The Cold War [AP World History] Unit 8 Topic 2 (8.2)

What happened after WW2 was over?

The global balance of power really shifted in the hands of two states, namely the U.S and the Soviet Union. And these two superpowers locked arms in a Cold War that would last over 40 years.

What is the definition of a cold war?

A state of hostility between two countries which does not result in open warfare.

So the U.S and the Soviet Union basically stood there hurling insults at each other's mothers but it never resulted in the hurling of fists at one another, but, it kind of did indirectly.

Why was it that these 2 powers were in tension?

1. They had competing systems of economics. The U.S was a capitalist economy.

2. These two powers had a deep difference when it came to economics.

3. But they also had a deep difference when it came to styles of government. The United States was a democracy, which is to say they held free elections to elect their leaders. The Soviet Union on the other hand, was an authoritarian government that was dominated by a single political party and had a strong, despotic leader.

The Americans wanted a democratic world and the Soviets wanted a communist world. And there was no stopping either of them until the whole world was conformed into one image or the other.

What is capitalism?

An economic system characterized by the private ownership of capital goods.

What are capital goods?

Goods that are used to make other goods, like a machine in a factory.

In a capitalist economy, those capital goods are owned by individuals, which is to say, privately. And those individuals make economic decisions that are in their own self-interest.

What is communism?

An economic system characterized by government ownership of capital goods distributed to the people evenly.

How did the U.S and Soviet Union's differences in economics and government start a cold war?

Both capitalism and communism have within themselves the impulse to spread. Neither of these two ideologies, neither of the two ways of seeing the world are content to stay within its own boundaries. Both of these ideologies have seeds within them, that when watered and tended, seek to remake the whole world in its image. And this is the nature of the Cold War

How was it that these two nations fought without actually fighting?

1. To make other countries economically dependent upon them. For example, the Soviets gathered up many of the nations of Eastern Europe into what became known as the Soviet Bloc. These countries included, but are not limited to, Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania. When these countries came under the Soviet influence, Stalin introduced Five Year Plans to collectivize agriculture and develop industry. And as a bonus, any party, but the communist party was outlawed. And once the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe was complete, the economies of those countries in the Soviet Bloc were made to serve the Soviet Russian economy and not their own populations.

2. The U.S sought to make at least Western Europe in its image by means of something called the Marshall plan. Because the United States emerged from WW2 fabulously wealthy, they were extremely rich. America emerged from WW2 with a booming economy. And in order to keep the Western European nations from sliding into communism, The United States offered billions of dollars in aid in the form of the Marshall plan. The rationale was that since these European nations are in ruins their economic instability might tempt them to give communism a whirl. But if said economic instability was cured, then those nations would remain free and democratic (That worked). So Western Europe emerged as largely capitalist and democratic, while Eastern Europe was communist and authoritarian.

The Marshall Plan was part of a larger U.S policy introduced by George Kennan which was called containment. What did this policy acknowledge?

It acknowledged that it was near impossible to uproot communism where it already existed, and so the containment policy was basically just to keep it from spreading (contain it).

What was the Truman Doctrine?

President Truman introduced this; and that basically just put firepower into the idea of containment. He promised military aid to any country that was being threatened by the spread of communism. And this doctrine had its eyes specifically on Greece and Turkey who were dangerously close to falling to the communists. Eventually, these policies are going to lead the United States and the Soviet Union into some proxy wars.

What are some other ways the Soviets and the Americans fought each other without actually fighting each other?

THE ARMS RACE:

One of the real points of contention between these two powers was the United States decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan in order to end WW2. Stalin saw that and his eyes grew wide with jealousy over such destructive power. And so began the race to build bigger and bigger bombs, with greater and greater destructive capacity. So in 1945, the U.S dropped the first iteration of their atomic bomb. By 1947, the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb which was bigger and more destructive than that American bombs. Early in the 1950s both powers developed a hydrogen bomb which was about a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb could kill everyone within about a mile radius. The hydrogen bomb could kill every human being in a 5-10 mile radius. By 1959, the Soviets developed an intercontinental ballistic missile which was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the mainland of the United States. With all this one upmanship going on, everybody in both of those two countries is getting a little fearful, not to mention the rest of the world. But despite the development of increasingly destructive bombs, they never fired one of them at each other.

Why didn't they fire at each other?

Because each side began to realize that if either of them launched a nuclear bomb at the other, then it would result in mutual assured destruction. And that conviction kept either one from pulling the trigger because they understood that no matter who started the nuclear war, by the end of it, nobody would be victorious because everybody would be reduced to carbon ash.

What was the second competition between these two countries?

THE SPACE RACE:

With all the technology they were developing in rocketry to blow each other up, the decided to diver some of that energy to conquering space. And so in 1957, the Soviets launched the first satellite into space called Sputnik. In 1958, the Americans answered with a satellite of their own. Then in April of 1961, the Soviets sent Yuri Gagarin to be the first man into space. And in May of that same year, the Americans sent Alan Shepherd to be the second man in space. But the crescendo of this entire contest came in 1969 when the Americans successfully landed a manned capsule on the moon and claimed it for themselves.

What effect did this conflict between these 2 powers have?

This conflict became so large that it began to dominate the world stage. And in that way, it became almost inevitable that smaller, less powerful countries would get swept up in the conflict. But there was a movement brewing in these countries who wanted to declare on the world stage that they wanted nothing to do with this conflict. It was called the Non-Aligned Movement.

What did the Non-Aligned Movement say?

It basically consisted of new Asian and African nations who had recently shaken themselves free from colonial rule. They wanted to distance themselves from this conflict between the two superpowers. And so in 1961, the Non-Aligned movement was formally established. And its goal was to represent the interest of developing nations. Member nations of the movement desired an alternative framework for their budding social, political, and economic lives than the one dominated by the U.S-Soviet conflict

Who were some notable leaders in the Non-Aligned movement?

1. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana; under his leadership, Ghana won its independence from Great Britain. He also created the Organization of African Unity in which he advocated for the unity of Africans no matter which country they were from.

2. The first president of Indonesia, Sukarno. And he became president in 1945 and was the one responsible for the organization of the Bandung Conference in 1955 which was responsible for the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement.