Chapter 15

Post World War Tensions• Cold War- era of high

tension and bitter rivalry between US and USSR

• Iron Curtain- belief that communism had created a sharp division in Europe

Causes of Cold War• Philosophical Differences- Democracy

vs. Communism

• WWII Conflicts- Soviet front damages, US atomic bomb

• Postwar Conflicts- USSR refused to live up to wartime promises, US resists Soviet expansion

• Containment- late 1940’s, US should resist Soviet attempts to expand its power and influence over others. Not just military force but aid to countries to defend them against Soviets. Put to test in 1947 in Greece

• Truman Doctrine- Policy of US to support free people who are resisting forced control by armed minorities or outside pressures

• Marshall Plan- June 1947, called for massive American aid to help Europe rebuild and get economy back. Stalin refused to help. Led to European economic upswing and USSR’s economy stalling

Berlin Airlift

NATO and Warsaw Pact• North Atlantic Treaty

Organization- April 1949 US and 6 other nations (Portugal, Norway, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Italy).

• New military alliance• Attack against 1 is an

attack against all

• 1955 – Military alliance formed by Soviet Union and 7 satellite nations in E. Europe in response to NATO

• Pact divided Europe into “eastern” and “western” blocs

Berlin Wall• Berlin, Germany split into Democratic West Berlin and

Soviet East Berlin (Berlin located in E. Germany)• 1950’s – West Berlin showcase for West German

prosperity, led to mass exodus, or departure, of unhappy East Germans into West Berlin

• 1961 E. Germany built a wall surrounding West Berlin to prevent further evacuations

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• The Russians took very high casualties to capture Berlin in May 1945. They spent the early occupation trying to take over all zones of the city but were stopped by German democrats such as Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer. Reluctantly the Russians had to admit the Americans, French and British to their respective zones.

Iron CurtainIron Curtain – – A term used by A term used by Winston Winston

Churchill Churchill to describe the to describe the separating of separating of Those Those

communistcommunistlands of East lands of East Europe from Europe from

the the West. West.

Nuclear Weapons• Arms race began after WWII• US began as only nuclear power• By 1949 USSR also developed nuclear weapons• “Balance of Terror”; mutually assured destruction –

each side knew they’d be destroyed if it launched its weapons

• SALT – Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between US and USSR began in 1969

• Détente – peaceful coexistence or relaxation of tensions during 1970’s

Cuba goes Communist• 1950’s- Fidel Castro organized armed rebellion

dictator• 1959- Cuban Revolution; sought Soviet aid• 1961- US president, JFK, supported an invasion

attempt by US trained Cuban exiles; Bay of Pigs invasion was failure when Castro’s forces captured invaders

• US imposed trade embargo• 1962 USSR sent nuclear missiles to Cuba (90 miles

south of Florida); US imposed Naval blockade that prevented further missile shipments

Cold War NationsSoviet Union

• Soviets controlled most aspects of life

• Stalin filled labor camps with ‘enemies of the state” until death in 1953

• Nikita Krushchev- 1953 new Soviet leader denounced Stalin’s abuse of power, closed prison camps

USA

• Cold War Competition between economic and political systems

• Free Market• Policy of Containment• Living in fear of Nuclear

fallout: shelters, bomb drills, emergency food supplies

• Red Scare– HUAC: House Un-American

Activities Committee, sought to expose communist sympathizers

• Hollywood Ten- 1947, Hollywood writers, directors. 10 refused to answer questions about beliefs or those of their colleagues. Found guilty of contempt and blacklisted.

• Sen. Joseph McCarthy- Senator, fought against communism. Headed the HUAC

• McCarthyism- Sen. McCarthy’s tactic of making baseless charges and spreading fear of communism – tried to reveal communists in government agencies, brought them to committee

• US Post War economic boom- suburbs, GI Bill, help rebuild West Europe

Communism SpreadsChina: -End of WWII communists gained control-Mao vs Nationalists; defeated nationalists fled to Taiwan-Mao won support of peasants, redistributed land and ended oppression by landlords-Hope for ‘new China’ without foreign domination-People’s Liberation Army took control of Nationalist-held cities-Conquered Tibet 1950; 1959 Dalai Lama exiled

• China’s Great Leap Forward:– 1958-1960 urged people to increase

farm output and industrial output at superhuman level

– Created communes

– Failure: • Low quality, useless goods• Communes cut food output by removing

incentives for families• Neglect of farmland• Bad weather led to famine• 55 million though to have starved to death

• Cultural Revolution: 1966, purge China of bourgeois tendencies; urged young to experience revolution firsthand

Korean WarAfter WWII, US and USSR divided Korea between the two, Korea had previously been

part of the Japanese Empire.

38th Parallel- the dividing line between North Korea and South Korea as established by US and USSR.

-US allied with Syngman Rhee; USSR allied with Kim Il Sung

- Early 1950 Kim Il Sung tried to unite the 2 Koreas, and attacked South Korea beginning in June

- UN forces organized to help S. Korea

• Kim Il Sung- First leader of North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Sought to unify North and South under Communist control

• Pusan Perimeter- North Korean troops advanced until UN forces stopped them in August near port city of Pusan

• Panmunjom- 1952, Negotiators met and argued over peace details while small-scale fighting claimed thousands.

-1953 – both sides signed armistice; 2 million troops remained on either side of DMZ

Vietnam War PHASE 1 - A WAR OF PHASE 1 - A WAR OF

COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE AGAINST THE FRENCHAGAINST THE FRENCH

Vietnam had been a French Vietnam had been a French colony under the name of colony under the name of French IndochinaFrench Indochina (along with (along with Cambodia and Laos)Cambodia and Laos)

Vietnam began to fight for its Vietnam began to fight for its independence from France independence from France (during WW II)(during WW II)

Vietnamese revolutionary Vietnamese revolutionary leader was leader was Ho Chi MinhHo Chi Minh, a , a Communist Communist Wanted to be the leader of an Wanted to be the leader of an

independent, communist Vietnam; independent, communist Vietnam; Ho received support from both the Ho received support from both the USSR and “Red” ChinaUSSR and “Red” China

Colonial war raged from Colonial war raged from 1946-54, culminating in the 1946-54, culminating in the French defeat at French defeat at DienbienphuDienbienphu

Partition Vietnam into a Partition Vietnam into a communist North led by Ho and communist North led by Ho and a “democratic” South Vietnam a “democratic” South Vietnam led by led by Ngo Dinh DiemNgo Dinh Diem

Settlement reflected the US Settlement reflected the US policy of policy of containmentcontainment with with respect to Soviet communist respect to Soviet communist expansionismexpansionism

US had come to see South US had come to see South Vietnam as a “Vietnam as a “dominodomino” that ” that they couldn’t afford to losethey couldn’t afford to lose

Phase 2

Phase 2 Cold War conflict Phase 2 Cold War conflict 1955-19751955-1975

The U.S. never formally issued The U.S. never formally issued a declaration of wara declaration of war

Gulf of Tonkin IncidentGulf of Tonkin Incident, 2 , 2 American destroyers were American destroyers were apparently fired upon by the apparently fired upon by the North VietnameseNorth Vietnamese

- Congress passed the - Congress passed the Gulf of Gulf of Tonkin Resolutions (August Tonkin Resolutions (August 1964)1964)

- - Congress gave LBJ Congress gave LBJ their support in sending their support in sending American personnel and American personnel and materialmaterial

1960s: the US experienced a lack of 1960s: the US experienced a lack of success against the Vietnamese success against the Vietnamese guerrilla forces in S.Vietnam (the guerrilla forces in S.Vietnam (the VietcongVietcong) as the US Army was ) as the US Army was unprepared for their tactics and unprepared for their tactics and mentality mentality

Ho Chi Minh TrailHo Chi Minh Trail, a supply line that ran , a supply line that ran between North and South Vietnam via between North and South Vietnam via difficult jungle terrain, often difficult jungle terrain, often underground and through neighboring underground and through neighboring nations like Cambodianations like Cambodia

Tet OffensiveTet Offensive : 1968 a : 1968 a surprise offensive on a surprise offensive on a major Vietnamese major Vietnamese holiday that saw attacks holiday that saw attacks all over the country, all over the country, including in Saigon including in Saigon itselfitself Turning point in Turning point in

American opinionAmerican opinion US manages to remove US manages to remove

itself by Jan. 27, 1973itself by Jan. 27, 1973 Cambodia 1975: Khmer Cambodia 1975: Khmer

Rouge, communist Rouge, communist guerillas, overthrow guerillas, overthrow governmentgovernment

The North Vietnamese easily The North Vietnamese easily defeated the South by 1975; defeated the South by 1975;

1975 – the US abandoned its 1975 – the US abandoned its embassy in Saigon, which embassy in Saigon, which was renamed was renamed Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh CityCity in the newly unified and in the newly unified and communist Vietnamcommunist Vietnam

End of Cold War• Decline of USSR

– Reform Repression– Command Economy

Stagnates: poor planning, inefficiency and waste

– Large military budget; ‘own’ Vietnam in Afghanistan

– Gorbachev attempts reform:

• Avoided Cold War tensions• Glasnost: openness• Ended censorship• Perestroika: restructuring of

gov’t• 1989 E. European Nations

began to break away• 1991 remaining Soviet states

formed 12 independent nations