Download Cold War

The Cold War 1945 - 1991
The Cold War
Why was it ‘cold’? Because there was no direct fighting between the USSR and the
USA – just an awful lot of propaganda, posturing and war by proxy.
Communism
Capitalism
Communism Versus Capitalism
Phase #1: Origins and
early development
o
By 1945 the alliance between the USA, the USSR and Britain to fight and defeat Nazi Germany was
breaking apart.
o
In particular, Britain and the USA were nervous about the territory in Eastern Europe (including Germany)
that the ‘Red Army’ had captured as they drove the Germans back.
o
Their concern was that Stalin would use these countries as protection, by making them Communist
countries like the USSR.
o
Stalin, on the other hand, wanted to create a ‘buffer zone’ of countries friendly to the USSR to protect it
from invasion (the Germans had already tried twice in the twentieth century). He didn’t trust the USA or
Britain, believing that they would have left the USSR to fight the Nazis alone if they could have. The delay
over D-Day ‘proved’ this to him.
o
Stalin did not have a good track record when it came to things like human rights …
o
US President Truman believed that the democratic countries of Europe would need to work together to
‘contain’ the spread of Communism. Containment became the focus of US policy from 1947 – known also as
the ‘Truman Doctrine’. NATO (1949) and the Marshall Plan (1947) were two ways they tried to do this.
o
In 1949, when Mao Tse Tung established a Communist government in China, it seemed as though
Communism was spreading across Asia as well. This was the domino theory.
The early development of the Cold
War
The division of Europe
into two ‘blocs’, each
with its own strategic
alliances – NATO,
(North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation) formed in
1949 and the
corresponding Warsaw
Pact, formed in 1955.
Albania and Yugoslavia
were ‘non-aligned’
Communist countries
and Finland was not a
Communist state,
despite being part of
the Warsaw Pact.
Note the division of
Germany; this was
paralleled by the
division of Berlin as well
(via the Berlin Wall
from 1961)
Europe divided by Winston Churchill’s ‘Iron
Curtain’ (Fulton Speech, 1946)
The world divided into
two ‘blocs’.
The victory of Mao Tse
Tung’s Communists in
China and China’s
subsequent economic
and military
development,
combined with Stalin’s
failure to support Mao
until a Communist
victory seemed
certain, led to a split
in the leadership of
the Communist world.
Kissinger in particular
was able to exploit
this, a policy
maintained by Nixon.
The world divided into ‘Eastern’ and
‘Western’ blocs
The use of the atomic
bomb by the USA on
Japanese cities to end
World War II led to a
nuclear arms race and
the threat of nuclear
war and destruction as
well as summits and
agreements (such as
the Non-Proliferation
Treaty in 1968 and
SALT I in 1972) to limit
the development and
deployment of nuclear
weapons.
Arguably, Reagan’s
push to expand the
USA’s nuclear arsenal
and to develop the
‘Star Wars’ missile
defence, pushed the
over-stretched Soviet
economy into collapse.
Conservative historians
credit Reagan with
ending the Cold War for
this reason.
M.A.D. – Mutually Assured Destruction
designed to keep the peace
Traditionalists
Revisionists
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1940s and 1950s; influential
into the 1960s
Schlesinger
McNeill
Blamed the Cold War on
Soviet expansionism and
Stalin’s desire for world
domination.
Defenders of US policy of
containment.
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Early: late 1950s. Influential: 1970s
(aftermath of US ‘failure’ in Vietnam)
Williams, Ambrose
Cold War blamed on the US due to the
post-WWII power of American capitalism
and its demand for markets and raw
materials. Marshall Plan seen as an attempt
to introduce this into Western Europe.
The USA was perceived as a hegemonic
power and as establishing a form of
economic imperialism.
The USA misunderstood Soviet foreign
policy coming out of WWII, saw the USSR
as militarily ‘weaker’ and believed in its
own omnipotence – this led it to ‘overplay’
its hand (Vietnam).
The USSR perceived the USA and its allies
as ‘untrustworthy’ before and during World
War II. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact (1939) is seen as stemming from this.
Radical revisionists from the left, such as
Chomsky, emphasise the imperialist
intentions of the USA. Radicals from the
right see the USA as protecting the free
world from Communist aggression.
Cold War historiography - causes
Post-revisionists
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1970s, 1980s
Gaddis, Taubman
Focussed on the geopolitical
origins of the Cold War.
Looked at the role of events,
perceptions and
misconceptions and
bureaucratic decision-making
in the development of the Cold
War.
Identified internal
contradictions within US
foreign policy and saw this as
complicating relations with the
USSR.
Recent historiography
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Post-1991, with (limited) access to
the Soviet archives.
Graebner, Leffler, Trachtenberg,
Gaddis.
Emphasises the conflicting ideologies
of each superpower as the source of
the Cold War and as influencing its
subsequent development.
Also views the competing interests of
each side, especially in Europe, as a
contributing factor – US national selfdetermination and stability; USSR
security needs and ideology.
Some historians argue that power
was more important than ideology in
Soviet foreign policy.
Others see that the issue of the Cold
War was really about Germany and
that, after 1963 when the status of
Germany was ‘normalised’, the Cold
War began to decelerate.
Cold War historiography continued
The Korean War
The Vietnam War
Forward defence in action …
Phase #3: Détente
A French word meaning a release from
tension.
 It describes a phase in the Cold War that
began in 1969, reached its high point in
1972, began to decline by 1974 and was
over by 1979.
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Definition of détente
Early signs of détente include Kennedy’s
favourable speech about the USSR, the
‘hotline’ installed between the Kremlin and
the White House after the Cuban Missile
Crisis (June 1963) and the Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty, signed in August 1963.
 Other signs of détente are the French and
West German policies of independent
diplomacy with the Soviet Union, including
the German policy of ostpolitik.
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Détente – when the superpowers
tried to live together
A breakdown in relations between the
USSR and China. This erupted into border
fighting along the Ussuri River in March
1969.
 The USSR had caught up in the arms race
(by 1969).
 West Germany agreed not to get nuclear
weapons in 1969.
 The USSR wanted to increase trade with
the West.
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Reasons for détente – the USSR
Failure in Vietnam saw Nixon wanting to improve
relations with the USSR and China to achieve a
peace treaty.
 Public pressure to reduce the risk of war.
 The USSR had caught up in the arms race.
 The USA was concerned about a possible alliance
between the USSR and China.
 Nixon’s move away from the Truman Doctrine
towards peaceful co-existence as the basis for US
foreign policy.
 Concern about Soviet support for Egypt and Arab
Nations in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
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Reasons for détente – the USA
Fear of isolation.
 In 1967 the PRC perfected the H bomb.
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Reasons for détente - China
To reduce the risk of nuclear war.
 To reduce the costs of the arms race. Both
countries had economic problems in the
1970s.
 Concern over conflict in the Middle East,
potentially affecting oil supplies.
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Common reasons for détente
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The Prague Spring in 1968 was a temporary
setback to moves towards détente.
America’s on-going involvement in the Vietnam
War (until 1973).
The US policy of ‘linkage’ in foreign policy with
the USSR.
Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal in
August 1974.
Soviet and Cuban involvement in the Angolan
Civil War (1975) and interventions in
Mozambique, Somalia and Ethiopia.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979)
Challenges to détente
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The European Security Conference 197375 (the Helsinki Accords).
Summit Conferences
Human rights (the Helsinki Accords).
Relations between the USA and China.
Arms control.
SALT I (1972) and SALT II (1979)
Achievements of détente
Why???
Phase #4: The ‘Second’
Cold War
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Key issues and features
Rival spheres of interest
Berlin blockade and airlift as first ‘crisis’ of
the Cold War
Fallout of the Bolshevik revolution and the Civil War
The US development and use of the atomic bomb
Stalin’s mistrust of the Allies
Churchill’s ‘iron curtain’
speech
Origins and development of the Cold War
Stalin’s desire for a
‘buffer zone’ of
friendly states
The ‘long telegram’
persuaded Truman of
Soviet expansionism
The Marshall Plan
Reagan’s ‘evil empire’
NATO
USSR’s
support for
North Korea
and Cuba
(Castro
‘becomes’ a
Marxist)
Comecon (Council for
Mutual Economic
Assistance -1949) and the
Comintern (Communist
Information Bureau -1947)
The space race
Influence of the ideologies of communism
and capitalism
Churchill’s ‘Iron
Curtain’
Re-building West/East Germany
Brezhnev doctrine
US involvement in
Africa, Vietnam,Korea,
Afghanistan
Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’
The Warsaw Pact
Rivalry between USSR and China
over leadership of the communist
world
When?
1968 - 1979
Where?
Mostly over Europe
Who?
USA and USSR
as well as China
Why ? Superpower conflict over Cuba (1962)
and the replacement of Krushchev as well as the
‘Prague Spring’ (1968)
Origins, nature and impact of detente
How?
-Hotline between White house and Kremlin (1963)
-Disarmament talks (especially SALT I [1972]and II)
-Visits (eg: Nixon to China 1972), trade agreements and summits
-Independent diplomacy by the French (with the USSR 1964; withdrew
from NATO 1966)
-Ostpolitik in West Germany (Willy Brandt)
-Triangular diplomacy by the USA under Nixon
-Relations began to ‘chill’ under Ford and Carter (human rights abuses
by the USSR a key concern for him – ‘linkage’ as a diplomatic tool).
-Ended with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979
Truman doctrine and containment
Domino theory/effect
(Eisenhower)
Peaceful co-existence
(Krushchev – the
1950s).
Changing policies, strategies and responses to
the Cold War
Triangular diplomacy (mostly Nixon)
‘Linkage’ over human rights
for trade agreements (Carter)
The ‘evil empire’ second arms race
Brezhnev Doctrine
Perestroika and glasnost
(Gorbachev) and
repudiation of the
Brezhnev doctrine
Cuba (1962)
Berlin (1948-9 and 1961)
Korean War (1950-53)
Yom Kippur and Camp David (1973, 78)
Impact of crises on changing superpower
relations
Czechoslovakia (1968)
Afghanistan (1979)
Hungary (1956)
Suez (1956)
1945 – first use of atomic bomb by USA
1949 – USSR’s first atomic bomb
Partial Test Ban Treaty - 1963
SALT I in 1972
Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968
Salt II in 1979
The arms race and disarmament
CFE 1990
1980s- 2000s SDI system development
1987 – INF Treaty
1991 – START I
START II 1993
Reagan’s new arms race (especially
‘Star Wars’) placed demands on the
Soviet economy as they struggled to
compete, which led to the collapse of
the USSR.
Conservative historians use this as a
reason to attribute the ending of the
Cold War to Reagan and his policies
Disarmament talks and
agreements took the ‘heat’ out of
Carter and Reagan’s new push for
‘containment’ after the invasion of
Afghanistan. Examples include the
INF Treaty (1987) and START I
(1991).
Reasons for the end of the Cold War
Gorbachev’s rejection
of the Brezhnev
Doctrine (1989)
allowed countries in the
eastern bloc – East
Germany and
Czechoslovakia in
particular - to detach
themselves from
Moscow.
Gorbachev’s program of glasnost
(openness) and perestroika (reform) led to
improved relations with the Western bloc,
to arms agreements and, ultimately to the
collapse of the Eastern bloc.
Gorbachev’s reforms are seen by many
historians as the reason for this and
therefore the end of the Cold War.