Transcript Document 7163745

The Cold War
The United Nations
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Chartered in April 1945
Replaced the League of Nations
50 nations joined initially (today,
UN has 193 members)
In the General Assembly, which
decides general UN policies, each
nation gets 1 vote (so all are
equal)
UN Security Council: US, Soviet
Union, France, Great Britain, &
China reserved the power to veto
any action by the UN
For the UN to take any military
action requires a unanimous vote
of the Security Council
The Potsdam Conference
Jul. 16 – Aug. 2 1945
 Stalin, Clement Atlee (who
had replaced Churchill as
British Prime Minister), and
Truman met to decide the
fate of Germany and other
occupied territories in
Europe
 All sides agreed to divide
Germany and Austria into
occupation zones and to
dismantle most German
industry, but disagreed over
making Germany pay war
reparations to the Soviets
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Germany divided
The Soviets Split from the Allies
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Stalin wanted to keep territory
which the Soviets had
conquered in Eastern Europe,
in order to protect his nation
from future invasions
Allies insisted on free elections
in Soviet-occupied Poland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,
Romania, Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia, & Hungary
Stalin refused and by 1948 all
of these states had communist
governments (Latvia,
Lithuania, & Estonia became
part of the Soviet Union itself)
The Iron Curtain
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“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 … and all are
subject, in one form or
another, not only to Soviet
influence but to a very high
and in some cases increasing
measure of control from
Moscow.” - Winston Churchill,
1946
Term “iron curtain” was meant
to describe the ideological
division that had risen between
Communist Eastern Europe
and Democratic Western
Europe
Containment Policy
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US had little choice but to
accept communism in
Eastern Europe or enter
into an unpopular war
with the Soviets
US instead focused on
preventing communism
from spreading into new
areas and pledged to
“contain” communism to
the areas where it
already existed
First Test of Containment
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Stalin supported
communist rebels in
Greece and Turkey in
their efforts to overthrow
US-backed governments
The devastation of WWII
had left these
governments in a
seriously weakened state
and they were in serious
danger of falling without
US intervention
The Truman Doctrine
1947: Truman declared that
US foreign policy would be to
“support free peoples who
are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside
pressures”
 Truman essentially declared
war on the spread of
communism, launching a
“Cold War” that would last
into the 1990s
 After Truman’s speech,
Congress approved $400
million in economic aid to
Greece and Turkey
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The Marshall Plan
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In support of the Truman
Doctrine, Sec. of State George
Marshall developed a plan to
provide US financial aid to
war-torn Europe, to help with
rebuilding both physically and
economically
The economic prosperity in
Western Europe that followed
minimized the potential for any
further spread of communism
in that region
The US sent $25 billion in aid
to Europe in the 6 years
following the end of WWII
Stalin rejects the Marshall Plan
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The US even offered
economic assistance
to countries behind
the “iron curtain,”
including the Soviet
Union, but Stalin
would not allow any
communist state to
accept US assistance,
believing it would
weaken his control
The Berlin Blockade
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June 1948 – May 1949
Frustrated with US efforts
to restore a unified
Germany, Stalin tried to
push the US and its allies
out of West Berlin by
blocking all overland
access to the city through
East Germany
All road and rail lines
were cut and no supplies
could be brought into the
western half of the city
The Berlin Airlift
Allies decided to fly supplies
into Berlin instead
 Soviets were unwilling to be
the aggressor by shooting
down Allied aircraft
 1500 flights a day delivered
5000 tons of supplies a day
– everything from food to
coal to gasoline to cloth to
machinery
 After nearly a year, the
Soviets lifted the
unsuccessful blockade
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO)
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Founded April 4, 1949
Mutual defense treaty
against the Soviets
US, Canada, and most of
Western Europe were
members
Today, still includes most
of Europe + US & Canada
The Warsaw Pact
May 14, 1955: Soviets
responded to NATO by
creating an alliance of
communist states
 Unlike NATO, which was an
alliance of free nations,
Warsaw Pact members were
given no choice but to join
by the Soviets
 Officially disbanded July 1,
1991 after the collapse of
Soviet power
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Russians Develop Atomic Bombs
August 29, 1949: Soviets
tested their first atomic
bomb (technology they had
largely stolen from the US
through espionage)
 By 1961, Soviets were
capable of detonating 100
megaton bombs (equal to
about 20 times all of the
explosives used in WWII
combined!)
 Soviets had become a much
more serious threat in the
eyes of the US
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US and Chinese Communism
China had been involved in a
civil war between Nationalists
and Communists since before
WWII began
 Communists gained control of
mainland China in 1949,
driving the Nationalists to
flee to the island of Taiwan
 The US refused to
acknowledge the Communists
as the legitimate Chinese
government, instead insisting
on recognizing the
Nationalists on Taiwan as the
“true” China, while the
Soviets took just the opposite
stance
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The Korean War
June 1950 – July 1953
 After WWII, Korea had been
divided much as Germany
had into a Communist-held
north and a US-backed south
 North Korea, backed by
China & the Soviets attacked
South Korea, backed by the
UN (using mostly US soldiers)
 Dispute was eventually
settled by returning to
essentially pre-war
boundaries, but no formal
peace was ever declared
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The H-Bomb
Nov. 1952: The US
tested its newest
weapon the Hydrogen
Bomb, a weapon
1000 times more
powerful than the
bomb dropped on
Hiroshima
 Within a year,
however, the Soviets
also had H-bombs
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Nuclear Arms Race
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Soviets and Americans
rapidly built enough
nuclear weapons to
destroy the world many
times over
“MAD” (Mutually Assured
Destruction) was the
theory that the more
nuclear weapons both
sides had, the safer the
world was because it
made a nuclear war
unwinnable for both sides
Domino Theory
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US believed strongly
in the idea that if you
let even a single
nation fall to
communism, then you
would set off a chain
reaction where its
neighbors would also
fall to communism
(like dominos)
Brinksmanship
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Brinksmanship is the
practice of escalating
international tensions to
the brink of war, with the
hope that the other side
will back down at the last
minute and thereby give
you an advantage in
future negotiations
Nikita Khrushchev
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1894 – 1971 (life)
1953 – 64 (Soviet leader)
Named head of the Soviet
Union after the death of
Stalin in 1953
More liberal than Stalin in
Soviet domestic issues,
but more confrontational
in foreign policy, pushing
the Soviet Union to the
brink of war with the US
on several occasions
The U-2 Incident
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1960
Just weeks before a major
peace summit, the Soviets shot
down an American U-2 spy
plane over their airspace and
captured the pilot, Francis
Gary Powers
Marked a turning point in USSoviet relations, as the peace
summit was cancelled and the
American pilot was tried as a
spy and sentenced to prison
(the Soviets later traded him
back to the US for one of their
own spies)
Communism in Cuba
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Many US business held large
investments in Cuba during the
1950s, but those investments
were jeopardized when Cuba’s
government was overthrown
by communist rebels under the
leadership of Fidel Castro
US leadership were equally
alarmed by the seizure of over
$1 billion worth of property in
Cuba owned by Americans as
they were by suddenly having
a communist state 90 miles off
the US coast
The Berlin Wall
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West Berlin, deep inside
of communist East
Germany, became a way
for many Germans to flee
communist oppression
In 1961, the Soviets
ordered the construction
of a wall around West
Berlin to isolate it and
prevent future defections
The Berlin Wall became
the physical symbol of
the Cold War
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
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The American CIA (Central
Intelligence Agency) began
training Cuban exiles for an
invasion of Cuba with the
purpose of overthrowing
Castro’s communist gov’t.
In April 1961, the exiles landed
at The Bay of Pigs in Cuba, but
were quickly defeated by
Cuban forces when the US
failed to provide any further
invention on their behalf
Major international
embarrassment for the US
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviets placed nuclear missiles in
Cuba in Fall 1962
 US demanded their removal and
enacted a naval blockade of Cuba
to stop Soviet ships from bringing
more missiles
 Many thought that WWIII would
result as the US and USSR faced
off over a tense 13-day period,
each threatening the other with
nuclear force
 Soviets eventually backed down
and removed the missiles, thanks
to the US publicly promising not to
invade Cuba and secretly agreeing
to remove American missiles from
Turkey
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The Vietnam War
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1959 – 1975
US backed South Vietnam
against Soviet-backed
communist North Vietnam
As tensions between the
two Vietnams increased,
the US began sending
military advisors, then
soldiers to train South
Vietnamese troops and,
eventually, hundreds of
thousands of US combat
troops
The Paris Peace Accords
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Signed Jan. 27, 1973
After a decade of fighting
and over 58,000
casualties, US withdrew
all troops from Vietnam
No permanent peace was
formed between North
and South
The South Falls
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March 1975
North launched a fullscale invasion of the
South
Nixon had promised US
aid if the North violated
the treaty, but Nixon had
been forced to resign due
to the Watergate scandal
and Congress refused to
approve any new
involvement in Vietnam
By April 30, the North
had conquered the South
The Space Race
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Both the US and USSR had
captured German rocket
scientists at the end of
WWII and were pursuing
missile technologies
Starting in 1957, these
technologies were used to
compete against each
other for control of outer
space – a multi-billion
dollar “space race” to see
who could accomplish
certain objectives or
discoveries first
ICBMs
Intercontinental
Ballistic Missiles
 The development of
missile technologies
allowed both sides to
mount atomic
warheads onto longrange rockets which
could be launched
against distant targets
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Sputnik
The first man-made object
to attain orbit around the
earth (satellite)
 Sputnik I launched by the
Soviets in Oct. 1957,
followed by Sputnik II
(which carried the first
living creature into space, a
dog named Laika) in
November
 These launches triggered a
panic in the US, as
Americans worried that the
Soviets were gaining a
technological advantage
over the US
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Yuri Gagarin
1934 – 1968
 Soviet “cosmonaut” who
became the first man in
space in April of 1961
 Declared a “Hero of the
Soviet Union,” he was never
allowed to return to space
due to his value as an
instrument of propaganda;
instead, he was sent on a
world tour to promote
Soviet superiority
 Ironically, he later died in a
plane crash
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Project Mercury
1959 – 1963
 NASA’s first program
designed to put an
American in space
 Capsule could carry
only a single astronaut
 Cost $384 million, but
succeeded at getting
the US’ manned space
program off the
ground
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Kennedy Targets the Moon
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“[We] commit … before this
decade is out, to landing a
man on the Moon and
returning him safely to the
Earth … But why, some say,
the moon? Why choose this as
our goal? And they may well
ask why climb the highest
mountain? …We choose to go
to the moon in this decade and
do the other things, not
because they are easy, but
because they are hard,
because that goal will serve to
organize and measure the best
of our energies and skills,
because that challenge is one
that we are willing to accept,
one we are unwilling to
postpone, and one which we
intend to win”
Project Gemini
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1965 – 1966
Could carry 2
astronauts
10 manned flights cost
$5.4 billion
Purpose was to develop
the technologies that
would be needed to
make longer space
flights possible (such as
a trip to the moon and
back)
Apollo Program
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Series of 6 manned
missions to the moon
between 1969 and 1972
Each Apollo craft carried 3
astronauts
Suffered two major
accidents: during the
Apollo I training exercise
in 1967, 3 astronauts died
in an oxygen fire, and an
explosion onboard Apollo
13 forced the crew to
abort the mission
Cost $25.4 billion
“The Eagle has landed”
July 20, 1969
 Apollo 11 became the
first manned-mission to
land on the moon after a
4 day journey
 Represented a major
victory for the US, since
we had finally surpassed
Soviet achievement in
space (to this day, no
other nation has landed
astronauts on the moon)
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“That’s one small step for a man …”
“… one giant leap for
mankind.”
 After the success of the
Apollo program,
Americans tired of the
“space race” – we had
clearly beaten the
Soviets and Americans
were now distracted by
more “down to earth”
matters such as the
Vietnam War, Civil
Rights, and Watergate
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Détente & Nixon Visits China
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Nixon looked to improve
relations with both
communist China and the
Soviet Union
In 1972, Nixon became
the first US president to
visit China, hoping to
exploit a rift between the
Chinese and Russians and
gain influence
The Soviets responded by
welcoming Nixon to
Moscow just 3 months
later
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
SALT I (1972)
 US and Soviets
agreed to limit the
number and type of
intercontinental
ballistic missiles
(ICBMs) held by each
nation
 Led to dramatically
improved relations
with the Soviet Union
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Helsinki Accords
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1975 meeting of NATO
and Warsaw Pact
leaders
Soviets promised to
uphold basic human
rights, but when they
did not keep that
promise, American
enthusiasm for détente
began to fade and the
Cold War began to
deepen once again
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
In December 1979, Soviet
troops entered Afghanistan
to help the communist
government put down a
rebellion
 US responded to this
“invasion” with a grain
embargo against the Soviet
Union, by boycotting the
1980 Olympic Games which
were being held in Moscow,
and by refusing to ratify the
recently agreed to SALT II
treaty
 Détente completely collapsed
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Reagan & The Cold War
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US President Ronald
Reagan abandoned all
efforts at détente and
negotiation with the
Soviets, declaring
them an “evil empire”
and set out to win the
Cold War by forcing
the Soviets to deplete
their economy
through military
spending
Military Buildup
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Reagan spent $1.5 trillion
on defense, forcing the
Soviets to match with
their own military buildup
or run the risk of losing
global influence
The idea was to break
the Soviet economy and
thereby win the Cold War
– it worked, but it would
not be until after Reagan
had left office that the
Soviet economy failed
“Star Wars”
Strategic Defense Initiative
(SDI)
 Reagan called for the
development of a spacemounted weapons platform
which could be used to
destroy Soviet nuclear
missiles before they could
reach the US
 The US spent about $100
billion trying to develop
such a system (with no
success), forcing the Soviets
to spend money on how to
counter such a system
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The Reagan Doctrine
Reagan believed that
that the US had a
moral obligation to
show support for
guerrilla groups who
were fighting
communist or proSoviet governments
 This policy would lead
to US intervention in
several conflicts
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Afghanistan
Reagan provided over
$570 million in
military aid to the
mujahadeen rebels
fighting the Soviets in
Afghanistan, allowing
them to drag the fight
out for 9 bloody years
 In 1988, the Soviets
withdrew after losing
nearly 15,000 men
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Mikhail Gorbachev
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1931 – Present
Became new leader of
the Soviet Union in 1985
Believed that economic
and political reform was
necessary to the survival
of the USSR and pursued
an arms reduction
agreement with the US
Signed an agreement
with Reagan in 1987 to
reduce the number of
nuclear weapons, leading
to a new détente
Perestroika & Glasnost
Gorbachev instituted
new programs to try to
save the Soviet economy
 Perestroika
(“restructuring”):
allowed some small
private businesses to
operate outside of
government control
 Glasnost (“openness”):
allowed Soviet citizens
new freedoms of religion
and speech and to have
a voice in Soviet politics
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The Wall Comes Down
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Nov. 9, 1989
East Germans guards
opened the gates in the
Berlin Wall, removing
the barrier between
East and West; within
days the wall was
completely dismantled
The next year, East and
West Germany reunited
into one country for the
first time since 1945
Collapse of Communism
The Soviet’s inability to
financially support communist
states in Eastern Europe led
to mostly peaceful
overthrows of their unpopular
governments
 In 1989, the old communist
bloc collapsed as communist
regimes fell one after another
 In late 1991, the Soviet
Union itself collapsed after an
attempted coup by
communist hardliners failed
to unseat Gorbachev and the
communist party was banned
in Russia – the Cold War was
over and the US had won
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