Cold War

Yalta Conference

Divide Germany into occupational zones, Germany has to give reparations to USSR, Soviet Union promises to give free elections to Eastern European nations

Iron Curtain

Symbol that comes to represent the divide in Europe, USSR doesn't give free elections, Berlin Wall, Stalin creates a buffer zone in Eastern Europe

Containment + Examples

Policy of stopping the spread of communism (ex: Truman Doctrine, Berlin Airlift, NATO, Marshall Plan)

Brinksmanship

Threatening to go to war at any enemy aggression (Mutually assured destruction)

Soviet response to containment + examples

Arms race- Soviets exploded their first atomic bomb, Molotov plan (USSR Marshall Plan), Warsaw Pact (USSR NATO)

Domino Theory

If Vietnam fell to communism then many other Asian nations would follow suit

US Goals

Encourage democracy, Gain more raw materials, rebuild, stop the spread of communism, reunite Germany

Soviet Goals

Encourage the spread of communism, rebuild with Eastern European materials, keep Germany separate, control Easter Europe to protect themselves

Characteristics of the Cold War

Propaganda, Proxy Wars, Spying, Diplomacy

Cold War Strategies (get people on our side)

Espionage (CIA, KGB), Proxy Wars (Korea, Vietnam), Nonaligned Nations, Multinational Alliances (NATO), Brinksmanship, Foreign aid

NATO + USSR response

North Atlantic Treaty Organization- Western nations join with US and Canada in a defensive military alliance. Soviet Reaction- Warsaw Pact

Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift

Truman Doctrine: Give aid to Turkey and Greece to help them fend off communism, Marshall Plan give only money to help aid nations, Berlin Airlift: Cargo planes to West Berlin

Molotov Plan + Warsaw Pact

Molotov Plan: Soviet Marshall Plan, Warsaw Pact: Soviet NATO

Nikita Khrushev

Destalinization: Allowing people to be critical of Stalin (people take down statues, place all blame of problems on him), allows for some competition with capitalists, removed/replaced

Leonid Brezhnev

Limited freedom of speech and worship, military intervention

Brezhnev Doctrine

Stop nations from rejecting communism (Prague Spring)

Prague Spring

Alexander Bubeek- starts to loosen control on censorship, troops from the warsaw pact stormed Czechoslovakia, Brezhnev Doctrine

Soviet-Chinese Split

China and USSR signed a 30-year friendship treaty, China became more powerful and resented being in the Soviet's shadow, began spreading their own form of communism, Soviets ended technical and economic aid to the Chinese

Detente

Easing Cold War tensions (Richard Nixon), visit communist nations (Peoples Republic of China), SALT, Helsinki Accords

SALT

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks- reduce the amount of IBCM's (missiles) nations had

Helsinki Accords

33 nations signed a commitment to detente and cooperation

Democratization

Gorbachev's third policy of employing a democratic voting system in the Soviet Union, unpopular, Elected Boris Yeltsin as President

Miknail Gorbachev

communist party's new general secretary, new political ideas (liberal), domestic policy

Glasnot

Social openness- religion, books, some critisism

Prestrokia

Economic refore some capitalis, small trade (like NEP)

End of Soviet Union

Estonia and Latvia declared their independence, all 15 republics had declared their independence, common wealth of Independent states (CIS)

Shock Therapy

An abrupt plan to shift to free-market economies (lowered trade barriers, removed price controls, ended subsidies to state-owned industries)

Result of Shock Therapy

Inflation + Unemployment, increase in homelessness and homeless children, high rates of domestic violence

Invasion of Hungary + Czechoslovakia

Hungary: executed after demanding freedoms, Czech: warsaw pact troops sent to restore communism in Czech

Chinese Revolution

Nationalist vs. Communist, Communist: Mao Zegond (red army, Guerilla warfare), Nationalist: Jiang Jieshi (US supported), Civil war on pause, Mao's army stays to fight, sympathy of the people

Mao's government + recognized government

People's Republic of China, Soviet Union send aid, Jiang Jieshi and nationalists fled to Taiwan (Formosa)- recognized by the US and security counsel, Reshape China's economy based on Marxism (collectivization, 5-year plans)

The Great Leap Forward

Communes- tightly monitored, run by fear, create larger collective farms to increase production, Killed about 20 mil people, shut down

Cultural Revolution

Workers and peasants are equal (shut down schools, targeted people who resisted), Mao shut it down with the military

Stand off at the 38th parallel

North Koreans attacked the South, South Korea asked the UN for help, 15 nations agreed (US + Britain), General MacArthur (gets replaced bc he called for nuclear attack), Chinese sent 30,000 troops to Korea to fight, signed a cease-fire and set the border at the 38th parallel

North Korea

Japanese troops surrendered to the USSR, communist dictator Kim Il Sung (first dynastic communist ruler), collective farms=famine, developed heavy industry, built up military, developed nulcear weapons

South Korea

Japanese troops surrendered to the US, massive aid from the US, prosper in industry- build up of economy, Participate in foreign trade

Indochina War

French colonial rule, Ho chi Mihn- nationalist independence leader, didn't align with the USSR or China

Vietminh

Independence leader, fought with France (Guerilla warfare

Dien Bien Phu

French are forced to surrender

Geneva Peace Conference

Ends the Indochina war, Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel, North = communist (Ho Chi Minh), South = US + France supported Ngo Dinh Diem (dictator)

Vietcong

communist (supporters of Ho Chi Minh) guerillas in south Vietnam

Gulf of Tonkin

US ships get attacked, the second attack we say happened didn't happen, US starts fighting

Vietnamization

Richard Nixon's policy of slowly easing troops out of South Vietnam as they increase their military role, 2 years later they fall to communism

Cambodia

Khmer Rouge- communist Rebels (leader- Pol Pot), killed over 2 mil people in attempt of making the country communist

Fidel Castro + Cuban Revolution

Fulgencio Batista- US supported, Fidel Castro- totalitarian gov., kicks American buisness out, communist

Embargo

suspension of trade

Bay of Pigs

CIA train anit-castro Cuban exiles to invade and overthrow Fidel, they are easily defeated bc promised american air support never shows up

Cuban Missile Crisis

Krushev begun to build missile sites in Cuba, JFK demended they be removed, Naval blockade of Cuba, agreed to remove misslies if US didn't invade Cuba (embargo still stands)

Iran Hostage Crisis

Islamic revolutionaries seized the US embassy, more than 60 American hostages + Canadians, captive for 441 days

Tension in Middle East

Traditional Islamic values vs. Modern western materialism, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlav (US supported), embraced western govs. and wealthy western oil companies, Avatollah Ruholla Jhomeini, muslim leader, opposed western influence

Us Involved in Vietnam + strategy

Lyndon Johnson wanted to get involved in Vietnam bc it would affect/undermine his presidency and democracy, Strategy- carpet bomb until enemy gives up, young people on the ground