The Consequences of WWII

Decolonization and Cold War

Consequences of WWII

Staggering casualties – over 20 million in the Soviet Union aloneDecline of European power and the rise of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. as Superpowers=Cold WarDecolonizationDiscrediting of “scientific racism” – the Holocaust revealed

Creation of the United Nations - 1945

League of Nations never really worked.Belief in need for international bodyHad military powerWorked together to solve problemsPermanent council members who have veto powers – U.S., U.S.S.R., France, Great Britain and ChinaCurrently 192 member nation-states

Origins of the Cold WarYalta Conference 1945Division of Eastern & Western EuropeDivision of Germany and BerlinStalinist elections: Poland (1945), Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia (1947-48)

Yalta Conference

Containment of Communism

Iron Curtain speech by Winston Churchill (1946)Truman Doctrine (1947)Marshall Plan (1947)Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949)Warsaw Pact (1955)

Truman DoctrineTriggered by the communist insurrections in Greece and TurkeyPromised U.S. aid to any nation fighting communism

"I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.

I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes."

Marshall Plan

Between 1947-51, U.S. provide $9.4B to rebuild after WWIIStalin refused for all East to take part

http://www.charleslipson.com/Images/Stalin-Marshall-Plan-cartoon.jpg

Berlin Airlift

1948-1949Germany and Berlin were divided at Potsdam into four zone1948 – Three zones united in West GermanyStalin blockaded West Berlin321 day airliftStalin withdrew blockade in 1949Result was two Germanys – East and West

NATO and Warsaw Pact

1950s to early 1960sIncreasing tensions1949 Chinese Revolution1949 Soviets get atomic bomb1950-53 Korean War1950s - “Red Scare” - McCarthyism1957 Sputnik1960 U-2 incident – U.S. Spy plane shot down in USSR1961 Bay of Pigs1961 Berlin Wall was built1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Sputnik

Eastern European Revolts

1953 Khrushchev succeeded Stalin1956 Poland strikers had a limited success1956 ambitious Hungarian revolt under Imre Nagy crushed by Soviet troops

The Berlin Wall

Built in 1961Built to stop the flow of refugees to the WestMost visible symbol of the Cold War“Checkpoint Charlie”

Checkpoint Charlie

“Battles of the Cold War”

The Korean War1950-53“Battle” of the Cold War“limited war”Former Japanese colony – then divided into North and SouthUSSR withdraws from UN Security CouncilJune 1950 Northern invasion along the Pusan PerimeterU.N.-led counter-invasion – InchonChinese invasion – Yalu River - MacArthur’s firingStalemate38th ParallelDMZ – demilitarized zone – “the most dangerous place on earth”

South Korean troops inspect fence in 1975

Vietnam Conflict – Domino TheoryViet Minh under Ho Chi Minh 1946-1954 France – France had always wanted Vietnam as a colony1959-1975 U.S. enteredLeaders – Ho Chi Minh in the North and Ngo Dinh Diem in the SouthJohnson and Nixon war plans – US participationGuerilla warfareExpansion and Vietnamization – war ending in 1975 with US withdrawal

Napalm

Cuban Revolution

1959 Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio BatisteEarly support for Castro because he instituted national education and medical reformsNationalized large-scale landholdings, appealed to Soviets for aidCastro also preached revolution to other Latin American nations

Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis

1961-1962Bay of Pigs was planned by Eisenhower and carried out in 1961 by JFKThis damaged Kennedy politically and scared Castro into the arms of the SovietsCuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. The closest US and USSR came to nuclear war.13 day standoff

Latin America in the Cold War

Latin American countries were generally economically dependant on U.S., gross economic inequalities, authoritarian governments1960s – military dictators seized Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Other stayed ruled by junta. True democracies are rare.

Latin America1950-1970s Marxist revolts throughout Latin America. Generally crushed by right-wing governments, backed by U.S.1954 CIA intervened covertly in Guatemala1965 & 1983 U.S. directly intervened in the Dominican Republic and Grenada1970-80s - Nicaragua – Contras (US supplied) vs. Sandinistas (Marxist) – the largest conflict outside of Cuba – big mistake for U.S.By the late 1980s the U.S. is criticized for overstepping its bounds in international affairs

Soviet-Afghanistan War1978-1990sClient state toppled by internal rebellion in 1978Soviets sent in 5000 advisors1979-88 rebellion against Soviet controlResistance was led by the mujahidin – Islamic freedom fighters backed by the U.S.Soviets withdrew 1989, but the civil war lasted into the 1990sTaliban (from the mujahidin) imposed a government in late 1990s

Society during the Cold WarEastern bloc countries (2nd World): low production and industry Losing propaganda war with the West Economic troubles after arms race of 80s

Western bloc countries (1st World): Prosperous But politically tumultuous

Non-aligned, non-industrialized nations (3rd World)

Society will begin to change by the 1970s & 80s

Social Movements during the Cold War

Peace MovementEuropean Anti-Nuclear MovementCivil Rights Movements in the U.S.Feminist MovementsSexual RevolutionGay Rights Movement

These movements grew out of the social and population changes as well as

unhappiness with Vietnam

Gorbachev - RussiaReforms of the 1980sSoviet Union was weakened by Afghanistan Chernobyl accidentArms raceGlasnost and perestroikaHe tried to work within Communist party until an attempted coup in 1991Gorbachev placed under house arrest but the Russian president Yeltsin led massive protests

Gorbachev

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

1989

Collapse of the Soviet Bloc1981-1989 – Poland’s Solidarity Party – Catholics and workers – Pope John Paul II1989 – Poland gained right to multiparty elections – Elected Lech Walesa and threw out the communistsRevolts in Hungary Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Albania, East Germany and Romania

Lech Walesa

Fall of the Berlin Wall

1989 – Access was opened, main gate opened.Triggered by flood of refugees flowing east and west through HungaryWall actually came down in 1990Germany began the reunification process

Break-up of the Soviet Union

1991 USSR dissolved by DecemberEstonia, Latvia and Lithuania all left the USSR in 1991Commonwealth of Independent States led by Yeltsin1992 – 17 more republics had leftEconomic, religious and crime problems

Problems after the break-up

Economic dislocationResurgence of ethnic tensionAnti-SemitismLimited experience with democracyShaky governments with widespread corruption and crimeThe legacy of terror from the worst dictatorships left scars

ChechnyaWith the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, a number of regions managed to break away and gain independence. Late 1991 - Chechnya's drive for independence. Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, refused Chechnya's declaration of independence,Sent in troops instead, only to withdraw when confronted by armed Chechens.1994 Russia invades again. Massive casualties1999 10,000 Russian troops sent in2003 Separatist referendum – leaders killed2004 – School children killed in Chechen rebel bombing2005 March Separatist president killed

Yugoslavia

The former Yugoslavia broke apart in 1990Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina1991 Civil war between 3 main groupsCroats (Roman Catholic)Serbs (Greek Orthodox)Bosnians (Muslim)

1991-1995Serb President Slobodan MilsevicEthnic cleansingPracticed against Bosnians and CroatsOver 200,000 civilians killedEnded only with 1995 U.N. intervention

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