Origins

What is the Cold War? 

→ Period of hostility and high tension due to ideological conflicts between the USA and the USSR which emerged following the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Factors which lead to mutual suspicion:

• Bolshevik Revolution in 1917

  • establishment of the first Communist state

  • ideas threatened the basis of Western Society

• Intervention of the West in the Russian Civil War 1918-22 supporting the whites in their attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik government. 

• the USSR did not receive diplomatic recognition nor join the League of Nations until the 1930s.

• Appeasement of Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s by the West was partly motivated by fear of Communism

• Non-Aggression Pact allowed Hitler to attack the West

  • increased suspicion

Reasons for the USA and USSR to emerge as superpowers in 1945:

• Military Reasons

  • defeating Germany made the USA the number one navy force and the USSR the number one land force

  • France and Britain became second rank powers

  • USSR became the main regional power

• Economic Reasons 

  • USA economy was strengthened by the war → committed to open trade

  • USA used strength to return economic stability in Europe

  • USSR became a strong neighbour in Eastern Europe

  

Key Developments 1946-47:

• Salami Tactics - USSR

  • Soviets supervised the organization of governments in the Eastern European states establishing  a broad alliance of anti-fascists

  • Each of the parties was sliced off one after the other

  • Communist core was left

• Poland

  • Free elections did not occur until 1947

  • before elections there was murder, censorship and intimidation

  • Polish Peasant Party → 246 candidates were disqualified, 149 were arrested

  • one million votes were taken off the official register

• Iran

  • USSR left 30000 troops in the North → encouraged a communist uprising

  • UN forced USSR to pull out

• Greece and Turkey

  • anti-imperialist rebellions → Churchill felt betrayed

• Italy and France

  • Communist parties increased in membership

  • West feared that these countries could be weak-links in anti-communist western europe

Kennan's Long Telegram 1946:

• Key idea: USSR system was buoyed by the threat of a hostile world outside its borders and that the USSR was fanatically and implacably hostile to the west. Strong resistance was encouraged

• USSR view of the world was one of insecurity

• Soviets wanted to advanced Stalinist ideology

• Soviet regime was cruel and repressive

• Telegram helped harden attitudes in the US → key role in the development of containment

Iron Curtain Speech:

• By 1946, Soviet dominated Communist governments were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. 

  • despite agreement of free elections at Yalta

• Red Army was also present in countries liberated from Germany by the Russians

• Soviet reaction to the speech was one of outrage

  • Churchill was compared to Hitler

  • Soviets withdrew from the IMF

  • Stepped up intensity on anti-Western propaganda

  • Initiated a new 5-year plan of self-strengthening

Truman Doctrine (1947):

• “USA had the obligation to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”

• Radical change in US policy (from isolationism) 

• Doctrine was in response to the unstable conditions in Turkey and in particular Greece

  • US sent money to Europe in the hope of aiding recovery

• USSR saw this as evidence of determination of the US to expand its sphere of influence

Marshall Plan:

• Marshall believed that the economies of Western Europe needed immediate help from the USA

• Economic extension of the Truman Doctrine

• USA invited the USSR to join the Marshall Plan  and claimed that this aid was not directed against any country

• Aims:

  • revive European working economies so that the political and social stability could ensue

  • safeguard the future of the US economy

• Soviets rejected Marshall Aid → USA had asked to see their financial records

  • Soviets felt the USA was establishing an European Empire

    • saw this as dollar imperialism

  • in response developed the Molotov Plan → creation of the COMECON 1949

    • linked Eastern bloc countries to Moscow → designed to stimulate and control their economic development

Red Army Occupation of Eastern Europe 1945-47:

• Creation of a satellite empire

  • Soviet military power

  • Salami tactics

  • state policy + spy networks

  • control through COMECON

• By 1948, satellite states were economically and militarily under the control of the USSR

  • West felt that the USSR went back on their agreement at Yalta

Czechoslovak Coup Feb 1948:

• Czechoslovakia expressed interest in the Marshall Plan

  • pity from the West due to Munich Agreement in 1938

  • USSR forced CZK to vote against → threatened with an armed intervention

    • Truman used the coup to implement the Marshall Plan

Berlin Crisis 1948:

• Berlin was the only place where soldiers came in direct contact

• British wanted to revive the economy while the Soviets wanted to weaken Germany

  • contrast in aims

• Allies decided to join the regions → bizonia

  • USSR saw this as a threat

• Currency reform in the joined zones → new deutschmark 

• USSR wanted the West out of Berlin

  • Blockade was an attempt to kick them out

• West reacted with the Berlin airlift → Operation pickles

  • 2k Tonnes of supplies per day

  • sent B29 Bombers

  • Counter-blockade of coal, steel and machines

• Blockade caused a lack of food for the winter, electricity only 4 hours a day

  • USSR failed to drive the West out of Berlin → Stalin called it quits

• Berlin Blockade triggered the creation of the German Democratic Republic

• East and West Germany were officially established

• NATO was formed → symbolized military division of Europe

• No solution for Germany → aims were not met

The Shift to Global Conflict

US Foreign Policy 1949-50:

• With the establishment of NATO, the US was optimistic about containment in Europe

• NATO’s power rested in the atomic bomb

  • did not invest large sums of money into developing conventional forces in Western Europe

    • the US had demobilized their fighting men

• 1949 - USSR developed their own nuclear bomb and China fell to Communism

  • bomb was tested successfully → much more quickly than the USA had anticipated

The Red Scare + McCarthyism:

• anti-communism 

  • “USSR had conspiracy to place communist sympathisers into key positions in American life

  • accusation led to purges and show trials

  • 1950 → anti-red → developed anti-communist public opinion

    • saw China as completely subserved to the Moscow regime

• domestic impacts

  • development of american propaganda

    • Big Lie

  • Investigated Hollywood “Secret Actors Guild”

    • Hollywood 10 wouldn’t cooperate → imprisoned and black listed

  • USA feared that communism would undermine their freedom

  • Crusade against communism paved the way for the republicans

  • Rosenberg Trial → high point of hysteria

  • Communist treason stayed in American democracy for decades

• foreign policy impacts

  • initiated Crusade for Freedom

    • funded by the CIA

    • beginning of spy network and espionage

NSC-68 “Total Commitment”

• NSC-68 was a report produced by the US National Security Council

  • warned how all communist activity everywhere could lead to Moscow

  • warned of an indefinite period of tension and danger → monolithic communism

  • military spent $35-50 billion

  • encouraged giving money to any country perceived by the USA to be resisting communism

  • economic and military aid

  • has been criticized as an excuse for US expansionism

Korean War 1950-53:

• Until 1945 the Japanese were in charge of Korea, following their loss, it was split into 2, North Korea and South Korea.

• The entire region is politically unstable, resulting in war on the 25th of June 1950 between the two sides.

  • USA was supporting the South Koreans with troops and overall expertise. 

• All leaders had different motivations for getting involved in Korea

  • Kim Il Sung

    • wanted to unify Korea - asked for Soviet help

    • told Mao that Stalin supported the invasion

  • Mao

    • only agreed because he believed that Stalin supported Kim

    • hoped Stalin would support the invasion of Taiwan

    • feared an American invasion of China

  • Stalin

    • approved the North invasion

    • sent advisors to North Korea

    • opportunism due to the events in Japan - saw it as a safe gamble

  • Truman

    • policy of containment

    • fear of monolithic communism

    • pressured the UN to get involved to support the South

    • domino theory 

• Countries were affected differently due to the events in Korea

  • USA

    • NSC-68 tripled the defense budget

    • Germany was rearmed and became part of NATO

    • Greece and Turkey became part of NATO

    • Condemned China as being an aggressor

    • Treaty of San Francisco was signed with Japan in 1952

    • Seventh Fleet was sent to Taiwan

    • Involvement in Vietnam and Philippines

  • Korea

    • All hope for reunification was lost

  • China

    • No longer relied on Soviet help

    • Became major superpower in the Asian region

  • USSR

    • Tensions with the West greatly increased

  • South East Asia

    • SEATO was formed - anti communist bloc

Containment in Asia:

• Japan

  • USA occupied Japan in 1945 - objective was to create a weak and pacifist country

    • demilitarized and introduced a new constitution

    • 1950 - introduced the Reverse Course because they needed a strong anti-communist country  (established a self defense force of 75000 men)

    • USA achieved their aim and Japan’s economy increased rapidly and there was no threat of communism spreading

• Taiwan

  • When North Korea attacked South Korea, US 7th fleet was sent to Taiwan to keep peace between the Nationalists and Communists

    • Taiwan was recognized as the only official Chinese state (given military and economic aid)

  • 1953 - US withdrew troops to unleash Chiang Kaishek

  • Formosa Resolution - any and all military action would be taken in order to save Taiwan (brinkmanship and massive retaliation)

  • Taiwan managed to maintain independence

• Vietnam

  • Domino effect - US failed to contain communism in Indochina

  • America’s biggest failure → indirectly fostered the growth of communist regimes in Cambodia and Laos

New Leaders, New Ideas - increased tensions in the 1950s:

• Roll Back -liberation of countries currently held by the Soviets in Eastern Europe

• New Look - preventing the extension of Soviet Communism outside of the areas where it was already established in the belief that without any opportunity to expand the Soviet system would collapse on itself

• Brinkmanship - using threats of massive retaliation as an instrument of Containment. Involved threatening nuclear war to intimidate the aggressor into backing down

• Coexistence - meant that capitalism and communism should accept the continuing existence of one another rather than using force

Berlin Crisis 1958-61:

• East Germany and West Germany were incredibly different from an economic and political standpoint

  • East Germany

    • forced collectivization and socialisation

    • hardship + bad living conditions

    • authoritarian state (stalinism)

    • riots 1953 - first major rebellion in the sphere of influence

    • no free elections

  • West Germany

    • great industrial output

    • received Marshall Aid

    • democracy

    • capitalism + political freedom

• 40000 people a day were fleeing to the West, Khrushchev pushed Kennedy to get out of Berlin

• Kennedy did not get out of Berlin and increased military spending

• Khrushchev was forced to build a wall to stop people from crossing the border and fleeing

• Significance of Wall’s construction

  • Khrushchev - wall was a defeat (admission that communist propaganda failed)

  • Ulbricht - did not get peace treaty he wanted but consolidated communist control in East Berlin

  • Citizens - horrifying experience as families were cut off from each other

  • Cold War - Germany issue was settled and USA was relieved that war was averted. Moved Cold War focus away from Europe 

Cuban Missile Crisis 1960-63:

• Historiography

  • Orthodox

    • Kennedy’s finest hour → avoided nuclear brinkmanship to preserve world peace

    • Blockade exerted maximum pressure on the Soviet union while incurring the minimum risk of war

    • Kennedy remained calm and did not attempt to humiliate Khrushchev - acted statesmanlike

  • Revisionist

    • Kennedy unnecessarily raised the cuban episode to a crisis and thus subjected the world to nuclear danger

    • Kennedy made the crisis public

    • Acted in self-interest

  • Post Revisionist

    • Kennedy did act in a statesmanlike way and was prepared to compromise

    • ExComm meetings showed him pushing for compromise

    • Cuba/Turkey trade off was a good call

• Effects on the Cold War

  • USA

    • Kennedy’s personal prestige increased

    • showed US into realizing the fragility of its own security

    • increased the US focus on building military strength

  • USSR

    • crisis humiliated Khrushchev

    • contributed to his eventual fall from power in 1964

  • Cuba 

    • Castro remained in power

    • pursued foreign policy independent of Moscow

  • China 

    • relationship with the USSR deteriorated

    • still developed nuclear weapons independently

  • International

    • world was made a safer (more secular) place

    • hotline was established between USSR and USA

    • Test-Ban Treaty 1964

    • Nuclear non-proliferation Treaty of 1968

Sino-Soviet Relations 1945-1982:

• Stalin and Mao 1945-53

  • Stalin felt that Mao’s interpretation of Marxism was not genuine and disagreed with using peasants

  • feared each other as rivals in the communist world

  • did not want the Cold War to spread to Asia

  • Stalin underestimated the CCP and believed the GMD was the stronger party

  • Mao was convinced Stalin wanted a weak and divided China

  • Sino-Soviet Treaty of Alliance

  • Korean War - USSR demanded that China pay for all weapons and materials

• Khrushchev and Mao 1956-64

  • Secret Speech 1956 - Mao saw it as an attack on his own leadership

  • Crushing of the Hungarian uprising - Mao saw it as a failure by the USSR to contain reactionary forces

  • Doctrine of Peaceful Coexistence with the West

  • Mao believed the USSR was dominated by Revisionists

  • Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

• Brezhnev and Mao 1968-82

  • Brezhnev followed Stalinist foreign policy

  • Mao condemned his use of force in CZK - 1968 Prague Spring

  • Sino-Soviet border war in 1969

  • Brezhnev criticized the Cultural Revolution

  • USSR refused to assist China in building nuclear weapons

  • SEA conflict - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia

Detente 1970s:

• Why did the following want detente?

  • USA

    • wanted troops out of Vietnam (30k were killed by 1969)

    • political pressure at home and protests were developing

    • improve relations with USSR and get Chinese to negotiate

  • USSR

    • had poor relations with China so they did not want to have poor relations with the USA as well

    • there was no formal treaty recognizing East Germany and they wanted one

  • China

    • did not want to be isolated by the West

• How did detente lead to an improvement in European relations?

  • East Germany was recognized as an actual state

  • Ostpolitik - open relations

  • Cracks were allowed in the German wall - separated families could see each other

  • USA allowed China to take a seat in the Security Council

• What were the main agreements made under detente?

  • Moscow Treaty 1970 - recognized borders of Germany and Polish-Western border

  • Moscow Summit 1972 - restrictions on offensive weapons (mutually agreed restraint)

  • Helsinki Treaty 1975 - issue of human rights

    • recognized European borders

    • encouraged cooperation in space race

  • SALT 1 1972 - ABM Treaty, Interim Treaty, Basic Principles Agreement

  • SALT 2 1979

  • Basic Treaty 1972 - West Germany now recognized East Germany

• Why did detente collapse?

  • Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979

    • USA was convinced the USSR only wanted to spread their influence

      • The Americans began providing arms to the Afghan rebels whom turned out to be radicals.

  • USA didn’t sign SALT 2, stopped electronic exports, forbade athletes from attending the 1980 Moscow Olympics

  • Carter Doctrine - committed the US to intervention if the USSR threatened Western interests in the Persian Gulf

  • Soviet involvement in Africa and Latin America

  • Yom Kippur War - USA believed the USSR knew about the Egyptian attack on Israel before it happened

  • USA felt the USSR benefited from the Helsinki agreement  on arms development