Transcript Unit 2 – The Cold War

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Unit 2 – The Cold War
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
WWW.NICKJORDAN.CA
HORTON HIGH SCHOOL
2014
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Causes of the Cold War
Soviet Union vs. United States
After the battle of Stalingrad in Europe and the Battle of the Midway in the Pacific, the Axi s Powers were steadily in retreat and victory for
the Allies was certain. Ironically at the first signs of victory the wartime Alliance of the USSR, the UK and the USA became increasingly
strained. What were the issues?
Bomb Envy
Atomic Race
US and USSR had no
one to compete against
Bi Polar
No retreating for the U.S.
Communism vs
Democracy
World Police? Ideologies
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Why the Tension?
Soviet Union vs. United States
There were a variety of other reasons why the two Super
Powers were not fond of each other.
Soviet dislike of
Capitalism
Soviet expansion in
Eastern Europe
Expansion
Soviets feared an American
invasion. This was a
mutual fear.
Attack
Soviets wanted to secure
their Western border
Security
The Soviet Union believed they had good reason to distrust the West
Western Opposition
to Bolsheviks
In 1919, Russia’s former
World War I allies (Britain,
France and the United
States) joined the "White
Russians" to fight off the
Bolsheviks following the
revolution.
The Bolsheviks won
This intervention failed and
the Red Army of the
Bolsheviks secured the
power of the new Soviet
state. The young USSR
government never quite
trusted the western
democracies after that.
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Soviet Justification of Distrust
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Soviet Justification of Distrust
The Soviet Union believed they had good reason to distrust the West
Soviet Perspective
Disregard for Soviet Diplomatic Goals
The western democracies did not
invite the Soviet Union to
participate in the World War I
peace talks or the League of
Nations.
So What?
The Soviets saw this as a slap in the face
and proved that the West was not
interested in listening to them or seeing
them as an equal.
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Soviet Justification of Distrust
The Soviet Union believed they had good reason to distrust the West
Soviet Perspective
West Did Not Aid in Spanish Civil War
The west did not aid the
Republicans fighting the fascists in
the Spanish Civil War.
So What?
The Soviets had to pay a heavy price to
fight the rise of fascism without help
from the West.
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Soviet Justification of Distrust
The Soviet Union believed they had good reason to distrust the West
USSR Not Invited to
Munich Conference
The west did not invite the
Soviets to the Munich
Conference which decided
the fate of Czechoslovakia
in the years leading up to
World War II, even though
the Soviet Union had a
security pact with
Czechoslovakia.
So
What?
The Soviets saw this as a
threat to their territory and
West not including them in
important discussions.
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Western Distrust of the Soviets
The Soviets were necessary Allies but not necessarily trustworthy.
COMMUNISTS
The avowed purpose of the
International Communist
Party was to secure world
wide communist
revolution. There was a
great fear of socialism in
Europe and America.
POLAND
The Soviets negotiated an
agreement with Hitler
and annexed
eastern Poland.
EMPIRE BUILDING
By the end of the war Britain
and the United States
distrusted the Soviet
motives in eastern
Europe.
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
SEPARATION OF BERLIN
The separation of Berlin began in 1945
after the collapse of Germany.
The country was divided into four zones,
where each superpower controlled a
zone. In 1946, reparation agreements
broke down between the Soviet and
Western zones. Response of the West
was to merge French, British, and
American zones in 1947.
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Germany Divided
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SOVIET SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
It was agreed that the Soviet Union would have the
greatest influence in eastern Europe, where
Soviet troops were concentrated.
They already occupied Poland, Bulgaria,
Romania, Hungary and parts of Czechoslovakia
and Yugoslavia, and it would have been
difficult to come to an agreement which
involved removing these troops.
Roosevelt agreed because he had little choice.
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Protect the Western Front
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
Governments friendly to the
Soviets
Finally, it was agreed that independent
governments would be established in
these lands, and that elections would be
free, but the governments would be
"friendly to the Soviet Union."
This is the beginning of what British
Prime Minster Winston Churchill would
later call the "Iron Curtain"
which divided Europe for
45 years.
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The Iron Curtain
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Different Visions
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DIFFERENT AGENDAS
ROOSEVELT´S KEY POST-WAR AIMS
STALIN´S KEY POST-WAR AIMS
•
•
•
•
•
INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND CO-OPERATION
(UNITED NATIONS)
NO FORMAL SPHERES OF INFLUENCE
SPREAD OF DEMOCRACY (FREE SPEECH, FREE
ELECTIONS)
FREE TRADE (OPEN DOOR)
RECONSTRUCTION OF WORLD ECONOMY
(IMF, WORLD BANK)
•
•
•
•
•
•
CO-OPERATION WITH AMERICA
RUSSIAN SECURITY
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE ON SOVIET PERIMETER
RESTORATION OF RUSSIA´S 1914 BORDERS
LIMITING GERMAN POWER
ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION OF SOVIET UNION
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Different Visions
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
•
Capitalism (USA)
Communism (USSR)
•
Limited government
Strong central state
•
Multi party politics
One party government
•
Individual rights
•
Free enterprise economy
A command economy
•
Open society
Closed society
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
Political Spectrum
The political spectrum is a concept for representing different political stances
in relation to one another.
At its most basic, the political spectrum consists of a line or continuum from left to right, with
varying shades of opinion in-between. Some people, particularly those at the far sides of the
spectrum, will tend to simplify it futher to be just two positions; left or right, with no room for
compromise. More realistic ways of assembling a political spectrum tend to be far more complex,
but the single dimensional spectrum from "left" to "right" is the most commonly used and most
popular.
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Different Visions
Political Spectrum
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Communism -- Social Democracy -- Liberalism -- Conservatism --- Fascism
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Different Visions
Political Spectrum
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
Communism -- Social Democracy -- Liberalism -- Conservatism --- Fascism
DEFINITIONS: THE POLITICAL "ISMS"
Communism
a form of socialism that abolishes private ownership
a political theory favoring collectivism in a classless society
Conservatism
a political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and
opposing radical changes
Democracy
a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to
represent them
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Different Visions
Political Spectrum
GLOBAL HISTORY 12
Fascism
a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government (as opposed to democracy or
liberalism)
Liberalism
a political orientation that favors social progress by reform and by changing laws rather than by revolution
an economic theory advocating free competition and a self-regulating market
Socialism
a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
Totalitarianism
a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or
opposition etc.)
the principle of complete and unrestricted power in government
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Different Visions
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Who’s Who?
Who were the main historical figures in the Cold War Era
Winston Churchill
Great Britain
Harry Truman
Joseph Stalin
United States
Soviet Union
Great Britain
When war broke out in 1939, Churchill became first
lord of the Admiralty. In May 1940, Neville
Chamberlain resigned as prime minister and Churchill
took his place. His refusal to surrender to Nazi
Germany inspired the country. Churchill is often
referred to as the greatest orator of the 20th century.
The speeches he made during the summer of 1940
established the policy of 'no surrender', and made
people feel they were not alone in the struggle against
Hitler. He worked tirelessly throughout the war,
building strong relations with US President Roosevelt
while maintaining a sometimes difficult alliance with
the Soviet Union.
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Winston Churchill
Great Britain
British voters turned Churchill out of office
in 1945, but he carried on in his efforts to
build a strong anti-Soviet consensus in the
West. In a famous 1946 speech delivered in
Missouri, Churchill warned that the Soviet
Union had built an "Iron Curtain" to divide
Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe from the
West. He thus coined one of the most
defining terms of the Cold War era.
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Winston Churchill
United States
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)
became the 33rd President of the
United States upon the death of
Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945.
Truman, who had only a high-school education and had been vice president for just 82 days
before FDR's sudden death, inherited the monumental task of leading the United States through
the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. Truman—who was, while in office,
one of the least popular presidents in modern American history—won a surprising second term
by defeating Republican Thomas Dewey in the election of 1948. Many historians today rate
Truman's performance much more positively than did his constituents at the time.
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Harry Truman
United States
Truman served as president of the United
States and, therefore, Commander in Chief
of the United States military during the final
months of World War II. Under his
command, the U.S. dropped two atomic
bombs—the first to be used in warfare—on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, effectively
ending the war. For many Americans,
Truman's legacy as the nation's leader
centers on these controversial decisions.
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Harry Truman
Soviet Union
Josef Stalin (1878-1953) served as
the General Secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet
Union's Central Committee from
1922 until his death in 1953.
Initially, Stalin's role in the
Committee was limited, but he
gradually accumulated power and
became the Party's leader and
absolute ruler of the Soviet Union.
Under his leadership, the Soviet
Union played a major role in the
defeat of Hitler's Germany during
World War II.
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Joseph Stalin
Soviet Union
Several years into World War II, Russian dictator Josef
Stalin demanded the immediate assistance of the Allied
nations, believing—rightly so—that his nation bore the
brunt of the war against Germany. Stalin realized that
without help, Germany would triumph. President
Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill
agreed to limited cooperation with Stalin, concluding
that Nazi Germany was, in fact, far worse a threat than
Communist Russia. In return, Stalin pledged his aid in the
war against Japan once Germany had been defeated.
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Joseph Stalin
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Who’s Who?
Who were the main historical figures in the Cold War Era
Nikita Krushchev
Soviet Union
Leonid Brezhnev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
Khrushchev was leader of the Soviet Union from
1955 until 1964, succeeding Joseph Stalin. He
presided over the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Stalin died in March 1953. Khrushchev became
leader of the party shortly afterwards, but it took
him several years to consolidate his position. In
February 1956, he made a secret speech to the
20th Party Congress, denouncing Stalin. It caused
a sensation in the Communist Party and in the
West, although Khrushchev failed to mention his
own role in the Stalinist terror.
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Nikita Krushchev
Soviet Union
1] Initiated a campaign of 'de-Stalinisation’ to improve Soviet living
standards and allow greater freedom in cultural and intellectual life.
2] In relations with the West, Khrushchev's period in office was
marked by a series of crises:
- the shooting down of an American U2 spy-plane over the Soviet
Union in 1960
- the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, most significantly
- the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, which brought the world to the
brink of nuclear war.
Despite this, Khrushchev also attempted to pursue a policy of coexistence with the West.
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Nikita Krushchev
Soviet Union
Brezhnev was the driving force in the Soviet government for 18
years, leading the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War Era. His
government took part in the Arms Race with the United States
building up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons. In 1971 he
instituted a thawing of relations with the US termed "détente". This
included signing the SALT I agreement in 1972 in an effort to reduce
nuclear arms as well as meeting with US President Richard Nixon
As leader, Brezhnev was able to stay in power for many years. This
was because he was a great politician. He worked with his fellow
leaders, listened to them, and made sure they agreed on major
decisions.
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Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet Union
Domestic Policy - Brezhnev's government had a policy of repression.
He clamped down on cultural freedoms including freedom of speech
and the press. He also largely ignored the economy, building a massive
nuclear arsenal and army that, over the long term, nearly crippled the
Soviet economy.
Vietnam War – was already ongoing when he took office. He
supported North Vietnam until their victory
Afghanistan War - Brezhnev made the decision to send Soviet
troups in 1979. The war drug on for years and eventually became
his country’s Vietnam.
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Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union. Appointed in 1985,
Gorbachev's domestic reforms and nuclear disarmament deals helped end the Cold War but
ultimately led to the dramatic downfall of communism in Europe.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet Union
Becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Union
By the 1980s the Soviet economy was in drastic need of reform. In 1985, after three elderly
leaders died in quick succession, Gorbachev, a protégé of former Soviet leader Yuri Andropov,
was appointed General Secretary and head of the Soviet Union. At 54 he was one of the youngest
leaders and was seen as the new broom that could clean up the decrepit Soviet system.
Glasnost and Perestroika
Gorbachev hinged his efforts to revitalise the Soviet Union on two plans: glasnost (meaning
openness) and perestroika (meaning restructuring). By relaxing bureaucracy and censorship
Gorbachev hoped to transform the Stalinist Soviet regime into a more modern social democracy.
While glasnost was widely celebrated, his attempts to restructure the Soviet economy largely
floundered.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet Union
Nuclear summits
Gorbachev saw that vast sums of money were being poured into the military to keep up with the
US. Desperate to free up this money, Gorbachev fostered a warmer relationship with the West. In
a series of high-profile summits Gorbachev met President Reagan and the two men made
important nuclear disarmament agreements. The thaw in relations effectively signalled the end
of the Cold War.
The rise of nationalism
Inspired by glasnost, and comforted by Gorbachev’s refusal to use military power, several Warsaw
Pact nations and Soviet republics declared their intentions to free themselves from Communist
rule. By the end of his tenure the Berlin Wall had been pulled down and large republics such as
Ukraine, Belorussia and Lithuania had declared their independence.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet Union
The August Coup
In 1991 reactionary hard-liners in the Communist Party, fearing the collapse of the Soviet Union,
attempted to remove Gorbachev. Imprisoned in his dacha holiday home in the Crimea Gorbachev
listened on the radio as the military attempted to seize control of the Russian parliament.
Thwarted by the efforts of Russian President Boris Yeltsin and mass protests the coup failed.
Gorbachev returned to Moscow but soon realised that the balance of power and popular support
had shifted to Yeltsin.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Soviet Union
The end of the Soviet Union
After the failed coup Yeltsin struck two blows
that effectively ended the Soviet Union – and in
the process the career of Gorbachev. First, as
President of Russia, he banned all Communist
Party activity on Russian soil. Secondly he, along
with the presidents of Ukraine and Belorussia,
signed a treaty to create a new commonwealth
of republics. Without these key nations the
Soviet Union was defunct. Gorbachev recognised
the inevitable and resigned.
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Mikhail Gorbachev
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Who’s Who?
Who were the main historical figures in the Cold War Era
John F Kennedy
United States
Richard Nixon
Ronald Regan
United States
United States
United States
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) was the
35th president of the United States.
Elected in 1960 at the age of 43, he
became the youngest person ever to
be voted into the White House.
Kennedy served from 1961 until his
assassination in November 1963. To
this day, many Americans remember
Kennedy as an idealistic champion of
freedom at home and abroad, despite
the fact that his policies on civil rights,
on Vietnam and Cuba failed to live up
to his soaring rhetoric.
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John F. Kennedy
United States
In 1960, Kennedy won the party's
presidential nomination and defeated
Richard Nixon in the subsequent
election that same year. He was the
country's youngest president as well
as its first Catholic head of state. He
presented himself as a youthful
president for a new generation. His
wife Jackie added glamour to the
presidency, although it was later
revealed that he had numerous
affairs.
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John F. Kennedy
United States
Kennedy's years in power were marked
in foreign affairs by Cold War tension,
together with a rhetorical commitment
to introducing domestic reforms - most
of all to expanding the civil rights of
African Americans.
He inherited a plan that was devised
under the preceding Eisenhower
presidency for anti-communist Cuban
exiles in the US to invade Cuba and
overthrow Fidel Castro’s governments.
In April 1961, ‘The Bay of Pigs invasion
ended in embarrassing failure.
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John F. Kennedy
United States
Richard Nixon was the 37th president of the United States and is the
only one to resign from office, following the Watergate scandal. His
presidency was also marked by the first moon landings.
In 1952, at the age of 39, Nixon was selected by Dwight Eisenhower to
be his running mate in Eisenhower's presidential campaign. They won a
resounding victory. As vice president, Nixon frequently stood in for
Eisenhower at home and on trips abroad. Nixon and Eisenhower easily
won re-election in 1956.
Nixon was nominated as the Republican candidate to run for president
in 1960, but lost by a narrow margin to John F Kennedy.
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Richard Nixon
United States
He returned to his former career as a lawyer. In 1968, he again received the Republican Party's
nomination and won the presidential election.
The most important issue facing Nixon when he became president was the war in Vietnam. He
began to withdraw American troops, but in April 1970, authorised the invasion of Cambodia to
pursue North Vietnamese troops. Simultaneously, Nixon pursued a policy of improving relations
with China and the Soviet Union, and in 1972 he visited both Beijing and Moscow.
Later the same year, Nixon was re-elected president in a landslide victory. In January 1973, a
ceasefire was signed between the US and North Vietnam.
During the 1972 election campaign there was a break-in at the offices of the Democratic Party's
national headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington DC. Five men connected with
Nixon's campaign team were arrested. Evidence of a cover-up was gradually uncovered and
President Nixon was himself implicated. On 8 August 1974, following months of a growing sense of
scandal, he announced his resignation. Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as president.
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Richard Nixon
United States
Reagan was 40th President of the United States, regarded as a key
figure in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
By the early 1960s Reagan was closely associated with the Republican
Party and in 1966, he won the governorship of California. He was reelected in 1970. In 1980, he was elected president, serving two fouryear terms. Reagan presided over a period of economic growth in the
1980s, and over the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. In his
final year in office, however, he visited Moscow for a summit meeting
with the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan's supporters credit
Reagan's anti-Soviet rhetoric and increased defence spending as a key
factor in bringing the Cold War to an end, because it forced the USSR to
recognise it could not compete with the American-led capitalist west.
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Ronald Regan