unit 8 (cold war & fall of communism)

factors that allowed Europe to recover after tragedies of 1900s

• resilience of industrial societies — only needed to rebuild

• integration of economies: European economic community (eu)

  • reduced tariffs & created common trade policies

• us aid:

  • marshall plan: gave money & advisors

  • political & military security — NATO

how did Japan recover after ww2

• us aid — economic, fixed industries

• political/military — constitution, dependent on us for military

recovery of the soviets after ww2

• stalin increasingly harsh

  • more arrested = more cheap labor

  • favored state > people

• gained industrial complexes, agricultural goods/raw materials & wealth — looting from ww2

favorable factors from Chinese communism

• weren’t only communist state, had an ally

• chinese revolutionaries had been governing parts of china

• communism rooted in peasants (large population)

  • easier to build socialism

differences of china & soviets (societal context)

• larger population

• small industrial base

• less available agriculture land

• undeveloped education & infrastructure

great leap forward

chinese process — rapid transformation of agrarian society towards socialist one — done through rapid industrialization & collectivism

influence of soviets on chinese switch to communism

• mirrored their collectivism

  • differences: Chinese = more peaceful & pushed further, peoples communes

• mirrored their industrialization: state planned & focussed on heavy industry + mobilization of women

  • created economic growth

peoples communes

highest admin level rural areas: meant to mobilize pop. to communism — more social equality & collective living

chinese problems with soviets industrialization model

leaded towards inequalities & urban bias

• mao response was great leap forward

  • promoted small-scale industrialization

  • fostered widespread tech. education

  • wanted immediate switch to communism

consequences of great leap forward

• administrative chaos & disruption of market-networks

• large famines - killed 30 mil

cultural revolution

revolution combat capitalist tendencies

• promoted: healthcare & education to rural areas & reinvigorate rural industrial reaction

  • didn’t really work

elimination of enemies to Chinese communist state

• occured in cultural rev. - mao called rebellion against communist party

  • red guards formed: started with rallies in Beijing then attacked enemies

  • sent enemies to labor camps, humiliated, beaten or killed

problems with the red guards (china)

rev. groups began fighting - threat of civil war

• mao called military, restored order & power of communist party

east vs west (cold war)

• began after ww2

• us & soviets: polar opposites (history, society, politics, international relations)

initial arena of the cold war

eastern Europe: us & Britain wanted open & democratic societies

• created military alliances: NATO & Warsaw pact

  • created spheres of influence

• divided by iron curtain

military conflicts of cold war

• korean war: north Korea invaded South Korea - us + Chinese involvement

• Vietnam war: south communists wanted to unify with northern communist gov - us intervention & loss

• Afghanistan: Marxist group formed, combated by islamic radicals - Soviet invasion to help communists — lost

• cuban missile crisis: cuba turned communist, us angry - to prevent us invasion soviets gave them nukes, us prepped invasion - ended through compromise

compromise of cuban missile crisis

• soviets would remove the nukes

• us would promise to not invade Cuba

arms race (soviets vs us)

• us had monopolized nuclear weapon manufacturing

• soviets redoubled & caught up

  • lots of nukes, many delivery methods

    • efforts to prevent nuclear provocation

cold war competition

used military + economic aid, education, political pressure & covert tactics - court ex-colonies

• soviets: aided anti-colonial or revolutionary movements (vietnam, cub)

• us: same methods & support of corrupt anti-communist dictators (Chile, congo)

nonalignment

countries didn’t side with either, some would accept aid then turn on aiding countries (ex. indonesia)

us as a superpower

• many soldiers (outside us)

• in 5 regional defense alliances & many defensive treaties

• part of 53 international organizations

• most productive economy/society

• powerful military

fracturing of communism

• reform movements against soviets (Poland, Hungary, Czech) — soviets invaded proving tyranny

• Yugoslavia rejected soviets

• conflict between china & soviets

  • soviets pulled aid & nuke plans

communism at its peak

• china emerged from cultural rev

• soviets matched us power

• Cuba & Vietnam stayed communist

• aides revolutionary movements (Africa & Latin America) — communist outposts

why was Germany a “cold war flashpoint”

germany split into 4 — 3 democratic & 1 communist (east & west Germany)

berlin airlift

• west strengthened w. Germany — Stalin cut of land access

• airlifted supplies for > 1 until Stalin gave up

why was west Berlin vulnerable to soviets

west Berlin was democratic area on the communist side of germany

decolonization of angola

• multiple factions fought for control — civil war

• independence gained 1975

connection between decolonization & cold war

as decolonization occurred us & soviets rushed to implement their ideals

members of the non-alignment movement

1. egypt

2. india

3. indonesia

4. Ghana

5. Yugoslavia

bangdun/asian-african conference

• representatives from 29 govs. met in bangdun

  • discuss peace & role of 3rd world in cold war, economic development & decolonization

  • sukarno

high extent of changing Chinese society through great leap forward

• collectivism agriculture & people

  • disrupted rural life

  • famine - monocropping

  • overpopulated communes

  • no private property

• destruction economy

  • agriculture to steel

    • too high quotas

    • workers not educated

• reeducation (mao) & destruction of old culture

low extent changes to Chinese society from great leap forward

• failure to modernize (successfully)

• centralization of gov. — emperor to chairman

• use of propaganda for justification

causes of Chinese communist rev.

• qing fell — pressure from west

• invasion by Japanese

  • ccp (mao) gained support in fighting japan

appeal of communism

• fought japan

• experimentation with land reform

  • lower rents & taxes

  • increased literacy

• promised gender equality

  • marriage law: no forced marriage, divorce easier & women own property

    • promises not held

soviets' perestroika (reconstructing)

politcal & economic reforms

• allowed semi-private ownership

  • semi-capitalism

• allowed small scale businesses

• opportunities for private farming

• allowed foreign investment

soviet glasnost (openness)

opened gov. & less state control (media)

• exposed corruption & state issues

• no sensory

• acceptance of religion

• held elections

• ended cold war

economic impacts of Soviet reforms

• planned economy dismantled

• inflation

• short supply of goods - ration cards

• more private farming

• no foreign investment took place

political impacts of Soviet reforms

• demand for multiparty democracy & capitalism

• workers on strikes

• nationalistic demands: independence or autonomy

effects of political demands after reforms

• broke Berlin war, mass demonstrations, political groups formed

  • overran communist regimes (Hungary)

  • others groups saw this & followed

    • soviets lost control/land

collapse of soviets

tried military coup — failed, fell to responses to fix internal issues

global political change following soviets collapse

• largest & last territorial empire fell

• communist party fell & socialism hated

• new states formed - joined NATO

• cold war ended

• fragmentation of other states (yugoslavia)

what happened to communist states

• russia: experienced poverty, declined life expectancy & failing economy

• china, Vietnam, laos: stayed communist, tried reforms

• Cuba: failed economy - combated through tourism, better relations with us

• north Korea: no reforms, stayed same

cold war: round 2

putin mad at us intruding on Russian interests:

• NATO going eastward

• Ukraine (us against)

• involvement in Syrian civil war (opposite sides)

• Russia intrusion 2016 election

  • created hostile cold-war like relations

china’s development causing tensions (south china sea)

instability of middle east

• isreal-palestine

• Iranian rev. & war with iraq (nuke competition)

  • rivalry with saudi

• terrorism — Islamic radicals removing “corruption”

• refugee crisis - dismantling states they fled to

syrian civil war

2011 — generated 12 million refugees — problems for states they fled to

• became internationalized: countries took sides

• worsened regional rivalries: iran-saudi Arabia (Islamic & ethnic)

tensions outside the middle east

• india-pakistan

• north korea-its neighbors

• china-taiwan

• civil wars/ethnic separatist movements (rwanda & yugoslavia)

change in military spending post-communist era

increased heavily - combat tensions

• “war on terror”

• military industrial complex