Transcript What was the Cold War? - islandschoolhistory

What was the Cold War?
L/O – To identify the key features and turning points of the
Cold War and understand the nature of the conflict
What was the Cold War?
• Cold War = a period of extreme tension
between states stopping just short of war.
• German socialist Eduard Bernstein in
1893 described the arms race between
German and its neighbours as a kind of
‘cold war’ where ‘there is no shooting
but… bleeding’.
• British writer George Orwell, commenting
on the dropping of the Atomic Bomb in
1945 predicted, ‘a peace that is no
peace’, in which the USA and USSR would
be ‘unconquerable and in a permanent
state of cold war’ with each other.
What was the Cold War?
• Military Arms Race = both sides built up
both nuclear and conventional military
weapons on a prolonged arms race.
• Ideological Struggle = Under Stalin, the
USSR was an Authoritarian MarxistLeninist State which believed a conflict
between Communism and Capitalism was
inevitable and unavoidable. The USA was
a Capitalist Liberal Democracy which
viewed the USSR as an ‘evil empire’ intent
on the destruction of democracy.
• Geopolitical Struggle = The conflict was
the inevitable result of the struggle for
power and resources between two
Superpowers.
What was the Cold War?
• US historian Anders Stephanson (1994) defined
the essence of the Cold War as:
1. Both sides denied each other’s legitimacy
as a regime and attempted to attack each
other by every means short of war.
2. Increasingly this conflict became
‘bipolar’, that is to say a struggle between
the two great Superpowers, the USA and
USSR.
3. There was an intense build up of both
nuclear and conventional military
weapons and a prolonged arms race.
4. Each side suppressed its internal
dissidents.
When did the Cold War Occur?
• Historian’s disagree about the timing of
the Cold War. The historian David
Reynolds argues that there were 3 Cold
Wars: 1948-53; 1958-63 and 1979-85,
‘punctured by periods of détente’, or
easing of tension.
• Overall, the years 1945-1989 form the
‘Cold War era’ in which the Superpowers
competed for economic, ideological and
military supremacy.
• It began directly after (or during?) WW2
and ended with the collapse of the Soviet
regimes in Eastern Europe in 1989.
1. Origins of the Cold War 1917-1945
• Before the Bolshevik Revolution of
1917, the USA and Russia were allies
in WW1. After, they became rivals.
• Historian Howard Roffman (1977): ‘the
Cold War proceeded from the very
moment the Bolsheviks triumphed in
Russia in 1917’.
• The USA & other Western states
intervened to try and crush the
Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War
1918-1920.
1. Origins of the Cold War 1917-1945
• There was also an ideological clash between
US President Wilson and Bolshevik leader
Lenin.
• Wilson’s ‘14 Points’ published in 1917
advocated an end to empires, selfdetermination for all peoples’, free trade and
collective security through a League of Nations.
• As a Communist, Lenin preached world
revolution and the overthrow of Capitalism.
The ‘Comintern’ or Communist International
was set-up in 1919 to inspire revolution in the
Capitalist world.
1. Origins of the Cold War 1917-1945
• Despite their ideological differences, in
the 1920s and 1930s both nations
were ‘isolationist’ – withdrawing from
world affairs and focusing on their
own economic development.
• There was a growing divide between
the Axis powers of Germany and Italy
and Western Democracies like Britain
and France.
• With Hitler’s invasion of the USSR and
declaration of war on the USA in 1941,
the USSR and USA were now Allies.
2. Beginnings of the Cold War 1945-48
• Defeat of Hitler in 1945 created a vacuum
of power in Europe. The USSR occupied
Eastern Europe with its troops whilst the
USA & Allies occupied Western Europe.
• Despite agreements at Yalta and Potsdam
Conferences in 1945 to fairly divide
Europe, both sides collided.
• Stalin promised to support democratic
governments in Eastern Europe – instead
over the next 4 years he forcefully
constructed communist regimes.
2. Beginnings of the Cold War 1945-48
• In response to this perceived aggression by
the USSR, the USA intervened to stop the
spread of Communism in Europe, marking
the beginning of the Cold War:
• The Truman Doctrine of 1947 offered
military help to states resisting communist
aggression like Greece.
• The Marshall Plan of 1947 offered
economic help to rebuild Europe and
negate the temption of Communism.
• The USA decided to rebuild Western
Germany as a Capitalist state by merging
the occupation zones of UK, France & USA
and introduced a new currency.
3. The First Cold War 1948-53
• From 1948, the Cold War really began as
confrontation and tension rose dramatically.
• In Europe the USSR was determined to stop the
USA from rebuilding Germany by blockading
West Berlin in 1948/49. The Allies broke the
blockade by airlifting supplies into West Berlin
for 11 months.
• The blockade reinforced divisions in Europe
and led to the creation of rival military alliances
(NATO/Warsaw Pact); a Soviet Nuclear Weapon
in 1949 and the creation of Federal Republic of
Germany (FRG/West) and the German
Democratic Republic (GDR/East).
3. The First Cold War 1948-53
• In Asia tensions rose after the Communist won
victory in the Chinese Civil War in 1949. This
was followed by the invasion of South Korea by
the armies of Communist North Korea on 25th
June 1950.
• The Korean War was the first direct military
confrontation of the Cold War. The United
Nations sent an American-led military force to
push back the Communists, only to face a
Chinese invasion force of over 1 million.
• The war ended in 1953 with an armistice
agreement. The death of Stalin also in 1953 led
to a reduction in tensions.
4. The Thaw 1953-57
• With the death of Stalin, the USSR became
distracted by an internal power struggle to
replace Stalin. Internationally, it sought to
relax tensions whilst this was ongoing.
• Agreements were made to withdraw troops
from Austria in 1955 and the new Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev promised
‘peaceful co-existence’ with the West.
• However this ‘thaw’ ended in 1956 as the
USSR used military force to end popular
revolts against it rule in Hungary and
Eastern Europe.
5. The ‘Second Cold War’ 1958-62
• From 1958, Khruschev began to threaten the
USA and Western Europe with the latest missile
technology in order to force the West to
withdraw from West Berlin.
• Millions of East Germans were illegally
escaping to the West through West Berlin
which was a serious threat to Communist East
Germany. The crisis was solved when the USSR
built a the Berlin Wall in 1961.
• Tension rose in 1962 when the USA spotted
Soviet nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba.
This nuclear standoff nearly ended in nuclear
war.
6. The Period of Détente 1963-1979
• During the 1960s, both the USA and USSR
faced their own challenges which distracted
them from direct confrontation.
• The USA became increasing embroiled in
the Vietnam War whilst the USSR faced
huge economic problems and growing
conflict with Communist China.
• Both sides agreed to reduce tensions
leading to the Test Ban Treaty of 1963,
Agreement on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons in 1969 and Helsinki
Accords of 1975.
7. The Third or ‘New Cold War’ 1979-91
• In 1979 a ‘Third Cold War’ developed when the
USSR deployed a new range of nuclear missiles
in Europe and invaded Afghanistan.
• The USA responded by basing Cruise missiles in
Europe, sparking a new arms race. In 1983,
President Ronald Reagan launched the
‘Strategic Defence Initiative’ which planned to
shoot Soviet missiles out of the sky from space.
• The USSR became increasingly unable to deal
with the huge cost of a new arms race, the
occupation of Afghanistan and conflicts at
home.
8. End of the Cold War
• Facing economic collapse and bankruptcy, the
new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev launched
a series of reforms known as ‘Glasnost’
(openness) and ‘Perestroika’ (reform) in 1985.
• These reforms sought to improve the Soviet
economy via capitalist elements and bring an
end to one party rule.
• Once it became clear in 1989 that the Soviet
military wouldn’t oppose any uprisings in
Eastern Europe, these regimes collapsed like a
house of cards. By 1991 the USSR was
dissolved and the Cold War was at an end.
Key Questions for this Unit
• How did the Cold War begin?
• Who’s fault was the Cold War?
• What was the key factor in causing the Cold War? Economic
issues; ideological differences; mutual suspicion; role of
leaders; Soviet Aggression
• Why did the Cold War expand into Asia?
• Why did the Cold War never become a ‘Hot’ War?
• Why did the Cold War last so long?
• Was the collapse of the Communism in Eastern Europe
inevitable?
• Why did the USSR loose the Cold War? – Arms Race;
Economic factors; failure of Communism; internal dissent