EAST VERSUS WESTA GLOBAL DIVIDE &
A COLD WAR:
CAUSES & COURSE
Cold War
Russia-source of fear to W. Capitalist
World
 Russia & U.S.-were allies during WW II
 Soviet Union & U.S.-sharply opposed,
conflict seemed inevitable

Cold War-Military Conflict

In 1946, W. Churchill said: “An iron
curtain has descended across the
Continent... I am convinced there is
nothing they [the communists] so much
admire as strength, and there is nothing
for which they have less respect than
weakness, especially military weakness."
Cold War-Military Conflict
“Iron curtain”-watchword of the CW
 CW-the state of political tension &
military rivalry-U.S./Allies Vs. SU/Allies
 Initial arena of CW was Europe
 Europe was bitterly divided, particularly
in Berlin; but no shooting war occurred
between the 2 sides

China
1949-Mao Zedong proclaimed the est. of
the People's Republic of China
 China & SU-were sharply opposed due to
territorial disputes, ideological differences
& for communist leadership
 They were at the brink of war in the late
60s

Cold War
Soviet insistence on security/control in
E. Europe clashed w/Am & British desires
for democratic societies & capitalism
 NATO & Warsaw Pact-an Am sphere of
influence in W. Europe & an imposed
Soviet sphere in E. Europe

NATO (blue) And WARSAW PACT (red)
Cold War
Communism into Asia globalized the CW
& led to destructive "hot wars“
 N. Korea invaded S. Korea in 1950
 Chinese & Am. involvement (1950-1953)

Cuban Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, his
nationalization of Am. assets provoked great
U.S. hostility
 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev deployed
nuclear-tipped missiles to Cuba
 World held its breath for 13 days as Am. forces
blockaded the island & prepared to invade
(Oct. 62’)

Cuban Missile Crisis
A nuclear exchange between superpowers
seemed imminent
 Catastrophe averted by Khrushchev &
U.S. President John F. Kennedy
 Compromise-Soviets remove missiles
from Cuba in return for an Am. promise not
to invade the island

Arms Race In Nuclear Weapons
U.S. gets bomb in 1945, SU in 1949
 In 40 years a global arsenal of close to
60,000 warheads
 Delivery sys-bomber aircraft & missiles
 One bomb can destroy any major city in
the world

Vietnam 1956-1975
Military efforts by S. Vietnamese communists & the
communist N. Vietnamese govt to unify their
country prompted massive Am. intervention in the
60s, peaking at 550,000 U.S. troops
 Armed & supported by the Soviets & Chinese the
Vietnamese communists bested the Americans.
 The Vietnamese united their country under
communist control by 1975

Afghanistan
A third major military conflict of the CW
era occurred in Afghanistan
 (1979-1989)-war a "bleeding wound,"
sustained by U.S. aid to Afghan guerrillas
 In Vietnam & Afghanistan, both
superpowers painfully experienced the
limits of their power
