Cold War Developments in Africa & Asia AP European History Mr. Meester

Zionism & Balfour Zionism had began in 1897 under Theodor Herzl it’s focus was the creation of a Jewish state The Balfour Declaration in 1917 made official Britain’s approval of creating a Jewish state in Palestine Between the wars Jews began immigrating to British ruled Palestine The Arabs considered the Jews intruders clashes between the groups began

Creation of Israel The Holocaust resulted united Jews around the world to go to Palestine and caused public opinion in the West to support the creation of a Jewish Homeland In 1947 the UN passed a resolution that divided the territory into 2 states In May of 1948 the British withdrew from Palestine and Israel declared independence Almost immediately the Arab nations in the Middle East invaded Israel

Arab-Israeli Conflicts After 2 years of fighting the Israelis had expanded their territory beyond what had been granted by the UN The Arab nations were beaten but still refused to officially recognize Israel This conflict would be drawn into the Cold War with the US an ally of Israel and the USSR giving aid to the Arabs US support of Israel would also be a source of tension with regards to radical Islam

The Suez Crisis In the summer of 1956 Egyptian President Gamal Nasser nationalize the Suez Canal The French & British had controlled the private company who owned and feared this would result in the loss of their oil supply That fall, war began between Egypt & Israel The British & French used it as an opportunity for military action against Egypt The US refused to support the conflict Pressure from the UN, US, & USSR force a military withdrawal

The Brezhnev Era 1964 Leonid Brezhnev replaced Nikita Khrushchev as the leader of the Soviet Union In 1968 he would invade Czechoslovakia to stop the Prague Spring. This established the Brezhnev Doctrine stating the USSR had the right to intervene in the domestic affairs of other communist nations In the 1970s Brezhnev communist actions throughout Africa, Asia, and Central America Brezhnev also turn the Soviet army into the largest in the world & great expanded the Soviet’s nuclear arsenal

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan In 1979 the Soviets wanted to increase their presence in Afghanistan and invaded and set up a puppet government This caused a strong response from the US effectively ending the period of Détente The US & China both supported the Mujahedin in their fight against the Soviets The war would last almost 8 years sapping the morale of the Soviet army costing the Soviet government millions of dollars

Decolonization World War II caused the retreat of European forces back to Europe and gave rise to nationalist movements in response to Axis aggression The war had cost a great deal and most Europeans were unable to afford their empires The US was the new dominate power and was against colonial empires The Cold War would further complicate matters by both sides competing for influence in the former colonies

Indian Independence India had been the crown jewel of the British Empire, but they had been pushing for independence since the 1880’s Indian National Congress & Muslim League Mohandas Gandhi used nationalism and passive resistance to pressure British to leave India The British left in 1947, but due to the religious conflicts India was partitioned into 3 parts that would become Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu extremist in 1948

France and Algeria The French had controlled Algeria since the 1830s and it had played a key role as a base for the Free French during WWII After the war clashes between the native Muslims and French settlers began this led to a push for independence The Algerians formed the National Liberation Front The FLN began a guerilla war against the French that lasted till 1962 when it gained independence Atrocities were committed by both sides

French in Vietnam Just prior to the Algerian uprising in 1954 the French had lost their holdings in SE Asia Ho Chi Minh (a communist) had begun resistance to French rule in the 1930s He then fought the Japanese during WWII and declared independence following the war This began a civil war between communist and pro- French forces With China becoming communist in 1949 this conflict became a part of the Cold War After their defeat at Dien Bien Phu the French sued for peace dividing the country between north & south until elections could be held