Cold War

A clash of Ideologies
Communism: Capitalism:
• Collectivism • Individualism
• Equality • Freedom
• Socialism
• Democracy
• Totalitarianism
• Limited Government
* The end goal of communism
* The end goal of capitalism is
is to convert the world.
economic freedom
 Cold War?
• The tension and rivalry between the USA and the USSR was described as the
Cold War (1945-1990).

• There was never a real war between the two sides between 1945 and 1990,
but they were often very close to war (Hotspots).

• Both sides got involved in other conflicts in the world to either stop the spread
of communism (USA) or help the spread (USSR).
 Cold War Characteristics
• Political, strategic and ideological struggle between the US and the USSR
that spread throughout the world

• Struggle that contained everything short of war

• Competing social and economic ideologies

4
 Nuclear tensions
• The USA had shown its atomic power when it exploded the A-bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.

• The USSR was also developing atomic weapons/bombs.

• The USA and the USSR were in competition with each other to have the best,
most powerful weapons in the world – this was called the Arms Race.
 Tension @ Potsdam
• The U.S., Great Britain and U.S.S.R. sat down before the end of WWII
to decide what Europe would look like

• The soviets viewed the lands they occupied following WWII as

“payback” for the sacrifices they made in WWII

• Stalin promised the Soviets would allow free elections in the lands that
they occupied

• “Free” elections meant only the communist party to vote for.

• What happened to all the other Parties? Hmmm?

Many noteworthy countries became communist after World War 2 including:

• Czechoslovakia (1948) • Albania (1947)

• China (1949)
• East Germany
• Cuba (1959)
• Poland (1947) • North Korea (1945)
• Hungary (1947) • Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Romania (1947)
• Laos
• Bulgaria (1947)
• Nicaragua
 The ‘Truman Doctrine’
• Truman had been horrified at the pre-war Allied policy of
appeasement and was determined to stand up to any Soviet
intimidation.

• The Truman Doctrine in March 1947 promised that the USA

“would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by
armed minorities or by outside pressures”.

• Triggered by British inability to hold the line in Greece, it was

followed by aid to Greece and Turkey, and also money to help
capitalists to stop communists in Italy and France.

• It signalled the end of “isolationist” policies.

 “Economic” Aid
• The Marshall Plan offered huge sums to enable the economies of Europe to
rebuild after World War II, and, by generating prosperity, to reject the appeal
of Communism.

• The Soviet Union (USSR) prevented Eastern European countries from

receiving American money

• They followed up with their own “plan” called the Molotov Plan

• However, to receive aid from the Molotov Plan, Nations had to agree to Soviet
presence
Germany - divided
• Germany, which had been ruled by
the Hitler and the Nazis until their
defeat in 1945 was split in two.

• The western side became West

Germany and the eastern side
became East Germany.

• East Germany became another

communist country.
 Focus on Berlin
• After World War II, Germany was divided into four zones, occupied by French,
British, American, and Soviet troops.

Occupation zones after 1945. Berlin is the

multinational area within the Soviet zone.
 Soviet blockade:

East Berlin

West East West Berlin

Germany Germany
In June of 1948, the French,
British and American zones were
joined into the nation of West
Germany after the Soviets refused
to end their occupation of
Germany.
The Berlin Wall 1961
Opposing Alliances
In 1949, the U.S. formed an alliance
with friendly European countries
called the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).

The members of NATO would

defend each other against any
Soviet aggression.
In 1955, the Soviet Union formed
its own military alliance called the
Warsaw Pact.

The Warsaw Pact was made up of

Eastern European countries
dominated by Soviet control.
• The USSR had a lot of influence over many of the new communist countries
(especially those in Europe).
• The USA was very worried that the USSR’s influence over these countries
was making the USSR and communism more powerful.
• The USA did not want communism to spread any further – they were worried
about the domino effect (one country becomes communist, then another,
then another etc)
 Cold War?
• The tension and rivalry between the USA and the USSR was described as the
Cold War (1945-1990).

• There was never a real war between the two sides between 1945 and 1990,
but they were often very close to war (Hotspots). Both sides got involved in
other conflicts in the world to either stop the spread of communism (USA) or
help the spread (USSR).
The Korean War 1950-1953
 Korean War period
• After Japan’s defeat in WW2, Korea was
divided at the 38th Parallel of latitude.

• The Soviet Union supported a communist

government in North Korea

• The United States supported a non-

communist government in South Korea
Fighting in Korea
 Korean war period
• Tensions between North and
South Korea exploded when
North Korea invaded South
Korea on June 25, 1950.

• President Truman responded

to the invasion by sending in a
military force into Korea.
 Truman versus Macarthur and the Korean War
• WW2 Hero General Douglas MacArthur was
appointed by President Truman to lead a military
force into Korea.

• General MacArthur believed that the United States

could win the Korean War if it invaded China.

• President Truman felt that attacking China could

lead to another world war and warned MacArthur
against making any further inflammatory
statements.
• MacArthur disobeyed Truman and publicly argued that the United States
could not win the war because of politicians in Washington D.C.

• Truman became furious with this statement and fired MacArthur.

 Korean war period
• The UN force, led by General MacArthur
chased the North Koreans back to the Yulu
River that separates China from Korea.

• China was furious over this

• A stalemate then ensued.

• A stalemate is a situation in which neither side

wins.
• The U.N. sent an international force to Korea in order to push the North
Koreans out of South Korea.

United Nations forces fighting to recapture Seoul, South Korea, from

communist invaders, September 1950.
• In July of 1953, the Korean War ended, in which over 54,000 Americans died.
 Role of India
• India was actively involved in negotiation process in the Korean peninsula by
engaging all the major stakeholders – US, USSR and China.

• In late 1952, the Indian resolution on Korea was adopted at the UN with
unanimous non-Soviet support.

• Despite the unfavourable international political climate, India succeeded in

building consensus – which ended in the “Armistice Agreement”.

• After this armistice a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC) was

formed.
• NNRC was to decide on the fate of over 20,000 prisoners of war from both
sides and India was chosen as the Chair of the NNRC.

• A UN Command led by an Englishman and a Custodian Force from India

(headed by Lt.Gen Thimayya) was also deployed in the inter-Korean border.

• NNRC’s tenure ended in early 1954, and the Indian forces were praised
internationally for executing the tough stabilising operations successfully.
South Korean troops patrol along the
DMZ.
1953: Stalin died
 Nikita Khrushchev (r. 1953-64)
• Enthusiastic
• open-minded
• mercurial
• 1956: 20th CPSU Congress
 Peaceful co-existence
 Secret Speech
• “The Thaw” or De-Stalinization, 1956-64
• GULAG dismantled
• But… Smashed Hungarian revolution of 1956:
 2500 Hungarians killed
 13,000 wounded
 Khrushchev’s internal reforms
• Agriculture: “Virgin Lands”

• Housing crisis: Khrushchovka

• 1957: B. Pasternak, Doktor Zhivago

• Nov. 1962: A. Solzhenitsyn, One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

• Persecuted Orthodox Churches, from 15,000 (1951) to 8000 (1963).

• Allowed some displaced peoples to return, but not Crimean Tatars.

 Nikita Khrushchev (r. 1953-64)
• Warsaw Pact formed, 1955
• Sino-Soviet split (1960):
 Mao “Galoshes”
 Nikita the “Bull”

• U-2 incident (May 1960)

 Pilot Gary Powers

• August 1961: Berlin Wall constructed.

• Oct. 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis
• June 1963: “hot line”
• Aug. 1963: Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT)
The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
 Crisis Over Cuba
• By the 1960’s, the U.S. and the Soviet
Union emerged as superpowers.
 Cuba becomes a communist nation and the Cuban
missile crisis
• The island of Cuba is located 90 miles from
coast of Florida

• It is a US ally, US businesses & US military base

(Guantanamo)

• 1959, Fidel Castro overthrows Battista (US-

backed dictator), establishing Communist
government.
• In 1959, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba, causing thousands
of Cubans to flee to the United States.

Fidel Castro, 1950’s Fidel Castro, 2006

 Bay of Pigs Invasion
• The U.S. became worried as Cuba received increased amounts of aid from the
Soviet Union.

• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved of a plan to overthrow Castro’s

government with the help of Cuban exiles.
• The exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Southern Cuba where they were easily
defeated by Cuban forces, strengthening Fidel Castro and embarrassing the
United States.

Fidel Castro, parading through the streets of Havana after his victory
against Cuban expatriates in the Bay of Pigs invasion. (1961)
The Cuban Missile Crisis
• The Soviet Union began to build missile
bases in Cuba, worrying Americans that we
were vulnerable to attack.
• Pres. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship
carrying missiles.
"That Tuesday the first of thirteen days of decision unlike any other in the
Kennedy years or, indeed, inasmuch as this was the first direct nuclear
confrontation, unlike any other in the history of our planet.“
- Theodore Sorensen, aide to Pres. Kennedy
• Upon approaching Cuba, the Soviets
turned back.

• Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed

to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, and
the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba.
"I found myself in the difficult position of having to
decide on a course of action which would answer the
American threat but which would also avoid war. Any
fool can start a war, and once he's done so, even the
wisest of men are helpless to stop it-- especially if its a
nuclear war.”

- Nikita Khrushchev
 Why was the USSR interested in helping Cuba?
• Cuba was a new Communist state

• Cuba provided a launch base for USSR inter-

continental missiles (ICMs)

• Khrushchev wanted to test strength of new US

president, JFK

• Khrushchev wanted to force JFK into bargaining

over US missile in Europe
 What was the outcome of the crisis?
• Cuba remained Communist & heavily armed (without nuclear missiles)

• Both leaders didn’t lose face and came away with concessions

• Permanent hotline between White House & Kremlin set up

• Supported the theory of containment & co-existence because the alternatives

were unimaginable (Nuclear War!!!)
The Vietnam War c.1963-1975
 The Two Vietnams
• Vietnam, a former French colony, was
divided into two sections in 1954.
North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi South Vietnam, led by Ngo
Minh, was communist and Dinh Diem, was democratic
backed by the Soviet Union. and backed by the U.S.
Many South Vietnamese distrusted Diem and joined the Vietcong, a
communist guerilla group supported by North Vietnam.

An execution of a Vietcong prisoner Feb. 1, 1968

• In August 1964, U.S. military officials
believed that the North Vietnamese had
torpedoed an American ship in the Gulf of
Tonkin.
• In response, the U.S. passed the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the U.S.
to begin bombing enemy targets within
North and South Vietnam.
 The Uncertain Enemy
• Jungle warfare was difficult, and it was
hard to locate the enemy.

• In addition, it was very difficult to identify

which South Vietnamese were our allies
and which were supporting the Vietcong.

Ex Vietcong showing
secret tunnels, November
7, 2004
 Peace Without Victory
• In January 1973, the U.S. reached a
cease-fire agreement with North
Vietnam and brought their troops home.
• However, the U.S. continued to send
billions of dollars in support of the South
Vietnamese.
• In April of 1975, the communists captured the South Vietnamese capital of
Saigon, renamed it Ho Chi Minh City, and reunited Vietnam under one
communist flag.
 Vietnam Balance Sheet
• Between 1961 and 1973 over 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War.
• During the same time period, over 1,500,000 Vietnamese died as well.

Vietnam War Memorial, Washington, D.C.

• Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev began a policy called glasnost, in which he
allowed more freedom of speech and the press.
• Gorbachev also signed an arms control treaty, called the
INF Treaty, with Pres. Reagan in 1987.

• Eventually, however, Gorbachev was forced to resign in 1991, and the Soviet
Union ceased to exist.
• As a result, fifteen Soviet republics gained their independence.

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