At the end of the Second World War, there were great hopes for peace, symbolized by the creation of the UN in 1945. But there was no appeasement in international relations because of the divisions between the great winners of the war: the United States and the USSR. In 1947, the Cold War between the two superpowers began. It ended in 1991. After this period, international relations became more complicated and led to the establishment of a multipolar world.

The Cold War was the long showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union after the dissolution of the anti-Hitler coalition following the surrender of the Reich.

Three fundamental features characterize it:
– the indirect nature of the confrontation, hence the adjective « cold » which qualifies this « war »; the two superpowers will never confront each other directly (fear of a nuclear war) but will do so indirectly in peripheral conflicts such as the Korean War or the Vietnam War for example.
– the dimension of its stakes, which opposed two superpowers for the domination of the world, at the risk of a general conflict;
– a bipolarization of the world, since all countries were more or less forced to choose sides.

=> How will the American model be confronted with crises and issues characteristic of the Cold War?

• Timeline of the cold war (see here)

1. The birth of the Cold War (1947-1949)

• A progressive opposition between the winners and the affirmation of two antagonistic models of society: the US model:
  • The Truman doctrine (US department of state website; speech to the US Congress, March 12th, 1947; video)
  • The Marshall plan (video from History Website on Youtube)
  • In the Western Bloc, the USA was the leader and economic and cultural model for its allies. It had the most powerful economy (and controlled the industrialized countries’ monetary system since the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944, the dollar being the only currency convertible into gold).

• The bipolarization of the world:
• The world during the 1950’s (map)
• Stalin’s traditional paranoia led to the establishment of a communist satellite buffer zone around the USSR.
• The world became bipolar, i.e. split in two: the Western Bloc (or Capitalist Bloc) i.e. the USA and its allies, against the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet/Communist Bloc) i.e. the USSR and its allies.
• The spread of communism into Asian and South American countries exacerbated anticommunist feelings in the United States ((a 1938 anticommunist pamphlet; an1948 animated anti-communist film produced by a US college ; ‘The big lie’ US army anticommunist 50s propaganda) and contributed to the pressure for increased buildup of defensive forces.
• The US set up military bases and fleets everywhere in the world and it signed many military pacts including NATO (1949), ANZUS (1951), and SEATO (1954). The USA and its allies dominated the UN Security Council. Its strategy was one of containment, i.e. of stopping the spread of communism.

2. The main crises of the Cold War (1947-1975)

Direct military confrontation between the USSR and the USA was impossible because of the nuclear capabilities of both, though there were numerous crises.

• 1947-1962: the height of the Cold War:
  • 1950-53 Korean War 
  • The first Berlin crisis and the division of Germany, symbol of the Cold War:
  • Video: Little Berlin (written and directed by Kate McMullen;narrated by Christoph Waltz; 2021; Arte)
  • The Postdam Conference (Chronos Media History) and Berlin in july 1945.
  • Allied-occupied Germany 1945-4949 (Wikipedia)
  • The first Berlin crisis: the Berlin blockade and airlift, June 24th 1948 – May 1949 (video and explanation on the BBC website)
  • East Germany (German Democratic Republic: GDR); national anthem and flag;
  • The building of the Berlin wall (Video 1 see the 3:07 first minutes;video2)
  • Life on both sides of the Berlin wall (video)
  • Line in front of a butcher shop in East Germany (picture), and pictures of life in East Germany.
  • Promotional film (West Berlin a city to live and work in 1980s)
  • On the 9th of November, 1989, the Berlin Wall is opened (Video 1,  » The mistake that toppled the Berlin Wall » watch from 3:07 minutes; video 2: The fall of the Berlin wall)

  • Mödlareuth: The German Village Divided by The Cold War

• • 1962 Cuban Missile crisis

• 1962-1975: the Détente:
• Détente (a French word meaning release from tension) is the name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began in 1969 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972.
• The USA had also been involved in proxy wars because they coud not fight directly against the USSR : 1963-73 active US participation in Vietnam War.
• => Study this article carefully, watch the videos and summarize the origins of the Vietnam War, how it unfolded and its human, economic and political consequences for Vietnam and the USA. You will then record your summary in an audio file/a podcast that should be between 5 and 10 minutes long.

3. The American culture of the Cold War

• Science mobilized:
• Based on deterrence theory, the superpowers entered a nuclear arms race;
• The “balance of terror” of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War was the price the USA was willing to pay to defend the “Free World” against the spread of what it saw as the totalitarian communist system of the Soviet Union. (a poster for the civil defense)
• Manhattan project (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-manhattan-project)
• Space race
• The arts under influence.
• Confrontation in the field of sports (for example through the Olympic Games)

To go further:

• Ronald Reagan began his first term with hostile rhetoric and a massive arms buildup, which the Soviets knew they couldn’t match. For example, he initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) on March 23, 1983. The Strategic Defense Initiative was eventually abandoned. But during his second-term he made a conversion to detente and disarmament.
• The USA “won” this race since the Soviet Union was, by the 1980s, no longer able to upkeep its nuclear weapons.
• 1989: the fall of the Berlin Wall
• 1991: collapse and dissolution of the USSR (Gorbatchev resignation)

• Vidéo: WWII Part 2: the Homefront

WWI Strengthened the federal government of the USA:

• Federal agencies during WWII
• Massive rationing of food and supplies
• Propaganda to support the war effort and against the Axis (Wikipedia ; ‘Der Furher’s face’ – Disney; Loony Tunes turns animation into wartime propaganda – ‘The Ducktators’ – 1942; ‘Casablanca’ a classic of  WWII propaganda – The conversation)

The war kicked the American economy into overdrive (transition to wartime production):

• By 1944 American factories were producing an airplane every 5 minutes, a Liberator -bomber- evry 55 minutes (video), a ship everyday (« Liberty ships »; video)
• The Government spending spurred development of some states and areas (Los Angeles)

Social changes in factories:

• Organized labor (Unions) grew (video)
• Many of the workers were women (Rosie the riveter) but they had to let go their jobs after war (mostly high paying industrial jobs)
• The US Bill of rights (video) to avoid unemployment for returning soldiers.

The American ideology promoted diversity, tolerance and equality but the situation of the minorities was not that good in the USA during WWII. But some evolutions appeared…

• A ship of Jewish refugees, the St Louis, was refused US landing in 1939 (website: History)
• The Detroit race riots (june 20-22; 1943) killed 25 African Americans and 9 whites (article; Times website)
• The zoot suit riots in Los Angeles in June 1943 (History video)
• 25000 native Americans fought in WWII (General Douglas Mc Arthur meeting native troops on 31 December 1943  Wikipedia)
• Asian American women played a part in America’s war effort (History website)
• the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII (website Archive.gov)
• African Americans double V campaign (https://blackhistoryintwominutes.com/the-double-v-campaign-of-world-war-ii/) and the history of black soldiers (video= https://blackhistoryintwominutes.com/2021/10/the-history-of-the-black-soldier/)

=> Group work: using these documents, your knowledge and additional informations found on the Internet, make a short video of less than five minutes summarizing the main events and characters of the Second World War.

When did the USA get involved in the Second World War?

• America enters WWII (video , History). Find information about the U.S. armed forces after December 7, 1941: can we say that the United States was a great military power? (justify). Sum up and explain the first part of the video : how did American foreign policy, and American opinion, change after December 7, 1941? And why?

The attack on Pearl Harbor

• The attack on Pearl Harbor according to Hollywood: Tora! Tora! Tora! trailer; the begining of the attack; the destruction of the airfields (Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku et Toshio Masuda 1970). And just for fun, the trailer of Michael Bay’sPearl Harbor (2001) => it could be intersting to compare the two trailers and to put the two films in their historical contexts.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor (featuring footage from the U.S. Navy): Sunday December 7, 1941 (another video with the historical context of the attack)

The US declaration of war;

• President Roosevelt declares war on Japan following the attack at Pearl Harbor (British Pathe archives; full speech). Comment on.
  

WWII timeline with some of the major events of this war:

• Timeline (video here): listen to the video and take note of the main events and characters of the Second World War. Don’t forget to critique the documents used to illustrate the timeline
• The Second World War: a timeline (main events of the WWII; History Extra – BBC)
• The Battle of Britain in 90 Seconds
• Spitfire Gun camera actual combat footage – Battle of Britain – RAF (Video Youtube – 2010)
• Non-British personnel in the RAF during the Battle of Britain (Wikipedia)
• American Spitfire Squadron in England (1rst January 1942; source: Reuters)
• The D-Day Normandy Landings (archives); original maps (Library of Congress)

Main American and British commanders of WWII

• Commanders of WWII (Wikipedia): choose and make a presentation of at least 6 US commanders and 4 British commanders of WWII. Justify your choice.

The liberation of the concentration camps by the American army

• The liberation of Flossenburg concentration camp (video)
• WWII veteran recalls liberation of Buchenwald (CNN): testimony

=> The end of the war in Europe:

• Russians Enter Berlin: Final Months of World War II (1945) | British Pathé
• Berlin in july 1945

=> The end of the war in the Pacific area and the American atomic program

• President Harry Truman announces the Bombing of Hiroshima
• Video about the Manhattan project
• J.Robert Oppenheimer: the scientific director of the Manhattan project
• The atomic bomb was successfully built in 1944 and used for the first atomic bombing in history: Hiroshima and Nagasaki (6 and 9 august 1945)