The Cold War
1945--1995
Cold War
• A state of conflict between nations that does
not involve direct military action
• Usually through economic and political
actions, propaganda, espionage or proxy
wars
• Often economic or military aid (weapons,
tactical support, advisors) were provided to
lesser nations involved in conflicts
Cold War
• This phrase is used to explain the tensions
that developed between the US and the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
after WWII
**Soviet Union (USSR) attempted to
expand its influence around world
**USA attempted to stop (contain) the
spread around the world
Yalta
Feb. 1945
What: meeting with Stalin, Churchill, FDR
Why: decide what to do with Germany after
the war ended
Decision: decided to divide Germany to be
supervised by the Allied Powers
Stalin’s first moves
• He installed/secured Communist
governments in areas he had ‘freed’ from
Hitler/Mussolini
**Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland,
Yugoslavia
Potsdam Conference
Another Meeting of Allied leaders:
1.
Truman presses Stalin to allow free elecions
2.
Stalin says communism and capitalism could
not exist in the same world!
1946: Churchill says “From Stettin in the Baltic to
Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has
descended across the continent.”
Containment Policy
--relations continued to worsen through ‘47
Pres. Truman adopted a new foreign policy
Containment: directed at blocking Soviet
influence and stop the spread of commnism
Impact: US would form alliances and help
weak countries resist
‘Domino theory’
As the 50s got going the US became so worried
about the spread of communism, govt officials
began to believe in a new foreign policy:
If one nation in a region of world ‘falls’ to
communism, its neighbor countries would as well.
This was esp. directed toward Southeast Asia.
This lead to the US’s involvement in Vietnam.
Czechoslovakia
Feb. 1948
• Key members of Czech gov’t die
mysteriously
• Pro-western president forced to resign (by
Soviet communists)
• New constitution ratified
--complete takeover by Czech communists
The Berlin Problem
USSR keeps west Berlin ‘hostage’
They cut off highway, water, and rail traffic
into Berlin’s western zones. They city
faced starvation. Stalin hoped that the
USA/capitalists would surrender W. Berlin
and possibly give up idea of re-unifying
Germany
Berlin Airlift
This blockade began June 24, 1948.
From June ‘48 to May ‘49, US and British
planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to
residents of West Berlin.
--200,000 flights later: USSR lifts the
blockade
Impact of Berlin Airlift
• Marked a rise in tensions between West and
Soviets
• Helped heal divisions left from WWII as West
shifted from being conquerors to protectors of
Germany
• Cooperation paved the way for formation to the
military alliance, NATO= North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
• Marshall plan
Marshall Plan
What: a massive aid program to rebuild
Europe from destruction of WWII
Who: US Secty of State, George Marshall
How: $13 billion in US aid sent to Europe
When: 1948--52
Response: USSR and E. Europe call it
“dollar enslavement” (refuse aid)
Comecon
What: Soviet response to Marshall plan
Called: Council for Mutual Economic Assistance
When: 1949
Why: strengthen international socialists
(communists) relationships on an economic level
Why: they were now cut off from traditional
markets and suppliers in West Europe
Military Alliances
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
--western alliance against USSR
(communism)--promised to defend each
other
WARSAW PACT
--eastern alliance between USSR and its
satellite countries to defend against NATO
Chinese Revolution
• After WWII, civil war resumed in China;
nationalist troops had suffered more during war
• Jian Jieshi (Chaing Kai Shek) with his Nationalist
forces (Kuomintang) lost and reformed their govt
on the island of Tawaian
• Oct. 1, Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China
(PRC)
• Two months later, Mao travels to Moscow and
negotiates the Sino-Soviet Treaty of
Friendship,Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
Korean War
• When: 1950--53
• Why: Korea had been divided at 38th parallel
following WWII --just like Europe they stayed
divided between comm/captial
• When: June 25, No. Korea (communists) invaded
So. Korea (eventually helped by China)
• Lead by US--the United Nations lead a force to
stop the invasion; invasion was stopped
• Ended in 1953 basically at same place it started;
just an armistice; no treaty; technically still at war
Berlin Again!
The Wall 1961
So many people were leaving communist East
Berlin that the USSR built a wall to stop it
---1st phase done in 24 hours
--- also to keep Western ideas away
--2ndary wall in 1962
--final version 45,000 separate sections,
reinforced concrete (barbed wire, trenches,
300+ watchtowers, 30 bunkers)
JFK and the Wall
Vietnam
To stop the ‘dominos falling’ in So. East Asia
--complex ‘conflict’; history of colonization by
France; nationalist movements against France;
WWII occupation; post-WWII division into
north/south
--USSR supports communist north/USA supports
non-comm south (but not all Vietnamese in So
agree to their govt and want to be part of North)
--100,000s lives/controversy later…1973 USA
troops leave and by ‘75 North defeats So and
whole country becomes Communist
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
CUBA
1959
Jan. leftist forces under Fidel Castro
overthrow American backed Fulgencio
Batista
Castro ‘nationalizes’ (govt controls) sugar
industry and signs trade agreements with
USSR
Castro seizes US assets on island
Bay of Pigs --1961
• US organized invasion force of 1,400
Cuban exiles is defeated by Castro’s forces
(south coast= Bay of Pigs)
• Launched from Guatemala in ships/planes
• Surrendered on April 20 (3 days fighting)
• JFK takes full responsibility
Cuban Missile
Crisis
1962--Khrushchev (USSR leader) secretly plans
to install nuclear missiles on Cuba (90 miles
from Florida)
Pres. Kennedy blockaded Cuba
Khrushchev turned his ships around after secret
agreement: USSR = no nucs in Cuba
USA= no nucs in Turkey
***Americans tht we were headed into WWII and
it was super close!! (13 day standoff)
Mutually Assured Destruction
the Arms Race!
Both sides wanted nuclear weapons.
To be able to ‘deter’ the other side from attacking
first==be stronger
As each side trys to ‘be stronger’ than the other side-# nuclear warheads skyrockets
(55,000 by 1980s)
This was called MAD= Mutually Asssured
Destruction (of ourselves if start something so
keeps the peace)
Atomic Bomb
First full detonation=July
1945 USA
USSR gets bomb 1949
China gets bomb in 50s-----in 1950s US tests 23
bombs by dropping them
over the Marshall Islands
(Bikini Atoll)
Detente
From a French word that means relaxation
In this sense it refers to the beginning of a
‘relaxation of tensions’ between US/USSR
SALT
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SALT I and II (1970s)
--meetings meant to reduce the # of weapons
--did slow the arms race
Afghanistan
--USSR’s ‘vietnam’
Mikhail Gorbachev
Leader of USSR 1985--95
--actually last leader of Communist Russia
--reform minded
--believed in some ‘openness’ in speech/press
(Glastnost)
--believed in rebuilding the economy allowing
some capitalistic elements (Peristroika)
Communist Collapse
Poland
Mostly due to the extremely slow economies in
communist system which were overburdened
with debt/expenses for the military to stay
strong
1980--Poland!!
**workers at Lenin shipyards went on strke
**lead by Lech Walesa started in Gdansk and
spread to other cities
***became a movement called “Solidarity”
---Communist government gave in to demands and
recognized workers rights to form
unions/strike
Communist
Collapse
German Unification
Fall of Berlin Wall= Nov. 9, 1989
--Brandenburg Gate opened; people finally
free to pass back and forth for first time
since 1961
--Nov. 10th---people take down the wall
themselves
Communist Collapse
the Satellites
1989/90== communist governments fall
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Bulgaria
East Germany
Communist Collapse
German Unification
• Sept 12th, 1990
• Moscow meeting--nations agree to end
Allied occupation rights in Germany
• Oct 3, East and West Germany united as
Federal Republic of Germany
The Soviets
Three Baltic states announce they were leaving the
USSR and becoming independent
Gorbachev does not use force to keep them
USSR transitions into CIS (Commonwealth of
Independent States) BUT ultimately,
all former republics declare independence.
**Ukraine
**Armenia etc…….
The End of The Cold War
--What era are we in now?