Transcript Cold War PPT.

The Cold War
“No Heroes, No Battlefields, and
No Monuments…Only Casualties”
--Captain Marko Ramius
Red October, USSR Submarine
Cold War Vocabulary
These can be found throughout Sections 1-5 in Ch 33
United Nations
Cold War
Iron Curtain
Containment
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
Warsaw Pact
NATO
U-2 Incident
Destalinization
Ronald Reagan
Mao Zedong
38th Parallel
Ho Chi Minh
Domino Theory
Vietcong
Vietnamization
Khmer Rouge
Third World
Non-Aligned Nations
Détente
SALT
The History of the Conflict
 1945 – Los Alamos, NM
 First successful test of an atomic bomb. This allows Pres. Truman to
end WW II. This also causes uneasiness on Stalin’s part—Why?
 “Shaky Alliances”
 One of the main reasons the USSR and the USA were allies was due
to Hitler betraying Stalin. The USSR and USA merely had a
common enemy —Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The US also knew that
the mere size of the Soviet army was a huge advantage.
 “They may be SOB’s, but at least they’re our SOB’s”
- FDR about the USSR
 What do you think happens as a result of the USA having a bomb,
and our attitude toward the Soviet’s?
 The End of WW II
 As the war drew to a close, the USSR began building buffer states
along its Western border, as well as demanding more and more
territory from Germany. These buffer states were loyal communist
countries who rejected democratic ideals and values. As the number
of these states grew, so did the fear and anxiety of the new US
president – Harry Truman.
 What was Pres. Truman fearful and anxious about?
 To combat the further addition of additional “buffer states” the US
implemented the Marshall Plan. This was a plan to rebuild the
economies of Western Europe (i.e. prevent them from converting to
communism). The Soviets responded with the Molotov Plan, that in
like fashion, sought to prevent additional countries from becoming
democratic.
 Iron Curtain and Truman Doctrine
 The new “map” of Europe was starkly defined as having new
democratic states in the West, and new communist states in the East.
Winston Churchill referred to this as “[having a] iron curtain descend
across the continent (Europe).” What does he mean by this?
 As a result of these new states, Truman pledged that he would see to it
that no new states would become communist, furthermore, any state
resisting communist aggression would receive the help and aid of the
USA. This was know as the Truman Doctrine.
The First “Battle” of the Cold War
 Communist Revolutions in Greece & Turkey
 Due to hunger, job shortages, and overall despair, the
countries of Greece and Turkey were on the brink of
having mass communist revolutions.
 Why do the people prefer communism over capitalism?
 In the name of the “Truman Doctrine” – which aided any
country resisting communism or containing it where it
already was – the US had to see to it that these two
states did not fall to communist control.
 Using “the bomb” Truman was able to “persuade” Stalin
to back off in his support of the revolutions, and the first
“battle” of the Cold War was a “w” for the US.
NATO v. Warsaw Pact
 NATO
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization – was a group of
pro-democratic nations that were aligned. These
nations were pledged to defend each other in the event
that war broke out between the US and USSR.
 Warsaw Pact
 Likewise, these were pro-communist countries that
pledged their support to the USSR.
“Brinkmanship”
 1950 – Korea
 The first real armed conflict came about in 1950 when Communist North
Korea invaded Democratic South Korea.
 President Eisenhower invoked the Truman Doctrine, involved the UN, and
within two years, an armistice had been signed. Although it is said that no
one “won” the war, the US considers this a victory.
 On what grounds do you think this is considered a victory for the US?
 1957 – Sputnik
 The tensions of the Cold War were heightened when in 1957 the Soviets
launched Sputnik. This was nothing more than a spherical satellite that
orbited the earth and emitted a single repeating radio wave that was known
as a “blip”.
 How do you think the US government and citizens responded to Sputnik?
 1959 – USSR and A-Bomb
 In addition to Sputnik, the Soviets tested their own A-Bomb in 1959. Now
the threat of war was more than simply going to battle, it would now be a
battle of nuclear weapons.
 Brinkmanship
 With both sides having a nuclear weapon, a new diplomatic term was added
to the Cold War vocabulary – Brinkmanship. This was the constant state of
being on the “brink” of going to nuclear war with USSR.
The Cold War Continues…And Ends
 The Decades of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
 All of these decades were considered part of the Cold
War. The US and USSR saw their leaders change, and
with that, some were more determined than ever to
prove their countries military superiority over the
others—two leaders to the point that they signed a
treaty called M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)—I
think this speaks for itself on its meaning.
 However, in the end, the USA was “victorious” over the
USSR. In December 1991 the USSR officially disbanded
and all of its provinces declared independence.
Free Writing
What evidence would you give to say that no one really
won the Cold War? Defend your answer.
Or…
What evidence would you give to say the US won the
Cold War, and the USSR lost? Defend your answer.
Korea and Vietnam
 After WW II, Korea was divided at the 38th Parallel. In the North
there were communist and in the South there democratic
governments.
 When the North invaded South Korea in 1950, the policy of
containment was violated and Truman called into action the
Truman Doctrine. When NATO and the UN got involved, the
Allies proved victorious and pushed the North back beyond the
38th Parallel.
 The first battle of the Cold War was “won” by the Allies.
 Battle for South Vietnam
 Like Korea, Vietnam was divided into North and South, and
likewise the North was communist and the South was democratic.
When Northern forces tried to overtake the South.
 When Pres. Kennedy sent in advisors to train the S.Vietnamese
army, things quickly worsened and soon the US would become
involved in an “all out” war in South Vietnam.
History of the Vietnam War
 The French in Indo-China
 Since the late 1800’s, the French had been one of the only
democratic influences in Indo-China to the point that the US began
financing their efforts there.
 After the massacre at Dien Bien Phu, the French pulled the forces
out, and a “democratic vacuum” was left.
 The US, according to Pres. Kennedy, had no choice but to send
troops in their place.
 The Growing Resistance
 After attempting to set up a democratic govt under Ngo Dien Diem
that later failed, the US was ultimately 100% responsible for the
protection of South Vietnam.
 However, after 7 years and over 58,000 combat deaths and
casualties, the US – under Pres. Richard Nixon – pulled all forces
out. The plan called for training the SV troops to protect
themselves, aka Vietnamization. The plan worked, but only for a
few months. By the end of 1973 the US was completely out of SV
and by 1975 SV had fallen to NV control.
Other Events in the Cold War
 Third World Countries
 With economic struggles abundant in these coutries, they were
prime targets for communist take-over.
 Fidel Castro & Cuba
 When Castro took control in 1959, he initially was a “friend of the
US”. However, harsh rulings, and unfair political practices soon
drove him to become one of the nation’s harshest enemies.
 1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis
 Cuba had become an all-out communist country by 1960. With
that, the USSR sought to destabilize the Western Hemisphere by
introducing nuclear missiles in Cuba. For 13 days, the world stood
on the brink of nuclear war. However, in the end, the USSR
removed the missiles if we pledged to not attack Cuba in the future.
The Cold War Thaws
 Destalinization
 As Stalin left, so did his ways. After his death, people in the USSR
wanted reform and changes. They wanted to embrace US ideals
and experiment with capitalism.
 However, this was not widespread throughout Soviet satellite
nations. If other nations sought to reform, the USSR quickly struck
it down.
 Realpolitik
 One of the most critical aspects of ending the Cold War was the
term realpolitik used by Pres. Nixon. This means using whatever
means necessary to ensure that peaceful governments can co-exist.
Another name for realpolitik is “détente” or “easing of nuclear
tensions”
 For while—it seemed—the Cold War was on its way to being over.
Détente?
 The Decade of the 80’s
 In 1981, after a series of presidents who were seemingly “politically
weak” communist fighters, Ronal Reagan took office. His goal was
to rid the world of what he called the “Evil empire of the Soviet
Union”
 He began the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) or also known as
“Star Wars” program.
 This program was a missile defense system set up to defend the US
from Soviet missile attacks both at home, and abroad
 This caused the USSR to again begin to assert its nuclear strength
 1985 – Michael Gorbachev
 Gorbachev took over the USSR in 1985 and sought peace with the
US. Reagan seemingly wanted peace as much as Gorbachev did.
After introducing policies of “glasnost” and “perestroika”
widespread internal revolution eventually led the USSR to collapse.
 The USA had “won” the Cold War