Cold War Notes

Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries (20th Century)

• Background and Context
  • Definition of Cold War: A period of geopolitical tension between the Eastern Bloc (led by the USSR) and the Western Bloc (led by the USA) after WWII.
    • Lasted roughly from 1947 (Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (collapse of the USSR).
  • Key Feature: Superpower Rivalry between the USSR and the USA.
  • Proxy Wars: Regional conflicts without direct large-scale military engagement between the superpowers.
    • Examples: Korean War (1950-1953), Suez Crisis (1956), Vietnam War (1954-1975), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979).

Cold War Origins

• The Grand Alliance (1941): UK, USA, USSR united against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers (Japan and Italy) during World War II.

  • First signs of stress appear as early as 1942.
  • USSR suffered the heaviest losses; Roosevelt and Churchill pledged to open a second front in western Europe to relieve pressure.
  • Stalin accused the USA and the UK of deliberately delaying action to allow Germany to weaken the USSR.
  • The USA and the UK also fighting in North Africa and the Pacific.
  • Following the defeat of German and Italian forces in North Africa in May 1943, the USA and the UK launch an invasion of Italy in July; Stalin, however, wanted an attack in north-western Europe.

• Wartime Conferences and Meetings (1943-1945)

  • Casablanca Conference (January 1943): Roosevelt and Churchill (Newfoundland in August 1941 – Atlantic Charter).
    • Advancement of the idea of unconditional surrender.
    • Commitment to opening a second front as per Stalin’s demands.
    • Churchill’s pragmatism vs Roosevelt’s idealism.
  • Cairo and Tehran Conferences (Fall 1943):
    • Cairo – USA, UK, China.
    • Tehran – USA, UK, USSR.
    • The Four Policemen concept put forward by FDR – USA, UK, USSR, China.
    • Defeat of the Axis powers was cautiously anticipated.
    • Discussions began about the future of the post-war world; Of the two conferences, the Tehran conference was the more important.

Tehran Conference Outcomes

• Plans made for the US/UK invasion of France

• USSR would launch another offensive in the east

• USSR to declare war on Japan following defeat of Germany

• Baltic States would become part of the USSR

• Discussion of United Nations concept

• Moscow Meeting (October 1944): Stalin and Churchill.

  • Eastern Europe and the Percentages Agreement.

• Yalta Conference (February 1945): Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill.

  • Defeat of Germany imminent.
  • Zones of occupation agreed upon.
  • The USSR was in control of much of eastern Europe
  • Declaration of Freedom for Liberated Europe committed the Big Three to promoting economic recovery, de-Nazification, democratic processes, establishing provisional governments.

• Potsdam Conference (August 1945): Stalin, UK (Clement Atlee), USA (Harry Truman).

  • Germany defeated.
  • FDR replaced by Truman; Churchill replaced by Atlee.
  • Strains on the wartime alliance began to appear.
  • Would the USSR allow free elections in the territories they controlled in eastern Europe?
  • What would be the fate of Greece where civil war had broken out between communists and royalists?
  • USA still involved in the war against Japan.

Development of Superpower Rivalries Post 1945

• Soviet Expansionism
  • US strategic interests and involvement in Europe in question - return to traditional American policy of non-interventionism in the European sphere, focus on rebuilding Japan; however Churchill’s “Iron Curtain Speech” in 1946 – Europe divided into totalitarian Europe and free Europe – forces change in American foreign policy thinking
• Soviet Foreign Policy and Motivation (George Kennan's "Long Telegram")
  • Constant rivalry between capitalism and communism.
  • Other communist/Marxist states needed as a counterweight to western capitalist expansion.
  • Russian expansionism: continuity between tsarist foreign policy goals and those of communist Russia; fear of invasion and the need for a security belt/buffer zone around the Russian Empire.
• Kennan’s Long Telegram recommended the following course for American foreign policy in response to Soviet foreign policy goals:
  • Avoid direct military confrontation; the USSR was unpredictable.
  • Promote democracy and capitalism through positive propaganda.
  • Weaken Soviet dominance in Europe through education and positive relations.
• Greek Civil War
  • Greek communists battled against the Greek royalists supported by the British, however, Britain unable to sustain this support and informed the US that they would need to withdraw aid to the royalists; this turn of events forced the USA to confront communism and decide how it would respond to communist expansion
  • The American response: TRUMAN DOCTRINE (March 1947) “support free peoples resisting subjugation by an outside force……..”
  • US would extend economic and military assistance to Greece and Turkey to prevent the spread of communism into those countries.
  • American foreign policy as it developed at this time would also emphasize a strong military component to maintain superiority over the USSR and to deter the Soviets from taking military action; big step away from previous isolationist policies that had been followed after the First World War
  • The Marshall Plan – US economic assistance to European countries rebuilding after WWII; flip side of the Truman Doctrine.
• 13B in US aid offered to all European countries including the USSR (ERP – European Recovery Plan); Stalin refused to accept it and forced those countries (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria) under Soviet control to also reject the aid.
• Soviet Response
  * 1947 COMINFORM established (part of Sovietization of Eastern Europe) Communist Information Bureau – propaganda tool used to link the Soviet Union to communist parties in Eastern and Western Europe.
  * 1949 (COMECON) The Council for Economic Assistance
• Organization established in January 1949 to facilitate and coordinate the economic development of the eastern European countries belonging to the Soviet bloc

Major Flash Points of the Cold War

1. Berlin Blockade 1949
2. Korean War 1950-1953
3. Suez Crisis 1956
4. Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
5. The Vietnam War 1954-1975
6. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan 1979-1988

What was the Cold War?

• Period: 1945-1989, marked by periods of hostility and high tension between states, stopping short of war.
  • Between the USA and the USSR.
• Reasons:
  • Escalation of nuclear armament made direct conflict unthinkable.
  • Ideological conflict, arms race, proxy wars, economic rivalry, espionage.
• Term Popularized: Walter Lippman (1947); Harry S Truman preferred "the war of nerves."
• Communism vs. Capitalism: Fundamental differences in economic and political philosophies.
  • Bolshevik Revolution (1917) established the world's first Communist state.

Two Rival Ideologies

• The West (USA):
  • Economic: Capitalism - individual competition, minimal state interference, individual reward.
  • Political: Liberal Democracy - voting, range of parties, individual rights (freedom of speech, press).
• The USSR:
  • Economic: Communism - state ownership of businesses and farms, distribution by the state, collective good.
  • Political: One-party state - Communist Party represents all workers, no individual freedoms.

Increasing Hostility

• Mutual suspicion manifested in various ways between the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the start of World War Two (1939):
  • intervention of the West in the Russian Civil War (1918-1922)
  • the USSR did not receive diplomatic recognition nor join the League of Nations until the 1930s
  • the appeasement of Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s by the West
  • the Non-Aggression Pact (Nazi-Soviet Pact) between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed in 1939

Idealism Versus Self-Interest

• Each believed its system was the best:
  • USA: Democracy/Capitalism, international cooperation.
  • USSR: Spreading Soviet-style Communism.
• However, both were also motivated by self-interests:
  • USA: Establishing markets, avoiding economic crisis.
  • USSR: Securing borders, recovering from war.

Significance of Stalinism

• Stalin's policies after Lenin's death:
  • Ruthless collectivization of farms.
  • Five-Year Plans dramatically increased industrial production.
  • Great Terror: Purges of political opponents and ordinary people.
• By 1945, Stalinism meant:
  • Dominance of Stalin and the party.
  • Powerful state security machine.
  • Ruthless maintenance of power through elimination.
  • Paranoia and violence.
• Stalin's role in World War Two
  • signing the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939
  • Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union
  • Stalin's key role in the final victory over Nazi Germany

The Cost of World War II

• Great Britain:
  • Total deaths: 357,000
• USA:
  • Total deaths approx. 400,000
  • GDP almost doubled by 1944
• France:
  • Total deaths 600,000
  • 23 per cent of Europe's farmland could not be used for food production, leading to severe crisis during 1946-1947
• USSR:
  • Total deaths 25-27 million
  • 1,700 towns, 31,000 factories, 100,000 state farms destroyed
• Germany:
  • Total deaths 7 million
• Italy:
  • Total deaths 500,000
• Poland:
  • Total deaths 6 million
• China:
  • Total deaths 10 million
• Japan:
  • Total deaths 2 million
• Australia:
  • Total deaths 39,000
• New Zealand:
  • Total deaths 12,000
• Coal production in Europe was 40 percent down on pre-war levels
• 20 million people were displaced in
  World War Two

Why Did the USA and the USSR Emerge as Superpowers After 1945?

• Military Reasons
  • To defeat Germany, the USA had become the number one air-force power in the world.
  • To defeat Germany, the USSR had become the number one land-force power in the word.
  • France and Britain's inability to defeat Germany had changed the balance of power. Theyhad become 'second rank' powers.
  • The USSR now lacked any strong military neighbours. This made it the regional power.
• Economic Reasons
  • The USA's economy was strengthened by the war. It was now able to out-produce all the other powers put together.
  • The USA was committed to more 'open trade. Its politicians and businesspeople wantedto ensure liberal trade, and market competition flourished. The United States was willingto play an active role in avoiding the re-emergence of the disastrous pre-war pattern oftrade-blocs and tariffs.
  • The USA had the economic strength to prevent a return to instability in Europe.
  • The small Eastern European countries that had been created after World War Onewere not economically viable on their own, so they needed the support of a strongerneighbour, and the USSR could replace Germany in this role.
• Political Reasons
  • For the West, the outcome of World War Two showed that the ideals of democracy and international collaboration had triumphed over fascism. Thus the political system of theUSA was the right path for the future.
  • For the Soviet Union, it was Communism that had triumphed over fascism. Indeed,Communism had gained widespread respect in Europe because of its part in resistingthe Germans.
  • The USSR's huge losses, and the role of the Red Army in defeating the Nazis, gave Stalina claim to great influence in forming the post-war world.
  • The USSR had the political (as well as military) strength to prevent a return to instabilityin Eastern Europe. Communism could fill the political vacuum there.

USA Cold War Timeline

• 1945-1950: Truman, Origins of Cold War: Division of Europe
• 1950-1955: NSC-68 & Korean War, Shift to Asia & beyond
• 1955-1960: Eisenhower, New Leaders & New Ideas, The Thaw Sino-Soviet split
• 1960-1965: Kennedy, Crisis & Nuclear Confrontation:
• 1965-1970: Johnson
• 1970-1975: Nixon Détente: new relationships Sino-U.S. rapprochement
• 1975-1980: Ford, Carter
• 1980-1985: Reagan, Second Cold War,
• 1985-1990: Bush, End of Cold War

USSR Cold War Timeline

• 1945-1950: Stalin Origins of Cold War: Division of Europe
• 1950-1955: Stalin, Shift to Asia & beyond
• 1955-1960: Khrushchev, Crisis & Nuclear Confrontation
• 1960-1965: Khrushchev
• 1965-1970: Brezhnev
• 1970-1975: Brezhnev, Détente: new relationships
• 1975-1980: Brezhnev
• 1980-1985: Andropov, Chernenko
• 1985-1990: Gorbachev, Glasnost & Perestroika, Collapse of USSR, Yeltsin

Key Political Definitions

• Liberalism: Focus on freedom of the individual.
  • Minimal state interference in the economy.
  • Free trade and cooperation in foreign policy.
  • Civil liberties, universal suffrage, constitutional government, independent judiciary, diplomacy.
• Fascism: Opposite of liberalism.
  • Limited individual freedoms.
  • Extreme nationalism.
  • Violence.
  • Elite group in power.
  • Aggressive foreign policy.
• Socialism: Egalitarian system.
  • Government provides for the needy.
  • International cooperation and solidarity.
• Conservatism: Maintaining traditional order.
  • Respect for institutions.
  • Limited government intervention.
  • Gradual change.
• Maoism: Communism adapted by Mao Zedong.
  • Revolution by peasants, not just proletariat.
  • Human will over class conflict
  • Continuous revolution.
• Right-Wing
  • free-market Capitalism, emphasis on law and order, limited state interference and traditional values in
    society.
• Left-Wing
  • more equality in society and thus more governmentintervention in the economy in order to tryto secure this situation.
• Stalinism
  • the dominance of Stalin over the party, and the party over state institutions
  • a powerful state security machine
  • the ruthless maintenance of power by the elimination of opposing leaders, groups orentire sections of the population
  • the development of a regime associated with paranoia and violence.

The Beginnings of the Cold War: 1945-1949 - The Yalta Conference, February 1945

• Agreements Made:
  • Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan after Germany’s surrender.
  • Germany to be divided into four zones (American, French, British, Soviet); Berlin also divided into four zones.
  • Hunt down and punish war criminals responsible for genocide.
  • Countries liberated from German occupation allowed free elections.
  • Join the United Nations Organisation.
  • Eastern Europe seen as "a Soviet sphere of influence".
• Disagreements:
  • Poland; Stalin wanted USSR’s border to move westwards into Poland and Poland to move its border westwards into German territory (Churchill did not agree, and Roosevelt was unhappy but Churchill persuaded him to accept this)

The Potsdam Conference, July-August 1945

• Changes that had taken place since Yalta included:
  • Stalin's armies were occupying most of eastern Europe
  • America had a new president, Harry Truman
  • The Allies had tested an atomic bomb
• Disagreements at Potsdam
  • Germany; Stalin wanted to cripple Germany completely to protect the USSR against future threats, Truman did not want to repeat the mistake of the Treaty of Versailles
  • Reparations; Stalin wanted compensation from Germany, Truman resisted this demand
  • Soviet policy in eastern Europe; Stalin had won agreement from the Allies that he could set up pro-Soviet governments in eastern Europe. Truman adopted a "get tough" attitude towards Stalin.
• The Potsdam Conference ended without complete agreement on these issues.
• Churchill uses Iron Curtain analogy for Soviet influence on Eastern Europe
• Stalin - The Germans made their invasion of the USSR through Finland, Poland andRomania. What can there be surprising about the fact that the Soviet Union, anxious for its future safety, is trying to see to it that governments loyal in their attitude to the SovietUnion should exist in these countries?

The Cold War - the distrust between the USA and theUSSR was soon so great that leaders were talking in public about the threat of war betweenthe two countries the two sides increased their stock of weapons.

• The USA was so worried about Communism because:
  • US troops had been sent to fight against the Communists in Russia'sCivil War, 1918-21
  • Americans trusted Communistsless than Nazis
  • Stalin signed his pactwith Hitler in 1939
  • the Americans had not reallysupportedStalin's war effort as he wished.

Communism in Eastern Europe

• Actions that Communists took to achieve power in eastern Europe
  • Communists gained power immediately after the war
  • There was little opposition
  • Stalin tightens his control
• Stalin Gradually tightened his control in each country.
• In October 1947, Stalin set up the Communist Information Bureau, or Cominform, to c coordinate the work of the Communist Parties of eastern Europe ( he spotted independent-minded leaders and replaced them with people who were completely loyal to him)

Western Powers' Reaction to The USSR Expansion and American Response (The Truman Doctrine) - “Containment”

• the Western accepted that Soviet security needed friendly governments in easternEurope
• USA to send money, equipment and advice to any country which was threatened by aCommunist take-over
• Marshall Aid to combat the effects of poverty and hardship; $17 billion would be needed to rebuild Europe's prosperity (Stalin and his countries refused to accept the Marshall Aid viewing the anti-Communist intentions behind it); theAmerican Congress accepted the. Marshall Plan

Why Did the Soviet Union Blockade Berlin?

• Stalin felt that the USA's handling of western Germany was provocative and blocked supply lines.
• The Americans decided to air-lift supplies; by May 1949 Stalin reopenedall communications.
• During the Berlin Blockade, war between the USSR and the USA seemed a real possibility.
• The new organisation was formed in April 1949 was known as NATO (North AtlanticTreaty Organisation).
• German Democratic Republic (orEast Germany) in October 1949

IB12 History Cold War Flashpoint: Berlin Blockade 1948-1949

• First major conflict/flashpoint of the Cold War; only conflict
  of the Cold War where troops of both sides rubbed up against
  each other; potential for major confrontation was very possible
  and feared
• Germany divided into four zones of occupation (USA, UK,
  USSR, FRA.); Berlin also divided into four zones of occupation;
  Berlin lay 100 miles within the Soviet zone; this would prove to
  problematic; original intent to treat Germany as one economic
  unit
• Allied Control Council (ACC) established to administer
  Germany and Berlin
• Stalin anticipated total control over a new Germany; Britain
  very weak economically; USA would withdraw from Europe as
  they did post WWI; Soviet occupation particularly harsh,
  necessary for German subjugation
• Soviets faced many challenges in their zone: reparations to
  the USSR stripped eastern Germany of much of its industry; 4
  million German workers included in reparations to USSR and
  sent to Russia as industrial workers
• Strains in implementing the goals of the ACC soon apparent;
  USA/UK establish BIZONIA (later Trizonia) combine zones
  into one military zone; increasing co-operation between the
  US/UK/French zones; Marshall Plan implementation also
  caused tension
• Division of Berlin made Soviet control over East Germany
  more difficult; issues in other Soviet occupied regions also
  emerging ie. Czechoslovakia Coup of Feb. 1948; Stalin moved
  to eliminate anti-Soviet influences and establish loyal
  communist governments; not able to do this in Berlin so more
  determined to bring other areas under firm Soviet control
• Challenge of maintaining Western occupation zones in Berlin;
  those Germans living in the western sectors of the city relied
  on receiving goods and resources through transportation
  corridors from west Germany; rail, road, air corridors that ran
  through Soviet zone
• March 1948 Stalin begins to put stranglehold on western
  interests in Berlin through transport restrictions following
  planned introduction of a new currency in western zones; total
  blockade established on June 23-24; all transportation
  corridors shut down and electricity cut off to the western part
  of the city
• the west decides not to try to defeat the blockade by force;
  would supply Berlin by air; during the blockade UK and USA
  planes flew over 200,000 flights to Berlin over 320 days;
  delivered vital supplies of food and coal to 2.2 million West
  Berliners; the threat of Soviet military response was always
  present = high tension
• By early 1949 it became clear to Stalin that his hard ball tactic
  was failing and proving a great propaganda victory for the
  west; decides to end the blockade in May By early 1949 it became clear to Stalin that his hard ball tactic
• Results and outcomes of the Berlin Blockade:
  • first time since 1945 that war was a real possibility
  • clear that co-operation between the east and west
    would be very difficult, if not impossible
  • Germany was permanently divided; west moves to set
    up Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in September of
    1949; Konrad Adenauer becomes first West German
    Chancellor
  • Soviets respond by setting up the German Democratic
    Republic (GDR) shortly after
  • Four power control of Berlin would be a feature of the
    Cold War for the next 45 years and also a continued
    source of friction
  • Formation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    (NATO) April 1949; West Germany admitted in 1954
  • 1955 Soviets establish the Warsaw Pact bringing all
    states of Eastern Europe under single military
    command dominated by Moscow
  • Europe now divided militarily, politically, and
    economically into two power blocs

History Occupied Germany And Occupied Berlin

• Germnay was divided in four zones of occupation
• Berlin 
was also divided into four zones of occupation; Berlin itself lay with the Soviet zone of occupation

The Korean War and NSC-68 (North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO))

• NATO consisted of USA,
  Canada, Ireland and
  13 European states. It
  was the first peacetime
  military alliance in
  U.S. history. Under its
  terms an attack on one
  member of NATO was
  an attack on all. In 1952,
  Greece and Turkey joined
  and then in 1955
• the USSR, West Germany joined. The USSR responded by settingup the Warsaw Pact
• the Soviet Union got a nuclearbomb of its own and China fell to thecommunist forces of Mao Zedong
• NSC-68 was a report of the U.S. National Security Council produced in 1950. It iss een bymany historians, warned of how all Communistactivity everywhere could be traced back toMoscow. It went on to say that recentdevelopments had a global 'theme' and that theyindicated the growing strength and influence ofthe USSR. This was the 'monolithic' view ofCommunism - in other words all Communism fedback to the 'nerve centre' in Moscow
  The report warned of an 'indefinite period oftension and danger. It advised the U.S.government to be ready to meet each and everychallenge promptly. The report suggested animmediate increase in military strength andspending to 35-50 billion

Review Question The Korean War,

• a Civil war
• a Limited War
• why was Korea called thefirst 'limited war'?
• Background to the Conflict Japanoffiall yannexed Korea in 1910 and was still inoccupation of Korea when WorldWarTwo ended ( the38th parallel line of latitude was taken as the dividingpoint, with the USSR occupying Korea north of the line andthe USA occupying Korea south of the line).
• Truman and China (What misconceptionsguided the thinking of Truman, Stalin and Maoduring the planning and course of the KoreanWar?)
• Actions of the United States after the Korean War Fearing that this attack would be followed by further Soviet aggression elsewhere in the world, theUSA carried out the following measures:•NSC-68's recommendation to triple the defence budget wasimplemented. •U.S.
  • The Treaty of San Francisco with Japan was signed in 1952. This enabled the United States to maintain military bases in Japan. The United States now also focused onbuilding up Japan economically to make it abulwark against Communism.

The Korean War and the Actions of Other Countries

• For Korea The cost in human lives andproperty was vast. North Korea hassubsequently remained under Communist rule andSouth Korea became a model capitalist success story withheavy American and Japanese investment.
• For China Although now isolated by theUSA, China's reputation grew greatly and itbecame a major power in the region.
• For the USSR theUSA's decision to triple its defence budget,rearm West Germany, maintain troops in Europe andfight Communism in Asia meant that the SovietUnion was now embroiled in an even more intense andbroader Cold War (the Red Army increased from 2.8 million troops in 1950 to almost 5.8 million by 1955).
• For South-East Asia It was now harder for nationalist movements in the region totriumph in the post-colonial era and many of thesegroups were forced into increasing dependence on the USSR or China (However, it was only inVietnam that the USA, the USSR and China becamedirectly involved in the fighting.)

THE USA AND CONTAINMENT IN ASIA - How Did the United States become Involved?

• Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) was a French colony that hadbeen occupiedduring WWII by the Japanese which led to a nationalist movement had grown andthe independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnamdeclared . The French However, hadno intention of allowing Vietnam to have its independence andhostilities broke out betweenthe French and the Vietminh in 1946.
• By 1954, the United States was funding 80 per cent of the war
• The Geneva Accords resulted in:The French would withdraw from Indochina,A temporary division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel Laos and Cambodia would be recognized as independent states
• and they also established SEATO (the South-East Asia Treaty Organization)To offset the results of theGeneva Accords
• TheUnited States also began its military involvement in the South with itscommencement of training of the 
South Vietnamese armyThe man that the UnitedStates backed to lead the government in the South was NgoDinhDiem

How Did President Kennedy widen the Conflict?

• After his election as president in November 1960, *John F. Kennedy's policy towardscontainingCommunism was 'flexible response increasing the number of US militaryadvisersandthe spraying of defoliants
• The United States also supported theStrategic HamletsProgram ,None of thesesucceeded in limiting the growing success of theVietcongattacks

Why did President Johnson continue the VietnamWar?

• Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson became president after Kennedy wasassassinated inNovember 1963. He inherited a situation in which there was no longer astablegovernment in the South of Vietnam (GULF OF TONKIN RESOLUTION)
• Launching a sustained campaign of bombing North Vietnam, which was known asOperation Rolling Thunder Sending 100,000 ground forces to SouthVietnamcarried outSearch and destroy' missionsThe Great Society and the 'credibility gap
• By 1968, the war had reached a turning point (THE TET OFFENSIVE-a military failure for theVietcong).

Did President Nixon Achieve