the cold war, 1945-1991

The Cold War, 1945-1991

• The political, military and cultural rivalry between the U.S. and the S.U. which stopped short of outright war.

• Old money flooded into the Soviet Zone. Some restrictions were placed on links between Berlin and western zones, but the Soviet side was ready to supply food to all Berlin.  

•    • Yet every day 380

American planes flew into Berlin. It was simply a propaganda move intended to make the cold war worse.

• From a Russian history book.  

• The Korean War 1950-1953

• U.N. “police action” led by U.S. army after communist forces crossed the 38th parallel.

The Space Race

• Sputnik I in 1957• Yuri Gargarin, first

man to orbit the earth in 1961.

French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, • French withdrawal in Indo-China left a political vacuum the U.S. government believed had to be filled by pro-western forces.

• Alexander Dubcek begins “liberalization” program by ending censorship and seeking trade with the West.

• Known as “The Prague Spring”

The Brezhnev Doctrine

• Leonid Brezhnev : “Whenever a

Communist country endangered socialism at home or in other Communist countries, the Soviet Union had the duty to intervene with military force…”

The End

Any questions?

-Mikhail Gorbachev- the last Soviet dictator

• Gorbachev came to power as the Afghanistan invasion was failing and a backlash against the unpopular war was building.

• President Reagan used the Afghan war as a reason to renew the build-up of American military capabilities

• Gorbachev’s attempts to match the U.S. strained the economy to the breaking point

Gorbachev said…

• “…everything is rotten, through and through.”

• He called for “new thinking…”

• His policies of Perestroika and Glasnost led to the collapse of the USSR.

• Perestroika meaning “re-structuring:”

• Reorganize the state economy and perm it citizens to participate in the decision-making process.

• Glasnost meaning “openness:”

• Permit uninhibited discussions of the nation’s problems.

• Gorbachev’s policies were embraced by Eastern Europeans who demanded their own economic independence and political freedom.

-Poland took the lead in 1989

• Lech Welesa and the Solidarity Labor Union• Hungary followed, then Bulgaria, Romania,

Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Albania• East Germany was more dramatic…

The Berlin Wall- symbol of the Cold War…

• November anti-government crowds crammed the streets

• On November 9, 1989 the Wall was breached, young people from both sides danced on it. Sledgehammers appeared to break through while East German soldiers stood by.

-The last gasps of the Soviet Union…• The biggest

blow to the “Union” –Russia declared its independence

• Boris Yeltsin was elected the first Russian President

• Fragmentation came quickly

• December 24, 1991, the USSR was officially dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev “retired.”

• The Cold War was over.

-Western Europe during the Cold War

• The democracies of western Europe relied on unity for their security against a possible Soviet attack…

• NATO became the military deterrent but real political union has been difficult to achieve.

• Steps toward economic integration however, have been significant.

-The European Coal and Steel Community

• The ECSC was the result of France and West Germany to insure peace and cooperation…

• In 1951, six nations, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg (Benelux) agreed to eliminate tariffs on coal, iron and steel.

-West Europe’s domestic agenda…Socialism

• after the war, a vast expansion of public welfare programs became typical for most governments with reforms intended to give all citizens housing, education and healthcare regardless of income

• The “welfare state” was pioneered in Scandinavia but soon emerged in almost every European country

• Two wars, in which central management of state economies became the norm, governments had experience in organizing people and resources.

-The “Common Market”

• The success of the ECSC led to the six nations agreement that all tariffs among them should be dropped…

• Economic progress was impressive and other nations asked for membership...

• In 1973, Britain, Ireland and Denmark• In 1981, Greece…• In 1986, Spain and Portugal

-Recovery and prosperity

• Home construction led the way- in order to replace the homes destroyed in WWII, governments funded massive programs…

• In Britain, several hundred thousand a year for 10 years…

• In Germany, 10,000,000 new dwellings between 1948-1958…

• This building boom helped spur overall economic expansion

Recovery and prosperity

• By the mid-1950’s, most countries had achieved industrial and agricultural levels exceeding the 1940’s…

• The expanding economies made jobs available for almost everyone and incomes soared upwards…

• By the 1960’s, West Europe had moved through postwar restoration to prosperity.

The European Union, 1991 The Maasstricht Treaty

• The EU grew out of the common market and today is second to the U.S. as a very important force in the world economy

• The common monetary unit, the Euro, competes favorably with the U.S. dollar

• The majority of EU members are also members of NATO, adding to its influence in world affairs.

• In 2004, ten new members joined the EU

• In 2007 Romania and Bulgaria and Turkey’s request for admission is under consideration.