldwar • American Experience: Cold War Road Show on PBS.org: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/roadshow/ Note to students: Your Social Science teacher will contact you with specifics regarding the above assignments in addition to strategies and recommendations for completion. Please email your teacher with specific questions and/or contact during office hours. Cold War Source Analysis Answer the following questions based on the resources provided. You should answer in complete sentences with evidence from the documents. Answer the questions in a new Word Document or handwrite the answers on a piece of paper. Send the file or a picture of your answers to your teacher. Soviet-American Confrontation 1.) 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. -
N I~ ~L 'Ш Я .N OI ~V Wl Lo ~N I
.NI~~l'ШЯ .NOI~VWllO~NI .Edltorlal This issue of СА/В focuses on the fascist connection, in par in Latin America or the U.S. The Kameradenwerk-the Nazi ticular the U.S. role in helping hundreds, perhaps thousands, old Ьоу network-remained active over the years, vigorous of prominent Nazis avoid retribution ·at the end of World War enough to have planned and carried out · the 1980 coup in 11. The CIA (originally the OSS) and the U.S. military, along Bolivia, for example, and to have held high places in with the Vatican, were instrumental in exfiltrating war crimi Pinochet's govemment in Chile. And they are major figures in nals not just to Latin America, but to the United States as well. the intemational arms and drug trades as well-traffic which As the Reagan administration attempts to rewrite history, it the U.S. tries to Ыаmе on the socialist countries. is worthwhile to examine carefully the wartime and postwar Hundreds of Nazis have been set up in scientific institutions machinations of the extreme Right. The President goes to Bit in this country. Ironically, it now appears that Star W ars is burg claiming it is time to forgive and forget, when in reality merely an extension of the Nazis' wartime rocket research. he is merely cutting а crude political deal with the reactionary Much of the U.S. space program was designed Ьу them. When West German govemment for its approval of Star Wars Ьу giv the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations leam ing his absolution to the SS. -
Fessler Interpretive Essay [PDF]
Voices of Democracy 2 (2007): 26‐49 Fessler 26 RONALD REAGAN, ADDRESS TO THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS ("EVIL EMPIRE SPEECH") (8 MARCH 1983) Paul Fessler Dordt College Abstract: This essay argues that Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech helped transform presidential discourse with its explicitly religious language and imagery. Credited with helping to bring about an end to the Cold War, the speech was widely criticized at the time for its religious and moral absolutism but later celebrated for reflecting a rhetorical blueprint that helped bring an end to the Cold War. Key Words: Ronald Reagan, "Evil Empire," Cold War, Détente, Religion, Evangelical When Ronald Reagan took office in early 1981, the United States appeared weak and faltering. In foreign affairs, the United States, still reeling from defeat in Vietnam, faced not only a Soviet Union expanding into Afghanistan but also a major hostage crisis in Iran that had crippled the outgoing president, Jimmy Carter. It seemed as if America's self‐image as a confident and strong international superpower was fading into a distant memory. Indeed, Carter's speeches and public pronouncements as president seemed to contribute to this growing public perception. As a conservative and as an outspoken anti‐communist, President Ronald Reagan not only brought about a shift in presidential policy but also in presidential rhetoric. Known as the "Great Communicator," Reagan's powerful oratory, liberally peppered with anecdotes and humor, helped gain public support for his two main issues—anti‐ communism and reducing the size of the federal government. Reagan's speech to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) on March 8, 1983, was arguably his most significant and memorable speech on international affairs. -
Ronald Reagan's “Evil Empire” Speech Excerpts from Remarks To
Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I've always believed excerpts from remarks to the National Association of Evangelicals that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the church. So, March 8, 1983 in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it During my first press conference as President, in answer to a direct question, all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the I pointed out that, as good Marxist-Leninists, the Soviet leaders have openly aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is that which will misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between further their cause, which is world revolution. I think I should point out I was right and wrong and good and evil. only quoting Lenin, their guiding spirit, who said in 1920 that they repudiate all morality that proceeds from supernatural ideas—that's their name for I ask you to resist the attempts of those who would have you withhold your religion—or ideas that are outside class conceptions. Morality is entirely support for our efforts, this administration's efforts, to keep America strong subordinate to the interests of class war. And everything is moral that is and free, while we negotiate real and verifiable reductions in the world's necessary for the annihilation of the old, exploiting social order and for nuclear arsenals and one day, with God's help, their total elimination. -
The Third World Perspective on the Cold War: Making Curriculum and Pedagogy Relevant in History Classrooms
Journal of International Social Studies, v. 7, n. 2, 2017, pp. 121-135 The Third World Perspective on the Cold War: Making Curriculum and Pedagogy Relevant in History Classrooms Iftikhar Ahmad Long Island University Abstract: American and global history curriculum frameworks for high schools across the 50 states generally present the topic of the Cold War from the Western political perspective and contain material about the impact of the US-Soviet ideological rivalry on American society. This article argues that since the Cold War impacted the lives of people in the Third World as well, their stories deserve a place in the history curriculum. This article also suggests that since American society is culturally diverse, it is imperative for history educators to teach history in the learners' social and cultural contexts. Therefore, both the Cold War history content and pedagogy should include perspectives from the Third World so that the past is relevant and meaningful for all students learning about the global Cold War. Key words: Cold War, Third World, social history, pedagogy, curriculum Introduction An examination of the state curriculum frameworks for secondary American and global history suggests that the Cold War is recognized as an important topic for teaching and learning. With different emphases, content knowledge about the Cold War is included in both American history and global history standards. Whereas the American history curriculum presents an interpretation of the Cold War from the American domestic perspective, the global history curriculum includes some additional topics such as colonization, decolonization, revolutions, and nationalism in the Third World. However, both American history and global history curricula present interpretations that are top-down, and Cold War history is presented solely as a history of political conflicts. -
Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" Speech
Study Questions: Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" Speech President Ronald Reagan, known as the "Great Communicator," gave this speech on March 8, 1983 at the annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida. His popularity was at a low point, largely a result of the recession of 1981 and 1982. He was also receiving a lot of criticism for the deterioration in Soviet American relations and the end of détente. Some of Reagan's advisers thought the president needed to energize supporters to counter the growing support for a nuclear freeze as well as the mounting discontent with his Soviet policies. The speechwriter Anthony Dolan encouraged the president to accept an invitation to speak at the annual meeting of the NAE. Dolan argued that Reagan could mobilize an important constituency—conservative Christians, who had backed him in the election of 1980 and supported his social policies. The most memorable part of the speech was about Communism and the Soviet Union, but most of the text revolved around hot-button social issues of the early 1980s. The goal was to enlist social conservatives in what would be one of the last battles of the cold war. 1. Reagan made hundreds of speeches as president, but “evil empire” was one of the most memorable phrases he ever used. Why do you think that these words had such a powerful effect in 1983 and in the following years? What about Reagan's language, the ideas he conveyed, the context of the speech, and the nature of the Soviet-American conflict during the cold war accounted for the power of his words? 2. -
Congressional Record—Senate S11695
November 4, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S11695 be granted permission to meet during consent to hold a markup on the fol- as an example of devotion to commu- the session of the Senate on Tuesday, lowing nominations: Richard J. Griffin nity. He and his wife have been in- November 4, for purposes of conducting to be Inspector General, Department of volved in, and often led, numerous a full committee hearing which is Veterans Affairs; William P. Greene, community projects in the south Rio scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. The Jr. to be Associate Judge, Court of Vet- Grande Valley. They are also pioneers purpose of this hearing is to consider erans Appeals; Joseph Thompson to be in the effort to forge meaningful and the nominations of Curtis L. Hebert Under Secretary for Benefits, Depart- productive relationships with private and Linda Key Breathitt to be Mem- ment of Veterans Affairs; and and public sector community leaders bers of the Federal Energy Regulatory Espiridion A. Borrego to be Assistant on the Mexican side of the border. Commission. Secretary for Veterans Employment Frank Yturria was first appointed in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without and Training, Department of Labor; 1990 by President Bush to serve as objection, it is so ordered. The markup will take place in S216, chairman of the Board of Directors of COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC of the Capitol Building, after the first the Inter-American Foundation, a de- WORKS scheduled votes in the Senate on Tues- velopment agency which promotes self- Mr. D’AMATO. Mr. President, I ask day morning, November 4, 1997. -
Evil Empire Speech by Ronald Reagan March 8, 1983
Evil Empire Speech by Ronald Reagan March 8, 1983 Historical Note On March 8, 1983, President Reagan delivered an address to a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida. It referred to communism as "the focus of evil in the modern world," and quickly became known as his "Evil Empire Speech." The speech was delivered at a time when Congress was debating a resolution in support of a "nuclear freeze," a doctrine supported by the Soviet Union that would have prevented the deployment of U.S. cruise and Pershing II Missiles in Europe. On March 7, President Reagan had met in the White House with a group of conservative leaders and pro-defense elected officials on the subject of the nuclear freeze. The President advised that his Administration was stalwart in opposition to the nuclear freeze, but meeting participants nonetheless urged him to use his presidential "bully pulpit" more often on the topic. Following the meeting, according to a contemporaneous report by the President's National Security Advisor Judge William Clark, the President added paragraphs to a speech he was scheduled to deliver the next day to the National Association of Evangelicals. Those additional paragraphs turned it from a routine, if worthy, speech to one that electrified dissidents behind the Iron Curtain and appalled Reagan's domestic opposition, including much of the press. The speech was destined to go down in history as one of Reagan's most influential addresses. Reverend clergy all, Senator Hawkins, distinguished members of the Florida congressional delegation, and all of you: I can't tell you how you have warmed my heart with your welcome. -
The Geopolitics of Great Power Intervention, 1815-2015
‘For the Happiness of the World’: The Geopolitics of Great Power Intervention, 1815-2015 by Christopher David LaRoche A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Christopher David LaRoche 2019 For the Happiness of the World’: The Geopolitics of Great Power Intervention, 1815-2015 Christopher David LaRoche Doctor of Philosophy Department of Political Science University of Toronto 2019 Abstract Why do great powers sometimes invest significant resources in efforts to secure approval from other great powers for their interventions, but other times do not? This dissertation argues that explicit or implicit agreements between great powers called geopolitical bargains have shaped great power intervention by delineating where they can acceptably intervene. When a great power intervenes in an area that a geopolitical bargain delimits as its own area of preponderance—its sphere of influence—it need not worry about making its intervention acceptable to its peers, and it can tailor its intervention coalition to closely meet its military needs. When it intervenes outside of its sphere, the great power must resort to other methods to legitimize its actions, such as formal multilateralism and legal approval. I trace the effects of geopolitical bargains across three periods of great power peace: the Concert of Europe, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War era. ii Acknowledgments Gustav Mahler said “a symphony must be like the world… It must embrace everything.” Anyone who has heard a Mahler symphony will know this is dangerous advice for a doctoral student already predisposed to excess.