Transcript 20th Century U.S. Foreign Policy

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(Einstein)
Manhattan Project
•
•
In 1939, the Nazis were
rumored to be developing an
atomic bomb.
The United States initiated its
own program under the Army
Corps of Engineers in June
1942. America needed to build
an atomic weapon before
Germany or Japan did.
http://www.history.com/media.do?actio
n=clip&id=tdih_0716 (atomic bomb)
The point of total vaporization from the
blast measured one half of a mile in
diameter. Total destruction ranged at
one mile in diameter. Severe blast
damage carried as far as two miles in
diameter. At two and a half miles,
everything flammable in the area
burned. The remaining area of the blast
zone was riddled with serious blazes
that stretched out to the final edge at a
little over three miles in diameter.
66,000 people were killed and 69,000
people were injured by a 10 kiloton
atomic explosion.
Nagasaki's population dropped in one
split-second from 422,000 to 383,000.
39,000 were killed, over 25,000 were
injured.
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Atomic Catastrophe
Germany 1945
Yalta Conference
•
The Yalta Conference of 1945 was the
second of three conferences held
between the three Allied superpowers
during the World War II era. During
this particular conference, which was to
be the last one attended by President
Roosevelt before his death, there was
discussion about what to do with
Germany and how to end the war in the
pacific with the Japanese. This
conference in Yalta would not be the
last. There would be a third and final
conference held before everything was
settled with World War II, but even
then not all would be fine. Out of the
end of the war, the beginnings of the
Cold War had originated.
Nuremberg Trials
United Nations
The United Nations is central to global
efforts to solve problems that
challenge humanity.
The United Nations works to promote
respect for human rights, protect the
environment, fight disease and
reduce poverty. UN agencies define
the standards for safe and efficient
air travel and help improve
telecommunications and enhance
consumer protection.
The United Nations leads the
international campaigns against drug
trafficking and terrorism.
Throughout the world, the UN and its
agencies assist refugees, set up
programs to clear landmines, help
expand food production and lead the
fight against AIDS.
http://www.un.org
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Iron Curtain
Containment
Truman Doctrine
•
After the catastrophe of WWII, Great
Britain could no longer provide
financial aid to the governments of
Greece and Turkey
•
President Harry S. Truman asked for
$400 million in military and economic
assistance for Greece and Turkey and
established a doctrine, aptly
characterized the Truman Doctrine, that
would guide U.S. diplomacy for the
next forty years. President Truman
declared, "It must be the policy of the
United States to support free peoples
who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside
pressures."
•
Truman Doctrine signaled America's
post war embrace of global leadership
and ended its longstanding policy of
isolationism.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org
The primary plan of the
United States for
rebuilding and creating a
stronger foundation for
the allied countries of
Europe, and repelling
communism after World
War II.
Give $ to stop the spread of
communism
Marshall Plan
•
Berlin Airlift
•
The city of Berlin, although located in the
eastern Soviet half, was also divided into four
sectors --West Berlin occupied by Allied
interests and East Berlin occupied by Soviets.
In June 1948, the Soviet Union attempted to
control all of Berlin by cutting surface traffic
to and from the city of West Berlin. Starving
out the population and cutting off their
business was their method of gaining control.
The Truman administration reacted with a
continual daily airlift which brought much
needed food and supplies into the city of
West Berlin. This Airbridge to Berlin lasted
until the end of September of 1949---although
on May 12, 1949, the Soviet government
yielded and lifted the blockade.
www.tumanlibrary.org
NATO North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
Establishes a system of collective
security whereby its member states
agree to mutual defense in response to
an attack by any external party.
http://www.nato.int/
Warsaw Pact
Brinkmanship
• Brinkmanship (often misused as brinksmanship) is the
practice of pushing dangerous events to the verge of—or to
the brink of—disaster in order to achieve the most
advantageous outcome. It occurs in international politics,
foreign policy, labor relations, and (in contemporary
settings) military strategy involving the threatened use of
nuclear weapons.
• This maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to
the brink succeeds by forcing the opponent to back down
and make concessions. This might be achieved through
diplomatic maneuvers by creating the impression that one
is willing to use extreme methods rather than concede.
During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear force was often
used as such an escalating measure. Adolf Hitler also used
brinkmanship conspicuously during his rise to power.
Chinese Revolution (1949)
• China became
communist and the
nationalists fled to
Taiwan.
• Truman did NOT
recognize The
People’s Republic of
China because it was
COMMUNIST
Cultural Revolution
Korean War
• Conflict to stop the spread
of communism
• 1951-1953
• Stalemate (No change)
• “War” between China
(North Korea) and the
United States (South
Korea)
Vietnam
•
•
•
•
In May 1961, President Kennedy
sent 500 more American advisers
to Vietnam, bringing American
forces to 1,400 men.
The leader of South Vietnam,
Diem, attacked Buddhist
communities, etc.
Kennedy agreed for the CIA to
assist in a South Vietnamese army
coup against Diem.
On November 2, 1963, Diem was
assassinated.
jfklibrary.org
•1965-1973
Vietnam War•Only War US Lost
•Did not stop the spread of communism
Khmer Rouge
•
The plan was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take more
responsibility for fighting the war. It was hoped that this policy would
eventually enable the United States to withdraw gradually all their soldiers
from Vietnam. (madman theory/Phoenix program)
Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
Vietnamization
Non-Aligned Nations
• Because the Non-Aligned Movement was formed as an attempt to
thwart the Cold War, it has struggled to find relevance since the Cold
War ended. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, a founding member, its
membership was suspended in 1992 at the regular Ministerial Meeting
of the Movement, held in New York during the regular yearly session
of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The successor states of
the SFR Yugoslavia have expressed little interest in membership,
though some have observer status. In 2004, Malta and Cyprus ceased
to be members and joined the European Union. Belarus remains the
sole member of the Movement in Europe. Turkmenistan, Belarus and
the Dominican Republic are the most recent entrants. The applications
of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Costa Rica were rejected in 1995 and
1998.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
•
In 1961, the United States launched
an attack on Cuba meant to
overthrow Castro's government.
•
Though the aid and training given
to the Cuban exiles was substantial,
they suffered total defeat and
created a humiliating situation for
the United States.
•
In the end, the attack only
increased Cubans' support of Fidel
Castro.
historyofcuba.com
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Almost World War III
• 13 Days
Civil War in Nicaragua
Iranian Revolution
Indo-Pakistan War of 1971
India V. Pakistan over what is now
Bangladesh
US backed Pakistan (hoping to keep
USSR out of the region)
The war ended in a crushing defeat for
the Pakistani military in just a
fortnight.
US backed Pakistan because of the fear
of USSR
France/Britain supported India and
Bangladesh rebels
Fall of Saigon
The fall of the city was preceded by
the evacuation or flight of almost
all the Americans in Saigon, along
with tens of thousands of South
Vietnamese. The evacuation
culminated in Operation Frequent
Wind, the largest helicopter
evacuation in history.
AFGHANISTAN WAR
1978–92, conflict between anti-Communist Muslim Afghan guerrillas (mujahidin) and Afghan government and Soviet forces.
The conflict had its origins in the 1978 coup that overthrew Afghan president Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan, who had come
to power by ousting the king in 1973. The president was assassinated and a pro-Soviet Communist government under Noor
Mohammed Taraki was established. In 1979 another coup, which brought Hafizullah Amin to power, provoked an invasion
(Dec., 1979) by Soviet forces and the installation of Babrak Karmal as president.
The Soviet invasion, which sparked Afghan resistance, intially involved an estimated 30,000 troops, a force that ultimately
grew to 100,000. The mujahidin were supported by aid from the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia, channeled through
Pakistan, and from Iran. Although the USSR had superior weapons and complete air control, the rebels successfully eluded
them. The conflict largely settled into a stalemate, with Soviet and government forces controlling the urban areas, and the
Afghan guerrillas operating fairly freely in mountainous rural regions. As the war progressed, the rebels improved their
organization and tactics and began using imported and captured weapons, including U.S. antiaircraft missiles, to neutralize
the technological advantages of the USSR.
In 1986, Karmal resigned and Mohammad Najibullah became h
ead of a collective leadership. In Feb., 1988, President Mikhail Gorbachev announced the withdrawal of USSR troops, which
was completed one year later. Soviet citizens had become increasingly discontented with the war, which dragged on without
success but with continuing casualties. In the spring of 1992, Najibullah's government collapsed and, after 14 years of rule
by the People's Democratic party, Kabul fell to a coalition of mujahidin under the military leadership of Ahmed Shah
Massoud.
The war left Afghanistan with severe political, economic, and ecological problems. More than 1 million Afghans died in the
war and 5 million became refugees in neighboring countries. In addition, 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed and 37,000
wounded. Economic production was drastically curtailed, and much of the land laid waste. At the end of the war more than 5
million mines saturated approximately 2% of the country, where they will pose a threat to human and animal life well into the
21st cent. The disparate guerrilla forces that had triumphed proved unable to unite, and Afghanistan became divided into
spheres of control. These political divisions set the stage for the rise of the Taliban later in the decade.
Aided Afghanistan in liberation from USSR
CIA provided training and support to rebel
fighters (Osama, etc.)
SALT II
•
Arms Race
•
After SALT and SALT II, the United States returned to rearmament and tried to restart the arms race
through the production of new weapons and anti-weapons systems. The central part of this strategy
was the Strategic Defense Initiative, a space based anti-ballistic missile system derided as "Star Wars"
by its critics.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
•
SDI’s focus was to use ground-based
and space-based systems to protect the
United States from attack by strategic
nuclear ballistic missiles.
•
An early focus of the project was to be
a curtain of X-ray lasers powered by
nuclear explosions. The curtain was to
be deployed, first by a series of missiles
launched from submarines during the
critical seconds following a Soviet
attack, then later by satellites and
powered by nuclear warheads built into
the satellites
In theory, the energy from the warhead
detonation was to pump a series of laser
emitters in the missiles or satellites and
produce an impenetrable barrier to
incoming warheads.
•
Glasnost
A Russian word for "transparency"
or "openness." Mikhail Gorbachev
used the term to describe a program
of reform introduced to the Soviet
Union in 1985 whose goals
included combating corruption and
the abuse of privilege by the
political classes. In the broadest
sense, it aimed to liberalize
freedom of the press gradually, and
to allow for freedom of dissent.
Fall of Berlin Wall
End of Cold War
On the 9th of November, 1989, the
Border separating Western from
Eastern Germany was effectively
opened
The Fall of the Berlin Wall will always be
used as a symbol for the end of the Cold War
Soviet Break-up