US foreign policy in the aftermath of World War II.

1. A New Global Power

2. The Bomb Readings
• What justifications were contained
in the readings?
• Who justified the bombings?
• Were we justified in bombing
Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
• What fallout are we still facing from
nuclear weapons?

3. Effects of WWII
• US and USSR emerge as the two superpowers in the world – we now enter a
bipolar era of foreign policy.
• The Marshall Plan: US plan to aid Europe in the aftermath of World War
II. Part of the Truman Doctrine.
• Remove tariffs
• Modernize industry
• Rebuild Europe
• Stop the spread of communism.

4. The Truman Doctrine
• Outlines US foreign policy in the postwar
period – containment of communism in
Europe.
• Essential aspect of US expanding its foreign
policy to foreign nations.
• Stresses modernization, stability, and no direct
military intervention.
• Echoes today?

5. The Marshall Plan
• Named after Secretary of State George
Marshall
• Plan aimed at aiding allied nations primarily.
UK receives 26% of aid, France 18% and West
Germany 11%.
• Splits Europe in to zones of US and USSR
influence.
• US ships 1/6 of total food supply to Europe
and Japan between 1945 and 1946.

6. But Why? Speech from George Marshall
The modern system of the division of labor upon which the exchange of products is
based is in danger of breaking down. ... Aside from the demoralizing effect on the
world at large and the possibilities of disturbances arising as a result of the desperation
of the people concerned, the consequences to the economy of the United States
should be apparent to all. It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is
able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health to the world, without
which there can be no political stability and no assured peace. Our policy is not
directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Any
government that is willing to assist in recovery will find full co-operation on the part
of the USA. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so
as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions
can exist.

7. Effects of Marshall Plan
• George Marshall receives Nobel Prize for the
humanitarian efforts of the Plan.
• Hastens Western Europe’s rebuilding.
• Creates suspicion in Moscow and leads to
increasingly fraught relationship between US and
USSR.
• Strengthens bond between the US and Western
Europe.

9. The Creation of NATO
• In 1949, the US along with 11 Western European nations sign a collective
defense agreement known as the North Atlantic Treaty.
• Cements common defense interests – an attack on one nation is an attack on
all – in order to face the threat of communism in Europe.
• Warsaw Pact, a collective defense treaty of Communist nations, forms in
response to NATO.

10. Warsaw Pact and NATO

11. The Korean War
• After declaring war on Japan, USSR invades Korean peninsula. Territory
subsequently split at the 38th parallel between US and USSR zones of occupation.
• Tensions escalate between communist factions in the North and pro-democracy
advocates in the South.
• Becomes a global conflict when Truman resolves to intervene in order to prevent
further spread of communism in Asia.
• June 24, 1950: Truman informed that the North (under Kim Il-Sung) invaded the
South with Soviet support. Resolves to intervene militarily.

12. Truman on Korea
“Communism was acting in Korea, just as Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese
had ten, fifteen, and twenty years earlier. I felt certain that if South Korea was
allowed to fall, Communist leaders would be emboldened to override nations
closer to our own shores. If the Communists were permitted to force their way
into the Republic of Korea without opposition from the free world, no small
nation would have the courage to resist threat and aggression by stronger
Communist neighbors.”

13. Aftermath of War
• Korea divided between North (communist)
and South (democratic) at the 38th parallel
once the US and North Korea finalize a
ceasefire.
• Korean War will set the basis for US foreign
policy for next half century.
• “Policing” force of the Western world
opposed to spread of communism.