Summary
Chapter 13 explains the origins of the Cold War and the development of American strategy in the postwar world. Following the end of the conflict in 1945, the world looked to the future with hope for lasting peace. Only the United States and the Soviet Union rose from rubble of history’s more destructive conflict with preponderances of military and economic power. The common objective of defeating the Axis powers had sustained the Grand Alliance of the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom throughout the war. However, with the old European power structure now swept from the continent, the Americans and Soviets eyed each other warily. A brief and tenuous honeymoon followed until 1947 when efforts to transcend differences, fears, and objectives between Washington and Moscow failed. Then the world plunged into the “Cold War.” This confrontation pitted the democratic, capitalist United States against the totalitarian, communist Soviet Union, but it did not degenerate into a direct shooting war between the nations.
Unlike the American experience after the First World War, the United States would not return to isolationism after the defeat of the Axis Powers. Instead, Americans attempted to restrain the spread of communism in the war-torn world and stop the extension of the Soviet Union influence. A single thread of containment can be seen weaving its way through this chapter: Presidents Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower tried to contain Soviet and Communist expansion, but they did so in different ways.
In this chapter students will learn about the origins of the Cold War and the establishment of President Harry S. Truman’s strategy of symmetric containment. From there, there will be a discussion or how the U.S. military reorganized its missions, structures, and social relations. Emphasis will be placed on the Korean War as the first major proxy conflict between the superpowers. Finally, this chapter will discuss Eisenhower’s “New Look” strategy and the evolution of asymmetric containment.
Glossary
Edward M. Almond- (1892-1979), Major general in the U.S. Army, he was made Chief of Staff for the Far East Command in February 1949. A well-known adulator of the vainglorious Douglas MacArthur, neither Almond nor MacArthur as UN commander understood the full extent of North Korea’s initial invasion of South Korea in June 1950. In September Almond became commander of X Corps, cobbled together from disparate units, to undertake the Inchon landings. He also retained his role as chief of staff of the Far East Command.
asymmetric containment- A conceptual framework historian John Lewis Gaddis created to define varying examples of containment strategies the United States practiced during the Cold War. The idea is represented in Gaddis’s 1982 work, Strategies of Containment. Asymmetrical containment referred to the United States confronting the Soviet Union in a calculated way – choosing the time, place, and means by which the confrontation would occur – but doing so in a manner that did not directly respond to Moscow’s initial move.
B-52 “Stratofortress”- Boeing-produced jet-powered heavy bomber, designed to hit targets in Europe and Asia during the Cold War, and introduced to the U.S. Air Force in 1955. As a strategic bomber the B-52 is capable of carrying conventional bomb loads – as it has done in its combat history from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan – as well as nuclear weapons and missiles.
Berlin Airlift- Lasting from June 1948 until May 1949. The airlift was the American and British effort to supply blockaded West Berlin civilians with crucial supplies, from food to coal. The Allied Powers’ decision after World War II to divide Germany into zones of occupation had also extended to the division of Berlin itself, in the heart of Soviet-controlled East Germany.
Fidel Castro- (1926-), Leader of a Cuban revolution in 1958 and then the subsequent regime, solidifying his singular control through brutal means. After taking power Castro nationalized many industries owned by foreign investors, including American. President Dwight Eisenhower interpreted Castro’s actions and philosophies as communist, and in a bid to contain communist expansion only 90 miles from America’s shores he ordered the CIA to attempt an overthrow.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)- An intelligence-gathering and covert operations organization in the United States government, established in the National Security Act of 1947. Initially formed in an attempt to collect and centralize Cold War intelligence, it quickly began clandestine operations, including supporting assassinations or coup d’état attempts against foreign governments perceived to be a threat to American security around the globe.
Chipyong-ni, Battle of- Korean War battle in 1951 between 4,500 American and French troops defending the town of Chipyon-ni, east of Seoul, and 25,000 Chinese attackers. Lasting from 13-15 February, timely aerial supply provided the Americans with food and ammunition while close air support took a heavy toll on the enemy. A decisive victory, it broke the Chinese momentum in the war, allowing U.S. and U.N. forces to launch additional counter-offensives to push thee enemy back to the 38th Parallel.
Chongchon Valley, Battle of- (25 November—2 December 1950), Korean War battle that resulted from General Douglas MacArthur’s offensive to push the Communist Chinese to the Yalu River in a bid to end the war before Christmas. Heavy casualties resulted in the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division becoming combat ineffective while the rest of the Eight Army that had survived the initial onslaught escaped to Pyongyang.
Chosin, Battle of – (27 November – 11 December 1950), Some 70,000 Communist Chinese suddenly surrounded 30,000 U.S. and U.N. troops in northeastern Korea. Caught in a valley with escape blocked by the enemy, two Marine regiments broke through enemy lines to enter the reservoir and link up with friendly forces at Hagaru-ri. Utilizing combined arms, Smith’s forces broke through Chinese blocking forces, enduring an 80-mile trek to the American-held port city of Hangnum where they were evacuated.
“Cold War”- The prolonged confrontation between two superpowers: the United States representing the “west” and its capitalist ideology, and the Soviet Union symbolizing the “east” and communism. It is referred to as a “cold” war because tensions never became “hot” by erupting into a shooting war between the two powers. Rather, open confrontations remained between proxies or used ideas.
Covert Operations- Top secret missions that sometimes violate democratic sensibilities, if not Constitutional laws. Covert operations by the Central Intelligence Agency during the Cold War took place ostensibly in the interest of containing perceived communist threats, sometimes to the extent of intervening in foreign elections, state-sponsored assassination, or organizing coup d’état attempts against foreign governments (such as in Iran and Guatemala in 1953 and 1954, respectively).
Executive Order 9981- (26 July 1948), Angered by post-war racial harassment and violence direct in the military against African Americans and other minorities in uniform, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981. Without the adequate votes in Congress to support similar legislation, the president turned to the executive order, carrying with it the full force of law within the executive branch. It demanded equality in the armed forces and an end to discrimination based on matters of race, religion, and national origin.
Deterrence- Threatening violence in response to one’s action in the hopes of discouraging provocation in the first place. In the Cold War, beginning with President Harry Truman and continuing with succeeding presidents, the United States used deterrence as a means to contain Soviet expansion. Strategic deterrence came in the form of nuclear weapons, either delivered by aircraft or ballistic missiles.
Dwight D. Eisenhower- (1890-1969), U.S. Army general officer during World War II and acting supreme commander of Allied forces. Elected president in 1953, Eisenhower committed to ending the Korean War, as he feared the conflict would escalate from a limited and regional conflict, into a global total war – a continuing concern throughout his presidency. His “New Look” policy was an example of nuclear deterrence.
Insurgency- An insurrection by rebelling forces in an attempt to overthrow a government. The United States has undertaken counterinsurgency efforts everywhere from the Philippines to South Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile- A missile capable of hitting targets thousands of miles away. The Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 ushered the world into the missile age. With improved technology it was suggested soon after the launch that nuclear weapons could be placed on missiles and hit the United States. American fears that they had fallen behind the Soviets technologically led to the supposed “missile gap,” and resulted in President Eisenhower investing huge sums of money and resources into American missile programs, leading ultimately to the U.S. space program in 1958 with the establishment of NASA.
International Military Tribunal in Nuremburg- (20 November 1945 – 1st October 1946), Also known as the Nuremberg Trials, the nearly year-long trial following World War II of twenty-one Nazi war leaders by the victorious Allied powers for accused war crimes. Seven Nazi leaders received prison sentences, and twelve were sentenced to death by hanging.
Curtis E. LeMay- (1906-1990), U.S. Air Force general, known for his gruff demeanor and ardent advocacy of strategic airpower. Beginning in 1948 Lemay took over the Strategic Air Command (SAC), and with the help of President Eisenhower’s “New Look” formed it into one of the most fear-inducing military forces in American history, capable of delivering nuclear weapons to anywhere in the world in a short time frame. LeMay became Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force until 1961 and then Chief of Staff from 1961 to 1965.
“limited war”- Warfare that puts restraint on the means used during its prosecution. Limited war is distinct from total war, In Korea, President Harry Truman attempted to restrain the conflict to within the Korean borders in order to avoid inciting a Chinese or Soviet response. Throughout the Vietnam War Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon carefully chose how, when, and where to attack North Vietnam directly, as well as ostensibly respecting the neutrality of bordering Laos and Cambodia.
Douglas MacArthur- (1880-1964), One of the most controversial U.S. Army officers of the twentieth-century known for his superlative egotism. As commander of U.N. forces in the Korean War for the first year of the war, MacArthur was capable of operational brilliance, such as the daring Inchon Landings. His perceived insubordination toward Harry S. Truman, however, led to the president relieving MacArthur of command in April 1951 (see Truman-MacArthur Controversy).
massive retaliation- President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Cold War containment strategy elucidated initially in NSC-162/2, a National Security Council document from October 1953. As a policy it became part of the president’s “New Look.” In practice, massive retaliation threatened the use of nuclear weapons wherever provoked, either targeting the point of communist incursion in the non-communist world, or the specific nations themselves.
“McCarthyism”- The targeting of supposed communists in the early 1950s by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin. Playing on growing American fears about communist expansion, starting in early 1950 McCarthy used his position as chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to expose communist conspirators in society and the government. He used the relatively new medium of television to spread his hysteria and popularize himself as communist with hunter par excellence.
Military-Industrial Complex- Dwight D. Eisenhower’s term to describe what he perceived as the dangerous influence of the military establishment and large arms industries. Elucidated in the president’s farewell address on 17 January 1961, the Cold War warfare state had given rise to close ties between the government and arms manufacturers, and created a more militarized United States. Eisenhower’s feared the potential loss of liberty and a threatened democracy in the name of national security.
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG)- Organized in September 1950, MAAG was part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s aid to Indochina in a bid to contain communist expansion in the region. After the Geneva Accords in 1954, the mission became MAAG, Vietnam, and aided Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime with American weapons and military training. MAAG’s role was confined to training and advising.
“military unification”- The attempted merger in the mid-1940s of the Army and the Navy into a single service. After a bitter interservice dabate, Congress pasesd the groundbreaking National Security Act of 1947, which among other things combined the War and Navy Departments by creating a new Department of Defense and formed a new and independent U.S. Air Force.
National Air and Space Administration (NASA)- A federal organization of the United States, established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. With the Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik satellite in 1957, American response to the technological superiority of their Cold War enemy spurred the U.S. government to invest in meeting and surpassing Soviet capabilities in space.
National Security Act of 1947- An Act of Congress that the Truman administration intended to be a means of updating an antiquated defense system. There were four primary results of the act: a merger of the Departments of War and Navy into the National Military Establishment, headed by a secretary of defense; the National Security Council was created, thereby centralizing national security policymaking in the executive; the U.S. Air Force became an autonomous branch from the Army; the Central Intelligence Agency was founded.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- A construct of the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military. A European initiative, NATO was born from Western European governments’ fear of Communist subversion in their own countries as well as external Soviet aggression. To thwart these pressures, the Brussels Pact of March 1948 was drafted, which would later become the Western European Union and eventually NATO on 4 April 1949.
NSC-68- A Top-Secret report the National Security Council created, completing it on 7 April 1950. Prompted by Secretary of State Dean Acheson to review U.S. national security strategy in the wake of China becoming communist and the Soviet Union detonating an atomic weapon, the Policy Planning Staff, led by Paul Nitze, concluded that the most pressing threat to the United States was the “hostile design” of the Soviet Union, with its almost religious faith in state ideology that called for a global empire. NSC-68 ushered in the Cold War-era strategies of containment.
NSC-162/2- A National Security Council report from October 1953 that became the basis of President Eisenhower’s “New Look” policy. In an outline of the possible responses open to the Americans in the event of Chinese or Soviet expansion, the report suggested using nuclear strikes wherever a communist nation attempted an incursion in the non-communist world. Essentially, it was the first articulation of the policy of “massive retaliation,” and supported nuclear weapons as a containment tool.
occupation of Japan- The post-WWII presence of the American military in Japan, lasting from August 1945 to April 1952. As Supreme Commander, Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur commanded the occupation of the country. Like in Germany there was a military tribunal that tried war criminals. With a new constitution and a new legislature, the Japanese became a democracy – a development the Americans thought crucial to offset communist influence in the region.
People’s Liberation Army (PLA)- The army of the People’s Republic of China. Their entrance into the Korean War in October 1950 turned the tide against U.N. forces, and helped to cause a stalemate and eventually an armistice in July 1953.
Pusan Perimeter- An important port-city on the southeastern coast of South Korea, Pusan became the last toehold on the mainland after North Korean forces had invaded the country on 25 June 1950. What little resistance had stood in the way of the advancing enemy to that point had easily been swept aside and then forced into the Pusan Perimeter. From 4 August to 17 September 1950 the Americans defended the perimeter before being relieved by the Inchon Landings.
Pentomic Division- A U.S. Army organizational structure adopted in 1956 in order to enhance flexibility and mobility on an atomic battlefield. Composed of five battle groups of 1,400 men, each group contained four rifle companies, a mortar battery, and a headquarters company, the division was also capable of using tactical atomic weapons. In reality, however, the Pentomic Division was problematic, and by 1960 the Army readopted the triangular division with three regiments.
Pork Chop Hill, Battle of- (23 March – 16 July 1953), A Korean War battle fought in the conflict’s last months during diplomatic talks. In one of the war’s bloodiest battles, the Chinese attacked the American outpost on Pork Chop Hill (named for the hill’s shape) manned by the U.S. 7th Infantry Division. After repelling three tenacious enemy attacks with the support of devastating artillery, the Americans abandoned the position without taking more casualties than the 1,300 they had already suffered.
“revolt of the admirals”- A controversy was over which service, the Air Force or the Navy, would be given the responsibility of delivering the U.S. military’s nuclear weapons in the event of war as well as the vitriolic interservice budgetary squabbles and occurred throughout 1949. The House Armed Services Committee initiated hearings, leading the Navy to publicly accuse the Air Force of misleading the government about the adequacy of its aircraft and strategy. Ultimately, Congress sided with the Air Force over the Navy.
Hyman G. Rickover- (1900-1986), A U.S. Navy admiral, known as the father of the Nuclear Navy. With expertise in atomic and nuclear energy he became director of the Naval Reactors Branch in the U.S. Navy’s Bureau of Ships in 1949. With visionary foresight, Rickover argued for the use of nuclear power plants on naval vessels. While there Rickover oversaw the design and construction of the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, and its launching in 1954.
Matthew Ridgway- (1895-1993), U.S. Army general officer. When Lieutenant General Walton Walker died in a December 1951 jeep accident in Korea, Ridgway took over the Eighth Army there. In mid-January Rigdway’s army pushed back north to the 38th parallel in a coherent and effective offensive, but fighting stalled there mostly into a stalemate for the rest of the war. After President Truman relieved General MacArthur of commander of U.N. forces in April 1951, Ridgway took control of the vacated post.
Strategic Air Command (SAC)- United States Air Force command formed in 1946 to execute strategic aviation missions, including long-range bombing and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). With the help of persuasive proponents in leadership positions, such as Curtis LeMay, throughout the Cold War SAC developed into one of the most dominant service branches in strategic planning.
“superpowers”- The two powers who emerged from World War II as the most powerful: the United States and the Soviet Union. Unparalleled in military and economic capabilities (though it would gradually become clear that the U.S. possessed the more vibrant economy), these two nations represented the two ideological blocs during the Cold War in competition with each other.
symmetric containment- A conceptual framework historian John Lewis Gaddis created to define varying examples of containment strategies the United States practiced during the Cold War. The idea is represented in Gaddis’s 1982 work, Strategies of Containment. Symmetric containment referred to the United States believing that no part of the world was considered peripheral. Best illustrated by NSC-68 during the Truman administration, symmetric containment argued that the United States would need to develop the capability to respond anywhere in the world and through whatever means necessary.
Oliver P. Smith- (1893-1977), U.S. Marine Corps general officer, commander of the 1st Marine Division during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in November-December 1950. Smith is best known for his ironic statement after strong Chinese attacks were forcing American forces into withdrawal, “Retreat, hell! We’re not retreating. We’re just advancing in a different direction.” Smith’s leadership allowed the surrounded marines and soldiers to break out of the valley in an 80 mile fighting withdrawal down a narrow road.
Task Force Smith- A 525-man force of American soldiers who fought the first engagement of the Korean War against the North Korean Army beginning on 5 July 1950. The task force’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles B. Smith, was ordered to block the enemy advance against 5,000 enemy soldiers and thirty-six tanks. An attempted retreat degraded into chaos, and Task Force Smith suffered 160 casualties and only managed to delay the North Koreans for seven hours and inflict 125 casualties on the enemy.
Sputnik- Soviet satellite launched in 1957, the first successful man-made object to orbit Earth. The American reaction was one of shock, since not only had the Soviets beaten them in sending something into space, but it was seemingly a superior design. Fearing that the USSR had become technologically superior, the United States began investing immense sums of money into rocket and space programs, forming NASA in 1958. The U.S. won the “space race” that developed by being the first nation to successfully land a man on the moon in 1969.
Battle of Triangle Hill- (14 October – 25 November 1952), A Korean War battle that exemplified the offensive and defensive aspects of trench warfare in the conflict. Control of a ridge changed hands several times over the next 42 days, but the fighting ended with the Chinese remaining firmly ensconced on Triangle Hill. The engagement did not result in decisive war-winning campaigns, but rather added to the body count in a war of attrition.
Harry S. Truman- the thirty-third U.S. president from 1945 to 1952. Among the many notable actions taken by Truman during the Cold War, the United States administered the Marshall Plan, sought containment of communism through the Truman Doctrine, executed the Berlin Blockade, racially integrated the U.S. military, and went to war in Korea.
Truman-McArthur Controversy- A controversial disagreement between General Douglas MacArthur and Harry S. Truman in March and April 1951. The most egregious example of MacArthur’s insubordination came on 5 April when Representative Joseph Martin read aloud on the floor of Congress a letter from MacArthur effectively critiquing Truman’s handling of the war and calling for a second front against China. As a result, on 11 April the president relieved MacArthur of command, causing unrest at home amongst the general population who still saw the general as a war hero.
Truman Doctrine- A generic term for President Harry S. Truman’s response to what he saw as Communist encroachment in Europe. Comprised predominately of monetary and military aid, the Truman Doctrine personified containment. The success of the Truman Doctrine was solidified after the Marshall Plan helped stabilize the tenuous situation in ravaged Europe. The Doctrine would eventually become the basis of American policy throughout the world, in varying degrees, during the Cold War.
U-2 Incident- An embarrassing incident for the United States and President Eisenhower on May 1, 1960 when the Soviet Union shot down an Central Intelligence Agency spy plane. Engine troubles on pilot Francis Gary Powers’ Lockheed U-2 forced the aircraft down to an altitude in range for Soviet anti-aircraft missiles. Initial reports from the United States claimed that it was an off-course weather aircraft, but once an indignant Nikita Khrushchev provided images of the pilot and the wreckage, Eisenhower was forced to admit to the fabrication.
U.N. Security Council- Born out of World War II, the United Nations was President Franklin Roosevelt’s brainchild, an international organization to avoid confrontation between nations and maintain peace. The Security Council, one of six U.N. organs, was intended to give the United Nations international authority, a lesson that had been learned with the U.N.’s toothless predecessor, the League of Nations.
Vietnam- Southeast Asian country and the sight of continual conflict throughout the mid-twentieth century. A French colony since the nineteenth century and part of French Indochina, American involvement, Vietnam was the sight of a painfully protracted American-led war from 1965 until 1973 when the last U.S. troops left the country. South Vietnam fell to the Communist forces from North Vietnam in 1975.
Walton H. Walker- (1889-1950), U.S. Army general officer, first commander of the Eighth Army during the Korean War. A capable and courageous leader, Walker coordinated the all-important Pusan Perimeter defense that allowed American forces not only to survive, but to push the enemy back north. Tragically, on 23 December 1950 he was killed in a traffic accident near Seoul.
Women’s Armed Services Integration Act- Legislation passed on 12 June 1948 giving women in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force regular status. Integration, however, was not total, as women were disallowed to serve in combat units, naval vessels, and combat aircraft squadrons. Additionally, women in uniform could not rise to above two percent of all personnel, and they could not attain general officer ranks.
Flashcards
Annotated Bibliography
Albertson, Trevor. Winning Armageddon: Curtis LeMay and Strategic Air Command, 1948-1957. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2019.
Albertson takes on the task of writing about a giant in Air Force history – Curtis LeMay. This book breaks down why LeMay favored a first American strike in nuclear war. Yes, Albertson does not portray LeMay as the simplistic Cold Warrior but instead as a man who wanted to avoid nuclear war if possible.
Bogle, Lori Lyn. The Pentagon’s Battle for the American Mind: The Early Cold War. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2004.
This book is a cultural history of the U.S. military’s attempt to mold the American morale and morals in the context of the early Cold War. Bogle finds Presidents Truman and Eisenhower worked together with the military leaders and even evangelical Christians to create a civic religion in the United States that stressed the dangers of the Soviet Union and communism.
Bowie, Robert R., and Richard H. Immerman. Waging Peace: How Eisenhower Shaped an Enduring Cold War Strategy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Co-authored by an advisor to President Eisenhower and a premier Eisenhower scholar this book is part history, part memoir. Bowie and Immerman delve in the Eisenhower’s “New Look” national security policy that, they argue, formed the foundation of American strategy for the next several presidencies. Eisenhower utilized the National Security Council to create strategies that could contain Soviet and communism expansion.
Brands, H.W. The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War. New York: Doubleday, 2016.
Best-selling author and historian H.W. Brands sets aside the myths and impressions of the Truman-MacArthur controversy during the Korean War to lay out the facts and motivations of both men. The confrontations resulted in Truman making the unpopular decision to relieve MacArthur of his command in Korea in 1951, yet by doing so, Truman also avoided the possibility of nuclear war.
Bury, Helen. Eisenhower and the Cold War Arms Race: “Open Skies” and the Military-Industrial Complex. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.
Bury argues that Eisenhower’s “Open Skies” policy of mutual aerial inspection among the great powers helped offset the more dire “New Look” strategy that threated massive nuclear retaliation. Bury also points out that the “Open Skies” policy was less expensive than the “New Look” strategy and thus would slow the growth of military-industrial complex driven huge defense budget expenditures.
Devine, Michael J. The Korean War Remembered: Contested Memories of an Unended War Conflict. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023.
=Devine uses memory studies techniques to help readers better understand the significances of the Korean War over the previous seven decades. The war never ended, and the two Koreas remain hostile to one another. Both Koreas and the United States have manipulated the history and memories of the Korean War or ignored them as necessary.
Duncan, Francis. Rickover and the Nuclear Navy: The Discipline of Technology. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990.
Duncan’s book is the most thorough biography of one of the Navy’s great personalities. Rickover cast a shadow over nuclear-power in the Navy for several decades.
Givens, Seth, and Ingo Trauschweizer, eds. Berlin and the Cold War. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2024.
The city of Berlin was and is synonymous with the Cold War. The wall dividing East and West Berlin was a symbol for a world divided between the United States and the Soviet Union. The contributors to this anthology examine three historical era of Berlin: the early Cold War to 1957, the crisis years from 1958 to 1971, and the years of détente to the end of the Cold War. Some chapters examine the micro-history of Berlin proper, while others place the city against the backdrop of macro-level Cold War tensions.
House, Jonathan M. A Military History of the Cold War, 1944-1962. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 2012.
In this military history of the early Cold War to 1962, Jonathan House examines the armed conflicts among the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies and proxies. Among the conflicts in this book are the Korean War, the Berlin Crisis, the Formosa Crisis, the beginning of the American commitment in Vietnam, and numerous proxy wars in the Third World. House places the military factors in the context of diplomacy and strategy during the new nuclear age.
Kaplan, Edward. To Kill Nations: American Strategy in the Air-Atomic Age and the Rise of Mutually Assured Destruction. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2015.
This recent examination of American atomic strategy focuses on the deterrent effects of mutually assured destructions that started in the 1950s and remained to one degree or another part of national strategy for decades thereafter.
Li, Xaiobing. Attack at Chosin: The Second China Offensive in Korea. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2020.
In this ground-breaking book, Bing Li analyzes Chinese tactics, doctrine, force structure, combat effectiveness, leadership, and logistics during the bitter fighting with the Americans at the Chosin Reservoir in mountains of North Korea from November 27 until December 17, 1950. Li finds that the Chinese suffered from cold and hunger just like the Americans. He also finds several reasons for the American survival, including poor relations between the Chinese and the North Koreans, and poor logistics of the Chinese Army.
Linn, Brian McAllister. Elvis’ Army: Cold War GIs and the Atomic Battlefield. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.
Linn expands beyond his early twentieth century research in his institutional history of the U.S. Army in the early Cold War. Among other topics, he examines the so-called pentomic division designed in the late 1950s to fight and survive on atomic battlefields.
May, Elaine Tyler. Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era. New York: Basic Books, 1990.
May examines from where the nuclear family in the nuclear age came by analyzing gender roles. Her work’s central question asks why postwar Americans turned to marriage and parenthood with such enthusiasm during the Cold War.
McCoy, Cameron D. Contested Valor: African American Marines in the Age of Power, Protest, and Tokenism. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2023.
This book evaluates the roles and perspectives of African Americans serving in the Marines Corps form the end of World War II through the Vietnam War. McCoy relates how and why the Marine Corsp as an institution and Marines themselves stubbornly maintained racial barriers against blacks in what he calls the Jim Crow Marine Corps. McCoy also explores the experiences of black Marines serving this prejudiced Corps.
Metz, Steven. Eisenhower as Strategist: The Coherent Use of Military Power in War and Peace. Carlisle, PA: U.S. Army War College Press, 1993.
This book traces the evolution of Dwight D. Eisenhower as a strategist and grand strategist from his military service in World War II, to his roles in the early Cold War, and finally to his time as president. Metz demonstrates that each stage helped prepare Ike for the next stage of his career, giving him the habits of mind to deal with ever-larger concerns.
Millett, Allan R. The War for Korea. 2 vols. University Press of Kansas, 2005-2010.
In the first two volumes of what is to be a trilogy, Millett analyzes the origins and first year of the Korean War. The product of extensive research, the first volume begins at the conclusion of the Second World War and the Korean role in the coming of the war, while the second volume looks at 1950 to 1951, when the superpowers became involved in the conflict.
Roth, Tanya L. Her Cold War: Women in the U.S. Military, 1945-1980. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2021.
Roth surveys the history of women in the U.S. military from the end of World War II until 1980. Those years are roughly bookmarked by the passing of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act in 1948 and the disbanding of the Women’s Army Corps in 1978. These decades saw servicewomen filling feminine-typed non-combat roles and enduring discrimination if pregnant or married. They were women first and military persons second. Gradually, however, the women of this generation tried to gain more equality and other recognitions like promotion potential.
Sambaluk, Nicholas Michael. The Outer Space Race: Eisenhower and the Quest for Aerospace Security. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2015.
This book examines the early years of America’s space program. The launching of the Soviet satellite Sputnik increased the urgency of the space program and spurred President Dwight Eisenhower to create NASA. This in turn led to the race to the moon in the 1960s.
Trauschweizer, Ingo. The Cold War U.S. Army: Building Deterrence for Limited War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008.
Trauschweizer considers strategy, doctrine, and technology in the Cold War U.S. Army. He argues that the evolution of the service into a force capable of both nuclear and conventional combat was in response to budgetary constraints, evolving strategy, threat perceptions, and political needs of the United States and its allies.
Williamson, Corbin. The U.S. Navy and Its Cold War Alliances, 1945-1953. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2020.
This book examines increasing cooperation of the U.S. Navy with British, Canadian, and Australian navies during the early Cold War. They faced common adversaries in the Soviet Union and its allies that threatened interests all over the globe. Williamson’s book looks at “from the middle” by using archival sources to better understand the roles and actions of mid-career officers of all four navies.
Expanded Bibliography
Bacevich, Andrew J. The Pentomic Era: The U.S. Army between Korea and Vietnam. Washington, DC: National Defense University, 1986.
Barlow, Jeffrey. From Hot War to Cold: The U.S. Navy and National Security Affairs, 1945–1955. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009.
Birtle, A. J. Rearming the Phoenix: U.S. Military Assistance to the Federal Republic of Germany, 1950–1960. New York: Garland, 1991.
Crane, Conrad C. American Air Power Strategy in the Korean War, 1950–1953. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000.
Futrell, Robert F. The United States Air Force in Korea, 1950–1953. Washington, DC:Office of the Chief of Air Force History, 1983.
Gaddis, John Lewis. The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941–1947. New York: Columbia, 1972.
Hogan, Michael. A Cross of Iron: Harry S. Truman and the Origins of the National Security State, 1945–1954. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
House, Jonathan M. A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012.
Jordan, Robert S., ed. Generals in International Politics: NATO’s Supreme Commander Europe. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1987.
Kindsvatter, Peter. American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas Press, 2003.
Lawrence, Mark Atwood. Assuming the Burden: Europe and the American Commitment to War in Vietnam. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007.
Ledbetter, James. Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011.
Leffler, Melvyn. Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992.
Lewis, Adrian. The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom. New York: Routledge, 2012.
Rose, John P. The Evolution of U.S. Army Nuclear Doctrine, 1945–1980. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1980.
Ross, Steven T. American War Plans, 1945–1950: Strategies for Defeating the Soviet Union. London: Frank Cass, 1996.
Russ, Martin. Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Stuart, Douglas T. Creating the National Security State: A History of the Law that Transformed America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Stueck, William. Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.
Werrell, Kenneth P. Sabres over MiG Alley, Annapolis, MD: Naval Institution Press, 2005.
Annotated Weblinks
Site: American Rhetoric, Harry S. Truman: The Truman Doctrine
URL:http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystrumantrumandoctrine.html
Description: Follow this link to hear President Harry S. Truman address a joint session of Congress on 12 March 1947. The speech would come to be understood as the president’s outlining of the Truman Doctrine.
Site: Cold War International History Project
URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/cold-war-international-history-project
Description: When searching for any topic of the Cold War, the first place to look is the Cold War International History Project. Established at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. in 1991, the Cold War International History Project has played a central role in prompting many governments to release historical materials regarding the Cold War. The Center’s digital archives and publications are invaluable resources.
Site: Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, The Berlin Airlift Collection
URL:http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/index.php
Description: Arguably the best collection of primary sources regarding the Berlin Airlift of 1949-49 on the internet, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library’s website offers visitors a narrative history, a host of important documents, a photograph collection, oral histories from important historical actors, and audio from Truman himself.
Site: Air Force Association Publication, The First 60 Years: The Air Force, 1947 to 2007
URL: http://secure.afa.org/Mitchell/Reports/1206_60years.pdf
Description: This link will take you to an Air Force Association publication that outlines the history of the U.S. Air Force from 1947 to 2007.
-Site: Hoover Institution, Strategies of Containment, Past and Future
URL: https://www.hoover.org/research/strategies-containment-past-and-future
Description: In the words of John Lewis Gaddis, one of the preeminent historians of the Cold War, this link will take you to a good article on the strategies of containment for the past and future.
Site: Central Intelligence Agency, CIA’s Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991
URL: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/cias-analysis-of-the-soviet-union-1947-1991/index.html
Description: If looking for how the United States evaluated the Soviet Union’s capabilities throughout the Cold War, this CIA compilation of documents is a great resource.
Site: U.S. Army Center of Military History, Online Bookshelves, Korean War
URL: http://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/KW.html
Description: For a listing of materials the U.S. Army Center of Military History has produced about the Korean War, follow this link. There you will find detailed histories, archival materials, and useful timelines.
Site: flickr.com, Korean War Historical Images
URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/imcomkorea/sets/72157607808414225/
Description: Follow this link to look at over 500 high-quality Korean War photographs from the U.S. Army Korea’s flickr stream. Be sure to take advantage of this website’s helpful captions for each image.
Site: West Point, The Korean War Battle and Campaign Maps
URL: http://www.westpoint.edu/history/SitePages/Korean%20War.aspx
Description: If looking for detailed maps of operations in the Korean War, visit this link from the United States Military Academy.
Site: Library of Congress, Veterans History Project
URL: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/html/search/search.html
Description: One of the largest oral history projects in the United States, the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project has interviewed veterans from World War I up to the Global War on Terror. As for the Korean War, the project has over 11,300 oral histories. Searchable by such things as conflict, branch or service, gender, service location, and rank, the ability to narrow down interviews means visitors are not overwhelmed.
Site: U.S. Army Center of Military History, Army Historical Series, The Women’s Army Corps, 1945-1978
URL:
Description: Follow this link to read a U.S. Army Center of Military History monograph, The Women’s Army Corps, 1945-1978. Written by Bettie J. Morden, this volume charts the interaction of plans, decisions, and personalities within the Department of the Army that affected the WAC.
Site: Naval History & Heritage Command, The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991
URL: https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/the-navy-in-the-cold-war-era-1945-1991.html
Description: If you want to read a detailed history of the U.S. Navy during the Cold War, follow this link to the Naval History & Heritage Command.
Site: U.S. Army Center of Military History, Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965
URL: https://history.army.mil/html/books/050/50-1-1/index.html
Description: Considerable inroads were made to integrate the U.S. Armed Forces during the Korean War. Read all about the integration of the U.S. military between 1940 and 1965 in this Center of Military History publication.
Site: Strategic-Air-Command.com
URL: http://www.strategic-air-command.com/
Description: If looking for information about the Strategic Air Command, it is best to start here. Follow the link and you will find a history of SAC as well as information about aircraft, bases, wings, and weapons.