THE COLD WAR
1945-1990
The period of time from 1945 to 1989 was
known as the Cold War (end of WWII to
fall of the Berlin Wall). This was a time
of tremendous paranoia about
communism--history has been affected
by this paranoia since 1945. The COLD
WAR was a struggle between the forces
of democracy and communism (between
the individual and the state). It also
included a massive buildup of nuclear
weapons and threatened use of these
weapons.
The Cold War was also a war of WORDS
(everyone hoped it wouldn’t go beyond
words). The Cold War, in other words,
was a war of propaganda in which the
United States and its allies stood
against the beliefs of the Soviet World
Nations (usually the poorer nations).
The Cold War ended only when
communism in the Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe began to fall apart in
the late 1980s.
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The Cold War (democracy v.
communism) continued from 1945
through the 50s, into the 60s & 70s,
and until the end of the 80s. In the
early 50s, this cold war turned hot –
we called this the Korean War. It
turned hot again in 1965 – we called
this the Vietnam War. It is the
longest war (1965-1973) in American
History and the only war that
America lost.
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Also keep in mind that although the war
didn’t start until 1965, the U.S. had been
deeply involved since the early 50s. There
have been FOUR presidents influenced by
the Vietnam War – Eisenhower, Kennedy,
Johnson, & Nixon. One president’s
administration was destroyed by Vietnam
(Johnson) while one president received
applause for getting us out of this war
(Nixon).
Two SUPERPOWERS Face Off
Cold War: war of words between democratic
US and Communist Russia; 1950-1990;
ended with the fall of Berlin Wall
1. Soviet Union – wanted to keep the
neighboring German countries weak;
believed that communism was a superior
economic system and should replace
capitalism.
2. U.S. – wanted to promote economic
growth by increasing world trade; wanted
to promote democracy and free
enterprise
Creation of the United Nations
• International Organization intended to
protect the members against
aggression
• It was based in New York
• 50 nations pledged “to save
succeeding generations from the
scourge of war”
Superpower Aims in Europe
•
•
•
•
United States
Encourage democracy in
other countries to help
prevent the rise of
communist governments
Gain access to raw
materials and markets to
fuel booming industries
Rebuild European
governments to promote
stability and create new
markets for American
goods
Reunite Germany to
stabilize it and increase
the security of Europe
•
•
•
•
Soviet Union
Encourage communism in
other countries as part of a
worldwide worker’s revolution
Rebuild its war-ravaged
economy using Eastern
Europe’s industrial equipment
and raw materials
Control Easter Europe to
protect Soviet borders and
balance the US influence in
Western Europe
Keep Germany divided to
prevent its waging war again
Iron Curtain Divides East and West
Non-Communist countries
* Churchill’s phrase “Iron Curtain”
came to represent Europe’s division
b/w mostly democratic Western
Europe and a Communist Eastern
Europe.
• Relations continued to worsen in ’46
and ’47. So Truman adopted a policy
of containment: stop the spread of
communism by creating alliances &
helping weak countries to resist the
SU
Communist Countries
Satellite nations:
• The satellite nations are the regions between Germany
and Russia that were formed with the assistance of the
UN after the end of WWII. However, Stalin and the
communist Soviet Union took these regions over and
operated them under a dictatorship. This is the region
that Winston Churchill was talking about when he made
his "iron curtain" speech.
• Virtually all the members of the Warsaw Pact (Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, etc.) were basically
just satellite states of Moscow; in other words, they
had to run by all of their decisions with the Soviets in
Moscow before they could be implemented.
Marshall Plan
• B/C most of Western Europe laid in ruins
after the war and there was many
problems (record-breaking cold and snow,
rise in unemployment, lack of food,
economic turmoil)
• June 1947
• America gives aid to any European country
that needed it: food, machines, other
materials: restore the economic stability
of European nations after World War II.
Cold War and a Divided World
• Berlin Airlift
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization): 1949 – a defensive military
alliance formed by 10 Western European
nations, the US, and Canada – for the US, it
marked the country’s first peacetime military
commitment; The SU saw this as a threat
• Warsaw Pact: The Warsaw Pact sought to
create a military alliance between the
Soviet Union and various Eastern European
nations.
• Nuclear Threat
Space Race
• Nonviolent aspect of cold war rivalry
The SU:
• Announcement of 1st ICBM – in Aug 1957
– 1957: Sputnik, first satellite
– 1961: Yuri Gagarin orbits space’
• When the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik I
satellite in 1957, many Americans feared that
the Soviet Union was ahead of the U.S. in the
production of missiles.
The US:
• 1969 – US sets up NASA, lands Apollo XI on
the moon
Man on moon 3:13
The Korean War: “Forgotten War”
October 1949: China falls to communism – The
victorious communists established the People’s
Republic of China
Also China and the Soviet Union signed a
treaty of friendship and alliance.
• The Soviet Union supported communist
North Korea
• The U.S. along with the UN supported
democratic South Korea –
WHY?
To stop the spread of communism
NK – communist
SK - democratic
NORTH KOREAN VICTORY
June 25, 1950 –
* NK invades SK along
the 38th parallel with
90,000 troops
* NK v. UN
By August, the UN
forces are pushed down
to Pusan Perimeter
INCHON INVASION
MacArthur’s amphibious
attack is successful
By Nov– Gen.
MacArthur’s Amphibious
Attack took the NK’s
by surprise pushing
them north beyond the
38th parallel close to
the Yalu River
CHINESE SURPRISE
November 26, 1950 –
China enters the war
with ½ million soldiers,
who cross the Yalu
River pushing the
Americans and SK’s
south of the 38th
parallel
. . . At home . . .
1951 . . .
Pres. Truman vs.
GenMacArthur
•Truman
fires
MacArthur for
insubordination in April
1951
after the general’s
persistence in expanding the
war and bomb China
STALEMATE
1951-53
July 27, 1953:
Armistice is signed
More than 33,600
soldiers died in action;
20,600 died of
accidents/diseases
Today: about 40,000
American troops guard
the DMZ on the 38th
parallel
Cuba
• Fidel Castro (1926-), 1959
revolution
• Cancels promised elections,
expropriates foreign properties, kills
or exiles political enemies
• US imposes trade embargo
• Soviets step in with massive aid, gain
foothold off US shores
The Bay of Pigs
• Castro declares undying allegiance to
Soviet foreign policy, 1960
• Kennedy and CIA send 1,500 Cubans
into Bay of Pigs to spur revolution
• American Air support does not appear,
force destroyed in 3 days
• US embarrassment
Cuban Missile Crisis
• October 1962 Soviets begin
assembling missiles in Cuba
• Kennedy publicly challenges USSR
• Quarantines CUBA
• Soviets concede, but US guarantees
non-interference with Castro regime
• US Secretary of State Dean Rusk:
“Eyeball to eyeball, they blinked
first”
The Civil Rights Movement
• Irony of American “freedom,”
exploited by USSR propaganda
• Influence of Ghandi on Martin Luther
King Jr. (1929-1968)
• Gradual successes:
– Brown vs. Board of Education,
1954, against school segregation
– Rosa Parks, Montgomery Alabama,
1955
It Only Takes One Person, Doing One Small Thing, To Change The World
Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005 at the age of ninety-two.
3. Martin Luther King Jr. leads the
Montgomery Bus Boycott.
a. believed in non-violent passive
resistance (adopted Mohandas Gandhi’s
philosophy)
b. became president of the SCLC –
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (African American churches
played an important role since they
supported boycotts, nonviolent
demonstrations, and voter registration)
4. Crisis in Little Rock
* Sept. 1957 – the school board in Little
Rock, Arkansas, won a court order to
admit 9 African American students to
Central High School
Elizabeth Eckford
making her way
to Little Rock
Central High
School September
6, 1957.
B. The Freedom Riders – Birmingham, AL.
since interstate bus service remained
segregated in the South, freedom riders
wanted to draw attention to segregation
in Southern bus terminals
F. The March on Washington -- Dr. King
delivered his “I have a Dream” speech-August 28, 1963, +20k demonstrators of all
races peacefully flocked to the nation’s
capital
C. Malcolm X
-- became a
symbol of black
power
D. Black Panthers
1968 Olympics
Mexico City, MX
The People’s Republic of China
• Civil war between Communists and
Nationalists erupts after defeat of Japan
• Jiang Jieshi (Chang Kai-shek) forced to
retreat to island of Taiwan with
Nationalist forces
– Takes most of China’s gold reserves
• Mao Zedong proclaims People’s Republic of
China, 1949
– Begins dramatic transformation of
Chinese society into Communist mold
THE VIETNAM WAR: 1965-1973
* US defends South Vietnam to stop
the spread of communism
The Cold War (democracy v. communism)
continued from 1945 through the 50s, into the 60s &
70s, and until the end of the 80s. In the early 50s,
this cold war turned hot – we called this the Korean
War. It turned hot again in 1965 – we called this
the Vietnam War. It is the longest war (19651973) in American History and the only war that
America lost.
Also keep in mind that although the war didn’t
start until 1965, the U.S. had been deeply involved
since the early 50s.
There have been FOUR
presidents influenced by the Vietnam War –
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, & Nixon.
One
president’s administration was destroyed by Vietnam
(Johnson) while one president received applause for
getting us out of this war (Nixon).
The North Vietnamese had been fighting invaders for
many years. Before WWII, Indochina
(Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos) was controlled by the French.
The Japanese invaded Indochina during WWII. When the
Japanese were defeated, the Vietnamese turned on the
French and fought them from 1946-1954 (French-Vietnam
War). The French lost and the AMERICANS DID NOT
LEARN FROM THEIR EXAMPLE. Thus, America becomes
involved in its own Vietnam War in 1965.
The Vietnam War was a war where America backed
South Vietnam which unfortunately was a corrupt
government not supported by many of its own people. We
were NOT trying to defeat North Vietnam, but rather just
to stop the spread of communism into South Vietnam.
America lost the war because of our limited goals and we
were in Vietnam too long without clear-cut victories. As
time dragged on, and too many American boys came home
in body bags, anti-war protests grew in number.
Background . . .
Before WWII
* Indochina was controlled by Japan.
---- Indochina: Vietnam + Laos+ Cambodia
• Early 1900s, nationalism had become a
powerful force in Vietnam
• The nationalist leader was Ho Chi Minh
-- an advocate of communism
-- organized the Vietminh (nationalist
group)
THE U.S. GETS INVOLVED IN THEIR OWN
VIETNAM WAR
The Vietnam War is the first
war the U.S. lost.
WHY????
1- The Vietnam War was a war in which massive
American technology was lost to a SMALL
DETERMINED North Vietnamese.
2- The U.S. supported South Vietnam which
had a corrupt government with really bad
leaders.
3- The U.S. was NOT fighting a total war, but
instead was trying to stop the spread of
communism.
4- More and more Americans turned against
the war as the years and the body bags piled
up.
These are several reasons why
we lost the war.
Guerilla Warfare (hit-and-run):
this is how the North Vietnamese fought
the war
1. Who is the enemy?
NV did not wear uniform, they wore
civilian clothes.
In Vietnam, it was difficult for the
Americans to figure out who the enemy
was
VIETCONG (had two advantages over the US
forces)
a. The VC knew the terrain (mountains, jungle)
b. They had the support of many South
Vietnamese peasants who provided them w/food
and shelter and kept them informed of U.S.
troop movement.
The enemy could be anywhere –
he/she could be anywhere!!
UNDERSTAND
THE ENEMY IS
UNKNOWN!!
Firefights
Hit-and-run tactics
Booby traps
- punji stakes
- bouncing betty
- claymore
- tunnels
THE AMERICAN SIDE:
This is how the Americans fought the war.
Massive technology lost
-- Gen. William Westmoreland
1. Search and Destroy
(didn’t always work)
2. Hueys
3. B-52s
4. Napalm
5. Agent Orange
68
My Lai Massacre (South Vietnamese City)
March 16, 1968: My Lai was situated in a
heavily mined region where VC guerrillas
were firmly entrenched and numerous
members of the participating platoon had
been killed/mutilated during the preceding
month.
Lt. William Calley led his men on a search-and –
destroy mission. They found women, children,
and old men.
**Frustrated by the unanswered loses due to
snipers & mines, the soldiers took out their
anger on the villagers. The company
slaughtered the entire village (200-700
unarmed)
Détente



Reduction in hostility between nuclear
superpowers
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (1972,
1979)
Friction in early 1980s over improvement in
relations between US and China
 Also, USSR intervention in Afghanistan
 Earlier US intervention in Vietnam
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Collapse of the Soviet Union
• Reforms under Gorbachev
– Economic
– Social
• Perestroika: “restructuring”
• Glasnost: “openness”
• Nationalist sentiments, long suppressed, come to
the surface
• Several non-Russian republics secede, August
1991
• Attempted hardliner takeover in Moscow fails,
Soviet Union collapses by end of the year
Fall of Berlin Wall
Built in 1961; Wall separating democratic
Germany from Communist Germany, falls
Nov. 9, 1989.