Transcript The Cold War

The Cold War
Chapter 27
Cold War Characteristics
 A political, strategic and ideological struggle
between the US and the USSR that spread
throughout the world.
Yalta Conference Feb 1945

Before the end of the World War II, Stalin, Churchill
and Roosevelt met at Yalta to plan what should happen
when the war ended. They agreed on many points:

- The establishment of the United Nations.
- Germany to be divided into four zones.
- Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe.
- Russia promised to join the war against Japan.
1.
Although they could not agree about what should
happen to Poland, relations between the leaders were
good, and the Conference was a success.
Yalta Conference Feb 1945
The “Big Three”:
Churchill, FDR, and Stalin
Political Situation in Eastern
Europe
 After World War II, Soviet troops moved
into Eastern Europe (except Greece,
Albania, and Yugoslavia) and the other
allies occupied the Western part of Europe.
 Between 1945-1947, Communists
governments were in place in East
Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and
Hungary.
Political Situation in Eastern
Europe
 In Yugoslavia, the
communists had led
the resistance against
the Nazis during
World War II, so they
easily assumed power
after the war.
 Tito led the
communists takeover
of Yugoslavia
Iron Curtain Speech
From Stettin in the
Balkans, to Trieste in the
Adriatic, an iron curtain
has descended across the
Continent. Behind that
line lies the ancient
capitals of Central and
Eastern Europe.
-- Sir Winston
Churchill, 1946
The “Iron Curtain”
Truman Doctrine [March 12, 1947]
 Civil War in Greece.
 Turkey under pressure from the
USSR for concessions in the
Dardanelles.
 The U. S. should support free peoples
throughout the world who were
resisting takeovers by armed
minorities or outside pressures…We
must assist free peoples to work out
their own destinies in their own way.
 The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400
million in aid due to the threat of
communist expansion..
Marshall Plan [1948]
 “European Recovery
Program” developed by Secretary of
State George Marshall.
 The U. S. should provide
aid to all European nations
that need it. This move
is not against any country or doctrine, but against
hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.
 $12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to
Eastern Europe & USSR, [but they rejected the funds].
 Both the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall
Plan were meant to try and contain
communism.
Post-War Germany
Post-War Germany
 The United States wanted to end the commitments to
their affairs in Europe but their fear of communism
caused them to stay.
Germany had been divided into four zones by the
Allies after the war with the purpose of reunification
 The Soviets took reparations from Germany as well
as factories which they moved to Russia from the
Western zones before they transferred control to the
other Allies.
The U.S., France, and Great Britain united the 3
remaining zones into West Germany.
Berlin Blockade
 Blockade of Berlin
began on June 24, 1948
 Road, rail and canal
links with West Berlin
were cut, hoping to
starve them into
submission.
 The Western powers
wanted to avoid a direct
confrontation with the
Soviets
Berlin Airlift
 In 11 months, U.S. and British
planes airlifted 1.5 million
tons of supplies to the
residents of West Berlin.
 On its biggest day, the "Easter
parade" of April 16, 1949, the
airlift sent 1,398 flights into
Berlin -- one every minute.
 After 200,000 flights, in May 1949,
the Soviet Union admitted defeat
and lifted the blockade.
The Arms Race: A “Missile Gap?”
The Soviet Union exploded its
first A-bomb in 1949.
Now there were two nuclear superpowers!
NATO
 The Cold War led to the
formation of military alliance
such as North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
 The member nations signed a
treaty to provide protection if
they were attacked.
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (1949)
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece & Turkey
 France
 1955: West Germany
 Iceland
 1983: Spain
 Italy
Warsaw Pact
In 1955, the Soviets formed the Warsaw
Pact with Albania, Bulgaria, Poland,
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.
They promised to protect each other if they
are attacked.
Warsaw Pact (1955)
U. S. S. R.
East Germany
Albania
Hungary
Bulgaria
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Romania
NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
Cold War in Asia
Background on Chinese Civil
War
 The Soviets had been granted imperialists powers
in Manchuria and signed a peace treaty with the
Republic of China which prevented them from
providing Chinese communists support in the
future civil war.
 Relations between the U.S. and Chiang Kaishek were breaking down because of his corrupt
government and his unwilling to attack against
Japanese forces in World War II.
Background on Chinese Civil
War
 After the war, the U.S. provided
economic and military aid to Kaishek and hoped for their help in
stopping communism in the region
 The communists were building up
strength in northern China and they
had 20 to 30 million living under
their control.
Communists vs. Nationalists
 By 1946, Chiang was
reinstated at Nanjing and
in the countryside
peasants were flocking to
join the communists and
their army.
 The middle class no
longer supported Chiang
because of his brutal
suppression of dissent
and economic problems.
Communists vs. Nationalists
 Chiang’s troops were defecting to the
communists and the communists were
taking over cities.
 By 1948, they surrounded the capital and
Chiang’s government and 2 million
supporters fled to Taiwan.
Communists vs. Nationalists
 During the civil war the
United States gave limited
military support to Chiang
and the Soviets did not help
the communists.
 After the defeat of Chiang,
the United States Congress
agreed to stop the spread of
communism at all costs
1949: Communist
Victory in China
 In June, Jiang Jieshi defeated by
Mao and flees to island of Taiwan
 Oct 1, Mao proclaims People’s
Republic of China (PRC)
 Two months later, Mao travels to
Moscow and negotiates the SinoSoviet Treaty of Friendship,
Alliance and Mutual Assistance.
Korean War 1950-1953
 Korea had been part of the Japanese empire
since 1905 and the Russo-Japanese War.
 The Allies divided Korea along the 38th parallel
and with the plan to reunify the country with free
elections.
 The Soviets controlled the Northern zone and
the United States controlled the Southern zone
Korean War, 1950-1953
 On June 25, North Korean
communist forces cross the
38th parallel and invade South
Korea.
 On June 27, Truman orders
U.S. forces to assist the South
Koreans because of “domino
theory” fear.
 The U.N. Security Council
condemns the invasion.
 Chinese troops enter the
conflict by year's end.
Korean War
 Cease fire eventually brings war to close
by 1953.
 North Korea remained communist and a
representative government was
established in South Korea
1953: Stalin dies,
Khrushchev takes over
1956: Khrushchev's secret speech
 In a speech, February 14,
Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev denounces the
policies of Stalin.
 He rejects the Leninist idea
of the inevitability of war
and calls for a doctrine of
"peaceful coexistence"
between capitalist and
communist systems.
Sputnik
 On October 4, the Soviet
Union launches Sputnik,
the first man-made satellite
to orbit the Earth.
 In 1958, the U.S. creates
the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration,
and the space race is in full
gear.
1959: Castro takes power in Cuba
 January 1, 1959 leftist forces
under Fidel Castro
overthrow Fulgencio
Batista
 Castro nationalizes the
sugar industry and signs
trade agreements with the
Soviet Union.
 The next year, Castro seizes
U.S. assets on the island.
1961 - Berlin Wall
 On August 15,
communist authorities
begin construction on
the Berlin Wall to
prevent East Germans
from fleeing to West
Berlin.
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners that the
West is with them.
1961: Bay of Pigs
 U.S.-organized invasion force of 1,400 Cuban
exiles is defeated by Castro's government forces
on Cuba's south coast at the
Bay of Pigs.
 Launched from Guatemala in
ships and planes provided by
the United States, the invaders
surrender on April 20 after
three days of fighting.
 Kennedy takes full responsibility for the disaster.
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
 Khrushchev reduced the size of the military
and defense spending.
 The Soviets developed ballistic missile
technology in 1957 and the U.S. became more
nervous.
1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
 After Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet
Union installed nuclear missiles in Cuba.
 After U-2 flights Kennedy ordered a naval
blockade of Cuba on October 22 until the
Soviet Union removed
its missiles.
Cuban Missile Crisis
 The U.S. and the Soviets
negotiations over 13 days
and the U.S. agrees not to
invade Cuba and the
Soviets took its missiles
out of Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis
We went eyeball-toeyeball with the
Russians, and the
other man blinked!
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
Background on Vietnam War
 After World War II, Ho Chi Minh’s
Communist Party headed a multinationalparty alliance in Vietnam called the
Vietminh Front in northern and central
Vietnam
 War broke with the French after
negotiations failed in 1946 where the
French occupied the cities the Vietminh
occupied the mountains
Background on Vietnam War
 After a long siege, Vietnamese communists under
Ho Chi Minh defeat French colonial forces at
Dien Bien Phu on May 7.
 In July, the Geneva
Accords divide the
country at the 17th
parallel, creating a
North and South Vietnam.
 The United States
assumes the chief responsibility of providing
anti-communist aid to South Vietnam.
Vietnam War
 Laos and Cambodia had neutral and
independent governments
 In the late 1950’s, Diem the leader of
South Vietnam refused to hold the
elections to reunite Vietnam and Ho
Chi Minh wants to resort to invading
the South
 In 1963, South Vietnamese
government was collapsing and he
could not control the Viet Cong
(communist)
 Military officials overthrew the Diem
government and the new government
was seized by factionalism
1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 North Vietnamese
patrol boats fired on
the USS Mattox in the
Gulf of Tonkin on
August 2.
 On August 7, the U.S.
Congress approves
the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, granting
President Johnson
authority to send U.S.
troops to South
Vietnam.
1968: Tet Offensive
 Viet Cong guerrillas and North
Vietnamese Army troops launched
attacks across South Vietnam on
January 30, the start of the lunar
new year Tet.
 In Saigon, guerrillas battle Marines
at the U.S. Embassy.
 In March, Johnson orders a halt to
the U.S. bombing of North
Vietnam and offers peace talks.
1968: Prague Spring
On January 5, reformer Alexander
Dubcek came to power as general
secretary of the Communist Party
in Czechoslovakia, pledging
reforms and democratization
The Prague Spring
movement swept across
the country.
Soviet and Warsaw Pact leaders
sent 650,000 troops in August.
Dubcek was arrested and hardliners were restored to power.
1969 - Vietnamization
 1968, Richard Nixon elected President, defeating
Hubert Humphrey
 On June 8, 1969 U.S. President Nixon announced
his "Vietnamization" plan, designed to withdraw
U.S ground forces from Vietnam and turn control
of the war over to South Vietnamese forces.
1969: SALT
 On November 17, the
1st phase of Strategic
Arms Limitation Talks
began in Helsinki, Finland.
 The finished agreement, signed in Moscow on
May 26, 1972,
placed limits on
both submarinelaunched and
intercontinental
nuclear missiles.
1973: Vietnam War agreement
(Paris Accords)
 January 27, 1973, the United States, South
Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong sign
the Paris Peace Treaty, establishing a cease-fire.
 The United States is allowed to continue
providing aid to South Vietnam.
 Saigon falls in April 1975.