Cold War Review

Modern World History Honors

Division of Germany? How? Why?

After WW2, each major power got a chunk of Germany; the NATO countries combined their chunks into West Germany, and the Soviet chunk was called East Germany; west Germany was a democratic and successful East Germany was a poor satellite nation, berlin was in east Germany, but each country also got a chunk of Berlin.

When was the Berlin Wall built? Why?

Built in 1961, too many people were escaping to West Berlin (3.6 million); communists built a wall to keep people OUT of West Berlin.

Berlin Airlift... NOT ASSOCIATED WITH BERLIN WALL... WALL COMES MUCH LATER.

People were escaping to the more developed West Berlin, and so the Soviets cut off all railroads and ways to enter West Berlin, so the West airlifted supplies to them for a year (1948-1949)

Why was the Berlin Wall built?

To keep people IN East Berlin

What is the United Nations?

International peacekeeping organization and a forum for resolving conflicts between nations replaced the ineffective League of Nations, which had failed to prevent the outbreak of WWII

Permanent members of the security council?

United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China

What is the difference between the General Assembly and the Security Council?

The General Assembly is everyone and doesn't have the power to make influential decisions; the Security Council has 15 members, five permanent and ten that rotate every two years. Permanent members can veto any decision. Security Council can actually make binding decisions.

What is a "Cold War"

A war that is not fought directly- both sides were afraid of fighting directly as a "hot war" with nuclear weapons could destroy everything

Soviet Goal?

Spread world wide communism

USA Goal?

"Containment" of communism & the eventual collapse of the communist world

What METHODOLOGIES were used during the Cold War?

1 espionage

2 arms race (mad)

3 proxy wars

4 bipolarization of europe

5 space race

Truman Doctrine/Containment

• 1947

• Civil war in Greece

• Turkey was under pressure from the USSR for concessions in the Dardanelles

• "The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside pressures...We must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way."

• The US gave Greece and Turkey $400 million in aid

Which countries were threatened by Communism that prompted the "Truman Doctrine"?

Turkey and Greece

Marshal Plan- How Much? Why? Offered to?

• "European Recovery Program"

• Secretary of State, George Marshall

• The US should provide aid to all European nations that need it. This move is not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger poverty, desperation, and chaos

• 12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to Eastern Europe and the USSR (but this was rejected)

Iron Curtain Speech

Given by Winston Churchill, saying basically that there was a division in the continent between the democratic Western European countries and those controlled by the USSR

Josip Tito

• 1945-1980

• President of Yugoslavia (Communist)

• Defies Stalin

• Accepts Marshall Plan Aid

• Never joined the Warsaw Pact

• Yugoslavia and the USSR are both communists but not friends

• The Fall of Tito leads to rising of Milosevic

• Milosevic was responsible for the Bosnia genocide in the 1990s

• Yugoslavia is in the Balkan region, The Balkan region was a hotspot before WWI, and was also a hotspot in the 1990s

Soviet/Yugoslavia split

Both were communists but were never friends

De-Stalinization

A policy designed to get the memory of Stalin out of the country, Stalingrad renamed Volgograd, allowed political prisoners out of the gulags, allowing more free speech

Hungarian Revolution (Imre Nagy)-

1956, Hungary, protestors gathered to voice their dissent against the USSR/Communist government; Imre Nagy formed a new government with free elections,

USSR response to Hungarian Revolution

USSR sends tanks to Budapest; overpowers protestors; 50 killed; instituted a new government w PRO-SOVIET leaders; KILLED NAGY

Castro

Cuban revolutionary who played a key role in Cuban revolution leading up to Cuban missile crisis, was very anti-Batista, became Cuba's prime minister

Cuban Missile Crisis

example of Brinkmanship- using the threat of nuclear war to get a desired political outcome; policy caused very high tension; made people think nuclear war was possible, MAD became US’s nuclear policy

Soviet Split with China

• (Biggest rift post-war Communist movement)

• 1949-1959 China and USSR were friendly, USSR always looked down on China because they thought they were better

• by 1959 China did not want to be treated poorly anymore

• China began to do its own thing and the USSR got upset

• fighting broke out along the soviet/China border

Brezhnev-

adopted repressive domestic policies, no freedom of speech/worship, government-controlled everything

Prague Spring

Czechoslovakia's leader was Alexander Dubcek, who allowed writers to speak freely, and allowed social freedoms, writers began to voice their displeasure with the USSR/Communism, Dubcek was expelled from the communist party, but in 1989 he came back

Détente-

a policy of lessening cold war tensions

• Examples: Nixon visits USSR

• Nixon visit China

SALT- strategic arms limitation talks- Nixon and Brezhnev agreed to limit the number of ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)

US pulls out of Vietnam

Detente ends in 80s because...

• the USSR invaded Afghanistan.

• Ronald Reagan takes office. Calls the Soviet Union the EVIL EMPIRE.

• R.R. created "Star Wars" a missile defense system that was supposed to shoot down ICBM from outer space. The cost was over a trillion dollars. It never worked.

• Reagan armed Contras (anti communist)in Nicaragua

Perestroika

Economic recovery (Changes were made to revive the Soviet economy, with local managers gaining greater authority over their farms and factories, and people were allowed to open small private businesses. Gorbachev's goal was not to throw out communism but to make it more efficient and productive. )

Glasnost-

free speech allowed (churches were opened, dissidents were released from prison, allowed publication of books by previously banned authors. reporters actively investigated social problems and openly criticized government officials)

Political Reforms-

Gorbachev introduced democracy, people were allowed to vote from a list of multiple candidates

Problems with Minorities-

Russians only made up ~½ the soviet union, the other half was satellite nation populations

• Problems with Modernity-

Gorbachev thought slow reform was the way to go, but people didn't like that

• Problems in Afghanistan-

Gorbachev pulled troops out but that weakened the soviet union because there was the soviet Afghan war which they lost and was part of the fall of the soviet union

•Satellite Nations =

Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, E.Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia

ROMANIA

• The last Communist leader- Nicolae Ceaușescu (pronounced sheshescue), ruthless leader, similar to Stalin, The Romanian people were tired of his ruthlessness and began to protest; the Army joined the protesters

• Ceausescu tries to flee with his wife. They were captured and executed on X-mas day 1989

POLAND

What was solidarity?

1980; Trade union (shipyard workers) → wanted better working conditions and more money

Who was the leader of the solidarity movement?

Lech Walesa

What happened to Lech Walesa between 1981 and 1989?

1980- went on strike demanding government recognition of their union

1981- government bans solidarity and declares martial law; Lech Walesa jailed

The economy continues to fail

1988- Workers go on strike (again) wanted $ and recognition of Solidarity

1989- the leader of the Polish government (Jaruzelski) legalizes solidarity AND holds elections

1990- Lech Walesa becomes first democratically elected President ALSO wins Nobel Peace Prize

What changed in 1989?

Solidarity is legalized and elections are held

HUNGARY

What phrase describes the way in which Hungary ended communism?

"Change from within"

Communists DISBANDED GOVERNMENT

Erich Honecker

East German Communist- Does not want change (Old school communism, bad guy

Egon Krenz

Replaces Honecker allows people to leave East Germany (more open to change)

Helmot Kohl

West German leader- reunification (From west germany)

Under the leadership of Honecker, describe the way in which people were escaping East Germany and going to West Germany:

People went from East Germany to HUNGARY to Austria to West Germany

What did Honecker do about this?

He closed East Germany's borders altogether

How did the East Germans react?

Huge protests

Who replaced Honecker as the leader of East Germany?

Egon Krenz

What did he do in order to restore order?

Allows travel by opening the Berlin Wall

Why were East Germans angry when they traveled to West Germany?

They saw how good life was and protested and forced the Communist government of East Germany to resign

What happened to the East German Communist regime as a result?

Resigned

Who led the German reunification process?

Helmut Kohl (from West Germany)

What were some challenges a united Germany faced?

East was much poorer, East doesn't understand democracy, West $/Social welfare go to East, East factories much worse, etc

Today, what country in Europe has the largest economy?

Germany (Biggest/Richest country in Europe)

Who was the leader of Czechoslovakia's pro-democracy movement?

Vaclav Havel

What was his occupation?

Playwright and was also a government critic

What was this revolution called?

"Velvet Revolution"

What happened to Czechoslovakia in 1993?

Czechoslovakia splits into Czech Republic and Slovakia (Slovakians wanted independence)