Cold War - 1945-1989
“neither war nor peace”
Definition of the Cold War
“A worldwide struggle for power between the
United States and the Soviet Union . . . [which
led to the creation of a bipolar world.]. . . It never
resulted in direct military conflict between the two
superpowers, but it did lead to competition on all
fronts: ideological, diplomatic, economic,
military. . . [and cultural.] Each nation felt
besieged by the other.”
The West and the World Since 1945
Cold War Videos:
http://www.uncg.edu/~jwjones/world/videoarchive/videoarchive.html#NUC
WWII Casualties
Total casualties – 60 million
Soviet Union – 20 m. (1/3 soldiers)
China – 15 m.
Japan – 2 m.
Germany – 4 m.
Poles – 6 m.
Great Britain – 400,000
U.S. – 300,000
European Refugee Population – 15+ m.
WORLD WAR II IN EUROPE
HUMAN COSTS
30 MILLION EUROPEANS DEAD- 16- 30 MILLION RUSSIANS
- 4.5 MILLION GERMANS
- 600,000 FRENCH
-400,000 RUMANIANS,ITALIANS,
ENGLISH
-POLAND- 15%OF POPULATION,
MOSTLY JEWS
-15 MILLION CIVILIANS
JEWISH POPULATION-FROM 9.2M TO 3.8 M,
WITH ONLY 1 M LIVING WEST OF RUSSIA
16 M REFUGEES, 11 M GERMANS
DRIVEN FROM E. EUROPE FROM 1945-46.
WWII IN EUROPE
PROPERTY DAMAGE
USSR-1700 CITIES, 70,000 VILLAGES
-70% OF INDUSTRIAL CAPACITY
-60% OF TRANSPORTATION
GERMANY-75% HOUSES
-90% INDUSTRIAL CAPACITY
EUROPEAN ALLIED DEBT TO US-$13 B
-GREAT BRITAIN-$13.5B
-FRANCE-CURRENCY RUINED BY GER. OCCUPATION
-USSR-$9 B
-GERMANY-DEBT 10X THAT OF 1939, CURRENCY INFLATION 7X
CONTRAST WITH UNITED STATES AFTER WWII
-300,000 CASUALTIES
-FROM 1939-1946-GNP ROSE FROM $91-166B
-MERCHANT MARINE LARGER THAN ALL EUROPEAN NATIONS
COMBINED
World War II - Major
Consequences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
End of the European Age
Rise of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. to Superpower
Status
Emergence of the Cold War
The Nuclear Age
Rise of Nationalism and Independence Movements
Rise of Social Movements - Women, Youth,
Human Rights, Ethnic, Religious, and Cultural
Minorities
Internationalism - United Nations, IMF, World
Bank
COLD WAR I – 1945-1963
Why? (New RGH #55, p. 229)
“deep seated animosities”
What? Most dangerous time of the Cold War – NO RULES

Policy of containment – counter the influence of the other in
every way while expanding your influence and power.

Aim?
“to be second to none”
Iron Curtain
COLD WAR I – 1945-1963
Europe
“An iron curtain has descended upon Europe”
• Allies - Free World (Western Europe) vs. Iron Curtain (Soviet
bloc in Eastern Europe)
• Foreign Aid - Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine vs. Soviet aid
• Military Alliances – NATO vs. Warsaw Pact, Arms Race
• Trade Pacts – Common Market (Free world) vs. Comecon
• Culture Wars – domestic containment, Kitchen Table
Debates – a race for “hearts and minds”
• Science/Technology – “race to the moon,” arms race,
creation of the military-industrial complex.
Hot Spots

Europe

Germany is divided,
Berlin Airlift, 1948,
Berlin Wall, 1960.
Hungarian Uprising,
1956

Asia



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China “goes
Communist” 1949
Japan, Taiwan our
allies
Korean War – 1950-1953
Vietnam “falling
dominoes”
Berlin Wall Today
Brandenburg Gate
Cuban Missile Crisis – 1962

“eyeball to eyeball,
they blinked first”
Détente, Coexistence
1963-1980



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
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Rules of engagement developed
Disarmament, Arms Control
Treaties
Nuclear Test Ban, ABM, START
Treaties
MAD - Deterrence
Summit Meetings, “hotline”
Cultural Exchanges of scientists,
artists
Trade
Human Rights – Helsinki
Conference, 1977
Cold War II – 1980-1989

Cold War heats up
1979 – 1980
Two key events:

Soviet Invasion of
Afghanistan

Election of Ronald Reagan
Cold War II
1980-1989


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Reagan’s USSR – “Evil Empire”
Return to an arms race
Soviet “quagmire” in Afghanistan—very
unpopular at home.
Soviet sponsorship of revolutions in Latin
America (Nicaragua)
US covert operations in Latin America
and Afghanistan
THE RUSSIANS, STING
IN EUROPE AND AMERICA,
THERE’S A GROWING FEELING OF HYSTERIA.
CONDITIONED TO RESPOND TO ALL THE
THREATS,
OF THE RHETORICAL SPECIES OF THE
SOVIETS.
MR. KRUSHCHEV SAID WE WILL BURY
YOU,
I DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO THIS POINT OF VIEW.
IT WOULD BE SUCH AN IGNORANT THING
TO DO,
IF THE RUSSIANS LOVE THEIR CHILDREN TOO.
HOW CAN I SAVE MY LITTLE BOY
FROM OPPENHEIMER’S DEADLY TOY.
THERE IS NO A MONOPOLY OF COMMON
SENSE,
ON EITHER SIDE OF THE POLITICAL FENCE.
WE SHARE THE SAME BIOLOGY,
REGARDLESS OF IDEOLOGY.
BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY TO YOU,
I HOPE THE RUSSIANS LOVE THEIR
CHILDREN TOO.
THERE IS NO HISTORICAL PRECEDENT,
TO PUT THE WORDS IN THE MOUTH OF
THE PRESIDENT.
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A
WINNABLE WAR,
IT’S A LIE WE DON’T BELIEVE ANYMORE
MR. REAGAN SAYS WE WILL PROTECT
YOU,
I DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO THIS POINT OF
VIEW.
BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY TO YOU,
I HOPE THE RUSSIANS LOVE THEIR
CHILDREN TOO.
TICK, TOCK,
TICK, TOCK
“Societies in the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. may
have resembled one another in some ways-in their spying, in their pursuit of nuclear
superiority, in their quest for cold way
supremacy--but they also resembled each
other in their basic humanity--a fact that
may have prevented the ultimate tipping of
the balance of terror.”
What ends the Cold War
“The Short Century” 1914-1989

1980’s - Collapse of Communism
1.
Economic deterioration
2.
Political Dissent - “people power,”
the role of
Eastern Europe
3.
Gorbachev-perestroika and glasnost
4.
Environmental degradation
5.
External factors - the role of Reagan;
détente?
1989 – Berlin Wall Falls

The end of the USSR-1991
1. The role of Boris Yeltsin
2. Formation of the CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States)