An overview of the Cold War

How can a war be ‘cold’?

What were the Hotspots of the Cold War?

After World War 2 the Cold War began and caused tension throughout the world.

• The USA and the USSR were the two world Superpowers.

• The USA was a capitalist society with a democracy.

• The USSR was a communist country with a dictatorship.

• Both wanted to be the most powerful nation in the world.

Nuclear tensions

• The USA had shown its atomic power when it exploded the A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.

• The USSR was also developing atomic weapons/bombs.

• The USA and the USSR were in competition with each other to have the best, most powerful weapons in the world – this was called the Arms Race.

After World War 2, the world changed!

• Many countries became communist after World War 2 including: - Czechoslovakia (1948) - Poland (1947) - Hungary (1947) - China (1949) - Cuba (1959) - North Korea (1945)

Germany - divided

• Germany, which had been ruled by the Hitler and the Nazis until their defeat in 1945 was split in two.

• The western side became West Germany and the eastern side became East Germany.

• East Germany became another communist country.

The domino effect

• The USSR had a lot of influence over many of the new communist countries (especially those in Europe).

• The USA was very worried that the USSR’s influence over these countries was making the USSR and communism more powerful.

• The USA did not want communism to spread any further – they were worried about the domino effect (one country becomes communist, then another, then another etc)

Cold War?

• The tension and rivalry between the USA and the USSR was described as the Cold War (1945-1990).

• There was never a real war between the two sides between 1945 and 1990, but they were often very close to war (Hotspots). Both sides got involved in other conflicts in the world to either stop the spread of communism (USA) or help the spread (USSR).

The Korean War 1950-1953

The Berlin Wall 1961

The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

The Vietnam War c.1963-1975

The Cold War [1945-1991]: An Ideological Struggle Soviet & Eastern Bloc Nations [“Iron Curtain”]

GOAL



spread world wide Communism METHODOLOGIES: US & the Western Democracies

GOAL



“ Containment” of Communism & the eventual collapse of the Communist world.

1.

Espionage [KGB vs. CIA] 2.

Arms Race [nuclear escalation] 3.

Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. & command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist economy]



“proxy wars” 4.

Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw Pact]

The Cold War 1945-1991

Downloaded from www.SchoolHistory.co.uk

• In 1946, Winston Churchill correctly warned that the Soviets were creating an “iron curtain” in Eastern Europe.

Winston Churchill giving the “Iron Curtain” address at Westminster College on March 5, 1946

The ‘Truman Doctrine’

• Truman had been horrified at the pre war Allied policy of appeasement and was determined to stand up to any Soviet intimidation.

The

Truman Doctrine

in March 1947 promised that the USA

“would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”

Italy and France.

. • Triggered by British inability to hold the line in Greece, it was followed by aid to Greece and Turkey, and also money to help capitalists to stop communists in It signalled the end of

“isolationst”

policies.

The ‘Marshall Plan’

• The

Marshall Plan

offered huge sums to enable the economies of Europe to rebuild after World War II, and, by generating prosperity, to reject the appeal of Communism.

The Soviet Union (USSR) prevented Eastern European countries from receiving American money.

Berlin

• West Berlin, was an outpost of Western democracy and economic success deep within the communist zone – like a capitalist island within communist East Germany • The

Berlin Blockade

to the communists defend Berlin.

was an attempt to starve West Berlin into submitting [giving up] • The Allied [western powers] airlift signalled the West’s determination to use all resources to It was feld by both sides that Berlin could act as the trigger for general war between capitalist and communist countries

A huge airlift:

· President Truman decided to avoid the blockade by flying in food and other supplies to the needy people of West Berlin.

· At times, over 5,000 tons of supplies arrived daily.

Flag of the United Nations

United Nations: Keeping the Peace

· An international peacekeeping organization, the

United Nations (UN)

, came into existence in 1945 with 51 original members.

United Nations New York City, NY

Original 51 Members of the United Nations

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Belarus *, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia *, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt *, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Syrian Arab Republic *, Turkey, Ukraine, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics *, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yugoslavia *

The Security Council has 15 members-- five permanent members and 10 elected by the General Assembly for two year terms. The permanent members are:

Great Britain China Russia France United States U.N. - Live Webcast

Opposing Alliances

· In 1949, the U.S. formed an alliance with friendly European countries called the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

· The members of NATO would defend each other against any Soviet aggression.

· In 1955, the Soviet Union formed its own military alliance called the

Warsaw Pact

.

· The Warsaw Pact was made up of Eastern European countries dominated by Soviet control.

Hunting Communists at Home

· A dramatic fear of communism and communist spies spread across the nation.

Joseph Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov depicted saluting a military parade in Red Square above the message "Long Live the Worker-Peasant Red Army — a Dependable Sentinel of the Soviet Borders!"

· In 1949, the U.S. learned that the Soviet Union also possessed atomic weapons.

Video: Atomic tests (4:35)

Video: “Duck and Cover” (1951 - 9:15)

“ Aside from the destructive impact of atomic and hydrogen bombs there is another threat for mankind involved in atomic war--poisoning the atmosphere and the surface of the globe with radioactive substances originating from nuclear explosions. In the form of minuscule particles and gases, these are lifted by the force of the blast together with dust particles to comparatively high altitudes. Wind spreads them all over the earth's atmosphere. Later these radioactive substances fall onto the surface of the earth with rain, snow, and dust, thus poisoning it.” - Igor Kurchatov

Example of American fears of Communism:

- Americans, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were accused of stealing nuclear secrets for the Soviets.

- The Rosenbergs were executed for their crimes in 1953.

Testing of an Atomic Cannon (1:17 - 1953)

McCarthy’s reckless claims:

· In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy announced that he had a list of 205 State Department employees that were members of the Communist party.

Audio: Senator Joseph McCarthy Responds to E.R. Murrow on CBS's See It Now

· McCarthy’s claim was never proven, but he helped to increase a fear of communism in America known as the “Red Scare”.

· After thousands of Americans had their lives ruined after being accused of being communists, McCarthy’s popularity lessened as the nation learned that he had no proof behind his accusations.

Communists at the State Department:

- State Department official Alger Hiss was imprisoned for perjury in 1950.

- Hiss had lied under oath, denying that he was a part of a Soviet spy ring that sent U.S. government secrets to the Soviet Union.

Crisis Over Cuba

• By the 1960’s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union emerged as

superpowers

.

• In 1959, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba, causing thousands of Cubans to flee to the United States.

Fidel Castro, 1950’s Fidel Castro, 2006

Bay of Pigs Invasion

· The U.S. became worried as Cuba received increased amounts of aid from the Soviet Union.

· In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved of a plan to overthrow Castro’s government with the help of Cuban

exiles

.

· The exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Southern Cuba where they were easily defeated by Cuban forces, strengthening Fidel Castro and embarrassing the United States.

Fidel Castro, parading through the streets of Havana after his victory against Cuban expatriates in the Bay of Pigs invasion. (1961)

(audio – JFK takes the blame) Americans, two of whom were eventually executed, are arrested in April 1961. They were accused by the Cuban government of smuggling guns to anti-Communist rebels a few days before the Bay of Pigs invasion.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• The Soviet Union began to build missile bases in Cuba, worrying Americans that we were vulnerable to attack.

· Pres. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying missiles.

Video: Cuban Missile Crisis (1:09) "That Tuesday the first of thirteen days of decision unlike any other in the Kennedy years or, indeed, inasmuch as this was the first direct nuclear confrontation, unlike any other in the history of our planet." - Theodore Sorensen, aide to Pres. Kennedy

• Upon approaching Cuba, the Soviets turned back. • Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba.

"I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide on a course of action which would answer the American threat but which would also avoid war. Any fool can start a war, and once he's done so, even the wisest of men are helpless to stop it-- especially if its a nuclear war.” - Nikita Khrushchev

13 Days in October

       14 th – photographs of missiles on Cuba 22 nd – Kennedy decides to blockade Cuba 24 th – Soviet ships turn back 24 th – message from Khrushchev saying must find peaceful solution 25 th – U2 spy plane shot down 26 th – 2 nd message from Khrushchev 28 th – agreement reached

Outcomes

 Perceived as great humiliation for Soviet Union

Outcomes

 “Eyeball to eyeball, they blinked first” – Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State  Hotline between Washington and Moscow created  1963 - Limited test Ban Treaty  1968 – Non Proliferation Treaty

By Mr Crowe www.SchoolHistory.co.uk

THE BERLIN WALL

What they wanted

The West • Prevent USSR from gaining control of East Germany • To see a united, democratic Germany The East • Maintain control over E Germany • Make the West recognise it as an independent state • Stop the flood of refugees especially the skilled and professional ones – much needed in E Germany

Results

• •

Important results for Berlin, Germany and the Cold War: Berlin

was divided, free access ended between East and West, many families split, many attempted to escape to the West-between 1961 and 1989; 86 people died trying to cross the Berlin Wall

Results continued…

• Kennedy accepted the Soviet action. He refused to use US troops to pull down the wall to avoid war.

• Kennedy looked weak but West turned it into propaganda – why if Communism was so attractive was a wall needed?

• 1963 – Kennedy visited West Berlin – pledged continued support – ‘

Ich bin ein Berliner’

(I am a Berliner) – famous speech • Khrushchev lost face by failing to remove the West from Berlin