Milestones of the Past Century: A Changing Global Landscape

Chapter 13: Milestones of the Past Century: A Changing Global Landscape

Recovering from WWII

  • Setting the Stage for the Cold War
      - The Big Three powers: United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain emerged from WWII to influence post-war recovery.
      - The Tehran Conference (1943)
        - Agreement among Allies regarding the focus of military operations:
          - Soviets to concentrate on liberating Eastern Europe.
          - Britain and the U.S. to focus on the Western front.
        - Poland's territorial shifts were agreed upon to neutralize the claim from Germany.

  - The Yalta Conference (1945)
    - Held as Germany was close to defeat; aimed to reconstruct Eastern Europe.
    - President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) advocated for free and democratic elections and Soviet involvement against Japan.
    - Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin sought influence in Eastern Europe to create a protective buffer zone against potential Western control.

  - The Potsdam Conference
    - The final meeting of the Big Three, with Harry Truman succeeding FDR.
    - Truman’s insistence on free elections was disregarded, as Soviet troops occupied much of Eastern Europe.
    - This meeting cemented the emerging rivalry between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that would last four decades.

Cooperation Despite Conflict

  • The United Nations (UN)
      - Established in 1945 to replace the ineffective League of Nations, aiming to prevent atrocities similar to those of WWII.
      - Lacked a rapid response mechanism to diffuse small conflicts, leading to larger wars.

  • Rivalry in Economics
      - Churchill's March 1946 Speech
        - Phrase “an iron curtain has descended across the continent” highlighted the divide between Eastern (Soviet-controlled) and Western Europe.
      - Economic Systems:
        - The U.S. maintained a capitalist free-market economy.
        - The Soviet Union embraced communism, prioritizing "equality and fairness" through state ownership.
        - Criticisms and Similarities:
          - The U.S. criticized the Soviet system for stifling citizen rights.
          - The Soviets argued that capitalism allowed the poor to "starve" while still, both systems centralized major economic decisions.

East vs. West: The Cold War

  • Rivalry in International Affairs
      - The USSR influenced satellite countries in Eastern Europe to follow five-year economic plans centered on collective agriculture.
      - World Revolution:
        - Since the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet Union viewed capitalism as a global adversary and aimed for a worldwide revolution led by workers.
      - Containment:
        - Proposed by George Kennan, U.S. Ambassador to Moscow.
        - The Truman Doctrine articulated U.S. commitment to halt the spread of communism, starting with assistance in Greece and Turkey.

  • The Marshall Plan (June 1947)
      - Launched to prevent the spread of communism in war-torn Europe; aimed at economic recovery through significant U.S. aid (approx. $12 billion).
      - Resulted in a 35% increase in economic activity in Europe by 1951.
      - Soviet Reaction:
        - The USSR declined participation and formed COMECON in 1949, focusing on limited trade and credit agreements.

  • NATO (April 1949)
      - Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to ensure mutual defense among Western allies.
      - Major members included the U.S., France, Britain, and Canada.

  • Warsaw Pact (1955)
      - The Soviet rebuttal to NATO, uniting communist nations under a collective military framework based in Moscow.

Proxy Wars and a Nuclear Standoff

  • Korean War
      - Conflict between North (supported by the USSR and China) and South Korea (supported by the U.S.). Cease-fire established at the 38th parallel.

  • Vietnam War
      - Emerged from conflicts between North and South Vietnam.
      - The U.S. adopted a policy of intervention to prevent communism's spread (Johnson's Domino Theory concept).

  • The Bay of Pigs Crisis
      - An unsuccessful American invasion of Cuba aimed to overthrow Castro, resulting in significant embarrassment for the U.S. (JFK's presidency).

  • Cuban Missile Crisis
      - Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev's deployment of nuclear missiles to Cuba prompted U.S. to establish a “quarantine” zone; negotiated withdrawal of missiles from both Cuba and Turkey marked the closest point to nuclear conflict.

Decolonization

  • The End of Empire in World History
      - Decolonization:
        - Movement for independence from colonial rule from the early to late 20th century (decolonization persisted until the 1990s).
        - Major empires collapsing included the Ottoman, Russian, Austrian-Hapsburg, German, and Japanese.

  • Continuing Empires:
      - Remaining European powers (U.S., UK, France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Dutch) faced independence struggles in their colonies.

  • India:
      - Gained independence from British rule in 1947, leading to communal tensions and the division into East and West Pakistan, later creating Bangladesh.
      - Central authority in India took control to mitigate progressive policies opposed to traditional structures.

The End of Empire in Africa and Asia

  • Significant independence movements in Africa and Asia included countries like Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, and others achieving autonomy from former European powers.
      - Key dates of independence movements showed a pattern of former colonies establishing sovereign governance.

Movements for Autonomy

  • Indian National Congress and the Muslim League:
      - Diverse views on independence:
        - Gandhi’s nonviolence vs. Nehru’s embrace of industrialization.
        - The Muslim League sought a separate nation for Muslims, fearing Hindu majority oppression post-independence.

The Globalization of Democracy

  • Democratic Transitions:
      - The 20th-century decolonization movements often resulted in the establishment of democratic forms of governance, surpassing communistic influences:
        - Countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece transitioned from military dictatorships to democracies.
        - Eastern European states established democracies after the Soviet Union's collapse.
        - Democratic movements surfaced in Latin America and parts of Asia, particularly noted during the 2011 Arab Spring.

The End of the Communist Era

  • Post-Mao Reforms in China:
      - Under Deng Xiaoping (post-1978), significant economic reforms transitioned China towards market-oriented practices, dismantling collectivized agriculture.
      - Similar reforms in Vietnam and initiatives for market mechanisms in North Korea.

  • Collapse of the Soviet Union:
      - The end of the Cold War largely due to negotiations and evolving geopolitical strategies between U.S. President Reagan and Soviet Premier Gorbachev.
      - Tensions between superpowers escalated with Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative during the 1980s.
      - Relaxation in Soviet policies led to independence movements in satellite countries, ultimately resulting in the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

After Communism

  • The Belt and Road Initiative (2013)
      - China's extensive industrialization efforts improving infrastructure connections across over 125 countries, termed the New Silk Road.

  • Iran Post-WWII:
      - The imposition of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the shah under British and Russian influence faced backlash, resulting in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that replaced the regime with a theocratic government.