cold war lecture
DESCRIPTION
Cold War NotesTRANSCRIPT
Cold War:
Part I:
“Reconstruction & Confrontation”
Post War Clean-up
• US and USSR became Top Powers
– After defeating Germany (and Japan)
• Most of Europe was trying to rebuild
• America and Soviet Union were
virtually untouched and able to
“reload” rather than “rebuild”
Beginning of Problems
• Problems started during WWII…
• US was mad at Stalin for the non-aggression pact
with Hitler
• Stalin blamed allies (US) for not invading
Germany controlled Europe before 1944.
• US suffered 300,000 deaths
• USSR – 28 million killed or wounded
– Still had some rebuilding to do
Yalta Conference
• February 1945
• US, Britain, USSR met
• Divided Germany into zones of occupation controlled by allied forces
• Germany would also have to pay reparations to USSR
• Stalin agreed to join war against Japan
• FDR and Churchill were skeptical of USSR
Post-War Germany
The Ideological Struggle Soviet &
Eastern Bloc Nations
[“Iron Curtain”]
US & the Western
Democracies
GOAL spread world-wide Communism
GOAL “Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world. [George Kennan] METHODOLOGIES:
Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]
Arms Race [nuclear escalation]
Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy] “proxy wars”
Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
The “Iron Curtain”
Iron Curtain: the ideological barrier that divided Eastern and Western Europe during the Cold War.
Truman Doctrine [1947] 1. Containment: restrict Soviet power and
the spread of communism
2. Civil War in Greece.
3. Turkey under pressure from the USSR for concessions in the Dardanelles.
4. The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.
5. The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid.
Marshall Plan [1948]
1. Secretary of State, George Marshall
2. U.S. aid plan designed to promote economic recovery in Europe after WWII
3. $12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to Eastern Europe & USSR, [but this was rejected].
Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)
The Arms Race: A “Missile Gap?”
} Arms Race: a competition to achieve weapon superiority
} The Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in 1949.
} Now there were two nuclear superpowers!
North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO (1949)
United States
Belgium
Britain
Canada
Denmark
France
Iceland
Italy
Luxemburg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
1952: Greece & Turkey
1955: West Germany
1983: Spain
A mutual defense pact by Western nations in 1949.
Warsaw Pact (1955)
} U. S. S. R.
} Albania
} Bulgaria
} Czechoslovakia
} East Germany
} Hungary
} Poland
} Rumania
A 1955 defense pact between the USSR and Eastern European nations
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
About the capitalist states, it doesn't depend on you whether we (Soviet Union) exist. If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations, and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it our not, history is on our side. We will bury you. -- 1956
De-Stalinization Program
Mao’s Revolution: 1949
Who lost China? – A 2nd } Power!
China’s Communist Path
• The Communists were led by Mao Zedong
• Founded the People’s Republic of China and
“The Great Leap Forward”
• Formed an alliance with the Soviet Union &
practiced Marxist principles
• Plans failed and Mao stepped down
• Cultural Revolution occurred: political
persecution in China from 1966 to 1976
– Led by Radical student groups known as the Red
Guards
– Persecuted anyone considered antirevolutionary
The Korean War: A “Police Action” (1950-1953)
Syngman Rhee
Kim Il-Sung
“Domino Theory”
CONTAINMENT TESTED
• After WWII Korea was occupied by
USSR(North)and USA (South)
• USSR sends tanks/weapons to
North to take over the south
• Truman puts stop to this
The War
• North Korea invaded
South
• General MacArthur
commanded UN military
to fight back
• September 1950-launch
surprise attack on North
Korea
• 1/2 surrendered; the rest
retreated
Not Over Yet
• UN forces pushed
North Korea back
close to China
• China gets angry &
sends 300,000 troops
• MacArthur calls for a
nuclear attack
• Truman disagrees;
removes MacArthur
End of War
• 1952: UN took
control of South
Korea
• New border set
near 38th parallel
• 4 million killed
• Today: Korea
remains divided
The Suez Crisis: 1956-1957
The Hungarian Uprising: 1956
Imre Nagy, Hungarian Prime Minister
} Promised free elections.
} This could lead to the end of communist rule in Hungary.
Sputnik I (1957) – Space Race
The Russians have beaten America in space—they have the technological edge!
Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth
U-2 Spy Incident (1960)
Col. Francis Gary Powers’ plane was
shot down over Soviet airspace.
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Checkpoint Charlie
Khruschev Embraces Castro, 1961
• Fidel Castro
overthrew dictator
• Cuba becomes a
Soviet ally
• U.S. tried to remove
Castro in a failed
invasion: Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs Debacle (1961)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
• Castro had allowed
Soviets to install
nuclear weapons in
Cuba
• U.S. placed a naval
blockade around the
island
• Soviets withdrew
missiles but U.S.
agreed not to invade
Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, and the other man blinked!
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
Trouble in Vietnam
• Communism spread
into Vietnam led by
Ho Chi Minh
• North Korea-
Communist
• South Korea- Anti-
Communist
Domino Theory
• Containment Policy
dictated they end
communism
• US felt they must get
involved
• Domino Theory- if one
country fell then its
neighbors would follow
Conflict ensues • South Led by Ngo dihn Diem
• People hated him
• Vietcong (communist S.V.) had
taken control of large parts of
S.V.
• Eventually Diem was
assassinated but others were
not liked either
• Risk of a Vietcong takeover, US
increases involvement
US Enters Fight
• August 1964- LBJ sends troops to
Vietnam
• 1965-185,000 troops
• 1968- 500,000 troops
Vietnam War
• US had the best weapons and
training
• Vietcong were fighting at home and
were committed to fight.
• Popularity of South Vietnam
decreased and influence of North
Vietnam and USSR increased which
made it harder for the US
More Work
• Within 3 years, North Vietnam had
conquered the South and united the
country.
• Last troops were pulled out in 1973
Post War Vietnam
• North took control of South and
installed communist government
• Communism caused 1.5 million to
flee
• Many refugees came to America
• 1995, relations became less strained
between US and Vietnam
Easing Cold War Tensions
• Tensions relaxed by 1970s
• U.S. led the way in the arms race in
1960s and wanted to threaten
Soviets to back down
• By 1970s Soviets caught up in the
arms race
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
(SALT) 1972 was agreed upon to
limit number of nuclear weapons
Tensions cont…
• Pres. Nixon reaches out to China
• Helped to reduce the tension in East
Asia
• Mikhail Gorbachev, new Soviet
leader, brings reform
• Berlin Wall came down and Germany
was reunited
• Soviet Union collapses in 1991
– Dissolved into 15 separate states