Chapter 7 -- challenges to liberalism related to foreign policy

iron curtain:

line between self governing nations of the west and communist nations of the right

iron vurtain and american vs soviet views: 2

• americans: barrier to contain those oppressed by communism, a restriction to civil and economic freedoms

• soviets: protective measure to protect themselves from capital influences and potential expansion of fascism.

yalta: 3

• feburary 1945: allied forces could see that wwii would soon end and the big three met at yalta to plan both their remaining wartime actions and future for postwar europe

• big three: churchill (UK), roosevelt (US), stalin (USSR)

• redrawing map of europe and their decisions would have implications for many years to come

after yalta (cold war):

numerous events and agreements and conflictions resulted in growing tensions between USSR and USA

the USA and USSR were considered _________ after wwii

superpowers

truman and stalin sought to avoid another war but they also recognized

each other as rivals for domination over europe and asia

war of ideas/cold war

convincing the population of europe and asia that liberal capitalism/communism was the only legitamate system of governance fought mostly through propaganda

expansionism:

attempt to enlarge territorial and ideological influence beyond a country's borders

ar the end of wwii, both the us and ussr began to establish ________ in europe

spheres of influence

spheres of influence:

countries/territories over which a powerful country dominates

each of the superpowers responded to its fears with

containment

containment

attempts to thwart out another country's expansionism without going to war

what did president truman do in 1947?

called upon the us to “support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities/outside pressures"

what did truman watn?

he wanted to stop soviet expansionism to contain the communist influence and rather than fighting a direct war (hot war) with the USSR, the US fought its ideological conflict by creating alliances and giving aid

US responded with…

…$400 million to aid postwar greek and turkish governments when they asked for support in defeating thew appeal of communism in their countries

marshall plan as the biggest aid plan: 2

• 13 billion dollar aid to the recovery of countries ravaged by war in europe

• offer for all countries of europe, communist or democratic

soviet satellite states: 2

• the states saved from nazis by the USSR but the USSR stayed there

• they rejected the marshall plan aid due to diplomatic pressure applied by the USSR

americans recuired all recipients of aid to …2

• submit to economic assessment

• participate in a unified european economy (conditions that were incompatible with the soviet ideology)

why was the marshall plan a hollow gesture by the americans?

because it is unlikely that they would have approved aid to a nation under communist influence

molotov plan: 3

• soviet response to marshall plan

• was for eastern european nations under soviet influence

• involved bilateral trade agreements that helped consolidate the economies of socialist countries and solidify the USSR presence in europe

post WWII berlin was divided into

4 secitons (UK, french, american, soviet)

marshall plan in berlin

eagerly accepted into western zone of germany but rejected in the soviet zone

berlin blockade

stalin blocked all road, rail and canal transportation to west berlin, elaving 2.1 million west berliners cut off from all supplies

berlin airlift:

western response was to fly in supplies to west berliners; at a height of these flights, planes were landing every 5 minutes

may 12, 1949

stalin finally lifted the blockade

why were the soviets sensitive to the security of their borders?

because they have a history of invasion

countries that shared a border with the USSR were…

under pressure to maintain political and economic ties with the soviets, and the soviets were not receptive to the enroachment of capitalism/democracy (first ideological battle between the US and the USSR)

midnight, august 12, 1961:

east german troops locked down the border between east germany and west berlin. city of west berlin was surrounded

alignment

interests of security, some countries aligned themselves with one of the superpowers

bandug conference:

held in indonesia saw representatives from 29 african and asian countries meet to promote economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose the colonial and imperialist intentions of the superpowers

what was the bandug conference a start of?

the non aligned movement (NAM)

was the NAM successful in using thw UN to challenge the hegemony of the US and the USSR

nope

breaking free of the iron curtain: hungary

people revolted against stalinist gocvernment, forming militias and battling the state police and soviet troops before the USSR came back

breaking free of the iron curtain: czechoslovakia

alexander dubcek came to power in the CSSR and granted additional rights and freedoms to citizens, loosening restrictions on media, speech, travel, and limiting powers of the secret police. 10 year transition toward democratic elections, government relations with western countries

breaking free of the iron curtain: yugoslavia

elected a communist government and aligned itself with the soviet union. tito began to distance country from the USSr and defied stalin. adopted liberal government and fostered relationships with western countries, creating divisions

deterrence

cold war strategy involving the building up of ones capacity to fight such that neither opponent will fight because of the unexpected outcomes

what did the development of nuclear weapons at the end of WWII mean? 2

• superpowers knew that if the cold war turned into a hot war, nuclear weapons would be used

• each nation knew a nuclear war would not only kill the opponent but also much of the planet's population

MAD: 2

• mutually assured destruction

• an unwinable nuclear war that deters each side because attacking your opponent would assure a counter attack that would destroy you as well

canada in the cold war: 3

• because of canada's historical ties to britain and its shared border with the US, there has never been any doubt as to which side canada supported

• 1949: canada was a founding member of NATO (military illiance designed to defend members from an attack from the USSR and allies

• canada also fought communist troops in the korean war and participated in NORAD

france's dissuasion policy: 4

• in the early 20th century, france was one of the world's leaders in nuclear tech research

• after WWII, france began developing nuclear weapons independently of the US and Uk, which it used as a deterrent

• ts was called dissuasion, french for deterrent

• its detterence was different though in that it developed its nuclear weapons as a general detterence, not as a response to a specific adversary

brinkmanship

attempt to push a dengerous situation as far as possible without conceding anything to your opponent

castro in cuba: 3

• fidel castro signed the first agrarian reform which broke up large landholdings, redistributed land to those who worked it, cooperatives and the state

• us grew waryu of castros socialist ideas and his relationship with the USSR

• essentially cuba and the US began an economic and political game of diplomatic chess

bay of pigs invasion: 3

• in the years after the revolution the us recieved over 1 million cuban refugees to rtake the island of cuba with training and support from the us government

• 1511 cubans and 177 paratroopers attacked april 1961 and were defeated after 2 days of fighting

• failed invasion increased the popularity of castro and made cuba even more distrustful fo the us

us embargo: 2

• us became unwilling to trade with cuba and in 1962 imposed an economic, commercial, and financial emabrgo on cuba

• soviets supported cuba with aid

cuban missile crisis: 3

• us president john f kennedy became aware that the ussr was building missile launch sites in cuba and imposed a naval blockade around cuba

• world watched as 2 superpowers came close to the brink of war

• october 27 1962: diplomatic breakthrough was reached, and keneddy agreed not to invade cuba and secretly agreed to remove US missile sites from turkey and in exhcnage, USSR would remove missiles from cuba

what did the cuban missile crisis ultimately lead to a period of?

relatively peaceful relations between the US and the USSR as both superpowers realized how close they came to mutually assured destruction

what steps were taken to reduce the tension between the two nations after the cuban missile crisis? 2

• USSR: spending billions on the arms race which was unsustainable, eased tensions with the US might open up more trade options

• US: fighting in vietname against communist north, a war that was draining financially and they wanted to spend more on social programs

detente: 2

• period of reduced tensions from mid 1960s-1979

• during this time the superpowers met at summits, signed treaties, took other measures to reduce tensions. it was a method of settling differences through diplomancy, but it lasted about 15 years

proxy wars and liberation movements: 3

• although the us and ussr didn't fight a direct war, they fought proxy wars

• proxy wars: when one superpower fights in another country/provides support to a group which opposes the rival superpower

• liberation movement: occur when a country rebels against the country that colonized it/otherwise oppressed it, and they gight against their percieved oppressor while supported by one of the superpowers

cold war hysteria

fuelled by propaganda, misinformation, and the threat of WWIII, paranoia grew among citizens during the cold war, especially in the us

espionage: 2

• practice of spying/using spies to obtain secret information, was a key tool of the superpowers in the cold war

• fuelled paranoia but it “played a tremembdous role in keeping the world from the brink, from turning the cold war into a hot war"

what did the red scare create in the americas

strong backlash toward american communists and anyone who percieved as being sympathetic towards the soviets

joseph mccarthy: 3

• led the movement against all things communist (ex marine and republican senator)

• accused many members of state department of being communists. hearing was held and charges were proven false, but he continued to accuse memebers of the democratic government of communism

• the senate voted to formally reprimand mccarthy, but he died 3 years later

mccarthyism:

name given to movement to uncover and prosecute those with percieved ties to communism

in the mid 1980s, soviet leader mikhail horbachev initiated 2 major policy changes in the USSR. what were they? 2

• glasnost: policy that called for increased openness and transperency in the government institutions and activities in the soviet region

• perestroika: economic and governmental restructuring that marked an ideological shift to the right and included more cooperative relations with western europe and the us

SALT 2

• strategic arms limitation talks in 1969

• november to may between the US and USSr and resulted in a 1972 agreement to limit the number of missiles acquired, aimed, and armed by the 2 countries