module 23 lesson 1

cold war: superpowers face off

demographic and social consequences

• wwii - more civilian deaths than military

  • battles, bombing, genocide

• long lasting effects of war

economic and environmental consequences

• massive destruction: infrastructure, farmland, etc

• process of rebuilding

  • west europe quicker than soviet countries

allies become enemies

• united states

  • angry at stalin’s non aggression pact with hitler

• soviet union

  • felt us waited too long to invade germany

yalta conference - post war plan

• divide germany into zones and force reparations

• stalin - promises free elections

  • churchill skeptical

the un and geneva convention

• 1945: united nations (un) formed

  • 50 countries - protect against aggression

• 1949: geneva conventions

  • post war treaties

  • pow, wounded, etc

“superpowers” divided

• us - capitalism

• soviets - communism

• impact of war on each country

  • us little deaths/damage compared to soviet union

soviets build a buffer

• stalin wants “wall of protection”

  • forcing communism

  • promise of free elections?

• truman (us) vs stalin (ussr)

the iron curtain

• europe split (east and west)

• allies support west germany (france, britain and us) (soviet has east germany)

  • costly → withdraw support

us “containment”

• stop soviet influence and spread of communism

truman doctrine

• support for countries that resist communism

  • massive backlash

  • avoid european affairs and cost

• congress gives $400 million

  • protect democratic nations

the marshall plan

• western europe in ruins

• george marshall (us secretary of state)

  • provide aid to needy countries

  • massive success vs communism

the berlin airlift

• us and soviets argue about germany

  • reunite (allies) vs divided (soviet)

• soviets blockade berlin

  • allies continue with support

  • soviets defeated

superpowers form alliances

• nato

  • us + other countries

• warsaw pact

  • soviets + others

• berlin wall = symbol of divided world

  • west - free/democratic

  • east - communist

threat of nuclear war (not on quiz/test)

• cold war → destroy world?

  • both had atomic bombs

• h-bomb (hydrogen)

  • 600x more powerful

  • soviets have own by 1953

threat of nuclear war

• john foster dulles (us secretary of state)

• brinkmanship

  • us increases air force

  • stockpiles nuclear weapons

module 23 lesson 5

the cold war thaws

destalinization and protests

• nikita khrushchev - soviet leader

  • policy of destalinization

• satellite nations not satisfied

revolt in czechoslovakia

• 1964: khrushchev removed from power

• leonid brezhnev - replaced khrushchev

  • strict policies, limits freedom, secret police

• brezhnev doctrine

  • justified in forcing communism

soviet-chinese split

• china committed to communism (zedong/stalin treaty)

  • split from soviet “shadow”

• soviets hide nuclear secrets

from brinkmanship to detente

brinkmanship breaks down

• nuclear war is a real possibility

• jfk administration able to prevent war

• lyndon b johnson - president (1963)

  • involves us in vietnam war

the us turns to detente

• widespread anti-war protests in us

• 1968: richard nixon elected president

• detente - lower cold war tensions

  • still committed to stopping communism

nixon’s treaties

• nixon - first us president to visit communist china

• salt 1 treaty with russia

reagan’s anti-communist stance

• president reagan - moves away from detente

• strategic defense initiative (sdi)

  • protect against enemy missiles

end of the soviet union

• perestroika - reduced communist power

  • private business

  • elections

• end of the cold war

module 25 lesson 3

gorbachev takes power

• 1982: brezhnev dies - old leaders take over and die

• mikhail gorbachev

  • soviet leader 1985-1991

  • general secretary of communists

glasnost promotes openness

• historically totalitarian → glasnost policy

  • open to new idea/info

• massive changes

  • churches, censors, prisoners, etc

economic restructuring

• inefficient central planning

• government mandated production → no motivation

• perestroika

  • economic restructuring

  • allow private business

democratization

• communists need to loosen grip

• 1987: democratization

  • open political system

  • free elections

foreign policy

• reagan’s military buildup

• INF treaty with soviet union

  • ban intermediate range missiles

lithuania defies gorbachev

• 1990 - lithuania declares independence

  • gorbachev enacts blockade

  • soviet troops attack

hard liners oppose gorbachev

• hard-liners: conservatives who opposed reforms

• furious with gorbachev

  • soviet union losing power

the august coup

• hardliners demand gorbachev resign

  • send tanks into moscow to take over

• massive anti-communist protests

  • gorbachev returns to power

yetlsin’s problems

• “shock therapy” - free market economy

• everyone used to government control

  • inflation, closures, job loss, etc

chechnya rebels

• yetlsin starts war over independence

  • city destroyed

• 1999 - yetlsin resigns

module 23 lesson 3

north korean invasion (june 25, 1950)

• north korea launches surprise attack

• un responds to call for help

  • under command of douglas macarthur

  • counter attack

fighting continues

• north korea pushed back across 38th parallel

• china feels threatened

  • send 300,000 troops to aid north korea

macarthus on his own mission

• macarthur - requests to use nuclear weapons

• truman says no so he goes behind his back

  • removed from command by truman

aftermath of the war

• dmz - demilitarized zone set up (still exists)

• north korea - dictatorship

• south korea - democracy

the road to war

• ho chi minh (1890-1969)

  • led revolts vs french

  • founded viet minh league

fighting begins

• viet minh use guerilla warfare vs french

• french surrender at dien bien phu

opposition to diem

• vietcong - communists guerilla fighters

• assassinate diem → communist takeover coming?

us involvement

• us military - struggles vs vietcong

• vietcong support

  • ho chi minh

  • soviet union

  • china

• resort to “carpet bombing”

  • napalm and agent orange

us withdraws

• 1969 - nixon begins withdrawal of troops

• vietnamization: south vietnam replace us troops

• 1975 - north vietnam overruns country