Transcript Chapter 4: Culture

How was Europe divided up after
World War II?
Why split Europe in two?
• Ideological divide – centred on the way nations should be
run
Suspicions between democracies and communist
countries
• USSR and its communist influence
 Under Stalin, USSR became more industrialised and the
nearest thing to an autarky
 Began to try to influence other countries to become
communists
 Communist parties in many nations campaigning for a
revolution
• The West feared a worldwide communist revolution
Suspicions between democracies and communist
countries
• Talks and meetings held to promote peaceful coexistence between the two sides
• Outcome:
 a verbal acceptance of the idea of co-existence between
the two systems
• Vague acceptance that Eastern European states (buffers
between USSR and West) would be able to hold elections
 West wanted democratic elections
 USSR wanted communist governments elected
Suspicions between democracies and communist
countries
How to keep the whole world peaceful?
• The United Nations Organisation
 Set up in 1945 to maintain world peace
 Set up in hope that it will not repeat mistakes of the
League
 Joined by nations from both sides of the war
• Problems
 Getting members to agree
 Gave five permanent members (including USA and USSR)
right of veto  the two seldom agreed
• Successes
 Most successful in areas of the economy and health
What happened after the war?
Iron curtain
• Boundary which
ideologically and
physically divided
Europe into two
separate areas
(communism vs
democracy) from the
end of WWII
The division of Germany
• Potsdam Declaration
divided Germany
into four zones
controlled by:




USA
USSR
Britain
France
• Aim was to work
towards reunifying
the country as soon
as possible
The return of distrust
• Rapidly escalating feeling of distrust between the two
ideologies
 Each suspected the other of wanting the whole world to
accept their ideology
 Britain and USA had not told USSR about the atomic bomb
– did not want to share the technology with a communist
country
 End of war brought new arms race to build nuclear
weapons
What was the Cold War?
• Cold War
 A war where two sides fought to win other nations to their
side with ‘weapons’ such as propaganda, political pressure
and economic aid
• A real fear that such a war might turn ‘hot’
 Baruch Plan: drawn up in the hopes of limiting the extent
of damage such a war could cause
The Baruch Plan
How did economic recovery begin?
The US debates
• To aid or not to aid?
 US Senate reluctant to give aid to Europe
 Truman pointed out that US support was needed to
prevent spread of communism
 Containment: idea that communism should be prevented
from spreading; only be allowed to exist in the places that
are already communist
• Countries had to choose: democracy or communism?
• Truman’s arguments worked as the US Senate was fearful
of communism
The Marshall Plan and communist countries
• The Marshall Plan was devised to help Europe
• $13 billion in aid was given out to European countries
The Marshall Plan and communist countries
• USA asked USSR to join as an aid-giver
• USSR refused as it had suffered heavy losses in the war
 Told all its satellite states in the Eastern bloc not to take
any aid
 As a result, these countries suffered
• USSR had to manage its own recovery before it could
help its satellites
 COMECON (1949) set up to counterbalance Marshall Plan
 Aim: to exchange economic experiences and render
mutual assistance
 Intended to tie USSR and its satellites together more
tightly
Preparing for war?
• Nuclear arms race began
 USSR producing atomic bombs
 USA began setting up bases in Western bloc countries near
USSR, assuring everyone these were defensive precautions
 USSR not convinced  began arms build up
What impact did the Communist
victory in China have on the Cold War?
What impact did the Communist victory in
China have on the Cold War?
• CCP and KMT united to fight the Japanese
• West sent aid to KMT, the ‘official’ government
• As soon as World War II ended, civil war began in China
• CCP kept gaining ground
• CCP won the war in 1949
Reasons for Communist victory
Feelings between the CCP and the West
• The West had to decide whether to accept CCP as the
‘official’ government, or to treat them as rebels
Feelings between the CCP and the West
• China’s feelings
towards the
West, as given
in a speech in
June 1949 by
Mao
The PRC and the USSR
• Mao favoured an alliance with USSR
• Treaty of Friendship signed in February 1950
 USSR offered technical assistance to China in industry and
other areas where USSR had greater scientific expertise
 China entered Korean War in 1950 supporting North Korea
and USSR
• However, both sides had different approaches to
communism within their countries and the spread of
communism worldwide
• After the death of Stalin, this became a bigger problem
A shift of focus: The Cold War in the Asia
Pacific
• Creation of the PRC shifted the Cold War focus towards
Asia Pacific
• US worried about two communist countries with a Pacific
coastline
• USA wanted control in Asia Pacific
The Korean and Vietnam wars
• Shift of focus in Cold War led
to fighting in Korea and
Vietnam
• China became involved in these
wars
• Mao believed China should help
people to fight to free
themselves from their
imperialist past
The Korean and Vietnam wars
• China’s diplomatic
choices were often
driven by ideology
and a pragmatic
view of what was
best for China at
the time
What led to the Korean War and what
impact did it have on the Cold War?
What led to the Korean War and what impact
did it have on the Cold War?
• Korea: a Japanese colony from
1910 until end of World War II
• When Japan surrendered, it
surrendered to the USSR in the
north and USA in the south
• Hence, Korea became divided
What led to the Korean War and what impact
did it have on the Cold War?
• Koreans wanted a united Korea
• But, USSR and USA both wanted to make sure their part
of Korea would not be absorbed by the other side
 Passed on their ideologies to their part of Korea
 Korea became a symbol of their presence in Asia Pacific
 August 1948: North Korea became a communist country
 September 1948: South Korea elected a democratic
government
The Korean War begins
• June 1950: North
Korean army
invaded South
Korean
• UN agreed to assist
South Korea
• China entered the
war in October
1950
What effect did the Korean War have on the
Cold War?
• Over two million civilians died
• Millions more made homeless
• Showed the potential of the Cold War becoming a war
involving nuclear weapons
• USA changed its views on its involvement in Southeast
Asia
 Sent US troops to fight in Vietnam just as they had done
for the Korean War
What effect did the Korean War have on the
Cold War?
What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis
and what impact did it have on the
Cold War?
What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis and what
impact did it have on the Cold War?
• Cuba: an island in the Atlantic close to USA
 Much of the land and businesses were owned by Americans
 Government was corrupt
 Most Cubans poor
• Fidel Castro overthrew the government and took over
 As his ideas were close to communism, relations between
Cuba and the USA worsened
Worsening relations between Cuba and USA
• Worsening relations
between Cuba and
USA
• Cuba developed
into a Cold War
hotspot
The Bay of Pigs incident
• A US-backed invasion:
 Carried out by Cuban exiles who wanted to overthrow
Fidel Castro
 Failed terribly
• Most governments knew that the CIA had planned the
invasion, despite denial of US involvement
• Castro used this invasion as a reason for importing
weapons from USSR to defend his government from
further invasion
The Crisis
• In 1962, a US spy
plane flew over
Cuba, discovering
missiles on the
island
• The missiles were
intended to carry
nuclear warheads
• This meant USSR
had the capacity to
launch nuclear
missiles from Cuba
 dangerous to USA
US concerns
What happened next?
What effect did the Crisis have on the Cold
War?
• Showed a real possibility of nuclear war
• Peaceful co-existence became a very attractive option
• Communication between both sides
 Both sides forced to communicate during the Crisis
 Agreed to set up direct phone link between Moscow and
Washington
“People no longer thought world war between the USSR and the USA was
inevitable. In 1963 we set up the Moscow/Washington hot-line; we agreed to
explore space together, and to ban the use of mass weapons of destruction from
outspace… Most importantly, we took the first step toward arms control in
the nuclear age, which was the limited nuclear test ban treaty…”
Summary