The Cold War ( )

Transcription

1 The Cold War ( )

2 The Cold War represented an ideological conflict between the U.S. and its allies on the one side and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other. This conflict spanned the globe and involved many proxy wars.

3 Winston Churchill s Iron Curtain Speech (1946) -At the end of World War II Soviet forces occupied all of Eastern Europe and much of the Balkans - By 1947 Communist governments became established in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania -Tensions between East and West developed over Vienna, Berlin, and Czechoslovakia -In a 1946 speech at Westminster College, former British Prime Minister Churchill said an iron curtain had fallen upon Europe, diving communist countries in Eastern Europe from free countries in the West -The Grand Alliance was over; the Yalta system had broken down

4 The Division of Berlin into Eastern and Western Sectors -At war s end Berlin was divided into four sectors: a French sector, a British sector, an American sector, and a Russian sector -Although each of the four powers administered its own sector, movement between each sector was to be free, in keeping with agreements made at war s end

5 The Truman Doctrine -In response to communist insurgencies in Greece and Turkey, U.S. President Harry Truman said in March 1947 that the U.S. would aid any nation trying to avoid becoming communist -This aid could be economic and/or military in nature

6 The Containment Theory -This theory, first articulated in the journal Foreign Affairs in July 1947, stated that the best way to thwart communism in the world was to keep it from spreading in the first place -Former U.S. diplomat George Kennan was the main proponent of this theory

7 The Marshall Plan -Also known as the European Recovery Plan, this plan, first articulated by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall in a speech given at Harvard University in 1947, promised a massive economic aid program for western Europe -This program was very successful; it went a long way towards helping West European nations recover from the destruction caused by WWII

8 The Berlin Blockade and Airlift ( ) -In an effort to force West Berlin to be turned over to East Germany, the Soviets launched an economic blockade of West Berlin in In response, the U.S., French and British conducted a massive airlift of supplies to West Berlin over many months - Conditions were difficult in West Berlin but the blockade became increasingly ineffective in light of the Western response - As a result, the Soviets decided to call off the blockade in 1949

9 The Formation of NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955) -In order to protect western nations from possible Soviet aggression, Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (or NATO) in Several years later, the communist bloc in Eastern Europe formed the Warsaw Pact -Both of these organizations were primarily military in nature but they also had political ramifications as well -The U.S. led NATO whereas the Soviet Union led the Warsaw Pact

10 Chinese Civil War: Mao & The Communists win by The Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong eventually defeated the Chinese Nationalists led by Jiang Jieshi (aka Chiang Kaishek) and took control of the Chinese mainland -The Nationalists fled to Taiwan, where they established a separate government -For many years, the Nationalist government on Taiwan was recognized as China s sole legitimate government by the U.N.

11 The Korean War ( ) -Korean communists under Kim Il Jung invade South Korea in June The U.S. come to South Korea s aid and push the North Koreans back past the 38 th parallel up toward the Chinese border -General Douglas MacArthur is overall commander of U.S. forces in Korea at first -MacArthur and Truman disagree about whether U.S. and U.N. forces should go across the Yalu River (the border with China); Truman eventually relieves MacArthur of command

12 The Korean War (continued) -The Chinese Communists come to North Korea s aid and the U.S. and its U.N. allies are pushed back -The Russians also assist the North Koreans, esp. with aircraft -By July 1953 a stalemate has ensued and a ceasefire is agreed to by all parties -From that time North Korea has remained communist while the South has stayed anti-communist -In the 1980s South Korea evolved into a democracy; it could also boast of a thriving economy

13 The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam (1954) -After WWII France tried to reestablish its colony in Indo- China -Vietnamese forces led by Communist leader Ho Chi Minh were able to oust the French from North Vietnam -A key battle in this move toward independence was the epic battle of Dien Bien Phu, where Vietnamese Gen. Giap was able to compel a determined French foe to surrender in a remote valley -The Geneva Conference (1954) temporarily divided Vietnam: South Vietnam remained anticommunist while the North was controlled by the Communists

14 Khrushchev s De-stalinization Speech (1956) -After Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took over as Soviet leader -In general, Khrushchev sought peaceful coexistence with the West -In a 1956 speech at an important Communist Party congress, Khrushchev denounced Stalin for his crimes -A cultural thaw set in in Russia and the Eastern Bloc; Khrushchev seemed more tolerant than Stalin -Later, in 1956, such hopes were dashed when Warsaw Pact nations, under Soviet leadership, crushed an uprising in Hungary

15 Sputnik and the Space Race -In the late 1950s the Russians seemed to be leading the West in the Space Race -The U.S.S.R. was the first to launch first an unmanned satellite (Sputnik), then a manned rocket (with Yuri Gargarin aboard) into space -The U.S. became very concerned and tried to catch up -In 1958 NASA is created

16 Fidel Castro and his Communist supporters seize power in Cuba -In the late 1950s Fidel Castro and his supporters ousted the dictator Batista from power in Cuba -Soon Castro began to change Cuban society dramatically and showed himself to be a Communist -The Soviet Union gave him aid -Cuban exiles in the U.S. esp. worked on plans to overthrow Castro

17 The Berlin Wall (built in 1961) -Concerned because of a continued exodus of its citizens to the West, particularly of a brain drain, the Communist East German government decided to erect a wall separating East and West Berlin -Despite Western protests, East German citizens were prevented from going to Western Europe through West Berlin; those that tried risked getting killed at the border

18 Berlin Wall (continued) -For almost 30 years, the Berlin Wall (aka Die Mauer) would stand as a symbol of the divide between East and West -Troops in guard towers prevented East Germans from approaching no-man s land before the Wall while on the Western side tourists would go up on platforms where they could gawk at events on the other side; westerners could also go to East Berlin on daypasses -Within a few years, East German authorities tore down buildings near the border to make it harder for people to escape via tunnels and other methods

19 Checkpoint Charlie -One of the better-known crossing points was at Checkpoint Charlie

20 Checkpoint Charlie (continued) -Today a Cold War museum is found at Checkpoint Charlie -This part of Berlin has changed considerably over the last 20 years as many new buildings have been constructed here

21 The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1961) -Shortly after taking office, U.S. President John F. Kennedy backed an amphibious landing in the Bay of Pigs by Cuban exiles hoping to overthrow Castro -The landing and hoped-for insurrection fail; a few months later, the U.S.S.R. sends missiles to Cuba -The U.S. enforces a naval blockade of Cuba to force the Soviets to withdraw these missiles -The crisis is ended when the missiles are withdrawn

22 The Vietnam War ( ) -After the French left Vietnam, the U.S. became drawn into the conflict -After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1963), the U.S. committed hundreds of thousands of men and millions of dollars towards fighting the North Vietnamese and their allies in the South, the Viet Cong -The U.S. had mixed results on the battlefield -By 1973 the U.S. had withdrawn most of its troops and by 1975 the South had fallen to the Communists

23 The Domino Theory -One of the reasons the U.S. became so involved in Vietnam was the belief of many American policymakers in the Domino Theory -This theory stated that if one country fell to communism, it was more likely that other countries would fall in turn -Belief in this theory largely overcame the fact that Vietnam was strategically not so important to the U.S.

24 An example of the Domino Theory in East Asia

25 The Soviets become mired in Afghanistan ( ) -In the 1980s the Soviets fight a war of attrition in Afghanistan -We engage in covert action in support of the rebels, many of whom were Islamists -By the late 1980s the Soviets, exhausted and demoralized, withdraw

26 The Rise of the Solidarity Union in Poland -Communist control of Eastern Europe begins to crack in the early 1980s -One of the major forces behind this crumbling of support for the Soviet system is the Solidarity movement in Poland, led by Lech Walesa in Gdansk -Polish Communist leader Gomulka is forced to resign; the Communists are only able to hold on via repression

27 Gorbachev attempts to reform the U.S.S.R. -In the 1980s the new Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, attempts to reform the U.S.S.R. -The cornerstone of his reforms: glasnost (political opening) and perestroika (economic restructuring) -Gorbachev also promises greater autonomy for Eastern European regimes - These reforms, at home and abroad, are only partially successful

28 The Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) -In 1989 East Germany collapses -The Berlin Wall is torn down -Within a couple of years, Germany is reunited

29 The Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) -The Soviet system itself collapses in The U.S.S.R. breaks up into Russia, Ukraine, Kazhakstan, etc. -Boris Yeltsin takes over as the leader of Russia -The Cold War is over