ap world 1900-present cold war and decolonization

What is a Cold War?

What is a Cold War?

A cold war refers to hostility between two states usually due to an ideological struggle rather than open warfare. The Cold War was a four-decades long struggle between the US and the Soviet Union.

What led to the United States becoming a superpower following World War II?

Economically, World War II created a complete economic turnaround for the US due to industrial sector production increasing to meet wartime needs. The US was also in much better shape than European countries that had to rebuild after the war, and gave money to western Europe to rebuild through the Marshall Plan. Western Europe became dependent on the power and wealth of the US

Technologically the US had the atomic bomb and no one else did, which made them the most militarily advanced.

What led to the Soviet Union becoming a superpower following World War II?

Leading up to World War II the Soviet economy grew rapidly. And while they needed to be rebuilt after the war, the centralized command economy of the Soviet Union could draw natural resources from their enormous territory and large population to work towards economic recovery. They became an economic match for the US.

What led to massive decolonization movements after World War II?

After World War I European imperial powers denied the right to self-rule in their colonies and expanded their holdings with the mandate system. When colonial troops fought for their European imperial leaders again in World War II without a true promise for self-rule, decolonization movements began across the world. This time, Europe was too weakened from the War to stop them.

What were the two major causes of the Cold War?

First, conflicting ideologies. The democratic capitalism of the United States and the authoritarian communism of the Soviet Union. Both are universalizing, meaning the US and the USSR wanted the whole world to adopt their ideology.

Second, mutual mistrust between the US and the USSR due to broken promises following WWII concerning the fair and free elections in Eastern Europe that never happened as they were forced to adopt Communism by Stalin and became Soviet satellite states.

What was the Non-aligned movement?

Some groups and individuals in newly decolonized states refused to choose between the Communist States and Democratic States. This started the Non-Aligned Movement led by Indonesian president Achmad Sukarno in 1955. Because they wanted an alternative, they became known as third world countries.

What were the two major effects of the Cold War?

First, the creation of military alliances on both sides due to the threat of nuclear war. NATO formed in 1949 as an alliance of the US and its allies. The Warsaw Pact was an alliance of the Soviet Union and its satellite states. An attack on one was an attack on all.

Second, the proliferation of proxy wars. The conflict was carried out in a series of proxy wars across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The US and Soviet Union supported different sides in smaller conflicts, carrying out their competition for global dominance without actually fighting each other. Their involvement led to much deadlier wars.

What was an effect of nuclear proliferation?

Due to nuclear proliferation a conflict directly between the US and the USSR would lead to mutually assured destruction (MAD

What is an example of a proxy war in Asia? How were the superpowers involved?

The Korean War. After Japan was defeated in WWII, Korea was divided in two. In the north was a communist government and in the south was an anticommunist government. In 1950 the north invaded the south. The Soviets backed and supplied the communists in the North while the US backed and supplied the anti-communists in the south. The war ended in 1953 with Korea remaining divided along the 38th parallel.

What is an example of a proxy war in Latin America?

In Nicaragua during the Contra War, the socialist Sandinistas were backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union and fought with the anti-communist Contras backed by the United States.

What is an example of a proxy war in Africa?

The Angolan Civil War. The Soviet Union backed the communist groups vying for power while the US and its allies backed the anti-communist groups.

How did China become a Communist State?

In the 1920s, internal tension was brewing between the Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-Shek and the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong. This led to a civil war before World War II broke out, that paused when the Japanese invaded, and resumed after WWII, leading the communists to take power with support from the Soviet Union.

How did China change when it became communist?

Agriculture was collectivized. Mao began the Great Leap Forward, to rapidly industrialize with small scale industrial production. These programs failed and led to a famine in which 20-50 million people died.

How did socialism impact Egypt?

Gamal Abdel Nasser started socialist policies to redistribute land and resources. He nationalized the Suez Canal, taking power away from the colonial powers that built and paid for it. This led to armed conflict. Backed by the Soviet Union, Egypt won.

How did communism impact Vietnam?

During World War II, Japan occupied Vietnam, which was a French colony. After Japan was defeated, Vietnam declared its independence. This led to the creation of two rival governments: a communist government in the north and an anti-communist government in the south. The communist government started a program of land redistribution from wealthy landowners to poor peasants. This led to another proxy war in Vietnam.

How did communism impact Cuba?

In 1956, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba. He wanted to end Cuba’s economic reliance on the USA, which had given the US a lot of power in Cuba. He allied with the Soviet Union and launched a program of land redistribution and raising wages. This transferred about 15% of Cuba’s wealth from the rich to the poor. He also nationalized lands that belonged to US corporations. This led the US CIA to try to overthrow Castro, which only further radicalized him and led him to develop closer ties with the USSR.

What FOUR political and economic events led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and end of the Cold War?

First, advances in US military and technological development. In 1980, Ronald Reagan spent lots of money on the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), to create a space based missile defense system. It never happened but the Soviets attempted to match the US spending on weapons development. They did not have the funds to keep up, which led to decline.

Second, the failed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to support communists there. Afghan rebels were supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The war lasted nine years and further depressed the Soviet economy

Third, growing public discontent and economic weakness in communist countries led to policy changes to try to revive the USSR. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced Perestroika which would restructure the economy by reducing the level of central planning from the government and Glasnost, meaning “openness.” This allowed free speech and people used it to express their anger with the government.

Fourth, the Soviet Union would no longer use military intervention to prop up other communist governments.

Describe how the collapse of the USSR happened.

The Soviet Bloc started Democratic reform movements. These spread to Soviet States like Lithuania, Georgia, etc. They began declaring independence. In 1989 the Berlin Wall was torn down and Germany was reunified. Instead of fighting, the Soviet legislature voted to dissolve the Soviet Union in 1991. This ended the Cold War.

How did India gain its independence from the British?

The Indian National Congress formed in 1885. Its goal was to gain more of a voice in Indian policy. The British ignored them. They also did not immediately get independence after WWI and WWII. But, the British were broke after WWII and there were more pro-independence politicians in English Parliament, so the Indian National Congress was able to negotiate with Parliament and gain their independence in 1947.

How was India’s Muslim minority impacted by indepence?

India was home to a large Muslim minority who were afraid they would not have much of a voice in India so they formed the Muslim League and called for a new state of their own in the independence

Why did Indian Independence lead to violence?

The Partition of India created the new Muslim state of Pakistan. Once the border was created, Hindus fled south and Muslims fled north. Each side committed violence against the other. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps even over a million, died

How did Algeria gain its independence from France?

They negotiated with some of their African colonies—but not Algeria— where many French people lived. In 1954 Arab and Berber Muslims formed the National Liberation Front to commit acts of violence against French troops and civilians. The French responded brutally, committing human rights abuses against civilians. It became one of the bloodiest independence movements. In 1962 French president Charles de Gaulle finally negotiated to end the war and Algeria got its independence.

How was Israel created?

Early 20th century Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire and was mostly Muslim. The late 19th century Zionist movement advocated for Jews to have a state of their own in Palestine. After World War I the Ottoman Empire was broken apart and the lands became mandates of European powers. A British document called the Balfour Declaration seemed to support a Jewish State. Between the World Wars and after WWII, Jewish migration to Palestine spiked due to British support and fleeing the Holocaust.

Why did the creation of Israel lead to violence?

After WWII the United Nations tried to partition Palestine into two states. The Jewish people accepted this and declared independence in 1948 (creating Israel). Palestinians refused and, supported by Arab neighbors, began to fight the Israelis. The violence continues today

What is an example of a decolonized state taking a stronger role in guiding economic life?

The economic policies of Indira Gandhi, the first and only female prime minister of India, are a good example. She started a series of five year socialist economic plans to allow the government to have more control over the economy instead of relying on foreign aid. She embraced the technology of the Green Revolution (biologically engineered seeds and fertilizers that led to fantastic agricultural yields).

How did decolonization impact migration in the 20th century?

There were massive waves of migration in search of work due to economic difficulties in former colonies. People went in large numbers to the countries of their former metropoles (the home territory of the imperial power). Examples: South Asians migrated to Great Britain, Algerians to France, and Filipinos to the United States. The former colonial people spoke the language and were familiar with the cultural customs of their past imperial overlords.

What were the impacts of these migrations?

First, migration to metropoles helped to maintain the cultural and economic ties between the former colony and the metropole. Second, migration transformed these majority white and culturally homogenous societies into genuine mutli-ethnic societies.

How did Mohandas Gandhi use non-violence in his fight against the British in India?

Gandhi was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress (INC) and devoted himself to civil disobedience which encouraged the breaking of unjust laws.

Examples:

• The Homespun Movement to protest Britain’s domination of India’s cotton industry.

• The Salt March against the 19th century British Salt Act which made it illegal for Indians to collect or sell salt so they would have to buy heavily taxed salt from the British. On the Salt March 50-60,000 people marched to the coast and dug up salt deposits. Many were beaten and arrested including Gandhi. Gandhi’s efforts began to break Britain’s colonial hold on India.

How did Martin Luther King, Jr. use non-violence in his fight against racist policies in the United States?

King led black Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. He was inspired by Gandhi who also supported civil disobedience. Examples: The Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama encouraged black Americans to boycott the city’s segregated public transportation system. It caused some economic distress in Montgomery and other places as the movement spread. King was also arrested on several occasions, and eventually his movement led to change. The Supreme Court outlawed racial discrimination in schools in the 1950s and Congress passed anti-discrimination laws in the 1960s.

How did Nelson Mandela use non-violence to fight against the racist policies of apartheid in South Africa?

British and Dutch descendants of colonizers dominated South Africa’s government and created segregation laws called apartheid that denied basic rights to black South Africans. Nelson Mandela, a prominent member of the African National Congress (ANC), led black South Africans in strikes and boycotts to affect change. While he was standing trial for treason, a nonviolent protest in the town of Sharpeville was violently suppressed by police who killed 69 people, injuring more. The treason trial and outrage over the Sharpeville Massacre led Mandela to abandon his beliefs of non-violence. He was jailed for over 20 years but in 1994 he ran for president and won, ending apartheid.

What is an example of a state that responded to conflict in a way that intensified the violence?

Augusto Pinochet led a military coup to overthrow the democratically elected president Salvador Allende who was a Marxist implementing socialist policies. This was during the Cold War, so with help from the United States, Pinochet took power and became a dictator in Chile. He violently suppressed opposition (including political leftists, labor unions, and the Catholic Church) with military raids, executions, and torture.

What are some examples of people or groups using violence against civilians to achieve their political goals?

Groups using terrorism to achieve a political goal included the Shining Path in Peru, the Irish Republican Army in Ireland, the Muslim extremist group al Qaeda. Al Qaeda was founded and led by Saudi Arabian billionaire Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda was angry about US involvement in the Middle East. They used terrorism to pressure the US to change their policies in the region. This includes the September 11th attacks in the United States which killed 2000+ Americans.