THE COLD WAR

HUMANITIES

• What is the Cold War?• Communism v Capitalism• USSR v USA• The Cuban Missile Crisis• The Vietnam War

CONTENT:

WHAT IS THE COLD WAR?

WHAT IS 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.

YALTA (in the USSR)YALTA (in the USSR)Date: Feb 1945Date: Feb 1945

Present: Churchill, Present: Churchill, Roosevelt and StalinRoosevelt and Stalin

POTSDAM (Germany)POTSDAM (Germany)Date: July 1945Date: July 1945Present: Atlee, Present: Atlee,

Truman and StalinTruman and Stalin

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.

Improve your knowledge

• The nuclear bomb gave America a lead which was expected to last at least 5 years. The rapid Russian development of nuclear technology, helped by the work of the “atom spies” was a shock.

Significantly, Russia hurriedly declared war against Japan at the beginning of August 1945 and rushed to advance into Asia to stake out a position for the post-war settlement. This helped make both the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts more likely.

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)

USA BEGAN TO WORRY THAT OTHER COUNTRIES WOULD FOLLOW. THIS WAS CALLED THE ‘DOMINO EFFECT’

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”.

• In other words the USA was promising to help Capitalist countries against the threat of a Communist take over!

•It signalled the end of “isolationst” policies.

USA 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.

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 COLD WAR IN EUROPEAlthough no shots were fired, Eastern Europe was the first battlefield upon which the Cold War was fought. Between 1945 and 1948 Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia were all persuaded by Stalin to become Communist countries. This led to a divide in Europe (East – Communist and West - Capitalist) nicknamed the ‘Iron Curtain’ by Churchill.Germany was also divided into the Capitalist West (controlled by the Allies) and the Communist East (controlled by the USSR). Even Berlin its capital that was in Eastern Germany was divided into West Germany controlled by the Allies and East Germany controlled by the USSR

BERLIN:The Berlin Blockade was an attempt to starve West Berlin into submitting [giving up] to the communistsThe Allied [western powers] airlift signalled the West’s determination to use all resources to defend Berlin.

It was felt by both sides that Berlin could act as the trigger for general war between capitalist and communist countries

COLD WAR ‘HOTSPOT’

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.

Improve your knowledge

• 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.

The Berlin Wall 1961

THE COLD WAR IN ASIAIn 1949 China became a Communist Country under Chairman Mao. This created real concern in the USA about Communism spreading throughout the World.In America an atmosphere of hysteria meant that Presidents followed even tougher anti-communist policies and promised to ‘contain’ Communism and help protect capitalist countries against communist aggressors.

HOTSPOTS

South In Asia there were two ‘hotspots’:

• Korea 1950:

North Korea became Communist. The US sent forces to help South Korea against the Communist troops from North Korea and China.

•Vietnam 1950-1975:

In 1956 Vietnam was divided into Communist North and Capitalist South. The US sent troops from c. 1960 to support the South. It was a very difficult War to fight and involved 5 US Presidents!

The Korean War 1950-1953

The Vietnam War c.1963-1975

THE COLD WAR IN THE REST OF THE WORLD

Perhaps the most worrying of ‘Hotspots’ was:

The Cuban Missile Crisis 1961.

Latin America was considered by the US as their ‘own backyard’. In 1959 a revolution in Cuba led to Fidel Castro, a suspected Communist sympathiser, coming to power.

When America found out the USSR was stationing Nuclear Weapons in Cuba the situation became extremely hostile. When USSR ships carrying nuclear weapons steamed towards Cuba, America surrounded the island with their Navy.

For a while the ‘Cold War’ became extremely HOT!

The World waited to see if the two sides would finally be at war, or to see if either side would back down.Fortunately the USSR did back down and the World breathed a sigh of relief!

The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

THE COLD WAR - SUMMARY• The Cold War began during World War II as America and

Russia didn’t like or trust each other.• Both sides never directly fought one another, but often sent

troops to help other countries fight their enemy.• US Policy was to ‘Contain Communism’ in opposition to the

‘Domino Effect’. This included the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

• The first place to be affected by the Cold War was Europe as it seemed divided (Iron Curtain) by Capitalist West and Communist East.

• The second place to be affected was Asia after China became Communist and America got involve in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

• Cuba was the scariest event of the Cold War as the two sides faced each other for the first time.

• You will next study two of these ‘Hotspots’ in more detail: CUBA and VIETNAM