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CHAPTER29
The Cold War in Europe
GeoffBruno
The Emergence of the Cold War
• Containment in American Foreign Policy
– Policy of “containing” the influence of communism being
spread by the Soviet Union
– Sought the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union
– Defined American foreign policy from the late forties until
the early nineties
– Caused the United States to become extremely involved in
European political affairs
– The Truman Doctrine
• A policy of giving U.S. support to free nations who are being
pressured to give in to communism
The Emergence of the Cold War
• Containment in American Foreign Policy
– The Marshall Plan
• Promised financial aid to Western European countries
• Created to keep Communist parties from taking root in these
states
• Brought prosperity to many European nations
• Succeeded at keeping Communism at bay in Western
Europe
The Emergence of the Cold War
• Soviet Domination in Eastern Europe
– The Soviet Union sought to control the nations of Eastern
Europe to use them as a “buffer” against invasions from
other nations
– Organized the Communist Information Bureau
(Cominfrom) to aid in spreading Communism across
Europe in late 1947
– Stalin brought the states of Eastern Europe under direct
Soviet control in February 1948
• Enforced Communism in these societies
• Tightened control after Yugoslavia overcame Communist control
The Emergence of the Cold War
• The Postwar Division of Germany
– Disagreements over Germany
• Soviet actions in Eastern Europe made the United States
more eager to have a strong influence in Germany
• The Allies never agreed on the way to divide Germany after
its defeat
• The Soviet Union destroyed the industrial economy in their
partition, as they feared the rise of a new, more powerful,
Germany
• The United States promoted economic growth in theirs
The Emergence of the Cold War
• The Postwar Division of Germany
– The Berlin Blockade
• The Western powers implemented new economic policies and a
new currency in the western sector of Germany
• These policies and actions were affecting eastern Germany,
primarily in Soviet controlled Berlin
• To prevent this, the Soviet Union cut Berlin off from the rest of
society infrastructurally and socially, creating the Berlin
Blockade
• Western powers gained access to Berlin through the air until
direct access to the city was opened up in May 1949
• Created harsh tension between the Soviet Union and the
Western powers
– West Germany became established as the German Federal
Republic
– East Germany became established as the German Democratic
The Emergence of the Cold War
• NATO and the Warsaw Pact
– The Marshall Plan had encouraged international
cooperation
• Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Britain, and Luxembourg
signed the Treaty of Brussels, creating a policy of economic and
military cooperation
• These nations later joined Italy, Denmark, Norway, Iceland,
Portugal, Canada, and the United States in forming a
cooperative and defensive alliance called the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Later joined by Greece, West Germany, and Turkey
– The Soviet Union also established treaties in Eastern
Europe
• Council of Mutual Assistance - COMECON (1949)
The Creation of the State of Israel
• Great Britain had held influence since the establishment
of the Middle East mandates after World War I
– Jewish and Arab nationalists began to challenge British authority
after World War II
• The British Balfour Declaration
– Zionist movement > established by Theodore Herzl
– Many Jews migrated to the British territory of Palestine between
the wars and established their own political parties and social
and societal systems
– Conflict ensued between the native Arabs and the Jews
– These conflicts, while they couldn’t be resolved by the British
leadership, were stopped by Hitler’s brutality in World War II
The Creation of the State of Israel
• The U.N. Resolution
– The British brought the conflicts in Palestine to the
attention of the United Nations in 1947
– The United Nations decided to divide Palestine into
an Arab state and a Jewish state
• The Arabs resisted this decision
• Many Arabs became refugees in the Jewish Palestinian state
The Creation of the State of Israel
• Israel Declares Independence
– The British withdrew from Palestine in May 1948
– The Jews declared the independence of their new
state called Israel
• The United States officially recognized this nation two days
later
• Israel was quickly invaded by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt,
and Iraq
• Israel defeated the Arab nations by 1949, and expanded its
borders
• These conflicts would eventually bring about the intervention
and involvement and the world superpowers
The Khrushchev Era in the Soviet
Union
• The devastation of WWII had brought about little
economic change
– Stalin stuck to traditional Communist economics and
politics
• Nikita Khrushchev began to gain influence within
the Communist Party
– While he eventually took control of the Soviet Union,
he never gained the power Josef Stalin had
The Khrushchev Era in the Soviet
Union
• Khrushchev’s Domestic Policies
– Retreated from Stalinism
• Directly attacked his policies in a secret speech in 1956
• Removed the strongest supporters of Stalinism from his gov’t
• Communist powers in Eastern Europe saw this as a license
to take more control
– Sought reform within the Soviet Union
• Began to remove some restrictions on some private
industries
– Needed to maintain Communist dominance
The Khrushchev Era in the Soviet
Union
• The Three Crises of 1956
• The Suez Intervention
– Egyptian gov’t took control of Suez Canal
– British and French forces intervened when the
Egyptian were at war with Israel (without U.S.
support)
– Egypt was still able to retain control of the canal
– Illustrated the power of the U.S. and the Soviet Union
and how their reluctance to begin war impacted other
states
The Khrushchev Era in the Soviet
Union
• The Three Crises of 1956
• Polish Efforts Towards Independence
– After the death of their Prime Minister, Poland
resisted appointing the recommendation for his
replacement from Moscow
– Instead, Wladyslaw Gomulka came to power
• He continued Polish membership in the Warsaw Pact with
strong Communist leadership
• He reduced limits on private industry and improved relations
with the Polish Catholic Church
The Khrushchev Era in the Soviet
Union
• The Three Crises of 1956
• The Hungarian Uprising
– Polish sympathies led to street fighting in Hungary
– Former Premier Imre Nagy sought the neutralization of
Hungary and support from non-Communist groups
• This included the withdraw from the Warsaw Pact
• Caused Soviet forces to invade Hungary and replace Nagy by
bringing Janos Kadar into the control of Hungary
• All of these events solidified the role of the United
States and the Soviet Union as the two world
superpowers
Later Cold War Confrontations
• The Berlin Wall
– Growing tensions between President Kennedy and
Premier Khrushchev
– Many were migrating from East Berlin to free West
Berlin
• Embarrassed the Soviet Union
– Constructed a wall between the two parts of the city,
preventing the flow of migrant citizens and supplies
Later Cold War Confrontations
• The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
– Most dangerous conflict of the war
– Globalization-brought the United States directly into the
war
– Fidel Castro overthrew the American controlled Cuban
government and established a Communist state (Jan.
1959)
• The Soviet Union began secretly sending them nuclear arms
(1962)
• The U.S. set up a naval blockade around the island and
demanded the removal of the Soviet missiles
– The Soviet Union eventually gave in and pulled out of
Cuba
The Brezhnev Era
• Khrushchev was forced to resign in October 1964
– Many thought he had attempted to make too many
sweeping changes too quickly
– Replaced by Alexei Kosygin, but the party secretary,
Leonid Brezhnev, eventually became the dominant figure
• The Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968)
– Alexander Dubcek began adding democratic and liberal
elements to the Czech government
– The Soviet Union invaded and established a more
traditional communist government
– The U.S.S.R established the Brezhnev Doctrine, stating
that they would interfere in the policies of other communist
countries to maintain their integrity and suppress
democracy and liberalism
The Brezhnev Era
• The United States and Detente
– Brezhnev sought to maintain control of Communism while
reaching agreements with the United States
– Limited support of North Vietnam in the war
– Richard Nixon began a policy of detente (easing strained
relations) with the Soviet Union
• Agreements were reached regarding trade and arms reductions
• However, Soviet military spending continued to increase
– The Helsinki Accords were signed by many nations,
including the U.S. and the Soviet Union
• Recognized the Soviet influence in Eastern Europe and the
human rights of all of the citizens of the signing nations
The Brezhnev Era
• The United States and Detente
– Pres. Jimmy Carter cooled relations with the Soviet
Union
– The Soviet Union continued to pursue an activist
policy internationally
•
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Allowed Cuban forces to intervene in African nations
Funded the North Vietnamese and utilized naval bases there
Provided finds and forces to Arab nations to fight Israel
Continued to build military forces
– The Soviet union possessed the worlds largest armed
forces by the 1980’s
The Brezhnev Era
• The Invasion of Afghanistan
– For reasons unknown, the Soviet Union sent forces
into Afghanistan, where they already held a presence
• They gained more control over central Asia
• Established a puppet government in Afghanistan
• The U.S, in their sharp response, established trade
embargoes and cut off further agreements with the Soviet
Union
– Boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow
– Aided the Afghan rebels
– The Soviet forces were eventually extremely worn
down, lowering Soviet moral
The Brezhnev Era
• Communism and Solidarity in Poland
– Communist opposition grew and took root in Poland even
after the direct establishment of strong Communist forces
• Karol Wojtyla, a strong oppositionist to Communism, was
elected into a position of authority in 1976
• A workers union called Solidarity was allowed to form after a
widespread strike plagued Polish industry
• The government became more open to political debate and
competition
– This experiment/foray away from Communism was ended
when Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski took control of Poland in
1981
• He imposed strict Communism under martial law
The Brezhnev Era
• Relations with the Reagan Administration
– U.S. began to seek better relations with the Soviet
Union
• However, Regan increased military spending and the integrity
of anti-Communist forces
• Developed new missile systems and established a spacebased nuclear defense system known as “Star Wars”
• The Soviet Union also continued to increase military
development
– This would eventually lead to the economic and political
collapse of the Soviet Union
The European Retreat from Empire
• The second half of the twentieth century saw
vast populations in territories worldwide
overcome European control and become
independent states
– Rise of new nationalist movements
– World War II / European shift of focus
– The U.S. and the Soviet Union opposed the colonial
nations but strived to create spheres of influence in
these new nations
– Some nations pursued a policy of neutrality to gain
The European Retreat from Empire
• Major Areas of Colonial Withdrawal
– Dutch forced from the East Indies > Indonesia was formed
(1949)
– Belgium forced from the Congo (1960)
– Mozambique and Angola liberated from the Portuguese (197475)
– Liberation of South Africa (1994)
• India
– British had gained and solidified control in the 17-1800’s
– Nationalist groups began to arise (early 1900’s)
• Strong leadership resulted in a strong nationalist movement
• Mohandas Gandhi was one of the most notable of these leaders
– Passive resistance to British rule became popular
– The British Labour Government decided to back out of their
weakening control of India (1947)
The European Retreat from Empire
• Further British Retreat from Empire
– The British accepted the loss of their empire as inevitable
– Attempted to maintain economic and political links while
avoiding major conflicts in the process of decolonization
• Also sought the individual maintenance of representative selfgovernments once they abandoned their colonial territories
– India was the first of many nations to become independent
from British rule during this era
• Sri Lanka and Burma (1948)
• Ghana (1957) and Nigeria (1960) were primary examples of
planned decolonization
• Withdrew from Cyprus, Kenya, and Yemen due to nationalist
and military forces (sometimes resulted in violence)
The European Retreat from Empire
• French Decolonization
– Unlike the British, the French were intent on expanding
and developing their colonial empire and control
– The French pursued this goal on two main fronts, Algeria
and Vietnam, both of which were met with disaster
• France and Algeria
– Algeria had become an integral part of France by the end
of World War I
– They slowly granted more rights to the discontented
Algerian Muslims, however this was ineffective in
suppressing the movement for independence
• Nationalists founded the National Liberation Front (FLN) and a
violent war began between the two forces
The European Retreat from Empire
• France and Algeria (continued)
– Charles de Gaulle took control of the French
government
• Began the Fifth French Republic under a new constitution
• Undertook a long strategic retreat from Algeria
– Algeria became independent on July 3, 1962
• FLN took control under Mohammed Ben Bella
• French supporters fled Algeria before begin executed,
resulting in a large Muslim population in France
– France and Vietnam
• The French struggle to maintain control in Indochina resulted
The European Retreat from Empire
• France and Vietnam
– The French struggle to maintain control in Indochina
resulted in a more global conflict
– Ho Chi Minh created the Indochina Communist Party from
the nationalists who were pushing for independence
• He gained influence during World War II
• Despite being Communist, he never gained the support of the
Soviet Union or the Chinese
• Declared Vietnamese independence in September 1945,
causing a civil war by 1947
– While the United States didn’t show too much concern
over this conflict originally, upon the creation of the
Communist People’s Republic, they viewed the French
effort as ant-Communist and thus an integral part of the
Cold War
The European Retreat from Empire
• France and Vietnam
– After unsatisfactory agreements on temporary borders, the
United States established the Southeast Asia Treaty
Organization (SEATO)
• The U.S. wrongly believed North Vietnam to be a puppet state
of the Soviet Union
– Provided expansive military and economic aid to the
French forces
• Supported Ngo Dinh Diem in Vietnamese politics, a strong nonCommunist nationalist
– The National Liberation Front was founded in 1960
• Sought the removal of Diem from power
• Anti-colonial, nationalist, communist forces
The European Retreat from Empire
• Direct United States Involvement
– U.S. supported Diem while demanding gov’t reform
– Continued to send troops (16,000 by 1963)
– Diem was overthrown and killed
• The U.S. hoped a new gov’t would create larger support
• Nguyen Van Thieu was brought to control South Vietnam
– Lyndon Johnson also expanded U.S. involvement in
Vietnam
• Bombing attacks began in February 1965
– Pres. Richard Nixon began the slow withdrawal from
Vietnam
• Policy of Vietnamization, in which the war effort was handed to
the South Vietnamese themselves
• Peace negotiations resulted in a cease fire agreement (Jan.
1973)
The Collapse of European Communism
• Gorbachev Attempts to Reform the Soviet Union
– Mikhail S. Gorbachev came to power in 1985
• Began reforms that would result in the collapse of Communism
in the Soviet Union
– Sought the revival of the Russian economy
• Began a policy of perestroika or “restructuring” which reduced
the influence of the government in many industries
• Promised higher wages and better working conditions to
workers
• Eventually advocated private property and liberal free market
economic development
• Large departures from traditional ideologies in attempts to save
the Soviet Union
• However, his policies were largely unsuccessful
The Collapse of European Communism
• Gorbachev Attempts to Reform the Soviet Union
– He allowed large discussions and criticisms of
Communism and Soviet policy in his policy of
Glasnost (openness)
• Relaxed censorship
• Allowed for political criticism and public debate
– Created a new constitution that permitted openly
contested elections (1988)
• The Congress of People’s Deputies was elected in 1989
• The Supreme Soviet elected Gorbachev the President as
well
The Collapse of European Communism
• Revolution in Eastern Europe (Poland)
– After the Polish government relaxed it’s control over
society, Solidarity prisoners were released and began
to strike once again
• The government was unable to regain control
• Lech Walesa took center stage in the conflict
– Political and social reforms ensued
– Communists overwhelmingly lost in the free elections
of 1989
• A noncommunist prime minster was then appointed
• Strongly approved by Gorbachev
The Collapse of European Communism
• Revolution in Eastern Europe (Hungary)
– The elections of 1989 in Poland sparked further
independence movements across Eastern Europe
• Austrian border with Hungary was opened in 1989
• Many began to demand a more liberal society
– Janos Kadar was taken from his position as leader of
the Communist Party of Hungary
• The Hungarian Communist Party changed its name to the
Socialist Party
– Free elections were promised as other parties were
allowed to participate in the Hungarian government
The Collapse of European Communism
• Revolution in Eastern Europe (Germany)
– Popular demonstrations were occurring in East
Germany by 1989
– East Germany lost the support of the Soviet Union
• The East German government quickly resigned, giving rise to
a weak new government of younger communists
– The East German gov’t ordered the opening of the
Berlin Wall in November 1989
• The push for reunification began shortly afterwards
The Collapse of European Communism
• Revolution in Eastern Europe (Czechoslovakia)
– Quickly followed the destruction of the Berlin Wall
– Vaclav Havel led revolutionaries against communist
forces
• The leader of the weak communist government in the state,
Gustav Husak, was forced to resign
• Havel became the president on December 28, 1989
• Revolution in Eastern Europe (Romania)
– President Nicolae Ceausescu’s forces fired on
protesting crowds
• Revolt ensued, and when the president tried to flee, he was
captured and killed
The Collapse of European Communism
• The Collapse of the Soviet Union
– Gorbachev refused to support the communist regimes
of Eastern Europe, and allowed them to be
overthrown
• Renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine
• Proposed the renunciation of the communist political
monopoly in the Soviet Union
• Faced opposition from and made concessions to
conservative forces
• Tries and failed to negotiate new constitutional agreements
between the Russian Republics and the central government
The Collapse of European Communism
• The Collapse of the Soviet Union
– Russian conservative forces attempted a coup in
August 1991
• The coup eventually collapsed, but embarrassed Gorbachev
• Yeltsin, the leader of the Russian democratic force, gained
more power and influence
• This caused the collapse of the Communist Party as the main
political force in Russia
– The Soviet union collapsed with the resignation of
Gorbachev in December 1991
• Represented the end of Marxism as the dominant socialist
force in Europe
The Collapse of European Communism
• The Yeltsin Decade and Putin
– Boris Yeltsin became the President of Russia
• The most powerful leader in the new Commonwealth of
Independent States
• He was opposed by the communist Russian Parliament,
straining government relations
– He crushed this opposition using military force in October 1993
after Parliamentary riots
• Supported by the Russian military
• Supported by the Western Democracies
• Created a new constitution and elected a new Parliament
(1993)
The Collapse of European Communism
• The Yeltsin Decade and Putin
– Began to rebuild Russian society
• Privatized many industries
• Many amassed great wealth in the economic reorganization
(the “oligarchs”)
– Economic and Political Downturn
• Russia defaulted on its international debt in 1998
• Economic downturn and political unrest ensued > political
assassinations
• Yeltsin resigned and Vladimir Putin replaced him
The Collapse of European Communism
• The Yeltsin Decade and Putin
– Vladimir Putin continued the war effort against Islamic
extremists in Chechnya
• Supported the American effort against Afghanistan after the
September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks
• There have been several Chechnya attacks on Russia in the
21st century
– Sought the centralization of Russian government in order
to control economic and political life
• Feared independent control and influence in society
• Russia was still more democratic than it ever had been during
the control by the Soviet Union
• Remains a politically unstable state today
The Collapse of Yugoslavia and Civil
War
• Yugoslavia was a collection of smaller territories
comprising of several nationalities
– Disputes ensued between the ethnic groups
– Yugoslavia dissolved into civil wars
– Ethnic tensions > violence in 1990 > Slovenia and Croatia
separated from Yugoslavia
– Serbia was dedicated to maintaining a unified Yugoslav
state under its control
• Clashed with Croatia for control of the state
– An agreement was eventually negotiated under U.S.
leadership
• Recognized an independent Bosnia
– NATO intervened to maintain peace and order in
Yugoslavia throughout the 1990’s