Communism and Conflict

Berlin AirliftAlliances Nuclear EscalationTurmoil in China

Berlin Airlift • The US, France, and

Britain withdraw their forces in 1948 and allow their three zones to form one country

• Berlin is deep within the Soviet zone of Germany

• The Soviet Union responds by holding west Berlin hostage

Berlin Airlift • Soviets cut off highway and railway access to

the city as well as water • Stalin hoped this would scare the allies into

surrendering west Berlin • US and Britain break the blockade with

airplanes!!!!!– Planes landed and took off every three minutes – 277,000 flights – 2.3 million tons of supplies

• Soviets forced to admit defeat after 11 months – Negotiations took place at the United Nations

Alliances Form

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization – Western Democracies fear WWIII erupting

from the chaos and uncertainty shown by the Berlin Blockade

– Fear the West would not be able to wage a war against the Soviet Union should one erupt

– 10 countries including US and Canada sign the collective security agreement

– First US peacetime military commitment

Alliances Form

• Soviets see NATO as a threat to their own security

• Respond by forming an alliance system of their own

• The Warsaw Pact included the Soviet Union and the satellite countries

Alliances Form

• The United States continued to search for Allies in a potential war and continue the policy of containment

• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization – SEATO– Formed to stabilize the area after the

beginning of the Korean Conflict

Nuclear Weapons

• The Soviet Union does not waste any time in developing its own atomic bomb (1949)

• The US is determined to develop an even deadlier bomb – Thermonuclear weapons were the next step – Truman okays research into the H-bomb which would

be 1,000 times stronger than the A-bomb – US successfully develops this weapon by 1952 and

the Soviets follow with their version months later

Arms Race

• As time went on the weapons become more powerful

• Constant competition to outdo the each other with sheer power

• Who could create and master the most terrifying weapons of them all

Brinkmanship

• Eisenhower assumes the presidency in 1954 – Appoints John Foster Dulles as his secretary

of state who is firmly anti-communist • Declared that if the Soviet Union or its

supporters launched an attack against the US the US would immediately retaliate.

• Willingness to go to the edge of war referred to as brinkmanship

Science and Technology

• Cold war fueled scientific research and technological advances – Needed to outdo the

other country in both weapons and prestige

• Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)

Fragile Balance

• Watch the following movie and answer the questions.

Communist China

• Take a moment and answer the following review questions:– Who was the nationalist leader in China?– Who was the communist leader in China?– What was the Long March?

WWII Interrupts a Civil War

• During WWII China was invaded by Japan – Mao is able to beat back the Japanese in Northern

China and gain control of the area • Wins the trust and loyalty of the peasants by promoting

literacy and providing food

• Chiang Kai-Shek now called Jiang Jieshi is still in control of the nationalists – US gives about $1.5 billion in aid to his armies to fight

the Japanese– Waste aide or save it for the fight with Mao instead

Civil War Resumes • Nationalist appear to be

in the better position at the outset of the struggle– Larger army– Continued aid from the US

• Collapsing economy leads many nationalists to desert and defect to the communist army causing the Nationalists to lose the war

Two Chinas

• Mao and the People’s Republic of China – Received aid from the Soviets and had a

military alliance • Jiang and Nationalist China based in

Taiwan called the Republic of China – Supported by the US

Response to the Chinas

• US seeks to expand its own influence in Asia – Limits USSR occupation of Japan – Splits Korea into a North and South

Chinese Expansion Under Mao

• Mao expands into Inner Mongolia, India, and Tibet – Had promised autonomy to the Tibetians who

were followers of the Dalai Lama – Dalai Lama forced to flee to India as

communist China’s forces tighten on the region

Changes Under Mao

• Claimed to have a new “Mandate of Heaven”

• Communists only 1% of the population at the outset – Set up a party organization and a national

government – Mao heads both

Marx and China

• Mao wants to model Chinese economy after Marxist system – Most farmers did not own their own land – 10% of population owned 70% of the land

• Agrarian Reform Law of 1950 – Seized and redistributed land – Killed any landowner who resisted

• Forced peasants to join collective farms – What other leader has done this in history?

Marx and China

• Women given an equal place in the home and the workplace as Marx suggests – In direct conflict with the Confucian beliefs

and way of life– Completely disrupts the social order of the

country • National child care instituted to allow

women the freedom to become an equal part in the workplace

Marx and China

• Nationalization of Industry – Government takes control of the means of

production • Sets out a 5 year plan for their industry

– Succeeds – Increases output of coal, cement, and

electricity by 100%– Steel production quadruples

Great Leap Forward • Larger collective farms called communes

– 26,000 established averaging 15,000 acres and supporting 25,000 people each

– Worked together, ate together, slept in dormitories, raised their children together

– Removed personal profit motive so no reward to work hard when only the state benefited

• Program fails when it is inefficient and people hate the lifestyle– Crop failures also cause mass starvation in 1958 and

1961• Program officially ends 1961

Changes for China

• After Great Leap failure Mao diminishes role in the government

• New leaders move away from Mao’s strict socialist – Allow farmers to live in their own homes – Sale of goods from small private plots – Factory workers could compete for raises,

bonuses and promotions

Mao’s Objections

• Mao does not like the new direction – Straying away from Socialist goals

• 1966 launches a new campaign to try and keep the communists on track

• Called on the younger generation to “learn revolution by making revolution”– High School and College students leave class

and form militias called the Red Guards

Cultural Revolution • Red Guards lead Cultural Revolution • Goal of the revolution was to achieve

complete equality for all peasants and workers – Intellectual and artistic activities seen as

useless– Shut down colleges and schools – Intellectuals forced to do hard labor to purify

themselves – People who did not agree were executed or

jailed

Cultural Revolution

• Shut down factories and schools • Complete chaos and anarchy threatens to

collapse the country • Mao eventually acknowledges that the

revolution must be stopped• In 1976 Mao gives the order to dissolve

the Red Guards

Soviet Problems

• Soviet Union and China pledge friendship at the outset of Mao’s rule– Begin to fight over who will lead the worldwide

communist movement – Territory disputes along their border

• USSR ends economic aid to China in 1960