Transcript The Cold War - Vegreville Composite High | Home

Ideologies and
Conflict:
The Early
Cold War
Social 30-2
Chapter Issue
• To what extent can ideological conflict
influence international relations?
• Josef Stalin quote:
– Page 186
The Yalta Conference
• Ukraine,1945- Post WW II
– “The Big Three” (Churchill,
Stalin, and Roosevelt) meet to
decide the fate of Europe.
– Ideological Conflict- between
the U.S.S.R and the U.S
• Allies could see the war was
coming to an end
• The “Big Three” met at Yalta on
the Black Sea to plan the rest of
the war and the future of post-war
Europe
• One task was to redraw the map
of Europe
The Yalta Conference
• Results:
– Germany divided into four
zones
• British, American, Soviet, and
French
– Having free elections in the
newly liberated countries of
Europe.
• “the right of all people in
choosing which type of
government under which they
will live”
Growing Tensions between the USSR
and the USA
• Hungary attempt at
independence in 1956
http://www.youtube.com/w
was brutally put down
atch?v=HpYCplyBknI
by the Soviet military
• 1956 – Stalin was
denounced by Nikita http://www.youtube.com/w
Khrushchev, the new
atch?v=KAngetJA4Jc&fe
Soviet leader
ature=related
• At the end of WWII the
Soviets and
Americans no longer
had a common enemy
– they entered into a
A Little History
• Europe and Asia were
•
devastated after WWII – leaving
the US and USSR with incredible
power and influence in the world
– the ENTIRE world
• Stronger than when they entered
WWII
• Resources mobilized for
•
maximum effect
• Weapon manufacturing
• More people under their
control
• Expanded territorial control
and influence
Due to the US and
USSR:
• Influence around
the world
• Economic and
military strengths
Became known as
the SUPERPOWERS
The Cold War World
July 1945, Truman, Stalin,
and Churchill Meet
Potsdam Conference
Their decisions would
determine the course of
the world history
Reparations and
restructuring of Germany
discussed
Major concern was the
political and economic
division between communist
and democratic countries
• US and Britain concerned with the
growth of Soviet influence
• Soviets concerned with building
their influence to protect their
borders
• During the conference Truman
warned Japan of devastating
consequences if they did not
surrender. “powerful new
weapon” the atomic bomb
• Truman did not share the fact that
the US had this capability
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=x9lwvImJqT0&feature=related
The Potsdam Conference
• Truman and Stalin wanted to avoid another war – but they
were rivals over Europe and Asia
• Feared resources would come under the other’s control
and become war-making/fighting resources
• Feared a loss to traditional markets
• Feared that the other side would win the “war of ideas” –
convincing liberal capitalism or communism as the
legitimate system of governance
• Cold War was a ideological contest between worldviews
extended beyond weapons, territory, and economics
• Both superpowers would agree on various measures for
geopolitical stability – permanent settlement was almost
conceivable
The Potsdam Conference
• 1945
– Seen by many as the beginning of the Cold War.
– Chart on page 188
• Spheres of Influence
– Areas in Europe that would be politically
influenced by the U.S and the U.S.S.R
– Those areas that had been liberated on the West
of Nazi Germany fell under the United States.
– Those on the East, fell under Soviet rule.
Stalin’s Goals
• Expansionism
– Spread of Communism and Soviet power.
– Saw it as a way to “command the world economy”.
• Wanted to keep Germany divided (so that they
wouldn’t gain strength once again.
• Wanted to expand to neighboring countries,
such as Finland, Poland, and Romania to keep
a buffer of safety.
America’s Goals
• Containment – The American Cold War foreign
policy of containing the spread of communism
by establishing strategic allies around the world
through trade and military alliances
Soviet Expansion, Historical and
Geographic Reasons
• Keeping
Germany
divided:
• Strong, unified
Germany had
gone to war
with Russia
twice
• Stalin opposed
the unification
of German
zones
• Maintain and
expand Soviet
influence:
• Finland,
Poland, and
Romania for a
buffer zone for
the USSR’s
safety
pages 192 - 193
•
Expansionism
The Truman Doctrine 1947,
• Support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside pressures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQD_W8Pcxg&feature=relat
ed
As a result of the German invasion, the Soviet Union has
irrevocably lost battles with the Germans, and also during the
German occupation and through the expulsion of Soviet
citizens to German slave labor camps, about 7 000 000
people. In other words, the Soviet Union has lost in men
several times more than Britain and the United States
together…One can ask therefore, what can be surprising in
the fact that the Soviet Union, in a desire to ensure its security
for the future, tries to achieve that these countries should have
governments whose relations to the Soviet Union are loyal?
How can one, without having lost one’s reason, qualify these
peaceful aspirations of the Soviet Union as “expansionist
tendencies” of our Government?
Joseph Stalin’s reply to Churchill, 1946
Part I:
“Reconstruction
& Confrontation”
The Ideological Struggle
Soviet &
Eastern Bloc
Nations
[“Iron Curtain”]
GOAL  “Expansionism”
spread world-wide
Communism
METHODOLOGIES:
US & the
Western
Democracies
GOAL  “Containment”
of Communism & the
eventual collapse of the
Communist world.
 Espionage [KGB vs. CIA]
 Arms Race [nuclear escalation]
 Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts
of Third World peoples [Communist govt. &
command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist
economy]  “proxy wars”
 Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]
The “Iron Curtain”
From 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
Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister during
WWII
Delivered a speech at
Fordham University in 1946,
where he coined the term “iron
curtain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=P8_wQ-5uxV4
“Iron Curtain” Speech
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron
curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that
line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and
Eastern Europe.
Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade,
Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the
populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet
sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not
only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some
cases increasing control from Moscow.
The safety of the world, ladies and gentlemen, requires a
unity in Europe, from which no nation should be
permanently outcast. It is from the quarrels of the strong
parent races in Europe that the world wars we have
witnessed, or which occurred in former times, have
sprung
Churchill’s metaphor – iron
curtain – could have many
implications on foreign policy.
What meanings and
implications might be
associated with this term?
Speech given right after
WWII
Was Churchill a messenger
who is trying to warn the free
world of imminent danger or
was he an alarmist who is
provoking a fight
unnecessarily?
Within the context of the time
in which the speech was
given, do believe Churchill
may have been
encouraging conflict with
the Soviet Union based on
ideology?
What information do you
already have that might
help inform your
response?
Truman Doctrine [1947]
Containment Policy:
Can Be Seen Through This Action By Harry S.
Truman ( American President):
•
Civil War in Greece.
•
Turkey under pressure from the USSR for
concessions in the Dardanelles.
1.
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.
2.
The U.S. gave Greece & Turkey $400 million in
aid.
Truman wanted to stop Soviet
expansionism – wanted to avoid a
“hot war”
•US ideological conflict through
creating alliance and giving aid
•$400 million in aid to Greece and
Turkey – help to stabilize their
governments and curbed the appeal
of communism
•Marshall Plan – (1947 – 1952) $13
billion ($100 billion today) to help
Europe, communist or democratic
•17 countries received funds,
technical expertise
Churchill’s words won the war,
Marshall’s words won the peace.
What beliefs and values are
represented in this cartoon?
Dirk Stikker, Foreign Minister, The
Netherlands, 1948 - 1952
Soviet satellite states rejected the Marshall Plan
due to diplomatic and political pressure:
• US money required all recipients to submit to a
thorough economic assessment and participate
in a unified European economy – this was
incompatible to Soviet ideology
•Soviets proposed the Molotov Plan for Eastern
European countries under its influence
•Involved bilateral trade agreements that
helped to consolidate the economies of the
socialist countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia,
East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Romania
Marshall Plan [1948]
1. “European Recovery
Program.”
US made reconstruction of Europe a priority
They believed that a prosperous Europe would find communism less attractive
Began a massive economic aid program for western Europe
1.
Secretary of State,
George Marshall
2.
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.
3.
$12.5 billion of US aid to Western Europe
extended to Eastern Europe & USSR, [but this
was rejected].
Post-War Germany
The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961)
Berlin Wall
Checkpoint
Charlie
Ich bin ein Berliner!
(1963)
President Kennedy
tells Berliners
that the West is
with them!
Berlin Blockade & Airlift
(1948-49)
Berlin Blockade & Airlift
• Berlin, like Germany, was divided into four parts, even
though Berlin was in the Soviet zone of Germany
• The USSR allowed corridors through the occupation zone so
that goods and people could move between the non-Soviet
zones in Germany and Berlin
• The US unified the American, British, and French zones
wanted West Germany to have an anti-communist,
democratic government
• USSR viewed this as a threat
• In June 1948, Soviet Union shut down the corridors
• This trapped “West Berlin” behind the Iron Curtain
Berlin Blockade & Airlift
• The Allies decided to fly in supplies to Berlin
• The Berlin crisis introduced the idea of
brinkmanship
• Brinkmanship:A tactic of meeting threat with threat
until the world teetered on the edge of war
• At first, Stalin did nothing figuring that the US
would stop – which they didn’t
• USSR contemplated shooting or sending tanks into
Berlin but then the US flew B-29 bombers to
Britain (the ones that had dropped A-bombs on
Japan)
• Stalin lifted the blockade (having lasted 300 days)
• Berlin remained split – a symbol of the deep
division between the two ideologies
The Arms Race:
A “Missile Gap?”
} The Soviet Union
exploded its first
A-bomb in 1949.
} Now there were
two nuclear
superpowers!
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (1949)
 United States
 Luxemburg
 Belgium
 Netherlands
 Britain
 Norway
 Canada
 Portugal
 Denmark
 1952: Greece &
Turkey
 France
 Iceland
 Italy
 1955: West Germany
 1983: Spain
Warsaw Pact (1955)
} U. S. S. R.
} East Germany
} Albania
} Hungary
} Bulgaria
} Poland
} Czechoslovakia
} Rumania
Escalating International
Tensions
• “An Iron Curtain has descended across
the continent”- Winston Churchill
• Post-War world clearly divided between
East and West.
– However, many countries did not choose
sides in this ideological split.
• List of Cold War Strategies listed on
page 197.
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
About the capitalist
states, it doesn't
depend on you
whether we
(Soviet Union) exist.
If you don't like us,
don't accept our
invitations, and don't
De-Stalinization
invite us to come
Program
to see you. Whether
you like it our not, history is on our
side. We will bury you. -- 1956
A War of Words
• Heavy use of
Propaganda
– Acted in ways that
increased tensions
severely on each
side.
– Direct and Indirect
threats used by
both sides.
I’m Cooler Than You Are…
• Aspects of
prestige were
often used
between these
two countries to
show to the
other that they
were superior in
some way.
Sputnik I (1957)
The Russians have beaten America in
space—they have the technological edge!
• Marks the beginning of the rocket age
• Before this all delivery of bombs was with
airplanes
– USA had an advantage with this high altitude
bombers
• U2
• USSR better spies
• Space becomes the new focus as technologies
mark all other defenses useless
– ICBMS
• 1959 USSR landed a probe on the Moon
• The USA works to limit the gap between the
USSR’s technological breakthroughs
– NASA
– Bomb shelters
– Own rocket program
– Air-Raid shelters
Space Race
1957-1975:
• 1959
– Soviet Probe lands
on the moon
• Yuri Gagarin 1961
– First man in space
• 1960
– USA claims a space
race with the USSR
• July 21st 1969
– USA lands on the
moon
Espionage
• Spying
– Both governments wanted to know as much about
the other as they could.
• James Bond era created
– Igor Gouzenko
• Fled the Soviet embassy in Ottawa in 1945 with 109
documents that proved there was a “Soviet Spy Ring” in
Canada.
– This form of military intelligence is still very
prominent today.
• Examples on page 199
U-2 Spy Incident (1960)
Col. Francis Gary
Powers’ plane was
shot down over Soviet
airspace.
What is Deterrence?
• A nuclear weapons war
between the U.S and the
U.S.S.R would result in
not only their two
countries being
destroyed, but in the
entire world being
destroyed…
– This is called M.A.D.
• Deterrence
– The belief that when one
reaches enough nuclear
weapons to destroy the
other, then they will not
want to start a war
because it is not winnable.
“Balance of Power”
• This is what
was attempted
to be reached
by each
country. Was it
attainable?
– Nuclear
Weapons
Chart on page
200.
Paris, 1961
Khrushchev & JFK meet to discuss Berlin and
nuclear proliferation. Khrushchev thinks that
JFK is young, inexperienced, and can be rolled.
Brinkmanship
• Brinkmanship
– Pushing a
dangerous conflict
to the tipping point,
where it is about to
end in disaster.
– “A Game Of
Chicken”
• Examples
– Berlin
Airlift/Blockade
– Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Fidel Castro led a
Socialist revolution in
Cuba and overthrew the
U.S supported
government of Fulgencio
Batista in 1959.
– Joined by famous
revolutionary Ernesto
“Che” Guevara.
– Aligned themselves with
the Soviet Union.
• Unacceptable from the
U.S perspective, a
Communist country so
close with ability to land
weapons on U.S soil.
Khruschev Embraces Castro,
1961
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Soviet Union ship
spotted bringing in
missiles by U.S plane
that were capable of
reaching every U.S city
except Seattle.
– Kennedy orders Naval
Blockade around Cuba.
– Tensions begin to peak
between the two
superpowers.
Cuban Missile Crisis
• Kennedy’s Speech
– http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=5O
OGA-xrLyg
• Krushchev agrees
to remove
weapons if the U.S
promised not to
invade Cuba, and
if they withdrew
their weapons from
Turkey
Bay of Pigs Debacle (1961)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the
Russians, and the other man blinked!
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962:
• History of Cuba
– Revolt in 1959 against a
Pro-USA government
– USA embargo from 1960
forward
– American supported
invasion April 17, 1962
• Bay of Pigs
– Failed invasion
– 1961 USSR and Cuba
become allies and Cuba
formally joins the Warsaw
Pact
Crisis Looms…and is Avoided:
•
October 1962 USA find proof of
USSR’s military assistance
– Nuclear Missiles in Cuba
•
USA demands the removal of the
missiles
– USSR denies that there are missiles
•
USA establishes a Quarantine around
Cuba to prevent any further USSR
assistance to Cuba
– Soviet Ships sail towards the quarantine
line
– USA says they will sink any ships that
are headed to Cuba
• Brinkmanship
•
•
US pilot shot down over Cuba looking
for evidence of missiles
October 28th Both sides agree to
remove missiles from each others
‘backyard’ (sphere of influence)
– USA from Turkey and USSR from Cuba
A Collective Sigh of Relief:
• The world was so very close to
a nuclear war over the Cuban
Missile Crisis nether the USA
and USSR wanted this to
happen again
• New Developments:
– Direct Telephone line
– Test Ban Treaty 1963
• This led to a short term
understanding between both
powers and a lessening of
tension
• This will change with the Death
of JFK and the resignation of
Khrushchev
Duck and Cover
• …because we all know that all you have to
do is duck and cover to protect yourself
from a nuclear attack
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhTWH
1kvIOk&feature=related
•
Proxy Wars
• If not physical violence between the U.S
and the U.S.S.R, then who?
• Proxy War
– A war that results when two countries use
third parties or countries as an alternative
to fighting each other directly.
The Korean War: A “Police
Action” (1950-1953)
Page 203-204
Kim Il-Sung
Syngman Rhee
“Domino Theory”
Korean War 1950-1953:
• History of Region
– Japan had controlled
part of Korea and at
the end of WWII Korea
was partitioned North
(communist) South
(democratic)
• Tehran 1943
• Thirty-Eighth Parallel
– 1949 Soviet and
American troops have
withdrawn from Korea
Invasion:
• North Korea invades South Korea
– This was fully supported by both
China as well as the USSR
– This was a shock for the USA
• The expectation was with
tensions high in Germany
that the crisis would involve
Western Europe not Asia
• The USA utilizes the USSR’s
boycott of the UN and passes a
resolution for military intervention in
Korea
• USSR will never Boycott the
UN again
– This will be one of the few times
that the UN is able to do this
within the context of the Cold
War
• Veto
International Involvement:
• With the UN resolution the USA gets
involved and begin to push the North
Koreans back
– General MacArthur
• China feels threatened and invades
– Invasion successful and pushes
the Americans back
• MacArthur wants to use
nuclear weapons against China
– This heightens the Cold War
• BY 1953, both the USA/USSR do not
want the war to continue so they settle
on the agreement of the 38th Parallel
and stop fighting
• UN patrols this area and establishes
the DMZ
Vietnam War: 1965-1973
Ho Chi Minh
Page 204-205
Counter Culture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok
d3hLlv vLw
For what it’s worth
• There's something happening •
here What it is ain't exactly
clear There's a man with a gun•
over there Telling me I got to
beware I think it's time we
stop, children, what's that
sound Everybody look what's
going down
•
• There's battle lines being
drawn Nobody's right if
everybody's wrong Young
people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance
from behind
• I think it's time we stop, hey,
what's that sound Everybody
look what's going down
• What a field-day for the heat A
thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying
signs Mostly say, hooray for
our side It's time we stop, hey,
what's that sound Everybody
look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep Into
your life it will creep It starts
when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man
come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's
that sound Everybody look
what's going down Stop, hey,
what's that sound Everybody
look what's going down Stop,
now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going
down Stop, children, what's
that sound Everybody look
what's going down
Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag (Next Stop Vietnam)
•
•
Come on all of you big
strong men
Uncle Sam needs your
help again
he's got himself in a
terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet
Nam so
put down your books and
pick up a gun we're
gonna have a whole lotta
fun
(CHORUS)
And it's one, two, three,
what are we fighting for
don't ask me I don't give a
damn, next stop is Viet
Nam
And it's five, six, seven,
open up the pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder
why, whoopee we're all
gonna die
•
Come on wall street don't be slow
why man this war is a go-go
there's plenty good money to be made by
supplying the army with the tools of its trade
let's hope and pray that if they drop the
bomb,
they drop it on the Viet Cong
•
Come on generals, let's move fast
your big chance has come at last
now you can go out and get those reds
cos the only good commie is the one that's
dead and
you know that peace can only be won when
we've
blown 'em all to kingdom come
•
Come on mothers throughout the land
pack your boys off to Viet Nam
come on fathers don't hesitate
send your sons off before it's too late
and you can be the first ones on your block
to have your boy come home in a box
Counter Culture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok
d3hLlv vLw
For what it’s worth
• There's something happening
here What it is ain't exactly
clear There's a man with a gun
over there Telling me I got to
beware I think it's time we
stop, children, what's that
sound Everybody look what's
going down
• There's battle lines being
drawn Nobody's right if
everybody's wrong Young
people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance
from behind
• I think it's time we stop, hey,
what's that sound Everybody
look what's going down
• What a field-day for the heat A
thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying
signs Mostly say, hooray for
our side It's time we stop, hey,
• what's that sound Everybody look
what's going down
• Paranoia strikes deep Into your
life it will creep It starts when
you're always afraid You step out
of line, the man come and take
you away
• We better stop, hey, what's that
sound Everybody look what's
going down Stop, hey, what's that
sound Everybody look what's
going down Stop, now, what's
that sound Everybody look what's
going down Stop, children, what's
that sound Everybody look what's
going down
Feel Like I'm Fixing To Die Rag (Next Stop Vietnam)
•
Come on all of you big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
he's got himself in a terrible jam
way down yonder in Viet Nam so
put down your books and pick up a gun
we're
gonna have a whole lotta fun
•
(CHORUS)
And it's one, two, three, what are we
fighting for
don't ask me I don't give a damn, next
stop is Viet Nam
And it's five, six, seven, open up the
pearly gates
ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee
we're all gonna die
•
Come on generals, let's move fast
your big chance has come at last
now you can go out and get those reds
cos the only good commie is the one
that's dead and
you know that peace can only be won
when we've
blown 'em all to kingdom come
•
Come on wall street don't be slow
why man this war is a go-go
there's plenty good money to be made by
supplying the army with the tools of its
trade
let's hope and pray that if they drop the
bomb,
they drop it on the Viet Cong
•
Come on mothers throughout the land
pack your boys off to Viet Nam
come on fathers don't hesitate
send your sons off before it's too late
and you can be the first ones on your
block
to have your boy come home in a box
Vietnam:
• Background:
– North Vietnam was communist and supported by both
China and USSR
– South Vietnam was ‘Democratic’ and was supported by
the USA (post French withdrawal)
• The conflict become an issue when South Vietnamese
communists (Vietcong VC) began a guerilla war against
the South’s Government
– This was directly supported by China and indirectly by
USSR
• This made the American Government concerned about
what might happen if the North was victories over the
South
– Domino Theory
• If one nation falls to communism all nations in that
region will become communist
• By the early 1960’s America had advisors and was
sending both money and military hardware to Southern
Vietnam
• However it was clear that this was not enough and that
Southern Vietnam would eventually fall to the north and be
unified under Ho Chi Mihn’s Communist government
Escalation in Vietnam: A ‘New’
American Foreign Policy:
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident
– Staged attack on an American
Destroyer which was used to show
that the North Vietnamese wanted
to attack American forces in
Vietnam
– Results:
• Massive bombing of North Vietnam
• Huge influx of American troops at
the height of the war the USA had
500 000 troops and was spending 2
billion dollars per month
• USSR and China supported the
North but did not send troops
Vietnam:
America
in
Crisis
• The USA could not win this war for
•
•
•
•
•
the same reasons that the French
were not able to defeat the North in
the 1950’s
Social effects of this war:
– American public demanded a
withdrawal of troops and in
ending of the draft
– This war became a rallying cry for
the ‘hippy’ counter culture as they
pointed to Vietnam as everything
that was wrong with capitalism
– This was also the first war on TV
By 1969 Nixon made the decision to
start bringing home the American
army public announcement
– In secret he began to bomb
Cambodia and Laos
American troops will not be fully
withdrawn from Vietnam until 1973
The civil war will rage for the next 2
years until the North finally wins the
war
Interestingly: the dominos do not fall
Vietnam:
• Background:
– North Vietnam was communist and supported by both China and
USSR
– South Vietnam was ‘Democratic’ and was supported by the USA
(post French withdrawal)
• The conflict become an issue when South Vietnamese communists
(Vietcong VC) began a guerilla war against the South’s Government
– This was directly supported by China and indirectly by USSR
• This made the American Government concerned about what might
happen if the North was victories over the South
– Domino Theory
• If one nation falls to communism all nations in that region will
become communist
• By the early 1960’s America had advisors and was sending both
money and military hardware to Southern Vietnam
• However it was clear that this was not enough and that Southern
Vietnam would eventually fall to the north and be unified under Ho
Chi Mihn’s Communist government
Escalation in Vietnam: A ‘New’
American Foreign Policy:
• Gulf of Tonkin Incident
– Staged attack on an American
Destroyer which was used to show
that the North Vietnamese wanted
to attack American forces in
Vietnam
– Results:
• Massive bombing of North Vietnam
• Huge influx of American troops at
the height of the war the USA had
500 000 troops and was spending 2
billion dollars per month
• USSR and China supported the
North but did not send troops
Vietnam: America in Crisis
•
•
•
•
•
•
The USA could not win this war for the
same reasons that the French were not
able to defeat the North in the 1950’s
Social effects of this war:
– American public demanded a
withdrawal of troops and in ending
of the draft
– This war became a rallying cry for
the ‘hippy’ counter culture as they
pointed to Vietnam as everything
that was wrong with capitalism
– This was also the first war on TV
By 1969 Nixon made the decision to
start bringing home the American army
public announcement
– In secret he began to bomb
Cambodia and Laos
American troops will not be fully
withdrawn from Vietnam until 1973
The civil war will rage for the next 2
years until the North finally wins the war
Interestingly: the dominos do not fall
Reducing International
Tension
• How did these countries refrain from
blowing each other up???
• Diplomacy
• Détente and Treaties
The Soviet War in Afghanistan
U.S supplied
conflict
against the
Soviet Union
Page 205206
Diplomacy
• Reaching an
agreement through
diplomatic means.
– Not every country
“chose one side” in
this conflict.
– Some chose a
policy of nonalignment.
• Side with neither of
the United States, or
with the U.S.S.R
• One such country
was Communist
China.
Nixon-Khrushchev
“Kitchen Debate”
(1959)
Cold War --->
Tensions
<--- Technology
& Affluence
Détente and Treaties
• Détente
– French for
“relaxing”
– A period of
decreasing
tensions between
1960 and 1979.
– Diplomatic
methods such as
peace treaties and
a reduction in
arms and
spending on
military.
Détente and Treaties
• S.A.L.T I
– Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty
– Nixon travels to Moscow to sign treaty.
– Listed on page 212
• S.A.L.T II
– The second of these treaties.
– Listed on page 212
Liberation Movements
• Some countries decided to remove
themselves from Communist rule.
• Once they did, they let their citizens
choose their representatives.
– Democracy
The Hungarian Uprising: 1956
Imre Nagy, Hungarian
Prime Minister
} Promised free
elections.
} This could lead to the
end of communist rule
in Hungary.
Hungarian Uprising 1956:
• October 1956 marked the
beginning of this uprising • Despite pleas from the
Hungarian Government the
which started with
university students
West does nothing…Why
demanding democratic
– Suez Crisis
government and a
guarantee of rights and
– Spheres of influence
freedoms
• Results
– Soon the Soviet style
– 35 000 arrests
government is over
thrown
– 300 executions
• Khrushchev does nothing
initially…
– When Hungary declares
its neutrality in the cold
war and withdraws from
the Warsaw Pact
Khrushchev has no
choice but to quell the
rebellion
– Red Army invades
“Prague Spring” (1968)
Page
210
Former Czech President,
Alexander Dubček
Communism with a human face!
The Berlin Wall
• The wall was a political, economic, and
cultural iron curtain between communist East
and the democratic West.
• East Germany, 1989
– Pro-Democracy Movements
• Borders opened, and the wall fell.
• Signified the end of the Cold War