Cold War 1940’s
•Winston Churchill's famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946
•1947: USA involved in Greek Civil War- the first armed conflict of
the Cold War era.
•At the end it would be the victory for the right
largely thanks to the split between Stalin and Tito, the Yugoslav
leader.
“Stop sending people to kill me. We've already captured five of them, one of
them with a bomb and another with a rifle (...) If you don't stop sending killers,
I'll send one to Moscow, and I won't have to send a second.”
Tito’s letter to Stalin
Marshall Tito
Truman Doctrine and Marshall
Plan
A financial support to countries facing Communism
The Marshall Plan: 13 billion dollars in aid to war-torn countries of Europe.
Stalin rejects the aid and so does Eastern Europe. Why?
But 16 Western Nations accept it and several would experience unprecedented
economic growth. Germany will become an economic miracle within a decade.
George Marshall on a German stamp.
What is so strange about it?
• 1948- Communists’ putsch in Czechoslovakia
• The same year the Soviets start the blockade of
Berlin
• Airlift to help people of West Berlin
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1949- NATO created
1948-Soviets attempt to prevent the creation of
a German state by blockading Berlin.
1949- Berlin Blockade ends with the Soviets
giving up.
In 1949 German Federal Republic is created. One month later
German Democratic Republic is created as well, democratic
only in its name, of course.
In 1949 China is taken over by the Communists and remains
a Communist country up till today, but only in name.
But just like Tito, Mao too would break up with Moscow.
In 1949 the Soviets explode the first atomic bomb.
Now the Russian are catching up with the US.
•Key vocabulary: satellite states, policy of
• containment, deterrence, domino theory.
The 1950’s
The Communist Witch Hunt General
Now the commies are everywhere.
You are against him, you are a
communist sympathizer. His claims of
Communist conspiracy where omnipresent in the American media.
Senator McCarthy
The Louisville Courier-Journal, reported that: "In this long,
degrading travesty of the democratic process, McCarthy has
shown
himself to be evil and unmatched in malice.”
Leading politicians in both parties, had been embarrassed
by McCarthy's performance and on 2nd December, 1954,
a censure motion condemned his conduct by 67 votes to 22.
The Korean War 1950-53
• During the War
• On June 25, 1950,
North Korea decided to
invade South Korea and
crossed over the 38th
Parallel to take over
South Korea
• U.S. troops were
overwhelmed and
unprepared for the
strong North Korea
military forces.
Peace?
• In 1951, both sides started to talk about making
peace, but the talks lasted for more than 2 years.
• On July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed and
the war was over.
Significance:
• U.S. refrained from using atomic weapons
• U.S. invaded North Korea replacing
‘suppression’ with ‘liberation’
• Cold War turned global (shift from Europe to
Asia)
• 1954-KGB is founded. It was one of the most
infamous and efficient secret agencies in the
world.
Who is this man?
In 1955 the Warsaw Pact is established to
counterbalance the NATO.
And who were the member states of the new
military alliance?
1956 The Hungarian Uprising
• Only one year after its foundation, the WP has to go into
action. But not against the NATO but
• against one of its own member state.
• The revolution failed. Why? What is it that makes some
events successful. It’s the T….
Time’s man of the year for
1956 was the Hungarian
freedom fighter.
They fought bravely,but
never rally stood the chance
against the mighty RA.
2500 Hungarians died, over
700 on the Russian site.
It was followed by a massive
migration to the West.
The reformer Nagy was
executed as a warning from
Nikita to all the other leaders
not to mess up with Moscow.
Prague Spring of 1968
• Just like the Hungarian Revolt, this too started nicely and
ended badly.
• Socialism with human face
• Citizen were given the right to criticize the government
• and it led to a general relaxation in all the bans and
limitation of civic freedoms. Even the borders were opened
for the citizen to travel o the west.
• All this did not go well with Moscow.
Alexander Dubcek
The process of
de-Stalinization was well
on the way in Czechoslovakia in 1968
The 1968 looked very promising to reform the country and make it
livable yet the timing was not right. Why?
The Breznev doctrine.
Return to the old ways and back to the
glorification of Stalin and stop to any
reforms.
In the after math of the failed reform
movement hundreds of thousand of people
fled to the west when it was still possible.
Tens of thousands
of people were
fired from their jobs for wishing
a change or thrown in
jail
• The Cold War in other parts of the World
• The Case of Latin America
Remember the US insistence on free elections
after WWII.
But what if a free election produces a
Communist win. Whoops. Nobody expected
that!.
The CIA and General Pinochet’s putsch.
President Allende
This coup d’état is one of the most
embarrassing examples of US foreign
policy.
General Pinochet
Afghanistan and the Soviet
Invasion
• To extend their influence in Asia, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan in
1979
• The Soviets tried to win the local population by building schools and
hospitals but it didn’t really work.
• Jimmy Carter imposed trade embargo on the SU and athletes were banned
from the Moscow Olympics. The Soviets and the satellite states
would do the same in LA. A set example of politicization of sports.
US support for the mudzhahedin and the making of Bin Laden
In 1988, after 10 years of fighting and over 100000 dead,
the Russian call it a quite and return home. The Afghan disaster
along with other problems, precipitated the collapse of the SU.
• Michail Gorbachev - a different style in politics.
Gorbi, as they called him in the west,
was loved abroad and disliked in his own
land.
Glasnost- a call for increased transparency and openness.
Perestroika - restructuring and reforming the political and economic
system.
Tension among the Soviet Republics: 92 ethnic groups and
and 112 languages.
As the central power diminishes the tensions go up.
At the same time the East European countries take advantage
of the chaotic situation created by the reform to break away from
the Soviet Union.
1989-the most emblematic symbol of the Cold War era is gone
The Germans storm the Berlin War
before 1989
November 1989
With the wall crumbling down
citizen in all of East Europe lose
their fear.
The domino effect.
And why did the biggest social
experiment in human history collapsed?
Lack of incentive and motivation
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Nationalism
Reforms
Military disaster in Afghanistan
Loss of fear of Americans
Excessive military focus.
Decentralization etc.
In 1991 the USSR is a passé.
Lets look at Stratalogica to see who walked
away from the SU.
Was is all that bad during the times of Communism?
No unemployment
No homelessness
Universal post secondary education.
Universal health care
Security and predictability
Very little of personal and national debt!
In many of the post-Communist countries, the radical left is
making a comeback, as people are overpowered by high
un-employment and financial problems.
Review Q’s:
How different was the Berlin Wall from all the other city walls
built in the past?
• Describe some of the challenges that were to be overcome
to flee to freedom.
• Why did Cuba become such a concern to the USA? Remember
the Truman Truman?
• What happened in the Bay of Pigs?
• Read p. 98-99
• Detant
• MAD