SuperMegaColdWar PowerPoint

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August 6th, 1945 • Nuclear attack against the empire of japan by the united states at the executive order of president harry truman.

• Nicknamed “little boy.” • Killed about 140,000. • Dropped to avoid a costly invasion by

the us. • Bombings led to post-war japan

adopting the ‘three non-nuclear principles’ – forbade japan from nuclear armament.

• Ultimately stopped war in asia – japan surrendered.

• Research was able to be done on radioactive material and its effects.

• Led to the arms race

Hiroshima_________________

Eastern Europe During the Cold War •Consisted of European countries liberated, than occupied by the Soviet

•Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany

•Adopted communist types of government

•Rejected the Marshall Plan, benefited from the Molotov Plan

•Rejected NATO, joined the Warsaw Pact

•The Soviet’s acts led to the Truman Doctrine and containment

•France joined the joint team of the US and Britain over control of West Germany

•Berlin Blockade, 1948

•Years later-> the building of the Berlin Wall, 1961

•Geneva Convention, 1955

•Occupation of Austria was dismissed and they regained independence and their republic government

The Truman Doctrine (1947) President Harry S. Truman stated that the U.S.

would assist all threatened democratic nations. Britain and the U.S. had different views on

assisting Greece in its civil war against communism. Britain wanted no part of it U.S. helped Greece and Turkey because:

The U.S. thought the Soviet Union was helping the Greek communists

Truman wanted $400 million and American military services provided to Greece and Turkey.

Truman stated that if the U.S. did not aid Turkey, they would lose political stability, and therefore the Middle East would lose political stability.

The U.S. should help democratic countries because the spread of authoritarianism would hurt the nation’s security.

Anti-American Campaign • Started in 1947, when Andrei Zhdanov, Stalin’s

chief ideologist, produced a poster of the world split in two

– One side “peace and socialism”, other side “war and imperialism”

• 1947-1949 most negative propaganda pushed towards the Marshall Plan, Atlantic Act, NATO, and the Truman Doctrine

– Portrayed as America’s excuses for global hegemony

• Truman Doctrine – In 1947 Greece & Turkey a communist rebellion was

brewing, Soviet Union viewed it as a vital & necessary warm-water link

– US wanted the monarchy to come back, said “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” and put together a military campaign worth $400 million

10 January 1938. Molotov. Kalinin, Voroshilov. Zhdanov. Kaganovich.

The Marshall Plan • Also called the European Recovery Plan • Enacted by the US in 1947 • Help rebuild Europe after WWII & prevent

communism in war torn countries • George Marshall w/ help from Will Clayton &

George Kennan • USSR refused aid offered • 13 billion from 1948-1951 • Ended w/ US Korean War involvement

Greece in the Cold War Anne Reno

• Greek Civil War, 1945-1949:conflict between the Greek governmental army (backed by Britain and the US) and the communist Democratic Army of Greece (backed by the Soviet Union)

– The Greek governmental army overcame the communists, leading to the establishment of an anti-communist government and Greece’s membership in NATO

• The Greek Civil War was the first conflict of the Cold War. It was also an indirect conflict between the US and the Soviet Union, marking the hostile relations between the two and the competition between democracy and communism.

Berlin Airlift (1948-1949) •Caused by the Berlin Blockade Soviets cut electric power to West Berlin. On June 24, 1948, the Soviets halted all land and water access to the city •Lucius Clay, who was an American General, set the airlift (named "Operation Vittles") in motion on June 26, with 32 flights delivering some 80 tons of supplies. • On July 20, the day Clay flew to Washington to consult with President Harry Truman, 2,250 tons were airlifted in to Berlin, and more than 50 larger capacity C-54s had joined the fleet •by early August four more squadrons of C-54s had arrived in Germany •On May 12, 1949, after more than 2.3 million tons of cargo, and 277,685 flights, the Soviets relented and reopened the ground routes

So What? •airlift became a model for future humanitarian airlifts

•began to repair the psychological wounds of World War II

"Somehow that faceless mass of two million suddenly became individuals just like my mother and sister."

Many who felt guilt from dropping bombs on civilians found redemption in helping these same people survive

NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• April 4th 1949- North Atlantic Treaty – U.S. allies w/ Western Europe

• Korean War – Political Military

• Western countermeasure against threat of Soviet Union – Mutual defense

• Major goals during Cold War – Safeguard the freedom of North Atlantic community – Encourage economic, political, and social cooperation

• Soviet Union’s response – Warsaw Pact- May 14th 1955

The official emblem of NATO

Red China • What?

– Official Communist China under Mao Zedong – Reorganization of land, elimination of landlords, and establishment of

heavy industry. – “This ideology exploded in the Great Leap Forward in 1958. Mao called

upon all Chinese to engage in zealous physical labor to transform the economy and overtake the West in industrial and agricultural production within a few years. Afraid to disappoint their leaders, peasants falsified grain production numbers. Several poor harvests caused massive famine and the deaths of millions of people throughout China.”

• Who? – Mao Zedong and communist forces win victory against the KMT during the

Chinese Civil War (organizes the people) – Defeated Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist forces in 1949 – He was the leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 until his

death in 1976. – Created the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Guard

• Why? – Passed out the “Little Red Book”- collection of political ideas – Tried to export communist ideals to others and made China a threat to the

West.

The Korean War

• Conflict derived from the division between North and South Korea after World War II – Efforts to negotiate a unification failed

• The North became the Peoples Republic of Korea • The South became Republic of Korea

• June 25, 1950 North Korean militia crosses the dividing line into the South – America sends forces to protect the South under the guise of the United Nations

• Britain, Turkey, Canada, and Australia also sent small forces – In October China entered the conflict in order to help the North

• North Korea now had support from both China and the Soviet Union • The Soviet Union had given the North Koreans war machines like tanks to combat a large amount of

South Korean troops (90,000)

• July 27, 1953 North Korea, the UN, and China all sign armistice agreement – South Korea refuses to sign, so technically the two nations are still at war

• Aftermath of the Truman Doctrine – US needs to support any anti-communist faction in order to guard against domino effect

H-Bomb: Hydrogen Bomb or

Thermonuclear Bomb • Designed in 1951 • After success of atomic bomb,

scientists realized that a more powerful explosive weapon could be created through the splitting, or fission, of uranium atoms

• First tested by US, in 1952 – “Ivy Mike” nuclear test.

• First Soviet test was in 1953. • The explosive force of an h-

bomb is 500 times greater than the atomic bomb.

• The Soviets “Tsar Bomba” is

the largest, most powerful weapon ever detonated.

• These advances in technology were part of the Cold War arms race.

• The term overkill refers to how both countries had the capabilities to destroy each other many times over.

Death of Stalin • March 5, 1953 • Has been blamed on Stalin’s personal physician

Miron Vovsi – Body found around 10:00AM

• Later analysis suggests ingestion of Warafin – A tasteless drug that causes a hemorrhage in the

brain • Atomic projects continued

– US threat

1. October 1957, was the first satellite launched by Russia

• The U.S and countries around the world became extremely scared

-known as the “enemy-satellite”

2.Started the Space Race- U.S vs. Russia

-NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was formed in 1958

• Developed rockets, built space capsules and satellites, and hired

astronauts to become spacemen.

3. Long Term Effects:

• Educational systems began to emphasis on mathematics and science

• The govt. wanted to have the first man on the moon

- July 20th, 1969- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on another planetary body.

•Massive Retaliation was the nuclear strategy that the United States had during the Cold War in the event of a nuclear attack: an eye for an eye…and then some.

•Massive Retaliation was the idea that if the Soviet Union—or any Communist nation, or any nation that the United States took it upon themselves to disagree with—ever attacked the United States with nuclear weapons, the United States would rain down a world of hurt in return, with a retaliation attack disproportionately large when compared to the scale of the initial attack.

•The downside to this policy was that even a minor attack could trigger massive nuclear attacks; much of the world took it to mean that the United States could use nuclear weapons against ANY country that infringed on them militarily.

•The goal of this policy was to deter military attacks in the first place; you don’t want to poke a tiger with a stick if it’s going to bite you in return. (Even if, as Mao Zedong suggested, it is just a paper tiger…)

•The phrase “Massive Retaliation” first became popular during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, though the potential for the United States letting their nuclear weapons off the leash had been and remained quite realistic outside the sphere of Eisenhower’s presidency.

Berlin Wall

• Construction began in 1961

• A move made by the German Democratic Republic to stop East Berliners from escaping from Soviet control into the West (which was ruled by the Americans, British, and the French)

- A wall made to prevent the spreading of Communism from defecting the West side

• Ulbricht, the head of the Communist Party

• At first was constructed with simply barbed wire and roadblocks

• It separated the cities for more than 28 years

•

Bay of Pigs Invasion Zack Hubbard

• Cuba was becoming more and more of an enemy to the United States with its leftist policies

• Eisenhower’s administration wanted to overthrow Fidel Castor’s regime without the direct use of the American military.

• The CIA was training Cuban exiles in Guatemala in preparation for an invasion of the island

• The CIA was also trying to build up anti-Cuban sentiment within the Cuban population so ease the difficulties of the overthrow

• The planned invasion failed for many reasons: – The exiles were met by a strong force of Cuban soldiers – Support by the American Air force was absent – The portion of the population assumed to assist the militants in the

overthrow never accumulated • The failure left a stain of the Kennedy administration

Cuban Missile Crisis (1961-1962)

• Fear of American invasion during the Cold War caused Cuba to upgrade its military using direct Soviet funding.

• America’s main concern was that Cuba had Russian IRBM’s which could be fitted with nuclear warheads.

• In 1962, the Soviets agreed to dismantle the missiles in exchange for a no-invasion agreement from the United States.

U-2 photo of nuclear missile site in Cuba

Soviet-Afghan War “We now have the opportunity to give the Soviet Union its Vietnam War”

~Zbigniew Brezinski to President Carter

• The Afghan government in the 1970s was extremely unstable – Rebellions occurred throughout the country, and the Soviets began to

intervent • The Soviet Union initiated a full-scale invasion on December 27, 1979

– They claimed they were “liberating” Afghanistan from an oppressive government

– The Soviets began an occupation of the country which would last for almost a decade

• The Mujahideen – a resistance group which sprang up to oppose the Soviet reign – Enjoyed a great deal of financial and military aid from the U.S. and other

countries • Soviet withdrawal and consequences

– The Geneva accords set a time table for Soviet withdrawal, which the Soviets surprisingly met

– The cost to the Soviet was astronomical – Afghanistan descended into civil war after their withdrawal

Evil Empire

• Was a term used by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s

• Referred to the Communist “Empire” • Mainly focused on the Soviet Union • Was also used by the Prime Minister of

Singapore • Propaganda

Mikhail Gorbachev

•1985- The last general secretary of the communist part of the Soviet Union •His attempted reforms at making the Soviet Union more democratic and decentralize the economy, as well as summit conferences with the U.S., contributed to the end of the Cold War, and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. •1987- Reagan and Gorbachev sign the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in Washington. It removes more than 2,600 medium-range nuclear missiles from Europe. •1989- Soldiers in East Berlin open some of the gates in the Berlin Wall. Crowds respond by tearing the wall down. •Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 in part because ended the Soviet Union’s postwar domination of eastern Europe.

Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) • As the communists’ power began to weaken more people attempted to escape

from East Berlin (communist) into the west parts of the city and Germany (democratic)

• On November 9th,1989 a East German government official made an announcement that people could permanently relocate themselves from the east into the west and cross the border. The communist party had not meant for this, they merely wanted to relax the restrictions in order to calm the people.

• After they realized the borders really were open, people from both sides brought hammers, chisels, etc. and began to chip away at the wall.

• The fall of the wall paved the way for the

reunification of Germany which occurred on October 3, 1990

• The wall symbolized the barrier of Communism and Democracy in the Cold War, the fall of it represented the victory of democracy

End of USSR • Russian satellite countries revolt

declare soviet union rule declared illegal

• The august coupe- rebel against Russian leader Gorbachev by KGB members. Popular support condemned the coupe. Gorbachev returns to presidency but power severely compromised.

• Gov’t banned communist party • Dec 8 1991 USSR officially dissolved

replaced by commonwealth of independent states (CIS) document known as the Belavezha accords

• Economic deterioration forces action against Soviet government which opposes economic reform and loss of its power

• Yeltsin opposed Soviet gov’t ran for presidency, organized the withdrawal of Russia from the Soviet Union