IB History HL Paper 2 Topic 12: The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries

Grand Alliance

WWII alliance between the US UK and USSR against the Axis; wartime cooperation masked deep ideological tensions that erupted into the Cold War after 1945.

Yalta

February 1945 conference between Roosevelt Churchill and Stalin; agreed on post-war occupation zones free elections in Eastern Europe and Soviet entry into the Pacific War — later disputed as Stalin violated the election promises.

Potsdam

July 1945 conference between Truman Attlee and Stalin; deepened tensions over Germany's future reparations and Soviet influence in Eastern Europe — Truman also hinted at the atomic bomb.

Atomic Energy / Atomic Bomb

US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945; gave the US a temporary nuclear monopoly and fundamentally changed the nature of superpower competition.

Cold War & Two Superpowers

Post-WWII ideological political and military rivalry between the US and USSR; neither side directly fought the other but competed through proxy wars arms races and influence globally.

Ideological differences: capitalism/communism

The US championed liberal democracy and free markets while the USSR promoted Marxist-Leninist communism and central planning; irreconcilable worldviews drove the Cold War conflict.

United Nations / General Assembly and Security Council

International organization founded 1945 to maintain peace; the Security Council's permanent members (US USSR UK France China) each held a veto — frequently paralyzed by US-Soviet rivalry.

Sphere of Influence

Post-war concept of dominant power over neighboring states; the USSR established a Soviet sphere in Eastern Europe while the US maintained dominance in Western Europe and Latin America.

Long Telegram

February 1946 cable from US diplomat George Kennan in Moscow; analyzed Soviet ideology and behavior as inherently expansionist — became the intellectual foundation for the containment policy.

Containment

US foreign policy strategy articulated by Kennan and adopted by Truman; aimed to prevent Soviet communism from spreading beyond its existing borders rather than rolling it back.

Iron Curtain Speech

March 1946 speech by Churchill in Fulton Missouri declaring an "iron curtain" had descended across Europe dividing the communist East from the democratic West — coined the defining metaphor of the Cold War.

Truman Doctrine

March 1947 declaration by Truman promising US support to any nation threatened by communist takeover; announced in response to communist pressure on Greece and Turkey — globalized containment.

Marshall Plan

1948 US program providing $13 billion in economic aid to rebuild Western Europe; aimed to prevent economic desperation from making communism attractive — the USSR rejected it and forbade Eastern bloc participation.

COMECON / Council for Mutual Economic Assistance

Soviet-led economic organization (1949) coordinating the Eastern bloc economies; the USSR's answer to the Marshall Plan — exploitative in practice.

Berlin Blockade

June 1948–May 1949 Soviet blockade of West Berlin's land routes; an attempt to force the West out of Berlin and prevent the creation of West Germany.

Berlin Airlift

Western Allied response to the Berlin Blockade supplying West Berlin entirely by air for 11 months; a massive logistical triumph that embarrassed the USSR — Soviets lifted the blockade in May 1949.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization founded April 1949; collective defense alliance committing members to treat an attack on one as an attack on all — cornerstone of US Cold War strategy in Europe.

Warsaw Pact

1955 Soviet-led military alliance of Eastern bloc states; formed in response to West Germany joining NATO — institutionalized Soviet military dominance in Eastern Europe.

SEATO

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (1954); US-led collective defense pact for Southeast Asia modeled on NATO — far less effective due to limited membership and commitment.

Chinese Civil War

1945–49 resumption of conflict between the GMD and CCP; Communist victory in 1949 was a massive blow to US Cold War strategy — "Who lost China?" became a major political controversy.

Mao Zedong

Leader of the Chinese Communist Party who founded the People's Republic of China in 1949; his alliance with the USSR and later break with Moscow shaped the Cold War in Asia.

Chiang Kai-shek & Taiwan

GMD leader who retreated to Taiwan in 1949 with US backing; the "two Chinas" problem complicated US-PRC relations for decades.

1950 Mutual Defense Pact

Sino-Soviet alliance signed February 1950; committed the USSR to defend China — alarmed the US and contributed to intervention decisions during the Korean War.

Soviet Boycott of UN Security Council

USSR boycotted the Security Council Jan–Aug 1950 over the exclusion of the PRC; this allowed the UN to authorize military intervention in Korea — a strategic blunder the Soviets never repeated.

Korean War

1950–53 conflict after North Korea invaded South Korea; US-led UN forces intervened and China entered after UN forces neared the Yalu River — ended in armistice restoring the pre-war border.

38th Parallel

Line dividing North and South Korea; the pre-war border and post-armistice boundary — MacArthur's push beyond it triggered Chinese intervention.

Kim Il Sung & Syngmann Rhee

Kim was the Soviet-backed North Korean leader who launched the invasion; Rhee was the US-backed South Korean president — both were authoritarian despite being on opposing Cold War sides.

Douglas MacArthur

US general commanding UN forces in Korea; fired by Truman in 1951 for publicly advocating expanding the war to China — a landmark assertion of civilian control over the military.

Hydrogen bomb

Thermonuclear weapon far more powerful than the atomic bomb; US tested in 1952 USSR in 1953 — escalated the arms race to existential levels of destructive capacity.

Declaration of Universal Rights

UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948; established global human rights norms that both superpowers frequently violated in practice.

Leonid Brezhnev

Soviet leader (1964–82) who replaced Khrushchev; presided over a period of surface stability masking deep economic stagnation and growing systemic dysfunction.

"Era of Stagnation" / "Brezhnev Stagnation"

Term for the 1964–82 period of declining Soviet economic growth innovation and political dynamism; the USSR fell further behind the West while maintaining a façade of stability.

De-Khrushchevization / De-Liberalization

Brezhnev reversed Khrushchev's reforms; reimposed tighter censorship ideological conformity and Party privilege — the brief "thaw" ended.

Pravda & Izvestia

The USSR's two main state newspapers; tools of Party propaganda with no independent journalism — "Pravda" (Truth) and "Izvestia" (News) gave rise to the joke "there is no truth in News and no news in Truth."

Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago

1973 exposé of the Soviet labor camp system by Alexander Solzhenitsyn; smuggled to the West and published abroad — Solzhenitsyn was expelled from the USSR in 1974.

Alexander Dubček

Czechoslovak Communist Party leader who initiated the Prague Spring reforms; removed after the Soviet invasion and replaced by the hardliner Husak.

Prague Spring

1968 Czechoslovak reform movement under Dubček promising "socialism with a human face"; crushed by Warsaw Pact invasion in August 1968 — demonstrated the limits of reform within the Soviet bloc.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Soviet policy declared after the Prague Spring; asserted the USSR's right to intervene in any socialist country where socialism was "threatened" — justified all future interventions in the Eastern bloc.

Alexei Kosygin

Soviet Premier under Brezhnev who attempted limited market-oriented economic reforms in the 1960s; reforms were watered down by conservative opposition and eventually abandoned.

Consumer goods vs. capital goods

Central Soviet economic dilemma; the military-industrial complex and heavy industry consumed resources while consumer goods remained scarce — a key source of public discontent.

Afghanistan War

1979–89 Soviet military intervention to support the communist PDPA government against Mujahideen guerrillas; a costly disaster that killed ~15000 Soviet troops drained resources and damaged Soviet prestige globally.

Mujahideen

Afghan Islamic guerrilla fighters who resisted the Soviet occupation; backed by the US Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — their victory contributed to the Soviet collapse.

Proxy War

Cold War pattern of US and USSR supporting opposing sides in Third World conflicts without directly fighting each other; Afghanistan Angola Korea and Vietnam were key examples.

"Soviet Union's Vietnam War"

Common description of the Afghanistan War; like Vietnam it was an unwinnable counterinsurgency against ideologically motivated guerrillas in difficult terrain that sapped national will and resources.

Gosplan

Soviet central economic planning agency responsible for setting production targets across the entire economy; became increasingly inefficient and corrupt under Brezhnev.

Nomenklatura system

System of elite Party appointments controlling all significant positions in Soviet society; created a privileged ruling class insulated from ordinary Soviet life — a key source of corruption and stagnation.

Brezhnev Mafia

Informal term for the network of cronies and corrupt officials surrounding Brezhnev; exemplified the systemic corruption of the late Soviet period.

Gerontocracy

Rule by elderly leaders; the Soviet Politburo under Brezhnev and his immediate successors became dominated by aged infirm leaders incapable of reform.

Andrei Sakharov & Alexander Ginsburg

Leading Soviet dissidents; Sakharov (nuclear physicist) advocated human rights and was exiled to Gorky — their persecution highlighted Soviet repression to Western audiences.

Helsinki Accord

1975 agreement between NATO and Warsaw Pact nations; recognized post-WWII borders in Europe but also committed signatories to human rights — dissidents used this against the USSR.

Détente

1970s policy of relaxed US-Soviet tensions under Nixon and Brezhnev; led to SALT I arms limitations and increased trade — collapsed after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

SALT I

1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty between the US and USSR; first major nuclear arms control agreement limiting ICBMs and submarine-launched missiles — a key achievement of détente.

SALT II

1979 arms limitation treaty further restricting nuclear arsenals; never ratified by the US Senate after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan — the collapse of détente.

Dissidents

Soviet citizens who openly challenged the regime — writers scientists and activists; faced imprisonment psychiatric hospitals or exile — their existence exposed the USSR's human rights failures.

1980 Olympics

Moscow Olympics boycotted by the US and 65 other nations to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the USSR retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Andropov & Chernenko

Brief Soviet leaders between Brezhnev and Gorbachev (1982–85); Andropov began limited reforms but died after 15 months; Chernenko was a hardline placeholder — their rapid deaths exposed the system's crisis.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader (1985–91) who introduced glasnost and perestroika attempting to save the Soviet system; his reforms instead unraveled it leading to the USSR's dissolution in 1991.

Perestroika

Gorbachev's economic "restructuring" policy allowing limited market mechanisms and enterprise autonomy; too timid to fix the economy but enough to destabilize the system.

Glasnost

Gorbachev's policy of "openness" allowing greater press freedom and public debate; unleashed criticism of the Soviet system that spiraled beyond Gorbachev's control.

Demokratizatsiya

Gorbachev's political democratization program introducing competitive elections within the Communist system; weakened the Party's monopoly and empowered reformers and nationalists.

Congress of People's Deputies

New Soviet legislative body created by Gorbachev in 1989 with partially competitive elections; its televised debates shocked Soviet audiences — a key step in the political transformation.

End of Soviet war in Afghanistan

Soviet withdrawal completed February 1989 under Gorbachev; acknowledging the failure of the intervention — a major blow to Soviet prestige and military morale.

Ronald Reagan

US President (1981–89) who dramatically escalated Cold War pressure through the arms race the Reagan Doctrine and SDI; his summit meetings with Gorbachev produced major arms reduction agreements.

Third Summit Washington D.C. Dec. 1987

Reagan-Gorbachev summit that produced the INF Treaty eliminating an entire class of nuclear weapons — the most significant arms reduction agreement of the Cold War.

"Tear Down This Wall"

Reagan's June 1987 speech at the Berlin Wall demanding Gorbachev tear it down; became a defining symbol of Western pressure on Soviet communism.

Hungarian Uprising 1956

October 1956 anti-Soviet revolution in Hungary; briefly succeeded in establishing a neutral multi-party government under Imre Nagy before being crushed by Soviet tanks.

Imre Nagy

Hungarian reformist leader of the 1956 uprising; declared Hungarian neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact — executed by the Soviets in 1958 and became a martyr of anti-Soviet resistance.

Nemeth & Gorbachev meeting March 1989

Hungarian PM Nemeth told Gorbachev Hungary would open its border with Austria; Gorbachev did not object — this decision allowed East Germans to flee West and triggered the chain reaction ending the Cold War.

Hungarian barbed wire

Hungary dismantled its Iron Curtain border fence with Austria in May 1989; East Germans used this route to flee to the West in massive numbers — the first physical breach of the Iron Curtain.

1956 Polish (Poznan) Uprising

June 1956 workers' uprising in Poznan against food shortages and Soviet-style economic policies; suppressed but led to Gomulka's return to power and limited Polish autonomy.

Wladyslaw Gomulka

Polish Communist leader who returned to power after 1956 promising reform; maintained Polish communism but with slightly more national autonomy — later ousted after 1970 strikes.

1980 Polish Uprising

Strikes at the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980 led to the formation of Solidarity — the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc; a direct challenge to Communist Party authority.

Lech Walesa

Leader of the Polish Solidarity movement; electrician who became the symbol of Eastern bloc resistance — later became Poland's first post-communist president.

Solidarity (Solidarność)

Polish independent trade union founded 1980; grew into a mass social movement with 10 million members challenging communist rule — banned under martial law but legalized in 1989.

General Jaruzelski / Martial Law of 1981

Polish general who imposed martial law in December 1981 to crush Solidarity; interned thousands of activists — prevented Soviet intervention but delayed rather than stopped Poland's democratic transition.

Polish Parliamentary elections June 4 1989

First partially free elections in the Soviet bloc; Solidarity won 99 of 100 Senate seats — a landslide that proved communism had no popular legitimacy.

Fall of the Berlin Wall Nov. 9 1989

The East German government announced citizens could cross freely; crowds demolished the Wall — the defining symbol of the Cold War's end and German reunification's beginning.

Erich Honecker / Egon Krenz

Honecker was the hardline East German leader who refused reform and was ousted in October 1989; Krenz briefly replaced him but was swept away by the revolution within weeks.

Velvet Revolution

November 1989 peaceful mass protests in Czechoslovakia that toppled the communist government within weeks; so named for its non-violent character — Vaclav Havel became president.

Vaclav Havel

Czech dissident playwright and leader of the Velvet Revolution; became Czechoslovakia's first post-communist president — symbol of intellectual resistance to totalitarianism.

Nicolae Ceaușescu / Timisoara speech & riots

Romanian communist dictator who violently suppressed protests in Timisoara in December 1989; unlike elsewhere the Romanian revolution was bloody — Ceaușescu and his wife were executed on Christmas Day 1989.

Reunification of Germany Oct 3 1990

East and West Germany formally reunified under the West German constitution; the culmination of the 1989 revolution and a defining moment of the post-Cold War order.

Disintegration of the USSR Dec 31 1991

Formal dissolution of the Soviet Union; 15 successor states emerged — ended the Cold War and the bipolar world order that had defined global politics since 1945.