Cold War 1945-1991

Cold War Beginnings  Following WWII the US and USSR were the only two superpowers left  Soon after WWII these two powers were in a Cold War (Icy Tensions)  Why?- different economic systems, strategic interests, Stalin’s Speech, Iron Curtain Speech, Atomic Weapons

Pre Cold War distrust  US – – – Communism antithesis of Democracy/Freedom/Capitalism Stalin’s Purges Non-Aggression Pact – USSR emphasis on Worldwide communism  USSR – – US attempted to undo Revolution Delayed attack on Western Front during WWII – Believes peace will come from worldwide communism

Yalta Conference 1945  Big 3 – Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin  Germany Split into 4 Occupied Zones  Soviet vs. Western Allies (Tension for Four Decades)  Agreement to create United Nations

Potsdam- 1945  Big 3 – Truman, Churchill, Stalin  Meeting more tense (Truman’s style, plus knowledge of da bomb)  Presses Stalin for free elections in Eastern Europe  Stalin later gives speech saying Capitalism and Communism cannot exist in same world

United States 1946  Churchill Warns of an “Iron Curtain” in Europe  Stalin calls speech an act of war, beginning of the Cold War

Truman Doctrine- 1946  Turkey and Greece faced Communist revolutions  Truman asks for and recieves 400 million to aid fight against communism  Beginning of Containment Policy (not allow communism to spread) – Becomes guiding US policy into 1970’s

Western Europe 1947  The Marshall Plan gives aid to European Nations  Rebuilt Western Europe, threatened Communism

Berlin, Germany  Stalin cuts off access to Berlin, US sends airplanes with supplies  Stalin backs off, Victory for West

Western Europe/ North America 1949  NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization  USSR creates Warsaw Pact in 1955

USSR/China- 1949  USSR develops A-Bomb  Arms race develops between US and USSR  China falls to the Communists

Eisenhower  Eisenhower / Dulles policy of Massive Retaliation (Brinkmanship)

Event Truman Doctrine Marshall Plan Containment Chart Year Description How was this a part of containment policy?

Berlin Airlift NATO Brinkmanship

Korea  Communist North Korea Invades South Korea  UN and West aid South Korea while Soviet Union and China aid North Korea  1950-1953

38th Parallel

Inchon Landing

Yalu River

Truman Fires Macarthur

1953 Cease Fire and DMZ

Vietnam 1954  US actively aids against Ho Chi Minh and Communists  French defeat at Dien Bien Phu

Paris Peace Accords

Eisenhower and the Domino Theory

JFK and Diem

LBJ 1963- USS Maddox and Gulf of Tonkin

1964-1968 (Tet Offensive)

1968- Nixon and Vietnamization

1975- Fall of Saigon

Vietnam Effects

Cuba 1959  Fidel Castro and Communists take Cuba

Cuba 1960  Bay of Pigs invasion, attempted overthrow of Fidel Castro’s Communism

Cuba 1962  Soviet Missiles Discovered in Cuba  Beginning of 13 Day Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis  Closest ever coming to Nuclear War  Kennedy vs. Kruschev  President Kennedy Blocks Cuba with Ships (“eye to eye and the other guy blinked”)

Soviet Union 1953-1956  Stalin Dies in 1953, Nikita Kruschev becomes new Soviet Leader  1956 begins policy of De-Stalinization

Hungary 1956  Hungarian Leader Imre Nage takes Hungary out of Warsaw Pact  Kruschev sends in Soviet Troops to regain order

USSR-1957  Soviets Launch Sputnik  Beginning of Space Race between US and USSR

Berlin, Germany 1961  East Germany builds wall, cuts off access for East Germany to West Berlin Berlin  Wall became a symbol of the Cold War

USSR / Czecholslovakia 1964-1968  1964 Leonid Brezhnez becomes leader of Soviet Union  Czechovakian leader Alexander Dubcek lessoned censorship “Prague Spring”  Free Expression clamped down with Brezhnez Doctrine (later used in Afghanistan)

Richard Nixon and Detente  Détente- Lessening Cold War Tensions  Real Politik- dealing with nations in a practical and flexible manner (anti-containment)  Nixon visits China (Sino-Soviet Split)  SALT Treaties  Policy continued with Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan  Fiercely Anti-Communist  Moved Away from Détente  Increased Military Spending  SDI, Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars

USSR 1985  Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Premier  Begins a series of Reforms and Freedoms in Russia

Glasnost  Openness- Churches opened, Press allowed to criticize government, Banned authors allowed to publish books

Perestroika  “Economic Restructuring”, Managers make more decisions, small private businesses

Democratization  Gradual opening of the political system  Election of a new group of lawmakers  Communist Party no longer chose all candidates

USSR 1991  Nationalities begin to call of Independence  August Coup, by Communist Hardliners  Boris Yeltsin Seen as Hero  Boris Yeltsin becomes President of Russia

Russia 1991-1999  Boris Yeltsin President  Forms Commonwealth of Independent States of CIS  Shock Therapy for Economy

Russia 1999-2008  Vladimir Putin appointed President in 1999 (won re-election twice)  Forcefully dealt with Chechnya  Tightened Grip of government on Economy  Restricted Voting Rights and Liberties

Central and Eastern Europe Poland  Lech Walesa leads workers Union Solidarity against Communist Government  Series of strikes and crackdowns. By 1989, Solidarity was legal in Poland, helped gain free elections

Berlin, Germany 1989  Berlin Wall falls after Hungary opens its borders (Symbol of End of Cold War)  Start of the collapse of the Eastern Bloc  Process of Reunification