The Cold War

Chapter 27

Cold War Characteristics A political, strategic and ideological struggle

between the US and the USSR that spread throughout the world.

Yalta Conference Feb 1945 Before the end of the World War II, Stalin, Churchill

and Roosevelt met at Yalta to plan what should happen when the war ended. They agreed on many points:

- The establishment of the United Nations.- Germany to be divided into four zones.- Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe.- Russia promised to join the war against Japan.

1. Although they could not agree about what should happen to Poland, relations between the leaders were good, and the Conference was a success.

Yalta Conference Feb 1945

The “Big Three”:Churchill, FDR, and Stalin

Political Situation in Eastern Europe

After World War II, Soviet troops moved into Eastern Europe (except Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia) and the other allies occupied the Western part of Europe.

Between 1945-1947, Communists governments were in place in East Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Hungary.

Political Situation in Eastern Europe

In Yugoslavia, the communists had led the resistance against the Nazis during World War II, so they easily assumed power after the war.

Tito led the communists takeover of Yugoslavia

Iron Curtain SpeechFrom Stettin in the Balkans, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lies the ancient capitals of Central and Eastern Europe.-- Sir Winston Churchill, 1946

The “Iron Curtain”

Truman Doctrine [March 12, 1947] Civil War in Greece.

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

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

The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in aid due to the threat of communist expansion..

Marshall Plan [1948] “European Recovery

Program” developed by Secretary of State George Marshall.

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

$12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe extended to Eastern Europe & USSR, [but they rejected the funds].

Both the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were meant to try and contain communism.

Post-War Germany

Post-War Germany The United States wanted to end the commitments to their affairs in Europe but their fear of communism caused them to stay.

Germany had been divided into four zones by the Allies after the war with the purpose of reunification

The Soviets took reparations from Germany as well as factories which they moved to Russia from the Western zones before they transferred control to the other Allies.

The U.S., France, and Great Britain united the 3 remaining zones into West Germany.

Berlin Blockade

Blockade of Berlin began on June 24, 1948

Road, rail and canal links with West Berlin were cut, hoping to starve them into submission.

The Western powers wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the Soviets

Berlin Airlift In 11 months, U.S. and British

planes airlifted 1.5 million tons of supplies to the residents of West Berlin.

On its biggest day, the "Easter parade" of April 16, 1949, the airlift sent 1,398 flights into Berlin -- one every minute.

After 200,000 flights, in May 1949, the Soviet Union admitted defeat and lifted the blockade.

The Arms Race: A “Missile Gap?”

The Soviet Union exploded its first A-bomb in 1949.

Now there were two nuclear superpowers!

NATO

The Cold War led to the formation of military alliance such as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The member nations signed a treaty to provide protection if they were attacked.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)

United States

Belgium

Britain

Canada

Denmark

France

Iceland

Italy

Luxemburg

Netherlands

Norway

Portugal

1952: Greece & Turkey

1955: West Germany

1983: Spain

Warsaw Pact

In 1955, the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact with Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.

They promised to protect each other if they are attacked.

Warsaw Pact (1955)

U. S. S. R.

Albania

Bulgaria

Czechoslovakia

East Germany

Hungary

Poland

Romania

NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

Cold War in AsiaCold War in Asia

Background on Chinese Civil War

The Soviets had been granted imperialists powers in Manchuria and signed a peace treaty with the Republic of China which prevented them from providing Chinese communists support in the future civil war.

Relations between the U.S. and Chiang Kai-shek were breaking down because of his corrupt government and his unwilling to attack against Japanese forces in World War II.

Background on Chinese Civil War

After the war, the U.S. provided economic and military aid to Kai-shek and hoped for their help in stopping communism in the region

The communists were building up strength in northern China and they had 20 to 30 million living under their control.

Communists vs. Nationalists

By 1946, Chiang was reinstated at Nanjing and in the countryside peasants were flocking to join the communists and their army.

The middle class no longer supported Chiang because of his brutal suppression of dissent and economic problems.

Communists vs. Nationalists

Chiang’s troops were defecting to the communists and the communists were taking over cities.

By 1948, they surrounded the capital and Chiang’s government and 2 million supporters fled to Taiwan.

Communists vs. Nationalists

During the civil war the United States gave limited military support to Chiang and the Soviets did not help the communists.

After the defeat of Chiang, the United States Congress agreed to stop the spread of communism at all costs

1949: Communist Victory in China

In June, Jiang Jieshi defeated by Mao and flees to island of Taiwan

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

Two months later, Mao travels to Moscow and negotiates the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance.

Korean War 1950-1953

Korea had been part of the Japanese empire since 1905 and the Russo-Japanese War.

The Allies divided Korea along the 38th parallel and with the plan to reunify the country with free elections.

The Soviets controlled the Northern zone and the United States controlled the Southern zone

Korean War, 1950-1953 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 because of “domino theory” fear.

The U.N. Security Council condemns the invasion.

Chinese troops enter the conflict by year's end.

Korean War

Cease fire eventually brings war to close by 1953.

North Korea remained communist and a representative government was established in South Korea

1953: Stalin dies, Khrushchev takes over

1956: Khrushchev's secret speech

In a speech, February 14, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the policies of Stalin.

He rejects the Leninist idea of the inevitability of war and calls for a doctrine of "peaceful coexistence" between capitalist and communist systems.

Sputnik

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.

1959: Castro takes power in Cuba

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.

1961 - Berlin Wall

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

Ich bin ein Berliner!

(1963)

President Kennedy tells Berliners that the West is with them.

1961: Bay of Pigs 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.

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev reduced the size of the military

and defense spending. The Soviets developed ballistic missile

technology in 1957 and the U.S. became more nervous.

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis 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.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The U.S. and the Soviets negotiations over 13 days and the U.S. agrees not to invade Cuba and the Soviets took its missiles out of Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the

Russians, and the other man blinked!

Vietnam War: 1965-1973

Background on Vietnam War

After World War II, Ho Chi Minh’s Communist Party headed a multinational-party alliance in Vietnam called the Vietminh Front in northern and central Vietnam

War broke with the French after negotiations failed in 1946 where the French occupied the cities the Vietminh occupied the mountains

Background on Vietnam War After a long siege, Vietnamese communists under

Ho Chi Minh defeat French colonial forces at Dien Bien Phu on May 7.

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.

Vietnam War Laos and Cambodia had neutral and

independent governments In the late 1950’s, Diem the leader of

South Vietnam refused to hold the elections to reunite Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh wants to resort to invading the South

In 1963, South Vietnamese government was collapsing and he could not control the Viet Cong (communist)

Military officials overthrew the Diem government and the new government was seized by factionalism

1964: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 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.

1968: Tet Offensive 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.

1968: Prague SpringOn January 5, reformer Alexander

Dubcek came to power as general secretary of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia, pledging reforms and democratization

The Prague Spring movement swept across the country.

Soviet and Warsaw Pact leaders sent 650,000 troops in August. Dubcek was arrested and hard-liners were restored to power.

1969 - Vietnamization

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.

1969: SALT On November 17, the 1st phase of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks began in Helsinki, Finland.

The finished agreement, signed in Moscow onMay 26, 1972,

placed limits on both submarine-

launched and intercontinental

nuclear missiles.

1973: Vietnam War agreement (Paris Accords) 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.