Transcript The Cold War

Basic Themes of Chapter 30
• The Cold War (1945 to 1991)
– Polarization of the world into American and Soviet
‘camps’
– Nuclear weapons give the struggle for world dominance
a new element
• Decolonization
– Underdeveloped countries throw of old European
masters
• New Imperialism dies
• Struggle in the 3rd World to build stability and prosperity– not so
easy after decades of imperialism
– These countries get caught in the middle of the Cold War
struggle for Spheres of Influence
Basic Themes of Chapter 30
(continued)
• For Western Europe, the Cold War had two phases
– 1st Phase 1950s and early 1960s
• a great economic recovery and remarkable political
stability in Western Europe
– 2nd Phase late 1960s and early 1970s
• Economic progress stagnates damaging social and
political unity
• Cold War turns to its hottest phase
I. Picking Up the Pieces
After WWII
1a) Nuremberg War Tribunal
•Interesting International Question Here….
•Why was this city chosen?
1b) Zionism
• What was
the
greatest
asset of
the
Zionists in
1946?
• What was
their
greatest
obstacle?
1c). Dealing With Defeated Nations
Germany
• Germany and Japan
were occupied
– Specific breakup of
Germany
– Japan flag issue
Berlin
1d) The United Nations
General Assembly (all
members…1 vote each)
Security Council
(Veto Power)
China, France, England,
USSR, U.S.
II. U.S. versus the Soviet Union
I don’t
trust this
commie
bastard!
!
How did the Two
New Super
Powers Feel
About Each
Other???
“Howdy,
Ruski!”
Elbe River
Давай
оторвёмся ,
Yankee!
Следи за
базаро
м!
Why didn’t the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R. get along?
1. Superpowers (+ atomic bomb)
2. Race for ‘spheres of influence’ around the
globe
a. What does that mean?
b. Immediate hotspot- Eastern Europe
3. Anger over WWIIa. Why was Stalin angry?
b. Why were the Americans angry?
4. Historical animosity (the U.S. had tried to
put down the Russian Revolution)
5. Different Political Systems
•
Teheran (1943) , Yalta (early 1945), and Potsdam
(mid 1945) …
•
Keep in mind that the U.S./Soviet alliance in
WWII was one of necessity- not friendship
During the war, America and Britain were not in a
position of power when negotiating with Stalin
•
–
–
•
Stalin ends the war in possession of Eastern
Europe
–
•
They got to Germany (and especially Berlin) later
The Soviets were making the central sacrifices against
Hitler (lives lost)
“No General ever gave up at the conference table that which his
men have won by blood on the battlefield”
American eagerness to ‘bring the boys home’ at
the end of the war and the justification for doing
so (atom bomb)
Churchill Had Actually Foreseen
This Problem
• Wanted D-Day to be
an attack through the
Balkans
• FDR (and Stalin)
Disagree
– Attack into France
• FDR’s plan won out
– Ramifications?
– Divided Europe
East-West
III. Increasing Tension
Stalin Refused to give up Eastern Europe.
[Can you think of a country in this orange area whose failur
to get its freedom at the end of the war is a great irony- at
least from the perspective of England and France?]
Stalin’s Attempts to Institute Friendly Regimes in Eastern
Europe Were Particularly Brutal in One Country
• Can you guess?
• Czechoslovakia
– Why so brutal there?
?
The
Iron
Curtain
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
American Anti-Isolationism
• Britain has abandoned its role as global
policeman (too beaten up by the war)
• U.S. steps in
• U.S. will increasingly become an imperialist-type
power
– Example
• In the 1950s, when France can no longer afford to
fight to retain Vietnam against guerrilla forces
aligned with the Soviets, the U.S. steps in to take
France’s place
Were American fears of
Communism justified?
• Yes…?
– There were growing communist parties in western Europe
• Soviet Union had a shiny glow for many after defeating Hitler
– Communism advocates worldwide revolution
– Communism seeks to take away private property
• Wealthy in Europe and the U.S. threatened
– The Soviet Union is a surviving Totalitarian state, which means
• Censorship, propaganda, secret police, etc.
• Soviets get the A-Bomb in 1949
• After Yugoslavia bucked becoming a Stalinist puppet, Stalin cracked
down and forced very strict discipline on other Communist govs
• No…?
– Soviets had been CRUSHED in WWII
– Economy is MUCH weaker than the United States’
• Heavy industry versus overall economy?
– Much of the ‘aggressive’ action of the Soviet Union can be traced to their
paranoia after having been invaded time and again by other nations
IV. First Clashes
The Truman Doctrine
• Containment of Communism!!!
• A Response to Stalin’s Efforts to Pull Turkey, Iran,
and Greece into the Soviet ‘orbit’
The Marshall Plan
American money to rebuild
Europe after WWII.
Purely altruistic? Or…?
Why give $$$ to Europe?
•
Lessons learned after Treaty of
Versailles
•
Convince countries to join America’s
‘Sphere of Influence’
–
“Democratic Capitalism is the way to go!”
Stalin saw ‘Containment’ as ‘Encirclement’
Damn you,
Truman. You are
really pissing me
off!!!
Hee, hee, hee,
hee, hee, hee,
hee, hee…
Berlin Blockade & Airlift (1948-49)
•Stalin Figured ‘if you are going
to contain me, I’ll contain you!’
•closed the roads into West
Berlin
•Another reason for the Berlin
blockade
•West Berlin presented a
problem for Totalitarian style
gov. in Eastern Europe
•Do you see why?
• The ‘Berlin Airlift’ Broke
Stalin’s Blockade
• As tensions rose, NATO was formed.
The Warsaw Pact was formed in
response.
• 1 plane per minute, 24 hours a day, for
9 months…
• In the end, Stalin removed his
blockade… the Western Allies could fly
to Berlin…
– To understand why Stalin gave in, keep in
mind that there is a battle in progress for the
hearts and minds of the decolonizing nations
– Any bad press hurts
– Trying to blockade and having these efforts
fail is humiliating
• Berlin will remain a flashpoint
– Threatens Stalin’s Totalitarian control.
Why? How?
Western
Bloc=
NATO
Eastern
Bloc=
Warsaw
Pact
Race for ‘Spheres of Influence’
outside of Europe
So why is it called a “Cold War?”
• Brinksmanship
– Moving towards war between the U.S. and Soviet
War (without going across the ‘brink’) in an attempt
to make the other guy ‘blink’
– Berlin Airlift
– Cuban Missile Crisis
• Proxy Wars
– Indirect fights between the superpowers through
third countries
– Korea
– Vietnam
– Afghanistan
– Many, many other smaller ones
• Arms Race
– Flex your muscles/weapons without having to use
them
– ICBMs
• Spies, etc.
– Keep one step ahead of the enemy
Slightly More Formal Definition of
the Cold War
An attempt by the Soviet Union
and the United States to spread
their respective economic,
political, and social models to the
rest of the globe without resorting
to direct nuclear conflict.
The Importance of 1949
• Soviets conducted a successful test of the
atom bomb
– Rosenbergs
• China ‘falls’ to Communism
– Mao Zedong
– Failure of the Truman Doctrine
– America becomes determined to put ‘teeth’
into its defenses
• Red Scare in America