Download Postwar World: The Cold War

POSTWAR WORLD: THE COLD
WAR
ML Chapter17: Sections 1 & 4
Ms. Garratt
Soviet-American Distrust Before and
After the War
American
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Communist Ideology
Non-Aggression Pact
Betrayal at Yalta
Soviet
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US assistance to the
Whites
Delay in opening
second front
Yalta Conference
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Big Three
Discussed:
 Japan
 Postwar
occupation/division of Germany
 Some postwar reparations to Soviets
 Free elections in eastern Europe
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Soviet betrayed promise on “free elections”
United Nations
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International
organization similar to
the League of Nations
General Assembly
11-member Security
Council
5 permanent members
Postwar Soviet Objectives
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Encourage communism as part of a worldwide workers’
revolution
Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe’s
ram materials and industrial equipment
Control Eastern Europe to protect its borders and
balance US influence in Western Europe
Keep Germany divided
American Postwar Objectives
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Encourage democracy and prevent spread of
communism (containment)
Gain access to raw materials and markets for
American goods
Rebuild European governments to promote stability
and create new markets for US goods
Reunite & stabilize Germany as bulwark against
communism
Eastern Europe’s Iron Curtain
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Why Soviets wanted
buffer zone
Ignored Yalta pledges
Installed communist
“puppet” governments
Containment
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Dominant US foreign policy between 1947 and
1991
Objective: Stop the spread of communism
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How did US attempt to achieve this?
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 Alliances
 Truman
Doctrine
 Marshall Plan
 Involvement in regional conflicts
Truman Doctrine 1947
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US promised economic &
military assistance to all
nations resisting Communist
aggression.
“support free people who
are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed
minorities or outside
pressures
Greece & Turkey were the 1st
recipients of aid because
Britain could no longer afford
to assist them.
Marshall Plan
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Was economic equivalent of the Truman Doctrine
Europe was in econ turmoil and needed funds to
recover.
Marshall Plan provided $12 billion plus
Necessary to rebuild Europe to prevent it from
falling to communism
Funds helped rebuild & stabilize Europe
Was spectacularly successful.
Communists lost support in Italy and France
What was the impact of the
Marshall Plan on Europe?
Berlin Blockade 1949
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The Allies decided to withdraw from their
occupation zones in West Germany and allow
Germany to become one nation
Soviets object because they want to keep Germany
weak and divided.
Berlin which was deep in the Soviet-occupied zone
was also divided.
Soviets cut off all water, highway & rail traffic into
West Berlin. The city could starve
What did US do?
Berlin Airlift for 11 months
NATO
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Direct result of the
Berlin Crisis was
creation of the 1st
American peace time
alliance
Defensive
“an attack one is an
attack on all”
Warsaw Pact
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This was Soviet
dominated alliance
Unlike NATO it was not
voluntary
Included Eastern bloc
nations
Rivalry between the
US and USSR will be
symbolized by the
Berlin Wall
Nuclear Arms Race
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1949 Soviets exploded their own A-bomb
Truman authorized work on an even deadlier
Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb)
US successfully tested it in 1952
Soviets followed by 1953
Arms race was on
Brinkmanship
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Eisenhower admin practiced “brinkmanship” in which
the US would “retaliate instantly, by means and at
places of our own choosing”
Was implicit threat to use nukes.
Req’d reliable source of nukes and means of
delivery
Military budget focused on air force
Contributed to arms race
Cold War in the Skies
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Soviets were 1st to develop ICBM which they used to
launch the world’s 1st unmanned satellite, Sputnik
US felt they had fallen behind the Soviets which led
US to pour $ into science edu
US launched its own satellite by 1958
The Space Race was on (see page 537)
U-2 Incident 1960
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US proposed in 1955 that the 2 superpowers allow
reconnaissance flights to ensure against surprise
attacks
Soviets refused
CIA however, began high altitude flights in U-2s
In 1960 the Soviets shot one down and exposed the
US
Incident heightened CW tensions
End section 1
Fighting for the Third World
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Africa, Asia and
Latin America
Defined by degree
of industrialization
Contrast with 1st,
2nd & 4th world
countries
Third World Nations
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Many were economically poor and politically unstable.
Due in part to history of colonialism.
Some suffered from ethnic conflicts
Lacked financial resources, technology & edu
Needed a political and econ system around which to
build its society
Soviet style-communism and US-style free-market
democracy were the two choices
Both US and Soviets competed fiercely.
Nonaligned Nations
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Not all third world countries wished to play a role in
the CW.
Some vowed to remain neutral
Indonesia struggled to stay “uninvolved”
1955 it hosted the Bandung Conference which
created a “third force” known as the nonaligned
nations meaning they were neutral
While others may have taken sides in the CW the
nonaligned did not.
Cuban Revolution
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Castro overthrows repressive dictator, Batista in 1959
Castro also becomes a repressive dictator - exs
Nationalizes all industry in Cuba
Eisenhower orders boycott
Castro turns to Soviets for econ & military aid
CIA begins to train anti-Cuban exiles for Bay of Pigs
invasion.
Bay of Pigs Fiasco
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Kennedy becomes president in 1961
Finds out about a plan for Cuban exiles to return to
Cuba and overthrow Castro
Kennedy who was advised by the CIA that it would
succeed goes along with it.
Everything went wrong with the mission – was a
disaster
Contributes to sense of Cuban insecurity and in
1962 Soviets begin to install nukes in Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
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US discovers 42 missile sites
At first Soviets deny it then US provides proof at the
UN
Kennedy demands their removal & orders a naval
blockade (quarantine)
US & Soviets were on collision course and US was
willing to use nukes --- classic ex of brinkmanship
Eyeball to eyeball
US promises not to invade Cuba
Cuba becomes radical and begins to assist rev’y
movement in Latin America and Africa
Civil War in Nicaragua
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US supported repressive dictator, Somoza, in Nic
Communist Sandinista rebels overthrew his son
US & Soviets both actually provided aid and
supported leader, Daniel Ortega.
US changes policy however when Ortega begins to
support Communists in El Salvador
US then begins supporting Nic, anti-Communists
(known as Contras or contrarevucionarios, to help
El Sal.
Civil War in Nicaragua
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Lasted 10 years
Ortega agreed to hold free elections – first in the
nation’s history.
Ortega was defeated and so were the Sandinistas
in the 1996 and 2001 elections
US & Iran in 1950s.
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A deep chasm existed between traditional Islamic
values & modern Western materialism
The Shah embraced westernization and supported
wealthy oil companies & jailed Islamic opponents
Opponents rallied behind Mossedeq who
nationalized oil industry.
Shah was forced to flee
US helps overthrow Mossedeq and return the Shah
to power. In 1953
Origins of Iranian resentments against the US
The US and the 1979 Iranian Rev
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Shah modernized Iran but millions still lived in
poverty
Shah imprisoned many of his opponents particularly
the ayatollahs (conservative clergy)
Leader of opposition was Ayatollah Khomeini who
was living in exile
Excited about his tape recorded messages Iranians
rioted
The Shah fled the country
The Hostage Crisis
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Hatred of the US was at the heart of Iran’s foreign
policy
Iranians wanted the Shah returned to face trial.
When the Shah went to NYC for medical treatment the
Ayatollah OK’s the taking of American hostages from
the US Embassy (444)
Khomeini encouraged all Muslim countries to overthrow
their secular leaders
This policy heightened tension with other secular
countries like Iraq.
They will go to war against each other in 1980
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
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Afghan remained neutral for a while but by the 1950s
Soviets increased their power
In the 1970s there was a revolt against the Communist
government
This prompted the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which
became their Vietnam
Rebel forces (mujahideen) were supplied with
American arms & outmaneuvered a superpower
US supported mujahideen because invasion was seen
as a threat to Middle East oil
Pres Carter ordered a US boycott of 1980 Moscow
Olympics & stopped grain shipments
Destalinization and Soviet Policy in
Eastern Europe
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More moderate leaders came to power after Stalin
Khrushchev denounced Stalin for his purges and
mass executions of loyal Soviet citizens
This began the policy of deStalinization or purging
the country of Stalin’s iconic status & memory.
Signaled shift in Soviet policy
 Khrushchev
stated he believed in “peaceful
competition”
Hungary 1956
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Resentment against the Soviets turned to open
protest in Hungary
Hungarian army joined protesters to overthrow the
Soviet-controlled Communist government
Imre Nagy formed a new gov & promised free
elections & demanded that Soviet troops leave
In response Soviet army entered Budapest and
killed approx 30,000 who were protesting
Showed the limits of Truman Doctrine when US
ignored pleas for help
From Khrushchev to Brezhnev
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Brezhnev adopted repressive domestic policies
Human rights denied
Brezhnev sent those who dared to oppose him to
labor camps (gulags)
Secret police arrested “dissidents” including
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Nobel Prize Winner)
Eventually he was expelled from USSR
Brezhnev made it clear he would not tolerate
dissent in Eastern Europe
Revolt in Czechoslovakia 1968
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Alexander Dubcek challenged Soviet comm’m by
loosening controls on censorship and to offer his
country socialism with a “human face”.
He wanted period of reform which became known
as the “Prague Spring”
Warsaw Pact countries invaded which Brezhnev
justified by claiming that the USSR had the right to
prevent its satellites from rejecting communism.
This became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine
Soviet-Chinese Split 1960
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Both powers had signed a 30-year Treaty of Friendship in
1950
By 1960 their spirit of cooperation ran out before the
treaty did.
China did not want to follow the USSR in world affairs
China began to spread its own brand of comm’m to Africa &
parts of Africa
By 1959 Khrushchev punished China be refusing to share
nuke secrets
The following year tech, econ aid ceased
The split became so wide that fighting broke out along their
common border.
Fragile peace maintained
Berlin Wall 1961
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3 million East Germans fled the East since the Berlin
Airlift (20% of the population)
Refugees advertised the failure of the gov & econ
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brain drain on the East & bad PR
 Hurt the East German econ
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Soviets wanted the West out of Berlin
At Vienna Summit Khrushchev threatened to sign
treaty with East Germany to close off access to
West Berlin
Built wall in 1961
Detente
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During the Nixon presidency US-Soviet relations
moved from brinkmanship to détente
Détente was a policy designed to reduce tensions
between the superpowers
Prior to détente relations had been too intense and
brinkmanship portended disaster.
Détente was based on Realpolitik
In practice Realpolitik means dealing with other
countries in a practical and flexible manner
regardless of their ideology.
Nixon Visits Communist Powers
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For Nixon new policy of détente was personal
reversal as well as a political shift
His rise in politics was largely due to his strong antiCommunist stance.
20 years later he was the first president to visit a
communist nation
Warming up to the Chinese gave the US leverage
with the Soviets
According to Nixon “We want the Chinese with us
when we sit down and negotiate with the Russians”
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)
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Five-year agreement ion which both superpowers
agreed to limit to 1972 levels the number of ICBMs
a nation could have.
In 1975 another 33 nations joined the US and the
USSR in signing a commitment to détente.
The Helsinki Accords of 1975 promised cooperation
among nations.
Collapse of Detente
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Under Nixon and Ford relations improved with the USSR
and China
Relations soured under President Jimmy Carter.
 First, he began to protest the harsh treatment of
dissidents
 This threatened to prevent a second round of SALT
 A SALT agreement was finally signed however, the
Senate refused to ratify it because of the invasion of
Afghanistan
 In response to invasion US boycotted the 1980
Moscow Olympics & stopped selling the Soviets grain
President Ronald Reagan
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Moved away from détente
Increased defense spending in order to put military
and econ pressure on the Soviets
He announced the Strategic Defense Initiative aka
Star Wars
 Never
went into effect but was symbol of antiCommunist sentiment
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Tensions increased over US arming of Nicaragua’s
Contras
Human rights
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Read Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
Based on Declaration of
Independence.
Verbiage is identical is
some parts.
Many violations exist
worldwide.
Does this justify intervention
into sovereign countries?
Terrorism
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Purpose is to promote a
cause & gain media
attention.
Focus is usually on civilian
targets.
More than 15,000 terrorist
attacks since 1960
State-sponsored terror
Most sensational have been
by Muslim terrorists
Chap 16: 1&4: Cold war – Détente
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New approach to foreign
policy based on Realpolitik.
Departure from
brinkmanship.
Lessening of tension &
willingness to cooperate to
reduce international
tensions.
Affected superpower
actions in some areas.
Ended with Soviet invasion
of Afghanistan
The united nations (un)
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Successor to League of
Nations (LON)
First test-case was
Korea
Has become
increasingly political
General Assembly
Security Council