The Cold War
Decolonization, DeStalinization & the Brezhnev Doctrine
McKay 999-1007, Palmer 21.113
The Cold War
1945-1979
Dr. Zhivago
published
outside USSR
Hungarian
Uprising
Cuban
Missile
Crisis
(1962)
U2
Incident
(1960)
Helsinki
Accords
Prague
Spring
-Brezhnev
Doctrine
Decolonization
1945
1956
Dien
Bien
Phu
(1954)
Crimes of
Stalin Speech
1961
1979
Ostpolitik
(1963)
Kitchen
Debate (1959)
Sputnik
Launched
(1957)
1968
Berlin
Wall
erected
(1961)
Ich bin ein
Berliner
speech
(1963)
Two
Germans
recognized
by UN
(1973)
The Soviet Union
1945-1953
• After WWII Stalin reinstituted oppressive
rule
• Terror and oppression had been relaxed
during Great Patriotic War
• Over 12 million Soviet Citizens died
(1945-53) in Siberian Gulags
• Brutal forced-labor camps
• Eastern Bloc
– Soviet army installed one-party communist
rule in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
E. Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania
– All had “Five Year Plans” that
emphasized heavy industry (RR), and
agriculture over consumer products
– Stalin purged 500 thousand Czechs,
and hundreds of thousands of other
eastern Europeans
• Only communist Yugoslavia (led by
Marshal Tito) kept independence
Nikita Khrushchev and De-Stalinization
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Stalin died in 1953
Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the “General Secretary”
Began policy of De-Stalinization
Crimes of Stalin Secret Speech (1956)
– At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party
– Denounced godlike stature of Stalin & his brutal rule
Began “Khrushchev Thaw”
Censorship was relaxed
Gulags closed
Gosplan shifted resources away from heavy industry &
military to consumer goods
Peaceful coexistence
Wanted to prove communism was better than capitalism
on its own merits
Tolerated anti-Stalinist views
– Boris Pasternak
• Wrote Dr. Zhivago (1956) which told story of an
intellectual who rejects the brutality of the
Bolsheviks and Stalin but ultimately dies
• Not published in USSR until 1988 but author was
not expelled or jailed
Political cartoonist
Bill Mauldin
castigated the
Soviet Union for
not permitting
Boris Pasternak
to travel to accept
his Nobel Prize
“I won the Nobel Prize for
literature. What was your
crime?”, October 30, 1958
The Hungarian Uprising (1956)
•Some Hungarians thought that the Crimes of
Stalin speech was a sign of nod to democracy
and self determination
•Imre Nagy
•installed as new leader by students and
workers
•a liberal communist reformer
•Massive demonstrations demanded noncommunist parties be legalized
•Began arming themselves
•Had ended collectivization
•Wanted to remove Soviet Troops, withdraw
from Warsaw Pact
•Promised free elections
•This could lead to the end of communist rule
Imre
in Hungary
Nagy,
•Soviets invaded
Hungari
•Rebels hoped and expected US help which
an
never came
Prime
•Soviets crushed rebellion
Minister
•Nagy executed
Hungarian Uprising (1956)
Sputnik I (1957)
• 1st man-made satellite launched
by Soviets
• USSR capable of hitting US
anywhere with nuclear weapons
• “Space Race” began
• US Reaction
– National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
(NASA) formed
– B-52 fleet enlarged
– Submarines equipped with
nuclear weapons
– Developed ICBM
– Educational system funding
for science programs greatly
increased
The Russians have beaten
America in space—they have
the technological edge!
Sputnik (1957)
The “Kitchen Debate” (1959)
• impromptu debate (through interpreters)
between then U.S. Vice President Richard
Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev in Moscow, on July 24, 1959
• entire house was built that the American
exhibitors claimed anyone in America
could afford
– filled with labor saving and
recreational devices meant to
represent the fruits of the capitalist
American consumer market
• 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. -- Khrushchev, 1956
The Kitchen Debate (1959)
U-2 Spy Incident (1960)
• American U-2 pilot Gary
Powers was shot down
over Soviet airspace
• Eisenhower claimed that
it was merely a weather
plane
• Khrushchev revealed that
Soviets possessed the
plane, its spy cameras
and the pilot himself
• Paris Peace Summit was
canceled
• Cold War got colder
Paris, 1961
Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and
nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that
JFK is young, inexperienced, and can be rolled.
The Berlin Wall (1961)
• 2-3 million East Germans
escaped to West between
1949-1961
– Brain Drain
• Many were “best and
brightest”
• Krushchev threatened to
enforce 1958 ultimatum for
Allies to leave Berlin
• Soviets would protect E.
Germany’s sovereignty
• Built 28 mile fortified
rampart complete with
sentry stations
• Became enduring symbol of
Cold War
Click for Clip
The Berlin Wall
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners
that the West is
with them!
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
• Following the Bay of Pigs invasion,
communist Fidel Castro looked to
USSR for protection from the US
• Khrushchev sent military technicians
and missiles to Cuba (1962)
• Began constructing missile silos
• U2 spy plane spotted sites
• JFK issued a 13 day “quarantine” and
promised “full retaliatory response”
• Soviet denied missile’s existence
before UN Security Council
– Adlai Stevenson produced
irrefutable photographs
• Soviet ships turned back from
blockade at last minute
• Let to Khrushchev's downfall
– Foreign policy too reckless
– Agricultural policy not producing
more food
Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Decolonization
•
33% of world population ruled by
foreign power in 1945
• Trend after WWII for colonial
powers to give up or lose through
attrition their colonial holdings
– WWII had reduced European
power and destroyed the
Western sense of moral
superiority
• British resigned themselves that
loss of empire was inevitable
• French gave up Syria and
Lebanon But tried to hold onto
Algeria & Indochina
British Decolonization
• India
– Independence movement led by
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
• Studied law in GB
• Passive Resistance
• March to the Sea (salt) 1930)
– GB (mercantilistically) took raw cotton
from India for its mills
– GB partitioned India in 1947
• India (Hindu majority) & Pakistan
(Muslim majority)
• displaced up to 12.5 million people
• estimates of loss of life varying from
several hundred thousand to a million
• created an atmosphere of mutual
hostility and suspicion between India
and Pakistan
• Kashmir still major point of
contention between India and
Pakistan
• E. Pakistan broke away from India
in 1971 & formed Bangladesh
•
British Decolonization
Palestine Mandate
– Former Ottoman-Syrian territory carved out after
WWI and administered by British
– Balfour Declaration promised Zionists a “Jewish
State”
– This conflicted with Laurence of Arabia’s nationalism
spark and rise of Arab nationalism
– Illegal (exceeded quota) occurred during 30s as Jews
fled Nazis
– Brits continued ban on immigration even after WWII
– Assination of Lord Moyne by Fighters for the
Freedom of Israel led Churchill to turn against
Zionist movement
– Bombing of King David Hotel in Jerusalem killed 92
British gov. officials
– British under increased pressure from US handed
over Mandate to UN Partition Plan (1947)
– British hampered by established a Jewish state
inside of Palestine--which was divided into two
states by the United Nations
– Arabs refused to accept this division
– Series of wars led to Israel conquest of West Bank,
Golan Heights, and Gaza Strip
British Decolonization: Africa
•
Africa
– During Scramble for Africa, European powers
divided Africa and its resources into political
partitions at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85
– 1905, Africa was almost completely controlled by
Euros
– justified by White Man's Burden, an obligation to
"civilize" the peoples of Africa
– During WWII amount of raw materials being
transported to Europe and prompted the creation
of local industries
– Which led to creation of new towns, which led to
increased literacy, which allowed for proindependence newspapers
– Atlantic Charter included provision for autonomy
of imperial colonies.
– After the war, the British still considered their
African colonies as "children" and "immature";
they introduced democratic government only at
the local levels
– Small elite & western education nationalists
led pressured GB to finally grant
independence
– Characterized by “planned decolonization
– Ghana (1957 and Nigeria (1960)
French Decolonization
• Algeria
– Conquered by Charles X in 1830
– 20% of population was European
by 1914
– Pieds Noir (black feet)- derogatory
term for European immigrants
– Had larger say in gov than Arabs
– Violent clashes broke out in May
1945 b/t Pieds and Arab Algerians
– National Liberation Front (FLN) led
guerilla attacks against French
– 4th Republic refused to give up
– Charles DeGaulle reentered politics
• Became president of 5th
Republic (strong executive)
• Began strategic retreat from
Algeria
– Marred by attempted coup in
1961 & assassination
attempts on DeGaulle
– Referendum in 1962 granted
Algeria independence
Vietnam War
• French tried to hold onto their SE. Asian Empire
• Communist/Nationalist Ho Chi Minh fought
French
• Defeated French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954
• Geneva Conference in 1954 French recognized
independence Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia
• Divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel until
general election could be held in ’56 to
determine if a united Vietnam should be
communist or parliamentary
• Ngo Dinh Diem (President of S.V.) feared the
popularity of communists and refused to
participate in nationwide election
• Viet Cong (expert insurgent guerrilla fighters)
undermined S.Vietnamese government by
redistributing land and calling Diem a puppet of
the West
• Ho received aid from China and Soviets while
South asked US for more aid
• Eisenhower viewed N.V. expansion as the 1st of
a ‘tumbling row of dominoes’ to spread
communism and began to aid the South &
began gradual increase in aid
The Vietnam War
• LBJ used supposed N. Vietnamese torpedo
boat attack on US destroyers in Gulf of Tonkin
as pretext to gain power to take “all necessary
measures”
• Involved burning entire villages, defoliating
hundreds of thousands of acres, countless
refugees
• 550 thousand American soldiers by ‘69
• Tet Offensive shook American confidence that
it could militarily win the war
• French president Charles De Gaulle called US
‘detestable’
– Had withdrawn France from NATO
• Protest movement grew in college campuses
throughout Western Europe
• Compared war to imperialism
• Nixon promised (Vietnamization) but actually
escalated the war (Invaded Cambodia)
• Kissinger negotiated a cease fire in January of
1973 and troops left by March of 1973
• 12 year war ended in 1975 with Fall of Saigon
The “Prague Spring” (1968)
• period of political liberalization in
Czechoslovakia from January to
August 1968
• Led by reformist Alexander Dubček
• Reforms included a loosening of
restrictions on the media, speech
and travel
– Communism with a human face!
• Reform frightened hard liners
• Leonid Brezhnev
– General Secretary of Communist
Party (1964-1982)
– Began period of “Re-Stalinization”
& economic stagnation
– Initiated massive arms build-up
– Re-Stalinization – dictatorship
was collective through the
Politburo rather than 1 man
• Brezhnev sent 250 thousand troops
• Remained occupied until 1990
Brezhnev Doctrine
• Brezhnev Doctrine
– USSR had the right to
intervene in the name of
“proletarian
internationism” and to
protect “socialism”
from capitalism
– IE. the Bizzaro World
opposite of the Truman
Doctrine
• Really a political speech
trying to justify invasion of
Czech and Hungary (1956)
• Excuse to retain Soviet
hegemony in E. Europe
• US only protested but
brutal repression made
Soviets look bad
Source: Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union , speech at the Fifth Congress of
the Polish United Workers' Party on November 13,
1968
"When forces that are hostile to socialism
try to turn the development of some
socialist country towards capitalism, it
becomes not only a problem of the country
concerned, but a common problem and
concern of all socialist countries."
Soviets Invade Czechoslovakia
Ostpolitik
• Ostpolitik (1963)
• Willy Brandt, (W. German Chancellor)
began to improve relations with E.
Germany
• “Change through rapprochement”
• Wanted to settle the “German
Question”
• Christian Democratic Party, led by
Conrad Adenauer held power from
1949 to 1969
– refused to have any contact with
the GDR government due to its
undemocratic character
• Negotiated treaties with USSR, Poland
and Czechoslovakia that accepted
existing boundaries in return for peace
• “Two German states within one
German nation
• recognized as 2 independent nations
at the UN in 1973
• This greatly reduced Cold War
tensions
Willy Brandt (left) and Willi Stoph in Erfurt
1970, the first encounter of a Federal
Chancellor with his East German counterpart
Nixon & China
• President Richard Nixon was more
pragmatic than ideological (Machiavelli
would love him)
• Pursued foreign policy of Realpolitik
• Pursued a balance of power (Remember
Peace of Westphalia) policy by opening up
relationships with seeming foes
• Used Western technology, trade, and
investment as a carrot for international
cooperation
• Soviets were in dire need of Western
technology, loans, and grain
• Western bankers loaned $ to E. European
nations who greatly benefited
• US recognized that bipolar (2 superpower)
time was gone with growing power of China
• Said it would accept People’s Republic of
China into the UN in 1971
• 1972 Nixon (Mr. Anti-communist) visited
Mao in Beijing to open up relations
• This put major pressure on the Soviets to
pursue Detente
Détente & SALT
• Used Brandt’s model to ease
tensions with Brezhnev
• Easing of tensions led to
historic arms reduction treaty
• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
(which began under LBJ)
resumed
• 1972 signed SALT I Treaty
• Reaffirmed peaceful
coexistence
• Agreed to reduce it antimissile
defense system and not
increase offensive weapons for
5 years
• Didn’t stop arms race but did
cool tensions and reduce
threat of preemptive strike
Helsinki Accords
• Nations of NATO, Warsaw Pact, and 12
European nations met at Helsinki for a
Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (1975)
– Pledged to work for peace, economic and
cultural cooperation, protection of human
rights
• Accord were not a formal treaty but set up
“Helsinki watch committees”
– Surveillance of human rights in member
nations
– the civil rights portion of the agreement
provided the basis for the work of the
Moscow Helsinki Group, an independent
non-governmental organization created to
monitor compliance to the Helsinki
Accords
• USSR signed because didn’t believe it would
encourage dissent in its territory
• Noted as the high point of Cold War Détente
• Ended in 1979 with Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan
Click for Clip
"Leonid Brezhnev had looked
forward… to the 'publicity he would
gain... when the Soviet public
learned of the final settlement of the
postwar boundaries for which they
had sacrificed so much'... '[Instead,
the Helsinki Accords] gradually
became a manifesto of the
dissident and liberal movement'...
What this meant was that the
people who lived under these
systems — at least the more
courageous — could claim official
permission to say what they
thought."
Cold War scholar John Lewis
Gaddis in his book "The Cold War: A