Chapter 8 - Cold war

Ideological conflict

two ideologies that are opposite from each other and clashing.

The Yalta Conference

Where Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt met together to plan the end of the war and the postwar future of Europe. They were set to “redraw” the map of Europe.

What were the agreements made at the Yalta Conference?

Dividing Germany into four zones of occupation (British, French,Soviet, and American), and having free elections in the newly liberated countries of Europe in keeping with the “right of all people to choose the form of government in which they will live.”

The Potsdam Conference

Harry S. Truman was now the president of the US, Clement Atlee was the new prime minister of Britain. Them and Stalin came together at Potsdam and for some, this was seen as the beginning of the cold war.

The agreements at the Potsdam Conference were:

The allowance that the free elections would be held in Poland, the division of Austria and Germany into four zones of occupation (British,French, Soviet, and American), restructuring the German economy towards agriculture and light industry,limiting military production, an agreement that said the the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan, and the decision that Germany would pay $20 billion in reparations to the allies.

Spheres of influence

the countries that had been liberated from the Nazis by the western allies fell under the US sphere of influence, and the countries that had been liberated by the Soviet Union fell under the Soviet sphere of influence.

What did Stalin use the postwar expansionism as?

a way to get “command of the world economy”.

What did Stalin justify expansion with?

Historical and geographical reasons. He wanted Germany to be divided. Strong unified Germany had invaded the Soviet Union twice already and when Britain, France and America pushed to unify the German zones to help the general economic recovery of Europe, Stalin opposed the idea. Stalin wanted to maintain or expand Soviet influence to surrounding countries, including Finland, Poland, and Romania, to create a buffer zone for the Soviet Union’s safety.

Containment

Truman wanted to stop expansionism to contain the spread of communism. Rather than starting a hot war, theUS fought its ideological conflicts by creating alliances and giving aid to other countries (proxy wars).

What is NATO

Established in 1949 and it was established as a collective security alliance for the mutual protection of its members against the threat of a soviet attack. It initially included most countries of Western Europe and North America.

What is the Warsaw pact?

Created by countries that were inclined toward Soviet communism. They also created the council for mutual economic Assistance (COMECON). The warsaw pact was seen as a specific response to West Germany joining NATO which was seen as a threat to eastern bloc countries.

Define brinkmanship

Pushing a dangerous conflict to the tipping point, where it is about to end in disaster. It’s almost like a game of chicken.

Who was Fidel Castro?

He led a socialist revolution in Cuba and overthrew the US-supported government of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The US gov’t pressured others to ban trade from Cuba and they tried to overthrow castro with the bay of pigs invasion, but failed.

What was John F. Kennedy’s involvement with the Cuban missile crisis?

He wanted to overthrow Castro and in response to finding out that the soviet union was bringing medium-range ballistic missiles to cuba, kennedy ordered a naval blockafe around Cuba so that no more soviet ships could deliver supplies.

What was Khrushchev’s role in the cuban missile crisis?

He negotiated a deal with Kennedy in which the soviet union would remove its missiles from cuba and that the US would promise not to invade Cuba and withdraw its missiles from turkey. He then ordered his ships to turn around.

Proxy war

A war that results when two countries use third parties or countries as an alternative to fighting each other directly.

What’s the domino theory?

Idea that if the soviet communism was able to spread to into a single country, then it had the potential to spread into the other surrounding countries. The US that they needed to prevent the first domino from falling.

What was the korean war ‘50-‘53

The soviet unions forces attacked the 38th parallel which was where the US and soviets agreed not to touch. The Soviet Union supplied north korea with weapons and by april 1950, stalin gave his approval for the invasion. 15 other UN member countries sent troops and supplies to push the north koreans out of south korea. It was claimes a police action instead of a war. The goal became not just containing communism but rolling it back. A ceasefire was declared on July 27, 1953.

What is espionage?

Governments try to gain secret information, for example, using hidden mics or spy satellite images.

What is deterrence

A government builds up defences, for ex military, naval, and nuclear defenses that can counteract any aggressive actions by another power.

What is an arms race

Each of the powers develops more and better weapons to outdo the other power. In the cold war, weapons such as nuclear warheads, tanks, strategic bombers, and assault weapons were part of this competition.

What is a space race

Each power competes to be the first to achieve things in space and to achieve more in space than the other power. In the cold war, the American and Soviet space programs were both a race to control space.

What is the truman doctrine?

President Truman developed a foreign policy to support anti-communist forces in Greece and Turkey. This reflected the idea of containment through a $400 million economic and military aid package to Greece and Turkey when their post-war governments asked for support in defeating communism within their countries.

Whats the marshall plan

When the secretary of state, George Marshal announced a $13 billion plan to help European countries devastated by war to recover. The US understood that if countries became prosperous again, the expansion of communism would be less likely because the middle and upper classes of society generally don’t support communism.

Whats the iron curtain

A political, economic, and cultural iron curtain between the communist east and the democratic west. The physical wall represented the ideological barrier between the east and the west.

What was the berlin wall?

A wall to keep the east germans from escaping to the west. The wall was a political, economic, and cultural iron curtain between the communist east and democratic west. The physical wall represented the ideological barrier between the east and the west.

Why would some people form alliances?

Because they shared simillar ideologies, some joined for financial and military assistance, and some joined for increased national security.

The hungarian revolution 1956

A spontaneous nationwide peoples movement against the soviet controlled gov’t of hungary. It began as a student demonstration in the capital, budapest. Thousands of hungarians participated in this movement by fighting against state security and soviet troops. It had a desired effect of strengthening soviet control over central europe.

What is prague spring, czechoslovakia 1968

Alexander dubcek came to power and made reforms that included additional rights for citizens, partial decentralization of the economy, and loosening restrictions on the media, speech, and travel. The warsaw pact allies stoped the reforms and dubcek was replaced and his reforms were reversed.

Solidarity in Poland 1980

A trade union (shared feelings and acting together) was formed by Lech Walesa. It was the first non-communist trade union in a then-communist country. The negotiation led to semi-free elections in 1989 in which walesa was elected as the president of Poland. The movement stirred strong anti-soviet feelings among the population.

The fall of the berlin wall

Signified the end of the cold war. The pro-democracy. Movement even caused the Soviet union’s communist gov’t to collapse.

Review the cuban missile crisis

Review the cuban missile crisis

Review the Korean war

Review the Korean war

Review the vietnam war

Review the vietnam war

Who was Ho chi minh

A leader of the resistence against both the japanese and french. He was a communist who fought against French domination and defeated the French in 1954 at dien bien phu.

What was laos, vietnam, and cambodia

Ruled by the colonial french

Review the soviet war in afghanistan

Review the soviet war in afghanistan

Who were the mujahedeen

A muslim involved in jihad or “struggle” for the sake of islam. The were fought against by the Marxist peoples democratic party of afghanistan government. Mujahedeen were equipped by the American government with rifles from the first world war and other arms in a secret operation that cost the US millions of dollars per year. This operation was intended to inflict minor wounds on the soviet giant.

Define guerilla warfare

Any military activity carried on by a comparatively small independent force or unit irregularly.

Define McCarthyism

The political practice of publicizing accusations of disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence; and 2. The use of methods of investigation and accusation regarded as unfair, in order to suppress opposition.

Define nuclear proliferation

the spread of nuclear weapons, related technology, and fissile materials to countries that do not already possess them. It's a major concern in international security, as it increases the risk of nuclear conflict and accidental waR.

Define the red scare

The fear that communism will take over

Define foreign policy

Created by US president Truman to support anti-communist forces in Greece and Turkey. It reflected the idea of containment through a $400 million economic and military aid package to Greece and Turkey.

Define collective security

Alliances that are formed (NATO and Warsaw pact)

Define balance of power

A strategy used to equalize the strength of competing countries or ideologies. It could take the form of alliances or the arms race.

Define detente

The use of diplomatic methods such as peace treaties and a reduction in arms spending in an effort to reduce cold war tensions.

Nixon in China

Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit communist China during the ping-pong diplomacy.

Ping pong diplomacy

The US ping pong team played exhibition matches against the chinese teams and toured the country. Then, vise versa. This was a way of trying to establish relations between the two countries.