Cold War I

• USA- democracy

• USSR- communism

• 1943- clear that germans will lose the war

  • Big Three meet

    • Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill meet in Iranian capital, Tehran

    • Tehran Conference 1943

    • Roosevelt ain’t doing so hot, his goal is to end the war

      • Gonna let stuff slide because of his health

      • Can’t be as good of a mediator

    • Stalin is convinced that USA and UK are dragging their heels on purpose

      • They want the Axis to deliver heavy casualties on USSR so they’re easier to defeat

      • HATES Churchill

        • Symbol of all the flaws of capitalism

      • Churchill HATES Stalin

        • Believes he’s just like Hitler

    • Decisions

      • European countries would return to pre-war borders

      • Germany would be divided and administered by the US, UK, USSR, and FR (france)

        • Also denazified

          • Generation raised under nazi control is reeducated

      • Created new international forum

        • The United Nations

        • Have power to intervene militarily

        • Rotating panel referred to as the Security Council

          • Five seats would be permanent 

            • USA, UK, FR, USSR, China

              • USSR take the backseat because they know they’ll be outvoted by democratic countries

• Eastern Europe was liberated from Nazi rule by the Red Army (USSR)

  • Free elections

  • Communist party won each of these countries liberated by USSR

    • Red army present at the polling station, openly intimidating people to vote red

      • Vote doesn’t matter anyway

  • Angers the west, but could do nothing

    • American leadership is new so a lot gets by Truman

      • Seems somewhat weak, Churchill is ENRAGED

        • Voted out

        • Vocal against Stalin

        • Goes on a tour/rant around the world

          • Coins his famous phrase

          • Iron Curtain

            • Separating free world from communist world

      • Couldn’t do anything anyway except go to war

• Truman slowly adopts a new policy regarding communism

  • Containment

    • Prevent the spread of communism outside where it was already established

    • Legitimate threat in France, Italy, Greece, etc.

      • However, USSR had no control here

• Germany divided

  • Four zones

    • American, British, French, Soviet

  • Berlin is also divided into four zones

    • Berlin is located deep  in USSR territory

  • Rebuilding zones by USA and UK in 1948

    • Denazified, ready to function independently

    • Ticked off USSR because it had never been agreed upon

      • Believed they were handing the keys back to the Nazis

      • Knock against USSR’s prestige since they weren’t done

    • Bizonia

      • New country

    • France’s zone joins

      • Trizonia

        • Representatives meet to draw new constitution

        • Decide to get rid of the stupid name

          • Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)

    • Zones of Berlin are considered West Germany (WG)

• USSR announces that they’ve also rebuilt, but we allow the people to vote and decide whether or not they wish to join WG

  • More free elections

  • Surprise! No one votes for WG. Same situation

  • Form their own country

    • German Democratic Republic (East Germany (EG))

      • Communist

      • Call themselves democratic to make it more appealing because they technically vote

• USA will continue to challenge communist rule in Eastern Europe

Plans fighting communism

• Marshall Plan- pledge for USA financial support to any country renouncing communism

• Truman doctrine- USA military support to any democracy facing conflict with communists

• NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization- alliance of democratic countries against communists

USSR responds

• Warsaw pact- alliance of communist countries

• USSR attempts to get West Berliners to abandon connection to WG

  • Isolate West Berlin by closing all roads

  • Have underestimate commitment to West Berlin and USA ability to keep West Berlin supplied

    • Berlin Airlift- 1948

      • Fly in necessities, as well as everything that can allow WB to function as a city

        • Essentially flying in factories that are assembled on the ground

        • Clothing, children’s toys, etc. 

      • USSR calls off siege, WB remains in democratic control 

      • West Berliners become huge fans of spam because of low meat supplies

China

• 1945- Civil War which Japan invaded during resumes

  • China had become a democracy, communism movement starts

• Shang kai Shek led Nationalists

• Mao Zedong led Communists

  • Strong Stalinist

• Enter time out phase because of Japanese invasion

  • During war, Shang kai Shek adopts a policy of preserving nationalist army so they’ll be strong after the war- keeps nationalist army away from majority of fighting

    • Backfires

      • Communists gain battle experience

      • Become heroes in the eyes of the chinese people

  • Mao has the upperhand after WW2

    • Nationalists driven out of the mainland, go to 

    • Formosa- 1942

      • Republic of China (Taiwan)

• Mao establishes a communist regime

  • People’s Republic of China 

  • Believe that they have a legitimate claim over Taiwan

    • Vowed that formosa will join the mainland

• Great Leap Forward- 1958-1961

  • Leaders don’t have governing experience

  • Mao forces China to industrialize

  • The Great Chinese Famine

    • Massive corruption, massive mismanagement, widespread famine

    • 17-45 million die of starvation

  • Stalinist gulags, uyghur genocide, etc.

• The Cold War will begin to spread to other areas of Asia

• THe Japanese colony of Korea had been divided following WWII

• South (Democratic)(US)

• North (Communist)(USSR)

• In 1950, the US announced that it had rebuilt its zone of Korea and would be leaving

• In 1950, a North Korean communist army invaded South Korea

• The U.N. voted to intervene

• UN forces (mainly US forces) pushed the North Koreans back to the border area of China and Korea by 1951

• In the winter of 1951, Chinese troops launched a surprise attack that drove US forces back to the North-South Korea border

• 1953 - Cease fire is called

• Leads to establishment of two areas

• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)

• Republic of Korea (South Korea)

• In Indochina (Vietnam), 1945 will bring a return of French colonialism

• Japan ousted the French during WWII

• A resistance group had formed during the Japanese Occupation

• The Vietminh - Communists led by Ho Chi Minh

• In 1954, the Vietnimh will defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu

• Vietnam is divided: South- Democratic and backed by US, North - Communist backed by USSR

• 1953 - 1954 will see the COld War reach new heights

• USSR steals US nuclear secrets

• Rosenbergs (give nuke secrets to ussr)

• Joseph Stalin dies in 1953, and is replaced by Nikita Kruschev

• 1957 the USSR launches the 1st satellite into space

• Sputnik

• The Space Race

• 1961 - USSR wins race to put first human in space (Yuri Gagarin)

• NASA is formed in US in 1958 to compete with the Soviets

• Allan Shepard - 1st American in Space

• 1959, a communist revolution topples the government of Cuba

-Fidel Castro (leader) declares it a communist state

• That same year, the East German government closes the border with the West

• 1961 - the Berlin Wall

• April, 1961 - Bay of Pigs Invasion (Cuban nationalists are massacred without US air aid)

1963 - Cuban Missile Crisis - naval standoff