Communism and the Cold War

• Cold War lasted from 1945 to early 90s

• US and Soviet Union tried to get the rest of the world to side with them

• An arms based race between - nuclear arsenals became large enough to wipe out the whole world

Power Grab

• Biggest conflict over future security - both wanted their worldview to dominate:

  • US: capitalism, democracy

  • USSR: communism/totalitarianism

• At conferences in Yalta and Potsdam in 1945, parts of Eastern Europe were divided among Allied forces - Soviet Union demanded control of its neighbouring states (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria), which the US disagreed with

• 1948: French, US, British sections of Germany merged into one, while Eastern Germany was under Soviet control - they cut of access to Berlin from Western side (Berlin Blockade)

  • US flew in resources to trapped Western side (Berlin Airlift) until Soviets relented and split Berlin in half - built a wall on their side (Berlin Wall)

• East Vs. West

  • Europe was clearly divided in East and West

    • East: East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary = Soviet bloc

    • West: Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, West Germany, Greece, Turkey = Western bloc

  • Truman Doctrine (1947) said US would aid countries threatened by communism (containment) - Western bloc formed military alliance NATO for this

    • In response, Eastern bloc formed Warsaw Pact

  • Two alliances became heavily weaponized - line between them was called the Iron Curtain

  • Many countries were part of nonalignment - accepted investments from US and USSR but didn’t side with either

    • Helped many former colonies find cooperative economic relations

    • Bandung Conference (1955): leaders from Africa and Asia meet to discuss these partnerships - Non-Aligned Movement

China

• After fall of Manchu Dynasty in 1911, Sun Yat-sen led the Chinese Revolution of 1911 for China to become more Westernized and powerful

• Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People: nationalism, socialism, democracy

• Established his own political party for his own goals - the Kuomintang (KMT)

• Chiang Kai-shek established KMT in 1920s while Japanese and Soviets also struggled to control China

• US helped drive Japan out, but communists and KMT continued to fight Chinese Civil War for next 4 years

• Communists recruited millions of peasants under Mao Zedong to drive KMT out of China into Taiwan (where they established Republic of China)

• Mainland China became People’s Republic of China and the largest communist nation in the world

• Taiwan and People’s Republic of China are still separated

• Mao Zedong

  • At first was successful in increasing China’s productivity and agriculture

  • Implemented Great Leap Forward by creating communes (local governments) to achieve a Marxist state - they couldn’t keep up with their agricultural quotas, so they lied about it causing starvation of over 30 million Chinese people

  • After withdraw of Soviet support, military became his focus and capitalism was implemented into economy - Mao didn’t like it

  • Mao’s Cultural Revolution: got rid of all Western influences to prevent privileged classes - universities shut down and most worked as farmers from 1960s to 70s

• Deng Xiaoping

  • New leader - focused on restructuring economy, reimplemented education

  • Free-market capitalism elements, property ownership, foreign relations - but still largely communist

  • Tiananmen Square Massacre: hundreds of protesters for democratic reform killed by government troops

Division of Korea - Korean War

• After WWII, was held half by Soviets and half by US until Korea could achieve stability

• Soviet communist regime in North Korea

• US democracy in South Korea

• North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950 to unite the two countries - United Nations, under General MacArthur, supported South Korea and China supported North Korea - armistice didn’t happen until 1953

• North Korea remains an isolated and dangerous nation today

Vietnam War

• After WWII, France attempt to hold on to colony of Indochina, but Vietminh nationalists fought back until it was agreed to split the nation into two

  • Communists - North under Ho Chi Minh

  • Democrats - South under Ngo Dinh Diem

• Soon war broke out between them - France and US supported South, but eventually the South was taken over by communist Viet Cong fighters, which looked very bad for US

Genocide in Cambodia

• Communism took over Cambodia and communist faction Khmer Rouge took over the government - goal to get rid of professional class an religious minorities led to 2 million deaths by the government

The Cuban Revolution

• US remained involved in Cuban affairs after Spanish-American War under Platt Amendment

• US supported the Batista Dictatorship from 1939 to 1959 until peasants began revolting in 1956 under leadership of Fidel Castro - led to Cuban Revolution in 1959

• Castro promoted democracy but immediately established a communist dictatorship instead, so the US imposed economic bans on trade with Cuba - strengthened Cuba’s ties with Soviets instead

• US organized Bay of Pigs Invasion with a small force of Cuban exiles, authorized by President Kennedy, to overthrow Castro - they were immediately captured

• In response, Soviets installed missiles in Cuba and when US found out, they established a navel blockade around the island - Cuban Missile Crisis

  • Soviets eventually backed down when US agreed to not invade Cuba - closest brush with nuclear war

Cold War Tensions and Democratization in Latin America

• US’s capitalistic destruction of resources in Latin America stirred radical political parties in Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil - US was the imperialist “Good Neighbour”

• US distracted by wars and Cold War led to single-party rule in Mexico, brutal militaristic leaders in Argentina and Chile, and socialist democracies in Nicaragua and Guatemala

  • US focused on Nicaragua - ground for Bay of Pigs Invasion, targeting of Sandinista guerrillas in 80s

• Reliance on export economies has resulted in poor domestic economies and debt

• Only in 2000 did Mexico have first multi-party election - opposition, PAN party, won

Cold War Ends

• People in Eastern Europe, under communism, began to revolt over poor living conditions compared to the West, democracy, and self-determination in the 80s

Poland

• A Solidarity movement under Lech Walesa brought thousands of workers wanting reform of communist economic system

• Not until reform-minded Mieczyslaw Rakowski became the Prime Minister did Solidarity become legalized in 1989

• Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Solidarity member, became PM in first open elections

• Communism fell in 1990, Lech Walsea become president, and economy improved swiftly

German Reunification

• Decline of communism in Soviet bloc led to East Germany cutting ties with Soviets

• Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 and East and West reunified

• Germany now focused on peace and economic reform instead of violence

The Soviet Union Collapses

• Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1986 and urged restructuring of Soviet economy - elements of private ownership instituted, nuclear arms treaties with US

• When Poland and other former Soviet nations separated from USSR, Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991

• Mostly peaceful, but ethnic cleansing occurred in the Balkans and many Muslims were murdered by Christian Serbians - led to UN troop involvement

• Most new countries formed constitutional democracies, Cold War was over, and US emerged as the world’s only superpowers

• Democracy and Authoritarian Rule in Russia

  • New Russia looked like a perfect federal state, but their abrupt intro to democracy and capitalism led to corruption, high unemployment, poverty, widespread crime

  • First president, Boris Yeltsin, had the challenge of reforming Russia

  • Yeltsin resigned in 1999 and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin became the head and has between the President and Prime Minister since then

    • Has caused significant unrest in relations with other nations

Independence Movements and Developments in Asia and Africa

Indian Subcontinent

• Indian National Congress, mostly Hindu, established in 1885 and Muslim League in 1906 to increase rights of Indians under colonial rule

• In 1919, Amritsar Massacre catapulted resistance - 319 Indians killed by the British during a peaceful protest

• Mohandas Gandhi became an important figure in resistance - philosophy of passive resistance (demonstrations, boycotts instead of violence)

• Hindu and Muslim groups disagreed while fighting for the same cause - Muslims pushed for their own nation called Pakistan

• Independence Won by India

  • Britain granted independence to India after WWII

  • Muslims and Hindus disagreed with how the independent nation should function - one group wanted unity between Hindus and Muslims, the other wanted to partition the subcontinent and form a separate Muslim nation (led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

  • British separated the subcontinent into three parts: India (Hindu), and Pakistan (Muslim) in two parts

  • Many died by religious persecution as they migrated across religious lines - created international conflict between Pakistan and India

Africa

• In 1910, South Africa established its own constitution, that was discriminatory to native Africans, and in 1912, the African National Congress was formed to oppose European colonialism

• in 1950s, independence movement across Africa grew and Gamal Nasser, general in Egyptian army, overthrew Egypt king and established a republic - inspired other Islamic nationalists along Mediterranean to also become independent

• Many Africans were undereducated and did not have skills to build productive, independent nations and European influence had caused major destruction in social dynamics

• Algeria fought war for independence against France from 1954-1962

• Nigeria and Ghana negotiated their freedom from Britain

• Kenya also negotiated constitution with Britain

• Angola and Belgian Congo overthrew colonial governments causing civil wars

• Zimbabwe was among last to establish majority African rule in 1980

• 53/54 of African nations belong to African Union - replaced Organization of African Unity

  • Still, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, Congo continue to be wrecked by civil wars

• Rwanda

  • Conflict between Tutsi and Hutu groups (Tutsi, 15% of pop., governed the Hutu) caused ethnic strife, genocide, and human rights violations after colonial authorities left

  • Hutu revolted and killed as many as 800000 Tutsis over 100 days of genocide

• Apartheid in South Africa

  • Union of South Africa formed in 1910 combing British and Dutch colonies, the year after South Africa Act, completely excluded Black people from politics

    • 1923: segregation established and enforced

    • 1926: Black people banned from certain occupations

    • 1948: system of apartheid (racial separation) established - Black people forced into the worst parts of the country and city slums

  • Nelson Mandela became leader of African National Congress in 1950s determined to abolish apartheid

  • Sharpeville massacre: 67 protesters against apartheid killed - African National Congress then supported guerrilla warfare (resulted in Mandela being jailed in 1964)

  • Mandela was released in 1990 and apartheid crumbled - he was the first president elected in a free and open election

Middle East

• After WWI, France was put in charge of Syria and Lebanon, Britain in charge of Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq (Iran between Britain and Russia) - Arabia united itself as a Saudi Kingdom

• Creation of Modern Israel:

  • Many Jews left Israel region as Palestine became more and more Islamic

  • During WWI, Zionists (Jewish nationalists) convinced Arthur Balfour (Britain’s foreign secretary) to issue Balfour Declaration of 1917 - declared that Jewish people had right to live in Palestine, without displacing current Palestinians

  • Jews fleeing antisemitic mobs (pogroms) began flooding into Palestine, a lot more came during the 30s to escape Hitler

• Jewish Wait for a State Ends in 1948 - two Palestines, one for Jews and one for Muslims, officially created

  • As soon as David Ben-Gurion became first prime minister of Israel, Muslims attacked Israel (1948 Arab-Israeli War)

  • Israel fought back and eventually controlled most of Palestine, while Jordan held remaining portions (West Bank)

  • 1967 Six-Day War resulted in Israelis taking over all of Palestine - West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip (Egypt), Golan Heights (Syria)

  • In 1977, Egypt recongized Israel’s right to exist when Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt signed the Camp David Accords - a huge blow to Palestinians (did not recognize West Bank in accords)

  • Since then, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), dedicated to reclaiming land and Palestinian state, has been unsuccessful in negotiating a homeland

  • In 2000, violence continued and Israel PM Ariel Sharon constructed a wall between Palestinian West Bank and Israel

  • In 2005, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a cease-fire with Israel after previous president Yasser Arafat failed to do so

  • Intense division, military violence, and terrorism still exists between the groups and no advancements have been made

• Iranian Revolution

  • When Reza Shah Pahlavi rose to power and lead the shah in 1925 in Iran, Westernization was introduced to the nation

  • In 1960s, rights of women increased drastically which angered Islamic fundamentalists

  • President Jimmy Carter of US visited Iran to congratulate them on their modernization, which was the breaking point for fundamentalists - in 1979 Iranian Revolution ousted current shah and went back to a theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini

  • Human rights advancements were reversed and women went back to traditional roles - Qu’ran became basis of legal system

  • Iraq soon after invaded Iran over border disputes - Iraq received quiet support from US but still led to 8-year Iran-Iraq War

  • Power struggle still continues in Iran and American-led war that began in Iraq in 2003 complicated matters further

• Oil

  • Middle East was sitting on more than two-thirds of world’s oil reserves

  • Multinational corporations rushed to gain drilling rights in 20th century

  • Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq started to earn billions annually, so they organized with some oil-exporting nations to form a petroleum cartel (OPEC) leading to more money and modernization