Exam Review Notes

Cold War Events

  • Berlin Airlift: The US circumvented the Soviet blockade of Berlin to supply the city.
  • Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD): The concept of nuclear deterrence.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis: The Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, leading to a tense standoff with the US.
  • Space Race: The Soviets initially led, achieving milestones like Sputnik, but the US ultimately won the race to the moon.
  • Non-Aligned Movement: Initiated by leaders of states like:
    • Indonesia under Sukarno
    • Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah
    • Egypt under General Nasser
    • Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito
    • India under Jawaharl Nehru

Effects of the Cold War

  • Repeating themes: The alliance system (NATO vs Warsaw Pact) and mutually assured destruction.
  • Nuclear Proliferation:
    • 1949: The Soviets developed their own atomic bomb.
    • 1952: The first hydrogen bomb was created.
    • 1960s: The Soviets developed Tsar Bomba, the largest bomb ever.
    • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs): Long-range nuclear missiles.
  • Proxy Wars:
    • South Korea
    • Angolan Civil War
    • Vietnam War
    • Nicaragua: Contras (US-backed) versus Sandinistas (leftist).
  • Domino Theory: The belief that if one country falls to communism, neighboring countries will follow.
  • Cuba:
    • Castro's takeover led to a Cuban exodus to Florida.
    • Bay of Pigs Invasion: The US armed Cuban refugees to invade Cuba, but the attempt failed.
    • Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviets placed missiles in Cuba triggering a major crisis.
  • Détente: Easing of tensions.
    • SALT treaties: Agreements to limit nuclear weapons.
    • Hotline: Direct phone line between Soviet and US leaders.

China

  • Revolution of 1911: Led to a republic.
  • Post-WWII: Communists took over China after fighting the Japanese.
  • Mao's Policies:
    • Great Leap Forward: Mao's plan to rapidly industrialize China using methods like backyard steel furnaces and collectivizing farms. The plan failed due to fake reporting, leading to mass starvation.
    • Smash the Sparrows Campaign: An attempt to eliminate sparrows, resulting in infestations.
    • Cultural Revolution: An attempt to control culture, destroying the "Four Olds" to rebuild Chinese culture.
  • Economic Liberalization: China adopted free market policies, but political repression continued.
  • Tiananmen Square: Pro-democracy protests suppressed by the government with tanks. Famous "Tank Man" incident.

Spread of Communism

  • Land Redistribution: Giving land to poor people.
  • Vietnam: Divided after the First Indochina War. North Vietnam was more popular due to land redistribution.
  • South Vietnam repressed the majority Buddhist population. A monk set himself on fire in protest.
  • Ethiopia
  • India: Land redistribution in the Kerala region (Kerala Land Reform).
  • Iran: White Revolution involved selling land cheap to peasants.
  • Guatemala: The United Fruit Company owned most of the land and undervalued it for tax purposes. When the government tried to redistribute land, the CIA overthrew the government.

Decolonization

  • Nationalists seeking autonomy.
    • Indian National Congress and Muslim League sought independent India. The Muslim League wanted a separate Muslim state.
    • Viet Minh (Vietnam) led by Ho Chi Minh fought against France.
    • Kwame Nkrumah led independence in Ghana.
    • General Kemal Abdel Nasser led in Egypt.
  • Negotiated Independence:
    • India: Partition in 1947 divided the old Raj into India and Pakistan, leading to violence during population movement.
    • Ghana: Negotiated independence, led by Kwame Nkrumah, who later led the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
  • Armed Struggle:
    • Algeria fought France for independence.
    • Vietnam: First Indochina War.
    • Angola: Independence from Portugal.

Superimposed Boundaries

  • Newly independent states and redrawn borders.
  • Israel: Carved out of the Palestinian mandate, leading to conflict with Palestinians and neighbors like Syria and Egypt. Wars include the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War.
  • India and Pakistan: Conflict over Kashmir.
  • Cambodia: Khmer Rouge, a communist group, murdered 25% of the population before being invaded by Vietnam.

Population Displacement

  • Partition of India and Pakistan.
  • Egypt: Aswan Dam nationalized by General Nasser, leading to British, French, and Israeli invasion. The US and Soviet Union opposed the invasion.
  • Tanzania: Julius Nyerere's collective farming.
  • Sri Lanka: Land reform.
  • Migration to Metropoles:
    • Indians moving to London.
    • Filipinos moving to the US.

Resistance to Existing Global Power Structures

  • Groups opposing conflict:
    • Gandhi
    • MLK
  • Military-Industrial Complex: Intensifies conflict; Dow Chemical invented Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant used in Vietnam.
  • Terrorism: Violence for political reasons, e.g., Al-Qaeda, IRA, Hamas, and the CIA.
  • Militaries also escalate violence, e.g., Uganda under Idi Amin.
  • My Lai Massacre: US troops in Vietnam killed civilians, including elderly and babies.

Anti-Soviet Resistance

  • Hungarians tried to leave the Warsaw Pact in 1956.
  • Czechs in 1968.
  • Youth Resistance: Student movements in the US (anti-war) and France.
  • OPEC: Oil cartel that stopped selling oil to the US for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War, causing gas prices to rise.

Cold War Influences in Africa

  • Decolonization movement.
  • Proxy wars, e.g., Angola, where different groups were backed by the US and USSR.