Why NATO Was Created: Western Europe Searches for Security (1948–1949) In 1948, Western Europe was free from World War II—but it did not feel secure. Two devastating world wars had torn through the continent within a single generation, leaving cities damaged, economies weakened, and millions dead or displaced. Nazi Germany had been defeated, but another powerful force now dominated much of Eastern Europe: the Soviet Union. Soviet troops remained stationed across the East, Com

My Name is Joseph McCarthy: The Senator Who Gave His Name to McCarthyism I was born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, in 1908. I grew up on a farm in a large Catholic family, and I learned early that advancement depended upon determination. I left school as a young man, returned to finish my education at an accelerated pace, attended Marquette University, earned a law degree, and entered politics. I became a Wisconsin circuit judge while still in my twenties. When America entered Wo

The Soviet Union, once an ally against Nazi Germany, had become America's greatest international rival, communist governments were spreading across Eastern Europe, and fears grew that communism might also be gaining influence inside the United States. By the late 1940s, Americans were entering an era in which political beliefs, friendships, employment, and even entertainment could become matters of suspicion. From Wartime Ally to Communist Rival During World War II, the Unite

My Name is Elizabeth Bentley: Soviet Courier Turned American Informant I was born in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1908, and nothing about my childhood suggested that I would someday carry secrets for Soviet intelligence. I was educated at Vassar College and later studied languages in Europe and at Columbia University. I was intelligent, ambitious, and searching for something larger than myself. During the Great Depression, capitalism appeared to many Americans to be failing.

The Birth of the CIA and KGB: Building the Cold War’s Secret Armies When World War II ended in 1945, American and Soviet soldiers could look back on a war in which their nations had fought the same enemy. But beneath the celebrations, another struggle was already beginning. The United States and Soviet Union had dramatically different political systems and competing visions for the postwar world. As Soviet influence expanded across Eastern Europe and tensions increased over G

My Name is Nikita Khrushchev: Leader of the Soviet Union I was born in 1894 in the village of Kalinovka, near the borderlands of Russia and Ukraine. I did not come from palaces, universities, or wealthy families. My father was a laborer, and I worked as a shepherd boy before becoming a metalworker and mechanic. I knew what it meant to work with my hands and live among ordinary people. When revolution swept through Russia, I saw the Bolsheviks as men who promised to overturn t

The Soviet Atomic Bomb: America Loses Its Nuclear Monopoly (1949) For four years after World War II, the United States possessed something no other nation on Earth was known to have: the atomic bomb. American leaders understood that the Soviet Union was trying to build one, but many believed it would take years before the Soviets succeeded. Then, on August 29, 1949, deep within Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan, a brilliant flash erupted over the Semipalatinsk Test Site. The Sovie

My Name is Syngman Rhee: President of South Korea I was born in 1875 in a Korea very different from the nation the world knows today. The Joseon Dynasty still ruled, but Korea was increasingly surrounded by powerful nations seeking influence over our land. China, Japan, and Russia competed around us while many Koreans debated how our country could survive. As a young man, I became convinced that Korea needed political reform, education, national strength, and independence. I

A Divided Korea: North and South After World War IIWhen World War II ended in August 1945, Koreans had reason to celebrate. For thirty-five years, Korea had been ruled as a colony of the Japanese Empire, and Japan's defeat finally promised liberation. Yet freedom arrived with an unexpected problem. Before Koreans could establish a unified independent government, the peninsula became caught between the two emerging superpowers of the postwar world: the United States and the So

My Name is Chiang Kai-shek: I Lost China, but I Did Not Surrender I was born in 1887 in Zhejiang Province, when China was still ruled by the Qing Dynasty but was being weakened by foreign powers, rebellion, and corruption. My father died when I was young, and my mother raised me with discipline and determination. I grew convinced that China could not survive unless it became strong, united, and capable of defending itself. I chose the military life because I believed soldiers