Download SUPERPOWER ACTIONS

THE COLD WAR
CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR
• 1) Capitalism vs. Communism
o US
& Great Britain don’t like or trust
communist ideas such as the rejection of
private property & religion. Soviets wanted
to destroy capitalism & overthrow
democratic governments in Europe.
o USSR afraid US would attack them (they
had before) & that they would rebuild
Germany & Germany would attack USSR
again.
THE COLD WAR IN EUROPE
• As WWII was ending, the Soviet
army occupied all of Eastern
Europe (except Yugoslavia)
• Poland, East Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, & Albania
became Soviet satellite countries
• The Iron Curtain
IRON CURTAIN
SOVIET THREAT IN EUROPE; AMERICA
RESPONDS
• Fear of a Communist takeover of all of
Europe led to The Truman Doctrine
• The Truman Doctrine: Encourage
countries to resist Soviet Influence
• Containment: Do not allow
communism to spread or expand to
any more countries in the world.
TRUMAN DOCTRINE IN FULL
• 1) $400 million
in aid to
Greece &
Turkey
• 2) The Marshall
Plan: $12
billion in aid to
help western
European
countries
rebuild after
the war
EFFECT
GERMANY
• After the
war, the
Allies
divided
up
Germany
into 4
zones
Berlin
BERLIN AIRLIFT
• Berlin
(capital of
Germany,
largest
city) was
in the
Soviet
Zone &
the city
itself was
divided
BERLIN AIRLIFT
• Stalin blockaded West Berlin, trying to
make the entire city part of East
Germany.
• Truman ordered supplies to be airlifted
to West Berlin.
• Stalin ended blockade, W. Berlin
remained part of W. Germany.
• Many people
in East Berlin
were very
poor and ruled
by a dictator,
so they fled to
West Berlin
• The Soviet
Government
was
embarrassed
by this, so
they built a
wall around
West Berlin.
BERLIN WALL
COLD WAR ALLIANCES
NATO:
USA
UK
France
Portugal
W. Germany
Italy
Greece
Turkey
Norway
Warsaw Pact
USSR
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
E. Germany
Romania
Bulgaria
Albania
UNITED NATIONS
• League of
Nations…the
Sequel
• Created in 1945
• Settle arguments
between
countries
• Humanitarian
Aid (UNICEF,
etc.)
1949… A SCARY YEAR
• Soviets successfully
test atomic bomb
• Chinese
Communists led by
Mao Zedong take
over. China
becomes a
communist country
• US feels very
threatened by
International
Communism
SUPERPOWERS
• The US & the Soviet
Union are now the
two most powerful
countries on earth
and they both have
nuclear weapons
• They are the two
superpowers
COMMUNISM IN ASIA
Korea
Was a Japanese colony for
decades
Kim Il Sung very popular
communist leader/resistance
fighter
After Japanese surrender, USA &
USSR divide Korea at 38th
parallel.
North Korea = communist
South Korea = capitalist
THE KOREAN WAR
• June, 1950: North Korean troops cross
38th parallel, invade the South
• South Korean Army defeated quickly
• UN sends military force to help South
Korea at Truman’s request
• 16 countries involved, 80% of troops
from USA
• Gen. Douglas MacArthur in command
THE WAR
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
North Korean forces almost win right away.
MacArthur leads daring landing at Incheon
North Korea retreats, MacArthur pursues
Chinese enter the war, beat back Americans
Armistice ends fighting in 1953
Still technically at war, but no shooting
Demilitarized Zone between two countries
N. Korea still communist, S. Korea still
capitalist
ANOTHER RED SCARE
• Spies!
• 1953; The
Rosenbergs arrested
and eventually
hanged for passing
nuclear secrets to the
Soviet Union
• Alger Hiss State
Department official
discovered spying for
the Soviet Union
SENATOR JOE MCCARTHY
• Claimed to have a list of 205 known
communists working for the
government
• Never showed anyone the list
• For 4 years, McCarthy went around the
country “hunting communists”
• Businesses questioned employees &
fired anyone they suspected of being a
communist
• “Blacklists” in Hollywood and
elsewhere
• McCarthy
held
televised
hearings.
He looked
like a bully
• The Senate
censured
him, he died
of liver
failure 3
years later
CENSURE
You have done
enough. Have you no
sense of decency sir,
at long last? Have you
left no sense of
decency?
AFRICA & ASIA
Issue:
• After WWII many colonies began demanding
and fighting for their independence
SUPERPOWER ACTIONS
US grants independence to the
Philippines
In Africa the US and Soviet Union gave $
& weapons to opposing sides in many
civil wars (Angola, Somalia, Ethiopia)
Pakistan became an ally of the US, India
stayed neutral, but took $ & weapons
from the US & USSR
CUBA
• Issue: In 1959 Fidel Castro led a
successful communist revolution in Cuba
SUPERPOWER ACTIONS (PART 1)
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion: The Soviet
Union gave Cuba a lot of $ and
support. President Kennedy & the CIA
trained a group of Cuban exiles to
invade Cuba & overthrow their
government. The invasion was a total
failure and embarrassed the US.
SUPERPOWER ACTIONS (PART 2)
• The Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR begins
building missile bases in Cuba. Nukes
threatened the US. JFK warned that he
would stop any Soviet boat carrying
missiles to Cuba. The USSR backed
off.
• The closest the world has ever come to
total nuclear war
OTHER PARTS OF LATIN AMERICA
• Issue: Many parts of Latin America
were desperately poor. They thought
becoming communist countries
might help stop their suffering
SUPERPOWER ACTIONS
• US provides aid to many Latin
American countries: Alliance for
Progress, Peace Corps
• US intervenes militarily to overthrow
suspected communist leaders in
Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican
Republic, Panama, Chile, Grenada, El
Salvador
ARMS RACE
• By the 1950’s The US & USSR both had
enough nuclear weapons to destroy each
other several times over
• 1957 USSR launches 1st ever satellite:
Sputnik.
• “Space Race” begins, NASA is created
• Both countries develop rocket technology
KENNEDY ASSASSINATION
• On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy
was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas.
• The man found guilty of his murder was Lee
Harvey Oswald
• Oswald was assassinated by Jack Ruby
• Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) became President
VIETNAM
• Vietnam was a French colony
• Vietnamese communists led by Ho Chi
Minh (Uncle Ho) defeated the French in
1954
• International Peace Conference divided
Vietnam into 2 countries
• North Vietnam (Communist) {USSR}
• South Vietnam (Capitalist) {USA}
THINGS GO SOUTH IN THE SOUTH
• South Vietnam led by corrupt leader
(Diem)
• Communist Guerrillas (Viet Cong/Viet
Minh) begin fighting in South Vietnam
• USA worried that Vietnam would
become a communist country
• Domino Theory: when one country
“falls” to communism, countries near it
will fall to communism as well.
US INVOLVEMENT
• During the 1950’s & 1960’s, both
Presidents Eisenhower & Kennedy
sent “military advisors” to Vietnam
• 1964: Gulf of Tonkin Incident leads to
US escalation in Vietnam.
• By 1968 there were over 50,000
American soldiers in Vietnam
INSURGENT WAR
• American troops were fighting a difficult,
insurgent war in the jungle
• They couldn’t tell friend from foe.
• Draft was instituted
• 1st TV war led to decreasing popularity of draft
& war at home
• Tet Offensive 1968 = turning point for the Viet
Cong & North Vietnam
PROTESTS AT HOME
• Massive
demonstrations
and protests
against the
Vietnam war
took place
• “Hippies” and
college students
staged protests
and burned their
draft cards
THE END OF THE WAR
• Protests led to fighting between pro &
anti war demonstrators
• Anti-war demonstrators killed by
national guard at their college in Kent
State, Ohio
• Longest, most unpopular war in US
history
• US forces left Vietnam in 1975
• Vietnam is now a communist country
THE END OF THE COLD WAR
• Beginning with the Nixon
administration, the US
pursued less hostile
relations with the USSR
(Détente)
• The policy of détente led
to agreements
• SALT I & SALT II:
Strategic
• Arms
• Limitation
• Talks
END OF THE COLD WAR
• Building more and more weapons to keep up with the
USA crippled the Soviet economy
• It collapsed in 1991 despite attempts by Gorbachev to
make structural changes
• By 1992, the Berlin wall had fallen, Eastern European
became independent (satellites no more!)