TheCold War

TheCold War

• A Cold War is a state of economic, diplomatic, and ideological discord among nations without armed conflict.

• The Cold War, often dated from 1947 to 1991, was a sustained state of political and military tension between powers in the Western Bloc, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact.

• Cold War “battles” occur in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East

Background: What

1950-1953 Korean War

1962 Cuban Missile

Crisis

1979-1990s War in Afghanistan:The Afghan gov’t supported by

Soviet Forces in fight against US-backed guerrilla fighters

1965-1973 Vietnam War

1960s-1980sIn Central & South America the USA supported anti-

Communist regimes (e.g. General

Pinochet in Chile). The USSR supported

Communist rebels1967-1980s: Israel supported by the US gov’t in Middle East conflict w/ Arabs. The USSR supported the

Palestinians & Arab states

1960

1970

1980

Truman

Eisenhower

Stalin Khrushchev

Kennedy

Johnson

Brezhnev

Nixon Ford Carter

Andropov

Chernenko

Gorbachev

ReaganBush

Sr.

1950-1953

TheKorean

War

Oct 1962

CubanMissileCrisis

1964 – 1973

American MilitaryInvolvementIn Vietnam

1956

HungarianUprising

1961

BerlinWallBuilt

1968

PragueSpring:Czecho-slovakia

1980-81

SolidarityIn Poland

1989

Collapse ofCommunismIn Eastern

Europe

1991 Collapse of Soviet Union

U.S.

U.S.S.R.

Background: How• MAD: “Mutually Assured Destruction”—the belief that neither

the U.S. nor the USSR would ever commit to a nuclear attack because the result would be too devastating

• Brinkmanship: The practice of pushing dangerous events to the verge of disaster in order to achieve the most advantageous outcome. E.g. The Cuban Missile Crisis

• Proxy Wars: A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. E.g. The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Iran-Iraq War

• Détente: The easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation. The term is often used in reference to the general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War.

Hot Spots

inthe

ColdWar

The Beginnings

• Mutual distrust between U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. had been brewing since the 1917 Russian Revolution

• The Soviet Union and United States united to defeat Hitler in WWII

• Once the war ended, differences became more apparent

• The Soviets lost 27 million people and saw mass devastation in the west of their country

• Americans lost just over 400,000 men and suffered no attacks after Pearl Harbor

• At the Yalta Conference in 1945, Stalin agreed to self-determination for European nations after WWII

• Stalin wanted to ensure security for the Soviet Union (remember their losses)

• He wanted a buffer zone and he wanted to extract reparations from Germany Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at Yalta.

Post War Desires

• "From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent [of Europe]. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern Europe.... All these famous cities and populations lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere."

--Winston Churchill , 1946

Soviet & Eastern Bloc

Nations[“Iron Curtai

n ”]

US & the Western

Democracies

GOAL spread world-wide Communism

GOAL “Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world.[George Kennan]

METHODOLOGIES:

Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]

Arms Race [nuclear escalation]

Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy] “proxy wars”

Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]

The Ideological Struggle

1.1. Civil War in Greece.Civil War in Greece.

2.2. Turkey under pressure from the Turkey under pressure from the USSR for concessions in the USSR for concessions in the Dardanelles.Dardanelles.

3.3. The U. S. should support free The U. S. should support free peoples throughout the world peoples throughout the world who were resisting takeovers by who were resisting takeovers by armed minorities or outside armed minorities or outside pressures…We must assist free pressures…We must assist free peoples to work out their own peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.destinies in their own way.

4.4. The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid.$400 million in aid.

Truman Doctrine [1947]

1.1. ““European Recovery European Recovery Program.Program.””

2.2. Secretary of State, Secretary of State, George MarshallGeorge Marshall

3.3. The U. S. should provide The U. S. should provide aid to aid to allall European nations European nations that need it. This move that need it. This move is not against any country or is not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.poverty, desperation, and chaos.

4.4. $12.5 billion of US aid to Western $12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to Eastern Europe Europe extended to Eastern Europe & USSR, [but this was rejected].& USSR, [but this was rejected].

Marshall Plan [1948]

Post-War Germany

• Blockade of Berlin began on June 24, ’48

• From June 1948 to May 1949, U.S. and British planes airlift 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin.

• After 200,000 flights, the Soviet Union lifts the blockade.

Berlin Airlift[1948-49]

• The airlift marked a rise in tensions between the West and the Soviets, but it also helped heal divisions left by World War II.

• Almost immediately, The United States, Great Britain, and France shifted from Germany's conquerors to its protectors.

• "The airlift was the starting point for Germany's inclusion in the West and for the reconciliation with the Western powers," Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen says.

• Allied cooperation paved way for formation of new military alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO

• Soviets formed their own alliance called Warsaw Pact in 1955

Berlin Airlift[1948-49]

} The Soviet The Soviet Union Union exploded its exploded its first A-bomb in first A-bomb in 1949.1949.

} Now there Now there were two were two nuclear nuclear superpowers!superpowers!

Arms Race Explodes[1949]

United StatesUnited States

BelgiumBelgium

BritainBritain

CanadaCanada

DenmarkDenmark

FranceFrance

IcelandIceland

ItalyItaly

LuxemburgLuxemburg

NetherlandsNetherlands

NorwayNorway

PortugalPortugal

1952: Greece & 1952: Greece & Turkey Turkey

1955: West 1955: West GermanyGermany

1983: Spain1983: Spain

North Atlantic Treaty Organization [1949]NATO

} U. S. S. R.U. S. S. R.

} AlbaniaAlbania

} BulgariaBulgaria

} CzechoslovakCzechoslovakiaia

} East East GermanyGermany

} HungaryHungary

} PolandPoland

} Romania (For Romania (For Pheeeoooo)Pheeeoooo)

Warsaw Pact [1955]

• In June, Jiang Jieshi defeated by Mao– Flee to island of Taiwan

• Oct 1, Mao proclaims People’s Republic of China (PRC)

• Two months later, Mao travels to Moscow,– negotiates the Sino-

Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

Communists Take Power in China[1949]

The Cold War at HomeThe Smith Act -

1940

• Truman charged several leaders of the Communist Party in the United States under this act.

• The act made it a crime to call for the overthrow of the U.S. government.

• The leaders were convicted and their convictions were upheld in Dennis v. United States.

The Smith Act - 1940

• Truman charged several leaders of the Communist Party in the United States under this act.

• The act made it a crime to call for the overthrow of the U.S. government.

• The leaders were convicted and their convictions were upheld in Dennis v. United States.

A 1947 comic warning of the supposed dangers of a Communist takeover.

The Cold War at Home

Spy Cases 1950-1951

• Alger Hiss —convicted of being a spy for the Soviets.

• Klaus Fuchs —a Manhattan Project scientist who gave atomic bomb information to the Soviets.

• Ethel and Julius Rosenberg —convicted of passing secrets to the Soviets and executed.

Alger Hiss

• Truman investigated all federal employees to ensure the loyalty of government officials.

• The investigations turned up little evidence of disloyalty.

• This investigation made clear that Truman was serious about fighting communism.

President Harry S Truman

The Cold War at Home

Joseph McCarthy and the Second Red Scare

• Joseph McCarthy was a senator who claimed that there were 205 known Communists working for the U.S. Department of State.

• Truman dismissed him as a “ballyhoo artist.”

• A political cartoonist dubbed McCarthy’s tactic of spreading fear and making baseless charges McCarthyism.

• McCarthy’s claims were rarely backed up with any evidence, but this didn’t stop him from gaining a reputation as being the nation’s top Communist fighter.

• McCarthy succeeded when he made a special effort to defeat Maryland senator Millard Tydings.

• McCarthyism spread beyond the Senate into other branches of government, into universities, into labor unions, and into private businesses.

Joseph McCarthy

The Cold War at Home

Investigating Hollywood

• The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) explored the possible Communist influence in the American film industry.

• The Hollywood Ten refused to answer HUAC questions about their beliefs or those of their colleagues.

• Many others in Hollywood did testify, for if they didn’t their names were placed on a blacklist.

“Hearing on Communism in Hollywood – Washington, DC” 23 Oct. 1947.

The Cold War at Home

McCarthy’s Fall

• McCarthy continued his campaign from the Senate but became increasingly wild in his accusations.

• In 1952 he began to go after fellow Republicans.

• In 1954 McCarthy attacked the U.S. Army, claiming that it was protecting Communists.

• The public came to view McCarthy’s tactics as unfair.

• The fear of communism remained, but Senator McCarthy and McCarthyism faded away.

The Cold War at Home

• On June 25, North Korean communist forces cross the 38th parallel and invade South Korea.

• On June 27, Truman orders U.S. forces to assist the South Koreans

• The U.N. Security Council condemns the invasion and est’d a 15-nation fighting force.

• Chinese troops enter the conflict by year's end.

• Cease fire eventually brings war to close by 1953

Korean War [1950-53]

• After a long siege, Vietnamese communists under Ho Chi Minh defeat French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954.

• In July, the Geneva Accords divide the country at the 17th parallel, creating a North and South Vietnam.

• The United States assumes the chief responsibility of providing anti-communist aid to South Vietnam.

Dein Bein Phu [1954]

• On January 12, 1954 U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles first announces the doctrine of Massive Retaliation.

• It threatens full-scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union in response to communist aggression anywhere in the world.

John Foster Dulles and MacArthur in Korea, 1950

Massive Retaliation [1954]

• On October 4, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth.

• In 1958, the U.S. creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the space race is in full gear.

Sputnik I [1957]

• Many countries, like India, want to avoid involvement in Cold War

• Third World — developing nations; often newly independent, nonaligned

• U.S., Soviet Union, China compete for influence over Third World– Back revolutions and give economic,

military, technical aid – Some leaders (Nehru, Nasser) take

advantage of this competition

• On May 1, an American high-altitude U-2 spy plane is shot down on a mission over the Soviet Union.

• After the Soviets announce the capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers, the United States recants earlier assertions that the plane was on a weather research mission.

•Suffering major embarrassment, Eisenhower was forced to admit the truth, although he refused to publicly apologize to Khrushchev.

•This refusal caused the Paris Summit to collapse when Khrushchev stormed out of negotiations.• Powers was sentenced to ten

years in prison, including seven years of hard labor, following an infamous show-trial. He served less than two years, however, and was released in 1962 in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.

The U2 Affair [1960]

• On August 15, communist authorities begin construction on the Berlin Wall to prevent East Germans from fleeing to West Berlin.

Berlin Wall [1961]

Ich bin ein Ich bin ein Berliner!Berliner!

President President Kennedy tells Kennedy tells Berliners that Berliners that

the West is the West is with them!with them!

President Kennedy Speaks in Berlin [1963]

• January 1, 1959 leftist forces under Fidel Castro overthrow Fulgencio Batista

• Castro nationalizes the sugar industry and signs trade agreements with the Soviet Union.

• The next year, Castro seizes U.S. assets on the island.

Castro Takes Power in Cuba [1959]

Khrushchev Embraces Castro [1961]

• U.S.-organized invasion force of 1,400 Cuban exiles is defeated by Castro's government forces on Cuba's south coast at the Bay of Pigs.

• Launched from Guatemala in ships and planes provided by the United States, the invaders surrender on April 20 after three days of fighting.

• Kennedy takes full responsibility for the disaster. Captured Cubans

Bay of Pigs [1961]

• After Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet Union installed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

• After U-2 flights Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba on October 22 until the Soviet Union removed its missiles.

• On October 28, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles, defusing one of the most dangerous confrontations of the Cold War.

Cuban Missile Crisis [1962]

Vietnam War [1965-73]

• North Vietnamese patrol boats fired on the USS Mattox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2.

• On August 7, the U.S. Congress approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, granting President Johnson authority to send U.S. troops to South Vietnam.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution [1964]

• Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese Army troops launched attacks across South Vietnam on January 30, the start of the lunar new year Tet.

• In Saigon, guerrillas battle Marines at the U.S. Embassy.

• In March, Johnson orders a halt to the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam and offers peace talks.

Tet Offensive [1968]

• 1968, Richard Nixon elected President, defeating Hubert Humphrey

• On June 8, 1969 U.S. President Nixon announced his "Vietnamization" plan, designed to withdraw U.S ground forces from Vietnam and turn control of the war over to South Vietnamese forces.

Vietnamization [1968]

• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty• SALT I

– 1969—reduce nuclear weapon arsenals

• SALT II– 1979, same general

guidelines– USA does not ratify in protest

of USSR invasion of Afghanistan

• Largely symbolic, indicative of move toward détente

• U.S. backs out all agreements in 1986 (height of “2nd Cold War”)

Gerald Ford and Leonid Brezhnev signing a joint communiqué on the SALT treaty in Vladivostok, November 23, 1974.

In 1979, Pres. Carter worked out the details of the SALT II Treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

SALT Treaties

• Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to visit China, meeting with Mao Tse-tung on February 21.

• The two countries issue a communique recognizing their "essential differences" while making it clear that "normalization of relations" was in all nations' best interests.

• The rapprochement changes the balance of power with the Soviets.

President Nixon Visits China [1972]

Détente• Détente: the general cooling of tensions during

the Cold War middle-period (70s)• Result of 60s hyper-tension

– Bay of Pigs, Cuban Missile Crisis– Space Race– Arms Race

• “Hawkish” leaders out of power

In 1975, U.S. and Soviet astronauts conducted a joint space mission.

In 1972, Pres. Nixon became the first President to visit the Soviet Union since the Cold War began.

• January 27, 1973, the United States, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Viet Cong sign the Paris Peace Treaty, establishing a cease-fire.

• The United States is allowed to continue providing aid to South Vietnam.

• Saigon falls in April 1975.

Paris Peace Treaty [1973]

• 1975, Helsinki, Finland• Attempt to reduce tensions

between Western Nations and Communist Bloc

• Thirty-five states, including the USA, Canada, and all European states except Albania and Andorra

• Main result: Brought Europeans together outside of the US vs USSR power arrangements of the Cold War

Erich Honecker (DDR, left) and Helmut Schmidt (FRG) in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975.

Helsinki Accords[1975]

• Shah embraces Western governments, oil companies

• Nationalists overthrow Shah, seize oil• U.S. restores Shah to power, fearing

Soviet encroachment• 1978: Khomeini — Iranian Muslim

leader; sparks riots in Iran; Shah flees• Hostage crisis, President Carter • Iraq-Iran War (1980-88)

Iran

• Soviets invade Afghanistan, help Communist government against rebels

• Muslim rebels fight guerilla war against Soviets with U.S. weapons for nearly a decade– Osama Bin Laden helps organize defense of

Muslim lands– Taliban emerge

• Afghanistan = the U.S.S.R.’s “Vietnam”• U.S. stops grain shipments to Soviet Union; U.S.

also boycotts 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow as protest

Afghanistan[1979-1988]

• Anti-Communist U.S. president takes office in 1981

• Increases military spending, proposes a missile defense program called Star Wars

• In 1985, new Soviet leadership allows easing of Cold War tensions

President Reaganand the Cold War

• March 23, Reagan outlinrd his Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars," a space-based defensive shield that would use lasers and other advanced technology to destroy attacking missiles far above the Earth's surface.

• Soviets accuse the U.S of violating the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.

• Soviets forced to spend heavily to match the program causing near economic collapse.

Star Wars [1983]

• On March 11, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union.

• Gorbachev ushered in an era of reform.– perestroika

• Economic reform- restructuring

– glasnost– means openness, allowed greater

free expression and criticism of Soviet policies

Gorbachev Comes to Power in U.S.S.R. [1985]

• On December 8, 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

• It mandated the removal of more than 2,600 medium-range nuclear missiles from Europe, & eliminated the entire class of Soviet SS-20 and U.S. Cruise and Pershing II missiles.

INF Treaty [1987]

• Gorbachev renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine, which pledged to use Soviet force to protect its interests in Eastern Europe.

• On September 10, Hungary opened its border with Austria, allowing East Germans to flee to the West.

• After massive public demonstrations in East Germany and Eastern Europe, the Berlin Wall fell on November 9.

Berlin Wall Falls [1989]

• At a September 12 meeting in Moscow, the United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and the two Germanys agreed to end Allied occupation rights in Germany.

• On October 3, East and West Germany united as the Federal Republic of Germany.

German Unification [1990]

· As a result, fifteen Soviet republics gained their independence.

· Eventually, however, Gorbachev was forced to resign in 1991, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

Post-Soviet states in alphabetical order: 1. Armenia; 2. Azerbaijan; 3. Belarus; 4. Estonia; 5. Georgia; 6. Kazakhstan; 7. Kyrgyzstan; 8. Latvia; 9. Lithuania; 10. Moldova; 11. Russia; 12. Tajikistan; 13. Turkmenistan; 14. Ukraine; 15. Uzbekistan

End of Soviet Union [1991]