Cold War

The cold war was a pivotal era in the twentieth century. The term cold war itself, popularized in a 1946 speech by Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain, describes the ideological struggle between democracy and Communism that began shortly after the end of World War II and lasted until 1991. It was a war of ideas, of threats, and of actual fighting in the countries of Korea and Vietnam, pitting western nations against the Soviet Union and China and their Communist allies. George Kennan, author of the containment policy, opposed continuing appeasement of the Soviets and promoted firm opposition to further expansion of communist power. The postwar world dominated by the two superpowers was being transformed into a world of a divided Europe, decolonized Middle Eastern nations, and of surging nationalism in Latin America and Asia.

The division of Europe, with the Soviet bloc countries sealed off behind what Churchill called the iron curtain, had been the first blow. A fear that Communism would undermine the security of the United States took hold of the nation's leaders and citizens alike. Communists seized power in Eastern Europe with the support of the Red Army, the Russian occupation zones in Germany and Austria were sealed off by army patrols, and threats were directed against Turkey and Greece. Measures had to be taken to safeguard the country from infiltration, it was popularly believed, and the government began a vigorous campaign against Communist activity.

In a famous speech at Fulton, Mo., Winston Churchill warned of an implacable threat that lay behind a Communist "iron curtain." The United States, taking the lead against the expansion of Soviet influence, rallied the West with the Truman Doctrine, under which immediate aid was given to Turkey and Greece. Also fearing the rise of Communism in war-torn Western Europe, the United States inaugurated the European Recovery Program, known as the Marshall Plan, which helped to restore prosperity and influenced the subsequent growth of what has become the European Union. During the cold war the general policy of the West toward the Communist states was to contain with the hope that internal division, failure, or evolution might end their threat. In 1948 the Soviet Union directly challenged the West by instituting a blockade of the western sectors of Berlin, but the United States airlifted supplies into the city with the Berlin airlift until the blockade was withdrawn. The challenges in Europe influenced the United States to reverse its traditional policy of avoiding permanent alliances; in 1949 the United States and 11 other nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty. The Communist bloc subsequently formed the Warsaw Treaty Organization as a counterbalance to NATO.

In Asia, the Communist cause gained great impetus when the Communists under Mao Zedong gained control of mainland China in 1949. The United States continued to support Nationalist China, with its headquarters on Taiwan. President Truman, fearing the appeal of Communism to the peoples of Asia and Latin America, created the Point Four program, which was intended to help underdeveloped areas. Strife continued, however, and in 1950 Communist forces from North Korea attacked South Korea, sparking the Korean War. Chinese Communist troops entered the conflict in large numbers, but were checked by UN forces,