Transcript The Cold War Divides the World

The Cold War Divides the
World
MAIN IDEA: REVOLUTION THE SUPERPOWERS
SUPPORTED OPPOSING SIDES IN LATIN
AMERICA AND MIDDLE EASTERN CONFLICTS
WHY IT MATTERS NOW: MANY OF THESE
AREAS TODAY ARE TROUBLED BY POLITICAL,
ECONOMIC AND MILITARY CONFLICT AND
CRISIS
Fighting for the Third World
 Third world nations around the world were
struggling politically and economically. All were
looking for a new political and economic system to
help rebuild their country. The race was on between
the Soviet Union and the United States, who would
the nations side with? Soviet-style communism or
American –style free markets?
 Cold War Strategies
 Back
wars of revolution, liberation or
counterrevolution
 CIA and KGB conducted covert missions,
everything from espionage to assassination
 US gave military aid, built schools, combat
poverty, volunteered in developing nations
 Cold War Strategies
Foreign
Aid
Espionage
Multinational Alliances
Propaganda
Brinksmanship
Surrogate Wars
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 Association of Nonaligned Nations
 Many
nations were struggling and sought aid
from these superpowers (SU, US and sometimes
China), but many others chose not to get
involved
 They formed a third force of countries that
weren’t aligned after the Bandung Conference
(Asian and African leaders met in 1955)
Confrontations in Latin America
 After WWII, rapid industrialization, population
growth and a growing gap between the rich and poor
led Latin American countries to seek aid form the
two battling superpowers
 Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution
 1950s Cuba was led by a dictator, Fulgenio Batista (US
supported Batista)
 There was a revolution, led by Fidel Castro, a young lawyer
 In the beginning, people praised Castro for making changes,
but he was also a harsh dictator (suspended elections, executed
political opponents and controlled the press)
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Castro nationalized the Cuban economy and took over US
owned sugar mills and refineries
President Eisenhower called for an embargo
Cuba now looked to the Soviet Union for economic and
military aid
Us began training anti-Castro Cuban exiles who then carried
out the Bay of Pigs Invasion – huge failure and an
embarrassment to the US
 Nuclear Face-off: The Cuban Missile Crisis
 Failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion gave the Soviets confidence
that the US would not attempt to stop Soviet expansion in
Latin America and Khrushchev started to build missile sites in
Cuba (42)
 US spy planes spotted these and ordered their removal,
Khrushchev agreed is the US promised not to invade Cuba
 Lasted 13 days
 Civil War in Nicaragua
 US supported the dictatorship of Anastacio Samoza since 1933
 Us supported the anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua, they
were called the Contras (scandal)
Confrontation in the Middle East
 The oil rich Middle East attracted both of the
superpowers
 Religious and Secular Values Clash in Iran
 Oil caused a clash between traditional religious beliefs and
more modern Western materialism
 The country was split, many nationalists wanted to get rid of
the Shah because he was getting too “westernized”
 Nationalized British owned oil companies and forced Shah to
flee, the US helped restore the Shah to power
 The United States Supports Secular Rule
 Many people in Iran were getting rich, but many still lived in
poverty
 There was a division, the Shah was westernized, whereas
ayatollahs were opposed to western influence
 Eventually, Iran went back into the hands of more traditional
leaders
 Khomeini’s Anti-US Policies
 Many in Iran started to resent the US because we supported
the Shah
 Revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran and took 60
Americans hostage and demanded that the US put the Shah on
trial (hostages kept for 444 days)
 Khomeini encouraged Muslim radicals to overthrow their
secular governments
 This policy heightened tensions in the region
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Saddam Hussein government Iraq as a secular nations and war
broke out between Iraq and Iran from 1980-1988
The US gave aid to both sides, they did not want the balance of
power to shift
Soviet Union helped Iraq
 The Superpowers Face Off in Afghanistan
 Afghanistan maintained its independence after WWII, but in
the 1950s, Soviets had more influence
 In the 1970s, a Muslim revolt threatened the communist
regime and the Soviets invaded in 1979
 Tried to keep the communist government, but found
themselves stuck like the US in Korea and Vietnam (US
supplied weapons to the Afghans – fast forward 20 something
years… DOH!)
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US armed the rebels because they felt the Soviets were a threat
to Middle Eastern oil and President Carter warned against any
advance to the Persian Gulf
US stopped grain shipments to the Soviets and boycotted the
1980 Olympics
In 1980, new Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev realized
how devastating the war was and withdrew troops in 1989
By this time, the Soviet Union was being torn apart by internal
unrest and economic problems
Answer the following questions in your notebook
 What advantages and disadvantages might being
nonaligned have offered a developing nation during
the Cold War?
 What similarities do you see among US actions in
Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran?
 What were the reasons that Islamic fundamentalists
took control of Iran?
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Cold War (who and what?)
Perestroika
Totalitarianism
WWII Fascist countries
National Socialist Party
Japan’s approach to solving economic problems post
WWI
Appeasement (who and what?)
Blitzkrieg (weapons used by what country?)
Operation Overlord
Holocaust (who, what?)
Final Solution
What country resisted Nazi invasion and how?
Nuremberg Trials
UN (what is it, when was it created and why?)
Middle Eastern countries reaction to creation of Israel?
Atomic bombs (where and when were they used?)