The Cold War (US vs USSR)

Rivalry begins between US & USSR

Only two remaining superpowers
* Superpower: country with military power and political influence
Different ideologies (capitalism v communism)
Both fear each other, their motives and the spreading of their ideologies
Different opinion on path for liberated nations after WWII
* US – free-election/self-determination
* USSR – communist buffer

Truman Doctrine

President Truman is nervous about communism spreading in the Meditteranian region
* GB is pulling out of area
* Greece is in the middle of a civil war
1947 – Truman Doctrine
This is a test :: Hopefully it will work.
* US will provide money to countries (Greece) threatened by communist expansion

Marshall Plan

1947 – proposed by the US Sec of State – George Marshall
Designed to rebuild the prosperity and stability of war-torn Europe
Will provide financial aid to European recovery
* Believes that communism is successful when economic problems exist

Marshall Plan & the Soviet Union

Aid is available to the USSR and its satellite states (countries economically and politically dependent on another country)
Soviet Union refuses to participate
* Sees it as an attempt to buy support for capitalism
USSR starts its own economic assistance program
* They don’t have the finances to truly aid other nations

Policy of Containment

US policy during the Cold War
Plan to keep communism within its existing and prevent further soviet aggressive moves

The Reign of Stalin

Resumed the task of increasing industry in the Soviet Union
* Military, heavy industry, space race, arms race
The standard of living for Russian people was very low
* All income was focused on the growth of industry

Division of Germany

After WWII – Allies divided Germany into 4 zones: US, USSR, France, GB
  * Berlin
    * Inside USSR zone
    * Also divided into 4 zones
Allies cannot agree on a peace treaty
GB, FR, US zones are combines to create a westGermany
* capatalist
* Includes a W. Berlin

Soviet Response to W. Germany

Create a blockade around W. Berlin to prevent supplies from reaching the people
berlin airlift is started
* US and GB planes fly 200,000 flights in 10 months to air drop supplies into W. Berlin
USSR finally lifts the blockade
E. Germany is created
* Soviet controlled
* communist

Spread of the Cold War

1949 – china becomes communist
1949 – USSR explodes their 1st atomic bomb
arms race begins – both countries will build up their arsenal of weapons to the point where they feel it is impossible to declare war (deterence)

New Military Alliances

Formed to create alliances during the tense Cold War period

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
  * April 1949
    * United States
    * Canada
    * Great Britain
    * Belgium
    * Luxembourg
    * France
    * The Netherlands
    * Italy
    * Denmark
    * Norway
    * Portugal
    * Iceland
  * Later members
    * West Turkey
    * Turkey
    * Greece

Warsaw Pact

Formed in responses to NATO
  * 1955
    * Soviet Union
    * Albania
    * Bulgaria
    * Czechoslovakia
    * E. Germany
    * Hungary
    * Poland
    * Romania

SEATO

Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
  * United States
  * Great Britain
  * France
  * Pakistan
  * Thailand
  * Philippines
  * Australia
  * New Zealand

CENTO

Central Treaty Organization
  * United States
  * Great Britain
  * Turkey
  * Iraq
  * Iran
  * Pakistan

The Khrushchev Era

Started the policy of de0stanalization
* Eliminating the ruthless and violence policies of Stalin
Loosened censorship controls
Placed more emphasis on consumer goods
Tried to increase agricultural output

Berlin Wall

1955 – Nikita Khrushchev become USSR leader
E. Germans are fleeing to W. Germany through W. Berlin
* E. Germany is impoverished; West is successful
Khrushchev builds a wall around W. Berlin
* Armed and patrolled
* Becomes the symbol of the Cold War

Cuban Missile Crisis

Castro had come to power in Cuba
* US had attempted to have him removed from power
* It failed
USSR starts to put weapons in Cuba
US sets up a blockade to stop them
Creates a tense standoff between nations
* Closest we came to nuclear war with each other

Vietnam and Domino Theory

US is becoming involved in the Vietnamese civil war (communism v democracy)
* Policy of containment
Domino Theory – if communists are successful in Vietnam than other countries in Asia would fall (like dominoes) to communism as well
Brings the US into the Vietnam War

Behind the Iron Curtain

Eastern European countries were controlled by the USSR
* Satellite states
They would set up policies similar to Stalin’s throughout their countries

Revolts against Communism

Eastern European countries resented being exploited for the Soviet Union
Start to resist after Stalin’s death
Reform movements and revolutions start to break out in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia
* The Soviet Union uses force to stop all of them

Western Europe: Recovery

The Marshall Plan helped Western European countries to recover rapidly
They have several decades of prosperity following the war

France and de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle was the French president (1890 – 1970)
Work to revise the constitution several times and to rebuild France to a prominent political role
Helped them to become a major industrial producer and exporter

Economic Miracle: W. Germany

Post war recovery was fast and successful
Unemployment dropped from 8 % to .4 %
Economic expansion – used “guest” workers
* People on visas from other nations
Successfully involved in Western European politics

Decline of Great Britain

WWII destroyed their economy
Created a modern welfare state – a state in which the government takes responsibility for providing citizens with services and a minimal standard of living
They retreat from their empire and grant colonies independence

Western Europe: Move toward Unity

Desired economic unity after WWII
France, W. Germany, Belgium, Netherland, Luxembourg and Italy created the European Economic Community or the Common Market
* No tariffs, no import charges
* Becomes and important trading bloc (group of nations with a common purpose)

Detente

1970’s relaxation of tensions and improved relations between the US and USSR

Brezhnev Era

Protected communism throughout the world
Lessoned control due to détente
The economy was still hurting
The communist party was extremely corrupt
Reform was necessary for the people and the government

Cold War Re-intensifies

1979 - USSR invaded Afghanistan to restore a pro-Soviet government
* US saw this as expansion and didn’t attend the 1980 Moscow Olympics
1980 – Reagan is elected US President
* Called USSR evil empire
* Reinstated the arms race

Gorbachev and Perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in 1985
  * Worked for radical reforms
  * Called it Perestroika (restructuring)
    * Allowed for competing political parties
    * Allowed for elections
    * Created a market economy with partial private ownership of businesses
    * Created a position of President
Stopped supporting communist governments in Eastern Europe
Reunified Germany in 1990

End of the Cold War

USSR had a new approach to foreign policy and worked to end the arms race to help them economically
  * USSR – national debt had tripled
  * US – went from a creditor nation to the largest debtor nation
  * Imports more rather than exports more

End of the Soviet Union

Gorbachev had a difficult time dealing with the nationalist movements with the empire
Due to his reforms, conservative communists tried to overthrow him
* Boris Yeltsin (President of Russian Republic) saved his leadership
Many Soviet territories began to vote for independence
1991 – USSR “ceased to exist”; Gorbachev stepped down
* Boris Yeltsin became Russian President

The New Russia

Yeltsin introduced a free market economy
* Organized crime increased
Used force to stop Chechnya from leaving Russia
Yeltsin stepped down in 1999
Vladimir Putin elected in 2000
  * Wants to be more assertive internationally
  * Works to boost the economy
  * Joined the international World Trade Organization