Transcript The Cold War Powerpoint

The Cold War and
Decolonization
1945-1975
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The West perceived the USSR as a center
of revolution capable of spreading their
communist disease
◦ As a result, formed NATO: North Atlantic Treaty
Organization
The USSR was suffering from severe
WWII losses and felt threatened by
NATO—surrounded by enemies
 Distrust and suspicion played itself out on
a worldwide stage
 The United Nations was the diplomatic
stage
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Two Superpowers
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General Assembly: representatives of all member
nations
Security Council: five permanent members:
China, France, Great Britain, the United States,
and the Soviet Union plus 7 rotating members
Security Council members have veto power on
any vote
UN Charter: renounced war and territorial
conquest
Decolonization of Africa increase Gen. Assembly
size-over time more concerned with the
problems of the majority (poverty, racism, etc.)
but the Security Council dominated other issues
Resolutions used to mean something (Israel, the
moon.)
United Nations
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West: supply and demand determined prices
USSR: government set all prices
Newly independent countries preferred USSR
method of planned economy
West: economies damaged by war (except
US by comparison)
Marshall Plan provided $12.5 billion in aid to
friendly European countries, revamped
Western economies
Europe moved a little left—formed the
European Community (EC)
USSR prospered quickly then declined
severely
Capitalism vs. Communism
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Western leaders saw the rapid spread of
Communism in the east as a threat; Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania,
etc.
Truman Doctrine: offered military aid to
Greece and Turkey to resist USSR
Warsaw Pact: USSR response to NATO
It looked like alliances all over again
Several wars were fought during the “Cold
War” that did not directly involve USSR and
United States—they fought each other in
proxy wars: Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan
Proxy Wars
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Communist North Korea invaded South
Korea; UN condemned it; United States
allied with South Korea, China with North
◦ The US did not attack China for fear of
involving the USSR
◦ A truce along the 38th parallel was reached; it
is a Cold War hotspot still today
◦ Ended in 1953
Korea
After France’s colonial enterprise ended in 1954,
Ho Chi Min’s Viet Minh government took over in
the north, and a noncommunist government
ruled the south
 JFK decided the US should support the south,
even though that government was corrupt
 They were concerned there would be a domino
effect if South Korea fell to the communists
 The Vietnam War ended in 1973 with a treaty
saying the US would leave with promises of
elections
 The North Vietnamese broke treaty and invaded
the south; the US was experiencing strong antiwar sentiments and civil rights movements
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Vietnam
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Based on fear that someone would use
nuclear weapons
Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR placed missiles in
Cuba that could reach the US; the US freaked
out and prepared to invade; Khruschev
pulled the missiles out
This gave reason for hope: superpower
leaders were willing to give up rather than
fight
The US and USSR continued to build up
nuclear weapon capabilities—the rest of the
world slowed down and watched in horror
Space satellites were launched—space race
to see who could dominate elsewhere
The Arms Race
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Newly independent states had to function
in a bipolar world of superpowers
Their goals were quite different
Third World referred to non-aligned
nations—not Communist, but not
industrialized
Some were skillful and played the USSR
and US for weapons or for money
Now we call them “developing” countries
because they are not industrialized
The Third World
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Benefited from the Cold War
Remained on the sidelines, sometimes
providing (selling) arms
New constitution (under US supervision) had
small army
Turned attention to building industry and
engaging in world commerce
Peace treaties with SW Asian countries
expanded economy there
Three industries that put Japan on the
economic map: Electricity, steel, and
shipbuilding projects
Japan
Under Mao Zedong, The People’s Republic
Focused on the peasantry
Mao’s Great Leap Forward of 1958 was supposed
to make China a world power by industrializing
on the local level
 It failed, but demonstrated the independent
nature of Mao Zedong in the face of the big
USSR neighbor
 Reforms led to 30 million deaths
 1966 Cultural Revolution: to kindle revolutionary
attitude in the youth—again a lot of death and
divisiveness
 Nixon visited in 1972—a stab at USSR but
opened the relationship with China
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China