The Cold War Notes 1945-1991

The Cold War was a time after WW2 when the USA and the Soviet Union were rivals for world influence.

First World capitalistic-democracies Second World authoritarian-communist (Marxist-Leninist) Third World: politically independent states but highly dependent, in economic terms, on the first or second world countries

• The East/West divide refers to communist and noncommunist countries

Why did the USA Fear the USSR (CCCP in Russian)?

1. Communism is undemocratic and people lose their freedom. People do not have freedom of speech, or assembly. The government controls how you live, where you live, what is on TV and what you can buy.

2. Marxism is against capitalism Communism means less markets (places to sell) for American products

Causes of the Cold War:

• The Soviet Union feared the capitalist West.

• The United States feared communism.

H-Bomb-

1952 Weapon of mass destruction that was 25-50 times more powerful than the original bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. After a test of its power by the US, its byproduct traveled around the world and hand devastating environmental effects. It was estimated that the explosion of 100 H-bombs could have made life in this very world unsustainable.

• MRBM: Medium-range ballistic missile (600-,1800 miles)

• IRBMs: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (1,800–3,500 miles)

• ICBMs – Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (>3,500 miles)

Why nuclear weapons?

• Cheaper than having a large army They were a deterrent. The idea was to have so many missiles that they could not all be destroyed. If one side attacked then it knew that the other could retaliate. This was known as MAD – MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION.

• For some the Arms Race was a test of the strengths of Capitalism v communism

Truman promised that the USA “would support free peoples who are resisting communism.”

This led to containment – policy of stopping the spread of communism.

Truman doctrine and the domino theory were intended to stop the spread of communism

• The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany, was formally created in September of 1949. A month later, the German Democratic Republic was set up by the Soviets. Berlin was divided into two parts.

Background

• WEST: Prosperous, helped by US, attracted people from the East. Seen by USSR as infection in the heart of Communist East Germany.

• EAST: Much less prosperous and under Communist control

• Allied cooperation paved way for formation of new military alliance, NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization: a military alliance whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. Western Europe, Canada, and the USA

• Soviets formed their own alliance called Warsaw Pact in 1955: pro Soviet countries – USSR, and all

countries controlled by the USSR.

40s

50s

60s

70s

80s

Cold War: Conflict

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• Wall torn down in 1989.

Mongolia

China

Arctic Ocean

The nineteenth century was a multi-polar world - a large number of states seeking global influence: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and Japan among them.

Bipolar World after WWII – Only Two superpowers (much less compared to other eras)

In the mid-1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union (relatively peaceful breakup, facilitated in part by the fact that the USSR had federal structure)

The United States found itself the only surviving superpower.

The Asian Century is a term used to describe the belief that, if certain demographic and economic trends persist, the twenty-first century will be dominated by Asian politics and culture, as the twentieth century is often called the American Century, and the nineteenth century the British Century.

Countries with a US military presence in 2007.

This dominance is likely to be short-lived because the outlines of a new multipolar world are forming.

A multipolar world is emerging with four potential areas of power:

1. Russia

2. Europe

3. China

4. The US

Hegemony: domination over the world economy In order to establish hegemony in the world system, a state needed economic strength and competitiveness

All hegemonic powers must protect the economic foundations of their power. They must also resist challenges to their political, cultural, and ideological dominance. Occasionally, this calls for military intervention.

The modern world-system has so far experienced five full leadership (hegemony) cycles.

1. Portugal 1500s

2. the Netherlands (Dutch) 1588-1660s

3. Great Britain 1700s to US/French Alliance and Napoleonic Wars

4. Great Britain 1800s to WWI (helped by its naval power)

5. United States. The United States became a part of the world system core in the late 1800's and the hegemonic power after WWII

American Empire?

American Empire?

1996

1998

2000

Is the U.S. still a hegemon? The question of whether the U.S. is still a hegemon is tied into whether or not it has lost power. Some see power as tied into resources and production, and because US GDP is now lower relative to others, it implies a loss of power. • Iraq • Afghanistan • Drones • Palestine • Taiwan • Iran and nuclear weapons • US dollar the currency most used in international transactions and is one of the world's reserve

currencies