Cold War pwpt

The Cold War

• The state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats and propaganda.

• The state of political hostility between the Soviet bloc countries & the U.S.-led Western powers from 1945 to 1990.

• Characterized by rival political and economic systems: liberal democracy & capitalism (United States) vs. international communism and one-party rule (USSR).

• Responsible For:

  • Formation of new political & military alliances

  • Creation of client states

  • An arms race of unprecedented scope and cost

  • Diplomatic crises and military conflicts

  • Fear and mistrust between citizens of each side

The End of World War Two

• Allied representatives met to discuss the fate of Germany, former colonies, and those under Soviet occupation (Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam).

• Europe was separated by an “iron curtain” - Winston Churchill.

• Nations east of the Iron Curtain were under direct or indirect control of the Soviet Union.

• Harry S. Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Japan.

  • Limited American and Japanese casualties by avoiding an invasion.

  • Deterred the Soviets from expanding influence in East Asia and Japan.

The United Nations: 1945

• Established to maintain peace and security.

• A powerful Security Council was created to administer UN aims and serve as an executive council.

• 5 Permanent Members: United States, Soviet Union (now Russia), Great Britain, France, and P.R.C. (People’s Republic of China).

• PLUS 10 members that serve for two years; 5 new members voted in every year.

• Unanimous votes required for all substantive matters; decisions would be binding on all members.

• Smaller & newer nations would also have seats & contribute to its decision making & funding.

• 1948: Established the UN Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN Security Council

• The Council is made up of five permanent and 10 non-permanent members.

• Every year, five of the non-permanent members are replaced by countries elected for two-year terms.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. It states the basic rights and freedoms to which all people are entitled.

• Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was one of the first American delegates to the United Nations. A longtime activist on behalf of minorities, women, workers, and refugees, Roosevelt became the chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Stalin and the USSR

• Stalin reneged on allowing free democratic elections in regions under Soviet control at war’s end.

• Stalin wanted to maintain a “buffer zone” between Germany and the heart of Soviet Russia.

• For GB & the U.S: Stalin’s actions signaled permanent domination of E. Europe by Soviets; threat of Soviet-influenced communists taking hold of western democratic nations.

• Soviets brought communist governments to power in: Albania, Yugoslavia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, & East Germany.

Truman Doctrine & Containment

• Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, crises in Greece & Turkey spur Truman to articulate a new U.S. policy in the face of the communist threat

• Truman Doctrine:

  • U.S. committed to an interventionist foreign policy

  • will support free peoples who are “resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures”

  • Military & financial support promised to contain the spread of communism & Soviet influence

  • BUT: the U.S. will NOT (officially) interfere militarily in nations already under Soviet or communist control

Marshall Plan

• a.k.a. The “European Recovery Program”

• U.S. plan to repair damaged infrastructure in war-torn Europe

• Named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall

• “cooperation and capitalism” used to discourage the spread of communism and strengthen alliances

• Approximately 13 Billion spent to re-invigorate Europe’s economy

• France, West Germany, GB become industrial, economic leaders within a few decades of the war

• Euros had to purchase American goods (machinery, raw materials, food, etc.) with the aid money

• Soviets rejected the aid, seeing it as “capitalist imperialism”

• USSR offered an alternative plan to promote trade and strengthen economic & political ties with the Eastern Bloc/satellite nations

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• NATO: formed as a U.S. -led military alliance to counteract the Soviet presence in Europe

• Intent: maintain peace in post-war Europe through collective defense

• West Germany admitted in 1955 and permitted to re-arm, sparking the creation of the:

• Warsaw Pact formed by the Soviets as a counter-measure

Divided: 1948-9

• Allied powers merged their zones of control in West Germany AND West Berlin (former capital)

• Soviets retaliated by blocking all transport and water links between Berlin and West Germany

• Berlin Airlift: For 11 months, British and U.S. planes flew round-the-clock missions to provide food and fuel to West Berliners

• Tensions ran high, but neither side risked escalating the situation into open warfare

• May 1949: Soviets called off the blockade

• Federal Republic of Germany established (West); Capital moved to Bonn

• October: German Democratic Republic (GDR) formed in East Germany

The Berlin Wall

• “Brain Drain”: 3.5 million refugees (young, skilled workers) fled TO the West between 1949-1961

• Huge embarrassment for East Germany & Soviets

• Border between East & West Germany was reinforced

• Wall between East and West Berlin is expanded, fortified

• Watchtowers & minefields installed to stem the flow of escapees; guards had orders to shoot to kill

• About 140 people died at the wall (shot, injured from falls)

• Succeeded only in shaming a regime and system that lacked legitimacy among its own people

Communist Victory in China: 1949

• Japan’s defeat in WWII renewed the struggle between Chiang Kai Shek’s/ Jiang Jieshi’s Kuomintang (Nationalist) forces vs. Mao Zedong’s Communists

• 1948-9: Communists inflict heavy defeats on Nationalists, forcing them to take refuge in Taiwan

• 1949: Mao establishes the People’s Republic of China

• Ended the long period of foreign imperialism and spawned a closer relationship between China and the USSR

• Soviets, Chinese alarmed by the American rehabilitation of Japan, as well as the establishment of client states in Taiwan and South Korea

• Chinese recognized the Soviet’s authority as the “undisputed authority in world communism” in exchange for their economic aid and military equipment

War in Korea

• Soviets and Americans partitioned Korea at the end of WWII along the 38th parallel (line of latitude)

• 1948: agreed to the establishment of two separate nations

  • South: Republic of Korea: capital @ Seoul

  • North: People’s Democratic Republic of Korea: capital @ Pyongyang

• Each side armed its allies then withdrew

• June 1950: Northern regime invades the South with over 100,000 troops, capturing Seoul on June 27

• U.S. persuades the U.N. to adopt a resolution to use force to drive out the invaders; provides 90% of the combat troops

• 20 nations participate in successfully pushing them back to the border, then into the North with a brief occupation of Pyongyang

The Korean War Escalates…

• 1951: U.S. advances deep into Northern territory, spurring Chinese intervention

• Chinese & N. Koreans push Americans & allies back into the South

• Allied leaders contemplate using nuclear weapons…

• A protracted stalemate ensues, with neither side gaining a clear advantage or agreeing to terms on POW’s..

• Jet aircraft used for the first time

• 2 more years of fighting result in over 3 million (mostly civilian) deaths

• Both sides agree to a cease-fire, yet hostilities remain to this day…

• The U.S. spent around 67 billion; over 33,000 killed, 92,000 wounded

• There are more than 7,800 American soldiers still unaccounted for as of June 2016. (MIA or POW)

Legacies of the Korean War

• A tenuous border remains at the 38th Parallel, separated by a demilitarized zone (DMZ) with large numbers of troops on either side

• The U.S. spent around 67 billion; over 33,000 killed, 92,000 wounded

• Over 7,800 American soldiers still unaccounted for as of 2016.

• Entrenchment of Kim family, North Korea’s totalitarian leaders

• War expanded the U.S. strategy of containment; U.S. expands economic aid & military protection to non-communist nations of Asia

• SEATO established (S.E. Asian Treaty Organization)

• President Eisenhower asserts the “domino theory”

  • Assumption that if one nation falls to communism, others will follow like falling dominoes

• Later U.S administrations will extend this policy to places outside a nation’s vital strategic interests in Central America, Africa, South America, Asia…

Communist Rule in Cuba

• 1959: Fidel Castro overthrows U.S. backed government of F. Batista

• American sugar, fruit companies (as well as the mafia’s casino & hotel interests) had lucrative operations in the nation

• Economic, racial inequalities helped garnish support for Castro

• Castro publicly embraces Marxism accepts Soviet economic & military aid in exchange for support of USSR’s foreign policy

• Many affluent Cubans flee to the U.S. (Miami, NJ, NY) and establish exile communities

• Castro frees many criminals from Cuba’s jails, sends them to the U.S.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• JFK authorizes a covert invasion to overthrow Castro, approves multiple assassination attempts

• April 1961: 1,500 anti-Castro exiles (trained, armed by the CIA) land in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs

• U.S. failed to provide necessary air support

• Invasion did not incite an uprising among Cubans

• All invaders either killed or captured by Castro’s army

• Eventually exchanged for 50 million worth of food, medicine

• Huge embarrassment for JFK’s administration –greatly diminishes U.S. prestige in Latin America

• Strengthens Castro’s position in Cuba, encourages him to accept Soviet missiles as a deterrent to future invasion…

The Nuclear Arms Race

• Central feature of the Cold War, leading to a state of fear and mistrust, enormous expenditures on both sides

• Citizens & governments constructed bomb shelters; people subjected to “civil defense drills”, movies and propaganda that increased hostilities

• 1949: Soviets test their first atomic bomb; spies working on the Manhattan Project revealed secrets to Soviets

• Both sides amassed huge arsenals that could be delivered from land, sea, and air (nuclear triad)

• MAD: an attack would result in “mutually assured destruction”

• Created a “balance of terror” that had a restraining effect on 2 superpowers

• One key exception: Cuban Missile Crisis…

Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1962: JFK learns (via spy-plane) that Soviets installed nuclear missiles in Cuba

• Capable of reaching U.S. cities within 1000 miles of Cuba

• JFK delivers an ultimatum: remove missiles immediately or face consequences!

• U.S. imposes an air/naval blockade around the island

• For two weeks, the world waited tensely for a possible nuclear exchange between US and USSR

• Soviets agree to remove missiles in exchange for a U.S. promise to never invade Cuba

• The U.S. makes a deal to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey

• Nuclear catastrophe is narrowly avoided, inspiring future leaders to seek ways to avoid escalation of local conflicts…