UNIT 8 - COLD WAR & DECOLONIZATION - 1900 to Present
Context for the Cold War & Decolonization
The Cold War
Definition:
A state of hostility between two states.
Characterized by ideological struggle rather than open warfare.
The Cold War (Specific):
Standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Transformed global politics for about four decades after World War II.
Emergence of Superpowers
Post-World War II Landscape:
World War I: "The war to end all wars."
World War II: Even more devastating.
The Cold War emerged quickly after World War II.
Allied Powers' Condition:
Limping away from victory due to enormous costs and destruction.
Emergence of Superpowers:
The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as global superpowers.
Reasons for Superpower Status: Economic and Technological Advantages
Economic Advantages
United States:
Great Depression in the 1930s.
Mobilization for World War II led to economic turnaround due to increased wartime production demand.
Minimal destructive consequences of the war (except Pearl Harbor), unlike Europe.
Became the most prosperous nation in the world.
Marshall Plan:
The U.S. sent over billion in aid for economic recovery in war-torn nations.
Recipient nations experienced economic revival.
Shifted the global balance of power toward the United States.
Soviet Union:
Command economy since the 1920s (Unit 7).
Rapid economic growth despite suffering and death of millions.
Hard hit by World War II (e.g., Hitler's invasion and siege of Leningrad).
Post-war, the centralized command economy utilized natural resources and a large population for economic recovery.
Large-scale government investment in heavy industry before World War II facilitated recovery.
Emphasis on coal extraction and steel production later weakened the economy.
Technological Advantages
United States:
Developed the atomic bomb.
Deployment on Japan ended the war in the Pacific Theater.
Established the U.S. as the technological leader.
Soviet Union:
Developed their own atomic weapons, first tested in , four years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Arms Race:
Both powers spent vast amounts on developing bigger and more destructive bombs.
Both possessed enough nuclear and hydrogen bombs to destroy the Earth.
Setting the Stage for Decolonization
Reversal of Imperialism:
The period witnessed a complete reversal of imperial expansion.
Role of the World Wars:
World War I created conditions for decolonization.
Colonial troops were called up to fight for imperial powers.
Hoped sacrifices would lead to self-rule or independence.
Woodrow Wilson's advocacy for self-determination.
Post-World War I Disappointment:
Colonies of defeated powers changed hands to victorious powers.
Mandate System:
Hierarchical system with varying degrees of self-rule based on the ability to sustain themselves.
Essentially continued the colonial system, causing dissatisfaction among colonial peoples.
World War II's Impact:
Colonial troops fought again for imperial powers.
Massive anti-imperial movements broke out, as there was no clear intention of imperial countries to grant independence to their colonies.
Imperial states (e.g., Britain, France) had weakened economies and militaries due to the war.
Decolonization After 1945:
Worldwide process of decolonization.
Broke apart colonial empires.
Created approximately new states on the world map.
The Cold War - Explained
Causes of the Cold War
Definition of Cold War:
A state of hostility between two states.
Characterized by an ideological struggle rather than open warfare.
Specifically, the Cold War refers to the state of hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Conflicting Ideologies
Democratic capitalism (United States) vs. Authoritarian communism (Soviet Union).
Democratic Capitalism:
Emphasizes free market economics.
Political participation from citizens.
Authoritarian Communism:
Emphasizes strict government control of the economy.
Redistribution of wealth equally to all citizens.
Citizens have essentially no voice in the government.
The tension arose because both ideologies are universalizing, aiming to spread worldwide.
Neither the US nor the Soviet Union was satisfied to keep their ideologies to themselves.
Each ideology sought to prove its superiority by conforming the entire world to it.
Mutual Mistrust
Started even before World War II ended.
The US, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain met to discuss plans for the post-war world.
Agreement: Central and Eastern European countries would hold free elections.
The Soviet Union (Joseph Stalin) kept those countries under Soviet control as a buffer zone.
Those nations became communist satellite states.
The US saw this as a violation of the agreement for self-determination and democracy.
Germany:
Divided into four occupation zones (Soviet Union, French, British, and the United States).
Stalin refused to free Eastern Germany, which became a communist satellite state.
Winston Churchill proclaimed that an "iron curtain" had fallen across Europe.
Intersection with Decolonization
The US and the Soviet Union raced to influence newly independent states.
Each sought to win them to their respective sides.
These new states were seen as pawns in their ideological struggle.
The Non-Aligned Movement
Some groups refused to be pawns in the global conflict.
The non-aligned movement was led by Indonesian President Ahmed Sukarno.
The first meeting was in 1955, hosting 29 African and Asian heads of state.
Significant representatives: India, Ghana, Indonesia, and Egypt.
The movement aimed to resist being controlled by the conflict between the two superpowers.
Leaders of non-aligned nations took advantage of the Cold War rivalry by seeking support from either side.
Some gained weapons and resources for their defense and development.
Example: Indonesia received aid from the Soviet Union but also suppressed the Communist Party.
EFFECTS of the Cold War
Military Alliances
After WWII, the Soviet Union occupied much of Eastern Europe, which became known as the Soviet Block or Communist Block.
The Soviet Union installed Communist governments and made their economies serve the Soviet Union.
Western European nations and the United States formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 as a mutual defense alliance against the Soviets.
NATO included the United States and several other nations.
In 1955, the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance including the Soviet Union and other nations.
Both alliances agreed that an attack on one member state constituted an attack on all, requiring all member nations to respond.
The creation of these alliances increased the tension of the Cold War.
Nuclear Proliferation
The United States pioneered the use of atomic bombs during World War II, and the Soviets developed their own atomic bombs in 1949.
The United States then developed the hydrogen bomb, which was more powerful.
The Soviets responded with their own hydrogen bomb.
Each superpower possessed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world multiple times.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
After a failed US attempt to oust Fidel Castro in Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev shipped nuclear missiles to Cuba.
The United States had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, which bordered the Soviet Union.
US spy planes discovered the missile sites in Cuba, leading to outrage in the United States.
President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent more weapons from arriving.
For 13 days, there was intense anxiety about a potential nuclear war.
The missiles were never fired, and eventually, all parties backed down.
The event highlighted the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was created in 1968, calling on nuclear powers to prevent non-nuclear countries from developing nuclear weapons.
Proxy Wars
The Cold War was characterized by indirect fighting through proxy wars.
These were small local wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America where the United States and the Soviets supported different sides.
Korean War
After World War II, Korea was divided into North Korea (occupied by the Soviets) and South Korea (occupied by the US and its allies).
In 1950, Communist North Korea invaded anti-Communist South Korea to create a single state under its leadership.
The United Nations, primarily the United States, aided South Korea, while the Soviets sent weapons to North Korea.
The conflict ended in a stalemate by 1953, with the two countries remaining largely as they were before the war.
3 million people died as a result of the war.
Angolan Civil War
Angola was a colony of Portugal, with borders drawn around rival ethnic groups.
These groups united to fight against the Portuguese and won their independence.
After independence, a conflict arose over which group would hold power.
The Soviets backed one group, the United States another, and South Africa yet another, leading to the Angolan Civil War.
The war became another battleground for larger powers conducting the Cold War.
Contra War in Nicaragua
In 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, self-proclaimed socialists, seized power in Nicaragua.
The United States backed a group of Contras who tried to overthrow the Sandinistas, who had support from the Soviet Union.
The Contras committed human rights violations.
The conflict ended in a ceasefire, and the Sandinistas were defeated in the next election.
The Spread of Communism After 1900
China and Communism
The spread of Communism during the Cold War was unwelcome to the United States.
The adoption of Communism in China was significant.
China's 2,000-year dynastic rule ended in 1911 with a revolution led by Sun Yat-sen, establishing China as a republic.
By the 1920s, tension arose against the Nationalist Party due to perceived dependence on Western powers.
The Chinese Communist Party, under Mao Zedong, emerged as their main antagonist.
From 1927, a conflict ensued between Chinese Communists and Nationalists for control of China.
In 1931, Japan invaded northern China.
By 1935, Communists and Nationalists united to fight the Japanese.
Following Japan's defeat by Allied Powers, the Chinese Civil War resumed.
The Communists won with Soviet assistance.
In 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square.
Under Mao, China nationalized industry and redistributed land to peasants through collectivization.
Collectivization in China was relatively peaceful compared to the Soviet Union due to trust between the Communist Party and peasants.
Mao brought the Chinese economy under state control through the Great Leap Forward, an economic plan for rapid industrialization.
Relations between China and the Soviet Union became strained as Mao believed the Soviet version of Communism was corrupted.
Mao focused on small-scale industrialization in rural areas, unlike Stalin's focus on urban areas.
Industrial goods produced in rural areas were of poor quality.
Bad harvests led to the starvation of 20 to 50 million Chinese people.
Mao refused foreign aid and continued to export grain, exacerbating the famine.
Spread of Communism and Socialism Elsewhere
Egypt
The British and French controlled the Suez Canal, a strategic link between Europe and Asia, completed in 1869.
The Suez Canal was crucial for European economic well-being, providing a shortcut for trade.
In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser led a movement to overthrow the British and declared Egypt's independence.
Nasser implemented socialist reforms, nationalizing the Suez Canal, placing it under Egyptian control.
British, French, and Israeli forces invaded Egypt in retaliation.
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened a nuclear strike against the invaders.
U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower pressured Britain and France to withdraw.
Vietnam
During World War II, Japan occupied Vietnam, then a French colony.
After Japan's defeat, Vietnam declared independence from Japan and France.
Two rival governments formed: a communist government in the north and an anti-communist government in the south.
The communist government in the north began land redistribution, canceling wealthy landowners' ownership and giving land to peasants.
Cuba
In 1956, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba, establishing a communist state.
Castro aimed to eliminate Cuba's dependence on the United States.
With Soviet support, Castro launched land distribution and raised wages, transferring about 15% of Cuba's wealth from the rich to the poor.
Castro nationalized land belonging to U.S. corporations that had exploited Cuba's economy.
The U.S. CIA led a failed attempt to overthrow Castro, further radicalizing him and strengthening ties with the Soviet Union.
Decolonization Explained
Decolonization: Two Primary Paths
Nations gained freedom from imperial powers through two main avenues:
Negotiated Independence
Armed Struggle
Negotiated Independence
India:
India's status as Britain's most valuable colony resulted in significant investment in infrastructure, fostering a growing, educated middle class excited by nationalism and a desire for self-rule.
The Indian National Congress, formed in 1885, sought a greater voice in governance but faced neglect.
Despite fighting for Britain in WWI, expectations for self-rule were unmet, leading to heightened discontent after the Amritsar Massacre.
Mahatma Gandhi emerged as a leader of nonviolent resistance, while limited authority was gradually transferred by the British in the 1920s.
Indians fought in WWII demanding independence, resulting in Britain conceding in 1947.
The partition created Pakistan for Muslims, inciting violence with mass migrations and significant loss of life.
Gold Coast (Ghana):
British colony where, in 1947, Kwame Nkrumah led the independence movement.
Britain, weakened post-war, negotiated, leading to the creation of Ghana in 1957.
Armed Struggle
The size of the white European population often determined whether colonial independence was peaceful or violent. Large European settler populations resisted decolonization, leading to conflict.
Algeria:
French colonies included Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.
France negotiated independence with Morocco and Tunisia peacefully but not Algeria due to a large French settler population.
In 1954, Arab and Berber Muslims formed the National Liberation Front and launched violent attacks for independence.
France responded with brutality, targeting civilians and committing widespread human rights abuses.
The war ended in 1962 when Charles de Gaulle negotiated Algeria's independence.
Angola:
Portuguese colony where, by the 1950s, three Angolan political groups opposed colonial rule.
Violence erupted following protests against inhumane treatment of farmers.
In 1974, a coup in Portugal led to Angolan independence in 1975.
Independence was immediately followed by civil war among the three ethnic groups (communist and anti-communist factions), becoming a proxy war in the Cold War.
Colonial Boundaries and Civil War
Imperial powers drew boundaries without regard for ethnic and religious groups, causing issues particularly, in Africa.
Boundaries either brought rival groups together or split existing ethnic/religious groups, leading to power struggles post-independence.
Nigeria:
Negotiated independence from Britain in 1960.
Civil war broke out in 1967 when the Igbo people (westernized Christians in the south) tried to secede and form Biafra.
The northern government violently resisted due to oil-rich lands.
The north won in 1970, establishing a united Nigeria.
Legacy of colonial boundaries continues to cause tension.
State Building After Decolonization
Decolonization and Its Aftermath
Creation of New States
Decolonization in the 20th century resulted in approximately 80 new states.
Colonial boundaries, drawn by imperial powers for their benefit, were often inherited by newly independent states.
Whether states maintained or altered these boundaries, conflicts frequently arose.
Partition of India (1947)
India's decolonization was a negotiated independence, but post-independence, boundary-related issues led to significant violence.
The Muslim League advocated for a separate state for the Muslim minority, leading to the partition of India into India (Hindu majority) and Pakistan (Muslim).
Partition resulted in mass migrations (over 12 million people) and violence (over half a million deaths) as Hindus and Muslims moved to their respective territories.
Conflict over Kashmir: Despite a Muslim majority in Kashmir, its Hindu ruler and valuable natural resources led India to claim it. Pakistan's attempt to annex it resulted in ongoing conflict, mediated by the UN, with the region remaining disputed between India, Pakistan, and China.
Creation of Israel (1948)
Palestine, formerly part of the Ottoman Empire with a Muslim majority, was transferred to Great Britain under the mandate system after World War I.
Zionism: Arose in the late 19th century among European Jews, advocating for a Jewish state in their ancestral land of Israel (Palestine).
Balfour Declaration: A British pledge to make Palestine a home for the Jews, which encouraged Jewish migration.
Increased Jewish migration, especially during World War II, heightened tensions with Arab Muslims in Palestine.
The UN proposed partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Jews accepted and declared independence in 1948, while Palestinians rejected the plan.
Conflict erupted between Israelis and Palestinians, supported by neighboring Arab states, leading to ongoing regional conflict.
Government Involvement in Economies
Newly independent states often saw their governments taking a direct role in economic development.
Egypt under Gamal Abdul Nasser
Nasser leveraged Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union to support Egypt's economic development.
Nationalization of the Suez Canal (1956) brought it under Egyptian control.
Construction of the Aswan High Dam (completed in 1970) provided electricity and irrigation.
Social welfare reforms: free schooling and healthcare.
India under Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minister, implemented socialist economic plans to increase government control and reduce reliance on foreign aid.
Green Revolution: Introduced high-yielding grains, increasing harvest yields and agricultural self-sufficiency.
Nationalization of key industries and government regulations: Nationalization of banks, increased taxes on the wealthy, and a 20-point economic plan reduced inflation and increased production.
Migration to Metropoles
Metropoles: Imperial country territories, in distinction from their colonial holdings.
Former colonial subjects migrated to metropoles due to established cultural/economic ties and economic difficulties in newly independent states.
Examples: South Asians to Great Britain, Algerians to France, Filipinos to the United States.
This migration transformed metropoles into multi-ethnic societies and maintained ties between former colonies and imperial powers.
Resistance to Power Structures After 1900
Nonviolent Resistance
Three main figures are:
Mohandas Gandhi
Promoted nonviolence and civil disobedience for Indian independence.
Began in the Indian National Congress and became its leader by 1921.
In the 1930s, he embodied nonviolent resistance against British imperial policies.
Homespun movement: Boycotted British textiles, making clothes at home, wearing a traditional dhoti.
Salt March: Protest against the British salt monopoly. Gandhi led followers to the sea to harvest salt, defying the law.
Arrested multiple times for civil disobedience.
His efforts helped break Britain's colonial hold on India.
After WWII, Britain lacked resources to resist Indian independence.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Black Baptist minister inspired by Gandhi's methods, fought against racial segregation in the United States.
Leader of the Civil Rights Movement for equal rights for Black Americans.
Montgomery Bus Boycott: Black Americans boycotted public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama.
Arrested on several occasions for civil disobedience.
The Civil Rights Movement led to the Supreme Court outlawing racial discrimination in schools in the 1950s and anti-discrimination laws passed in the 1960s.
Nelson Mandela
Initially promoted nonviolence but later adopted violence.
Led Black South Africans in acts of nonviolent resistance against apartheid, including boycotts and strikes.
Sharpeville Massacre: Police fired on a nonviolent protest, killing 69 people.
Abandoned nonviolent approaches and adopted violence in the struggle for freedom.
Jailed for over two decades for violent acts.
Released in 1994, ran for president and won, ending South African apartheid.
Violent Responses to Conflict
More frequent than nonviolent responses.
Augusto Pinochet
Led a military coup to overthrow Salvador Allende, the democratically elected Marxist president of Chile.
Ruled as a dictator with US support due to Cold War concerns about Marxist rulers.
Violently suppressed opposition through raids, executions, and torture against leftist parties, labor unions, and the Catholic Church.
Idi Amin
Assumed power through a military coup in Uganda in 1971.
Responded to ethnic conflict with violence.
Demonized the South Asian population, claiming they took jobs from Ugandans.
Known as the Butcher of Uganda for violence against his people and rivals.
Targeted ethnic groups, political enemies, and random individuals.
Estimated deaths: 80,000 to 500,000.
Military-Industrial Complex
Fear and economic pressure led states to build up their military.
The United States and the Soviet Union stockpiled nuclear weapons.
Increased military spending created jobs and economic reliance on the industry.
This made it difficult to cut military spending.
The military-industrial complex increased violence globally due to the profitability of producing and selling weapons.
Terrorism
Violence against civilians to achieve political goals.
Al-Qaeda
Founded and led by Osama bin Laden.
Militant Islamic group with grievances against US involvement in the Middle East (Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia).
Acts of terrorism against civilians to pressure the United States.
September 11th attacks on the United States killed over 2,000 Americans.
The attacks intensified US involvement in the Middle East.
The End of the Cold War
Causes of the End of the Cold War
Technological and Military Advancements of the United States
By the early 1980s, the US and the Soviet Union possessed over 12,000 nuclear missiles pointed at each other.
The concept of mutual assured destruction (MAD) deterred both sides from initiating a nuclear war.
Détente in the 1970s:
A period of relaxed tensions between the US and the Soviet Union.
US President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), which prohibited further manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Ronald Reagan's presidency (1980s) marked a shift to a harder line against the Soviets.
Reagan rejected détente.
He spearheaded the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as "Star Wars."
The SDI aimed to create a space-based defense system capable of detecting and shooting down nuclear missiles with lasers.
Although the SDI never fully materialized, it widened the gap between the US and the Soviet Union.
Reagan believed the Soviets would attempt to match US spending on weapons development, which proved largely correct.
The Soviet economy, already stagnant since the 1970s, could not sustain the increased spending, leading to further economic decline.
Failed Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
In 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan to support the Communist regime against Afghan Muslim rebels.
The United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan supported and supplied the Afghan rebels.
The Soviets controlled major cities but struggled to defeat the rural guerrilla war waged by the rebels.
The Soviet Union fought a losing battle for nine years, further straining the Soviet economy.
Policies of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev rose to power in 1985.
The Soviet economy was in crisis in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Foreign trade was limited.
Government control of agriculture stifled the industry.
Farmers lacked the freedom to decide what to plant and how much to sell
Eastern European Soviet bloc countries were increasingly discontent with Soviet oppression.
The Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia (1968) was a series of mass protests against Soviet policy, which the Soviets violently crushed.
The Soviet Union devoted more resources to suppressing rebellions.
Gorbachev implemented policies that led to the demise of the Soviet Union:
Perestroika: Restructuring of the economy to reduce central planning.
Glasnost: Openness, allowing criticism and dissent against the government.
Gorbachev ended military intervention to support Communist governments in the Soviet sphere of influence.
Democratic reform movements erupted in Eastern European countries.
Reform movements spread to the Soviet Union, with states like Lithuania and Georgia declaring independence.
In 1989, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and Germany was reunited.
In 1991, the Soviet legislature voted to dissolve the Soviet Union, marking the end of the Cold War.