Cold War - A state of hostility between two states characterized by an ideological struggle rather than open warfare
The Cold War - Ideological struggle that took place over 40 years in the 20th century between the US and USSR after WW2
After WW2, two global superpowers (US and USSR) emerged through economic and technological advantages
Suffered during great depression
Mobilization for WW2 created conditions for a complete economic turnaround
Industrial sector ramped up to meet wartime needs
Did not suffer much during WW2 (despite bombing of Pearl Harbor) compared to Europeans whose cities got cooked
Therefore, the US became the most prosperous nation in the world
Offered financial aid plans to help pay for rebuilding Western European states, causing their economic revivals as well
Ex: Marshall plan
Helped to shift the balance of world power to the US
developed the Atomic Bomb
deployment on Japan showcased US technological prowess, further shifting power to the US
Economy was state driven since the 1920s
Economy had rapid growth despite skepticism from free market supporters
Experienced lots of destruction from WW2 (difference from the US)
Command Economy
Sourced Natural resources from their enormous territory
Large population
Worked towards economic recovery
Conflicting ideologies
US - democratic capitalism
USSR - authoritarian communism
Universalizing ideology - both the US and the USSR desired that their ideology be spread worldwide
Mutual mistrust between superpowers
Big Three - US, Britain, USSR
met to discuss plans for the postwar world
agreed that central and eastern European countries would hold free elections after the war was over
However, Stalin kept these countries under control to act as a buffer zone between Russia and Europe
Those states became communist, serving the USSR as satellite states
US saw this as a violation to the agreement, fueling mistrust
Division of Germany among the West and USSR demonstrates ideological differences
Guided by these developments of mistrust and conflicting ideologies, the Cold War began and would last for ~40 years
Both the US and USSR wanted to spread their ideologies, causing them to fight over states that were in the decolonization process (see context for decolonization section section)
Some groups refused to be pawns to larger superpowers and their ideologies as they wanted to avoid being dependent on a foreign power
Non-Aligned movement - groups that refused to be controlled by conflict between the two superpowers
Worked for an alternative economic, political, and social order that presented a third way of being in the world that was not defined or being controlled by the two superpowers
These nations would later be referred to as the Third World
Led by Indonesian president Ahmad Sukarno, hosting the first meeting in 1955
Creation of Military Alliances
Because both sides had been building up nuclear weapons (nuclear proliferation), a direct encounter between the two would be catastrophic (Mutual Assured Destruction)
Both sides created these military alliances for protection and to divide the world up into friends and foes
Ex: NATO
US and several Western European states
Ex: Warsaw Pact
Soviet Union and their Central and Eastern European satellite states
For both sides, an attack on one state would be an attack on all
Proxy Wars
Because the US and USSR could not attack each other directly, the conflict was carried out in a series of proxy wars across Latin America, Africa, and Asia
They supported different sides of smaller conflicts, so they could fight for world domination without actually fighting each other
USSR supports communist side, US supports anti-communist side
Ex: Korean War
Korea was a Japanese colony during WW2 and after Japanās defeat, Korea was split into North and South Korea
North invaded the South in 1950, and the US and USSR fought without actually fighting each other
Ended in 1953 basically where it at begun (38th parallel)
Ex: Contra War
Socialist Sandinistas backed by Cuba and USSR vs. anti-communist Contras backed by the US
Ex: Angolan Civil War
Cuban Missile Crisis
Space Race
Review - 2000 years of dynastic rule ended by the revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-Sen that established China as a republic
By 1920s, Nationalist party under Chiang Kai-Shek had tensions brewing due to their perceived reliance on western powers
CCP under Mao Zedong would fight a civil war with the Nationalists before WW2 but would pause it to focus on Japanās invasion
CCP would seize power with help of the USSR
Both went through collectivization of agriculture
However, this led to mass death in the USSR while it was mostly peaceful in China
Both had state controlled economies
Both aimed to rapidly industrialize
China - Maoās Great Leap Forward
Focus on rural areas
Industrial goods created in rural areas were not good quality
Bad harvests led to 20-50 million Chinese people to die from starvation
Also caused by Maoās policies of refusing foreign aid during the famine and exporting grain that could save lives because he wanted to show his style of communism was good
USSR - Stalinās 5 year plan
Focus on urban areas
Not quite communism, but the US still did not like this
Socialist policies to redistribute land and resources under Gamal Abdel Nasser
Nationalization of the Suez Canal
Gave Egypt control over it and not the colonial powers that built and payed for it
Sparked conflict and was supported by the USSR, allowing Egypt to come out on top
Two rival governments were established after Japanās defeat (Japan occupied Vietnam during WW2)
Communist North
Land-redistribution to combat the fact that a few wealthy landowners owned nearly all the agricultural land
Led by Ho Chi Minh
Anti-Communist South
In 1956, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba that established it as a communist state
Wanted to separate from being economically dependent on the US
Launched program and land redistribution and raising wages transferring ~15% of wealth from the rich to the poor
Nationalized land that was controlled by US corporations exploiting Cuban economy
US CIA tried to overthrow Castro but failed, further radicalizing them into communism
Ended from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
Causes:
US advancement in technology
Ronald Reagan allowed the US government to massively increase spending on military and technology
Ex: Strategic Defense Initiative
Aimed to create space-based missile defense systems
Never passed, but shows the divide between the US and USSR
USSR tried to match US spending, but USSR economy was not good enough so that led to further economic decline
USSR failed to invade Afghanistan
aimed to prop up the communist regime against Afghan Muslim troops that tried to overthrow it
Afghan rebels were supported by the US and other Middle Eastern powers
USSR continued this war for 9 years, further depressing their economy
Public discontent and economic weakness of communist states
Mikhail Gorbachev
reformer, saw the USSR was on life support from strict government control
his policies aimed to relieve that
Ex: Perestroika - restructuring of economy by reducing central planning from government
Ex: Glasnost - āopennessā criticism against the government was now allowed
He ceased military intervention to prop up communist states in its sphere of influence
All these led to democratic movements in Eastern European states and even states in the USSR
1989 - Berlin Wall was torn down
led to the USSR collapse
WW1 and WW2 were major turning points for European maritime empires, causing the dissolution of those empires after 1945 through decolonization
After WW1, Imperial powers denied colonies the right to self rule
Even expanded their holdings through the mandate system (last unit)
In WW2, colonial troops also fought for the cause of the imperial empire
Imperial powers still didnāt intend on giving colonies self rule
Cause worldwide anti-imperialist movements
Major difference: this time, imperial powers (Britain and France) had no resources to resist these movements due to WW2
These developments led to a worldwide process of decolonization
Broke apart empires
Created ~80 new states in the world
Negotiated independence
Ex: Indian National Congress formed in 1885
Petitioned British government for more Indian voice in Indian policies, ignored by the British
After WW2, British were broke and had many pro-independence members in parliament and officially recognized Indiaās independence in 1947
Muslim League of India called for their own state in the independence, leading to the Partition of India
Created the new state of Pakistan where Hindus fled out of it and Muslims fled into it, both sides causing violence against each other, killing ~1 million
Armed Struggle
Main difference between colonies that negotiated vs. had to wage war was dependent on the size of the European population there
Colonies with a large amount of European settlers resisted decolonization more, causing violent outbreaks for independence
Ex: Algeria
French Colony
France allowed Morocco and Tunisia to negotiate their independence but not Algeria
This was because there was a lot of French people in Algeria
In 1954, Arab and Berber Muslims formed the National Liberation Front, attacking French troops and civilians for independence
Caused French troops to retaliate and target civilians, causing massive atrocities
War continued until 1962 when president Charles De Gualle opened negotiations for independence, ending the war and recognizing Algeriaās independence
Inheritance of Colonial Boundaries - when states win independence, they inherit the same territory that the imperial power drew long ago
Brought rival groups together, and split ethnic and religious groups apart, causing problems
Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire, composed mainly of Muslims
Zionism - Jewish nationalistic ideology that advocated for the Jewish to have their own state
Their ancestral land happened to be Palestine (uh oh)
Dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after WW1
Transferred Palestine under Britain under the Mandate System
Balfour declaration - British support of Jews settling in Palestine
Jewish Migration spiked during the interwar period due to British support, and also spiked during WW2 due to the holocaust
Palestinian Muslims resisted this development
British handed the problem over to the UN, which partitioned Palestine into two states, one for Jews and one for Muslims
Arab-Israeli War - Palestinians fought against the Jews with support from neighboring Arab states
Israel won the war, but more conflicts would erupt even today
In many states born through decolonization, governments often took a strong role in guiding economic life to promote the development of the new nation
Ex: Vietnam with a command economy
Indira Gandhi - first Female Prime minister of India in 1966 (NOT Mahatma Gandhi)
Economic crises due to conflict with Pakistan and droughts
Implemented series of 5 year Socialist Economic Plans which aimed to allow the government to have more control over their economy rather than relying on foreign aid
Green Revolution - movement involving biologically engineered seeds and fertilizers that increased agricultural yields
Made India agriculturally self-sufficient
Similarities and differences between this period (1900-Present) and the last period (1750-1900)
Both periods had migrants that moved in search of work due to economic difficulties at home
Last period the destination was based on industrialization
In this period, migration occurred between newly independent states and their former metropoles
Ex: South Asians to Great Britain
Ex: Algerians to France
Ex: Filipinos to US
Caused by economic hardships in the new nations
Colonial people were already familiar with the language and customs of the previous imperial power anyways
Helped maintain ties between former colonies and their metropoles (former imperial overlord)
Transformed majority white and culturally homogeneous societies into multi-ethnic societies
Response to conflicts
Non violence
Ex: Mahatma Gandhi - protested British rule through civil disobedience (breaking of unjust laws) to draw attention to their injustice
Homespun movement - protested British domination of Indiaās cotton industry
Salt March - protested the Salt Act (forced Indians to buy British salt at a heavily taxed rate)
Ghandi and followers walked several hundred miles to Indiaās west coast, with people joining the March along the way and they ended up with 50-60k people
On the coast, they dug up salt deposits in the presence of British imperial police, causing Gandhi and others to be beaten and arrested
Helped to break British colonial rule
Ex: Martin Luther King Jr.
Led Civil Rights movement against unjust racial segregation laws in the Southern US
Inspired by Gandhi and called his own followers to break unjust laws in civil disobedience
Montgomery Bus Boycott - Black Americans boycotted the cityās segregated public transport system
Supreme Court outlawed racial discrimination in schools in the 1950s
Congress passed anti-discrimination laws in 1960s
Ex: Nelson Mandela
opposed Apartheid (South African racial segregation laws)
led Black South Africans in acts of nonviolent resistance to affect political change
Unlike Gandhi and MLK, Mandela eventually changed his mind and advocated for violent resistance to injustice
Due to being on trial for treason and the Sharpeville Massacre
Won the presidency in 1994, ending Apartheid
Violence
Augusto Pinochet led a military coup to overthrow democratically elected Salvador Allende (Marxist implementing socialist policies)
Supported by US
Pinochet suppressed opposition to his leadership
Terrorism
Shining Path
Irish Republican Army
Al Qaeda
Founded and led by Saudi Arabian billionaire Osama Bin Laden
Militant Islamic Group
Against US involvement in the Middle East
Responded with acts of terrorism against civilians to pressure US to change policies involving this region
Ended up increasing US involvement in the area