There’s a new guy in town Jo

By 1945: F.D.R., the wheel-

chair bound and inspirational leader of the USA was dead of stress. Only six before the war’s end.

Australian own PM John Curtin also succumbed to the stresses of office just two weeks from the end of the war.

Over 10,000 people attended his funeral in little Perth.

Winston Churchill had been voted out of office. He was gutted but his warnings of the rise of a new evil fell on deaf ears. People saw him as the war monger of old… even though he was the only significant politician to voice warning about Hitler.

Stalin must have felt confident in his power. He had the biggest army, the goodwill of the world as one of the leading victors. But…

Harry

S Tru

man

There was a new guy in town… Truman had been F.D.R’s Vice

President. He was more than capable of making tough decisions. His did after all order the dropping of the first two (and only) atomic bombs used in anger.

Th

e Tru

man

Doctrin

e

Trou

ble

in Tu

rkey -

In late 1946 the Soviets (try to start using this term from now on) were trying to secure disputed territory from Turkey (turkey now shared borders with the Soviets)

That is code for TAKE. remember Hitler securing the Sudetenland and the Anchluss???

The Soviets wanted access to the Mediterranean via the Black Sea Straits – THROUGH TURKISH TERRITORY

Access to warm weather ports had been the dream of the Russian military for generations – all their other froze over in the winter.

This was headed off by the Allies sending their navies to the region as a deterrent

Th

e Tru

man

Doctrin

e

Grie

f in G

reece

SO

?

Civil war broke out at the same time in Greece – also close the Soviet Union -between the government and leftist forces

Britain had been supporting Greece but informed the USA it could no longer afford to support one of Hitler's first victims whom they had shared much blood to liberate.

The USA would have to take up the responsibility or let Greece turn Red

In the big scheme of things turkey and Greece are ‘small potatoes’. Why would Stalin risk conflict over them?

He was probing for a weak spot… literally and metaphorically. Testing the US resolve.

Truman Acts…

With the Red Menace crawling all over the world (China… Italy… France…) Truman felt under siege. On 12 March Truman made the following speech that became known as the Truman Doctrine. Among other things he said:

… it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting

subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures…. Help should be primarily through

economic and financial aid.

What if…. ?

Who might the ‘outside pressures’ be?

What if the armed uprising was Left leaning by was also a mass movement?

This policy of hindering the spread of Communism would be called:

CONTAINMENT

Consequences of the policy…

Truman’s first request in the same speech was for $400,000,000 to aid the Turkish and Greek government. 1947

Both would soon join the new alliance –NATO - as allies of the West. 1952

Futher monetary bolstering of other nations under siege such as the Marshall Plan. 1947

The Korean War. 1950-1953 The Vietnam War.1962-1973.For US Troops. The Cuban Missile Crisis.1962 And…..

The Berlin Blockade

Germany had been divided between the allies in the aftermath of WWII.

There was a Russian, American, British and French Zone.

What about Berlin?

Berlin

Berlin had been similarly divided up amongst the allies.

Uh Oh!!!

Have another look at the map. How is the allied presence in Berlin threatened?

What is this cartoon of the period saying about the situation?

Stalin Gambles

The allies wanted to make Western Germany a bulwark against the Soviets

In 1948 the decided to merge their three zones together into the new state of West Germany. The larger western area of Germany AND Berlin

Stalin acted right away cutting off all road, rail and canal traffic.

He even interfered with the power supply that primarily came from power stations in the Soviet Zones.

All of the allied or WESTERN zone was effectively fenced off.

What option was still left open?

What to do?

The allies but mainly the US endeavoured to supply the west Berliners with all they needed to survive by air.

Quickly list the necessities that the allies would need to fly in to the 2,500,000 people….

A massive undertaking

At its peak one Douglas cargo plane was landing every 45 seconds laden with c.1000kg ofsupplies.

What is being transported by this plane?

Most of the imports were of:› Food,› Coal, and;› Medicine.

The Berlin Airlift truly was a lifeline The Blockade lasted

300 days or 10 months.

There had been 277,000 flights carrying over 1,800,000 tonnes of cargo.

Look at the cartoon opposite. How does it view the airlift?

Hmmm I have and idea. I vill shoot zem down! (said with a Russian accent)

Why did Stalin not blast the storks out of the sky?

Truman had said any action against US flights would be seen as an act of war.

He also ordered an squadron of B-29 Bombers to bases in the UK. That move says more than the obvious description of reality. How? There is a clue in the picture of the B-29 opposite.

Consequences of the Blockade Any sense of

camaraderie in the west towards their old war time ally evaporated

NATO was formed as a powerful Anti-Soviet block

The Soviets created the Warsaw Pact in retaliation. 1955

East Germany was also made into a separate country. East and West Germany would remain torn for the remainder of the Cold War.

We’ll leave the final word to Truman:

“When we refused to be forced out of…

Berlin, we demonstrated…

that … we would act when their freedom

was threatenedThe Berlin Blockade

was a move to test our capacity and

will to resist”

By establishing the blockade what did the Russians unwittingly do?

How had this been part of a greater Russian strategy?

And the final image to the children of Berlin… This image is of

Children watching one of the many flights into Berlin during the Blockade.

What is the plane likely carrying physically?

What is the plane likely carrying metaphorically?

The next conflict…

Would take the Cold War to a new level…