Unit 9: Cold War Era Study Guide

Emergence of 2 superpowers

• previous world powers (Britain, France, Germany) in ruins

• US and USSR are world powers now (W/ OPPOSING IDEOLOGIES)

• Eastern Europe remains in Soviet sphere after being liberated by USSR in WWII

“Iron Curtain”

1946

• Winston Churchill speech saying an “iron curtain” descended across the continent

• represents division of Europe under Soviet influence

• Berlin blockade and Airlift: US and Great Britain supply East Berlin with food and supplies (who were restricted under Soviet control)

Truman Doctrine

1947

• US commitment to support countries resisting communism

• intervention

• protect free elections

• $400 million aid to Greece and Turkey (successful)

Result of Truman Doctrine:

Domino Theory: if one country falls to communism, it would set up a chain reaction (eventually the whole world would become communist)

Containment

US policy of stopping the spread of communism through economic aid and military intervention. leads to variety of international conflicts

Communism in China

correlation between this and containment

• Mao Zedong defeated the Nationalists led by Jiang Jieshi in 1949

• Great Leap Forward: 5 year plan to industrialize, moving from farms to factories, was a disaster and led to around $20 million deaths, particularly due to famine since there were less farmers

• Cultural Revolution: expelled foreigners and attempted to purify China from capitalism and its influences, a Red Guard was used to suppress this physically

• Stalinist-style of repression

Result of Truman Doctrine:

Marshall Plan (1948)

• $12.5 billion US aid (food, machinery) provided to rebuild Europe

• Healthy economies would prevent communism

european nations like Britain were able to rebuild quickly to how they were before or better than before WWII

Result of Truman Doctrine:

NATO (1949)

• north Atlantic treaty organization

• defensive alliance of 10 western European nations, the US, and Canada

Warsaw Pact (1955)

alliance of Eastern Europe and the USSR

• Berlin wall built in 1961 to keep east berliners from fleeing West to NATO countries

Formation and Repression of the Soviet Bloc (the large coalition of USSR)

Result of the Warsaw Pact

• soviet satellite states ( communist government controlled by the USSR)

• censorship and immigration limitations, like USSR

• “buffer states” (independent, neutral countries between or near these large, fighting powers) denied free elections

• 1956 Polish Resistance: Wladysaw Gomulka chosen prime minister instead of Soviet candidate

• 1956: Hungarian uprising led by Imre Nagy to leave Warsaw Pact, and Soviets invade

• Czechoslovakia replace liberal communist leader Alexander Dubek

• Brezhneve Doctrine = Soviet union can interfere in the domestic policies of other communist nations

Cuban Missile Crisis

1959 - Fidel Castro led a successful communist revolution in Cuba → JFK launched an attack on Cuba using Cuban exiles trained by the CIA to overthrow Castro

• the attack by JFK was a disaster and a huge embarrassment. Castro feared US invasion

• to protect themselves, Cuba began hoarding nuclear weapons, and backed up by the soviets, were afraid of a US invasion

• Crisi ended after US imposed a quarantine → USSR agreed to remove missiles from Cuba, and US removed missiles from Turkey

Korean War

Korea was divided in half - Soviets controlled/occupied North, and the US controlled the south

• 1950: North Korea invaded the south and advanced quickly → the UN demanded they withdraw

• each side was supported by external powers → essentially a battle between communists and anti-communists

• fought to a draw → armistice signed in 1953

• US casualties: 54,000 dead and 103,000 wounded, and Chinese and Korean casualties at least 10x as high

Vietnam (controlled by the French until this time)

• power vacuum created by French decolonization

• US aids the South Vietnam against the Vietcong - Communist guerrillas

• Ho Chi Minh leads communist North Korea

• Tactics like search and destroy, Agent Orange, and Napalm gas add to the destruction and unpopularity of the war

• unpopularity leads to many protests

• policy of Vietnamization (withdrawing US troops)

• Communist N. Wietnam wins

Detente

• easing of cold war tensions after years of competition

• replaces Brinkmanship under Nixon

• created a framework of cooperation between two superpowers

  • Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and Nixon’s visit to China and USSR

• Helsinki Accords (1975) promise to respect human rights (not really followed…)

The USSR in the 1970s and the 1980s

• intervention in other communist countries’ affairs, activist foreign policy (Afghanistan, Nicaragua, and Vietnam)

• Escalation of tensions and military spending against Reagan (Star Wars)

• More repressive domestic policies

• Economic troubles- refusal to cut welfare spending; borrowed money from West; military spending

• Long lines for food and constant shortages

• Gov’t has total control (politburo) makes all decisions

• Complaints rise despite censorship

Perestroika (policy)

• economic restructuring

• Attempt to jump-start the economy

• Allowed limited private ownership of property

• Shift from Command to Market Economy

Democratization and Glasnost

• Glasnost - “openness”

• Allows freedom of speech and press

• Release political prisoners from jail

• Leads to people speaking out against gov’t

• Allows for free elections (instead of “approving” candidates pre-selected by the Party)