The Cold War- Defined

1945 to the early 1990s

Intense international struggle between East and West

East represented and dominated by the United

Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) West represented and dominated by the United States (US) More than just two superpowers posing a threat towards each other

The Cold War- Defined

Global rivalry between conflicting perspectives and

world views,
deeply rooted in the different historical experiences

and perceptions of those who made up the East and the West

The West
Industrialized nations of Europe and North

America Managed to bring the rest of the world under their cultural and economic influence (usually under direct political control) through Imperialism Imperialistic dominance
Confirmed the superiority of its values and

institutions

The West
Characteristics included Political Liberalism- parliamentary assemblies and guaranteed freedoms moving steadily towards full democracy Laissez-faire capitalism- free market economies and industrial capitalism seemed to be creating immense wealth and unlimited opportunities Christianity- Judeo-Christian ideals had a powerful hold on the majority of persons of European descent

The West
Not universally appreciated

Non-western victims of imperialist oppression

and exploitation Deep and growing resentment toward the Europeans and their institutions
Even in Europe itself

Led to the emergence of a number of

socialist movements
system

Goal was too alter or overthrow the capitalist

The East
Marxists Most influential critics of Western institutions and values Developed an ideological system to explain the success of industrial capitalism and to forecast its eventual destruction Launched a bitter and relentless attack on those cherished institutions that Westerners valued the most All about class conflict
Landed aristocracy loses power to influential new class- the

bourgeoisie

Wealth based on capital investment rather than on real estate

The East
Marxists believed the Bourgeois institutions

were exploitative, designed to perpetuate the power of the Bourgeois Led to the creation of the Proletariat
The urban working class who had no land,

possessed no rights, and had only their labor to sell and bargain with Would eventually rise up against their oppressors and create a dictatorship of the proletariat that would result in worldwide socialist order Class struggle would end and social classes would cease to exist

The East
Attracted many people who were disillusioned

with Western society Led to the creation of labor unions, strikes, and political parties whose aim was to improve working conditions Often led to reform rather than revolution More and more working conditions improved and Capitalists and Socialists realized living conditions for the worker were improving, not deteriorating

The East
Caused a split in the socialist movement and the

creation of socialist democracies (think Britain and France in the 1930s) Other hard-line socialists/Marxists saw this as selling out to the Capitalists

Bolshevik Revolution
Vladimir Lenin- Bolsheviks

Vanguard of the Proletariat Fighting against both the aging autocratic regime and the emergence of capitalism
Incorporated certain nationalistic and imperialistic

tendencies

Bolshevik Revolution
Slavophilism- the conviction that Slavic ways of

thinking and acting were superior to those of the West Moscow was the Third Rome
Inherited center of civilization status from Rome and

Constantinople

Imperialism and Capitalism are identical Essential ingredient of Marxism-Leninism

World War I
West- exposure of dangers of militarism,

expansionism, and jingoism

East- failure of the internationalized proletariat as

socialist leaders supported war and workers marched off to fight against their fellow proletarians from other nations

Communist International
Marxist goal of a worldwide socialist revolution that

would bring a violent end to free market capitalism and liberal democracy Global campaign to undermine and subvert the capitalist powers and their parliamentary governments Created the Comintern in 1919 Russian Civil War Allied intervention to overthrow the Red Army Left a legacy of bitterness and suspicion between Russia and

the West

Communism Gains a Following

Industrial proletariat of Western

Europe Colonial peoples who had been subjugated by Western imperialism

New Economic Policy

Temporarily postponed their push for world revolution Resorted to socialism in one country and coexistence with the capitalist world The West abandoned its efforts to overthrow the

Communist regime
Came to accept the Soviets as an unpleasant but unavoidable

reality

The Great Depression

Shook the capitalist world to its core Marxists shouted We told you so! Problems in Soviet Union too Stalin started a series of five year plans
Rapid industrialization Collectivization of agriculture

Goal was to catch up to the West in order to ensure the

survival of the USSR

Rise of Hitler & Nazi Regime

Communist Russia saw Hitler as a means by which to

destroy democracy
Stalin hoped war in Europe would work to his advantage as

Western Europe engaged in battle while the USSR sat back and watched Stalin feared that the opposite would become true (which it did)

Rise of Hitler & Nazi Regime

The West saw Hitler as a means by which to keep

Communism in eastern Europe

Greatly horrified by the Great Purges in the USSR at the

demands of Stalin How could the West trust such a madman

Americas Role
Basically remained uninvolved in European

affairs To America, Communism was just as dangerous and as much a threat as was Hitlers Nazism Deeply suspicious of each other- it seemed that the US and USSR could not collaborate to take out Hitler USSR realized they could not rely on help from the imperialist West against the Nazis

Czechoslovakia, Poland, ?
Because of the unraveling events in Europe, Soviets

began to put out feelers towards their closest threat (Nazi Germany) Sent Viacheslav Molotov to negotiate some sort of pact with Germany German foreign minister was Joachim Ribbentrop

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Assured Soviet neutrality at a high cost

Soviets secured Polish territory up to the

Curzon Line Germans gained important access to former Russian possessions

Latvia, Estonia, and Finland

Soviets hoped that Germany and the West

would tear each other apart as time was now on their side

Western Response
Horrified and angered

Strengthened belief in the duplicity and

treachery of the Soviet Union Relations were no better than twenty years earlier West had intervened in Russian Civil War and openly condemned the policies of Stalin Soviets were still determined to destroy the tenets of the West
Capitalism, Democracy, and Christianity

Western Response
Each was willing to betray the others interests West- Munich Conference where they gave everything Hitler wanted East- signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact