Cold War in Asia, Africa, and Latin America Standard 7-5.3

1. Conflicting Ideologies After World War II, the Soviets wanted to spread communism, the U.S. wanted to stop it. Countries the Soviet Union liberated from Germany were forced to become communist and kept from having elections. Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Albania and Hungary were all ‘satellite’ nations of the Soviet Union. Their political and economic policies ‘orbited’ within Soviet Control Truman was determined to prevent other countries from becoming Satellites

2. Communism grabs hold A typical communist strategy was to look for countries already having revolutions. The soviets would offer help in the form of Economic or Military support. In exchange the new governments would agree to be communist. The Soviets also used delegates and sent them to other countries to explain the benefits and successes of communism.

Communism vs Democracy

3. Asian Communism China was the first big victory for the Soviet Union Throughout World War II there was a Chinese civil war, and it was still going on. During WWII both sides fought against the Japanese, but when the war ended they turned on each other once again Mao Zedong (Communist) defeated Chiang Kai-Shek (Nationalist) in 1949, naming China the “People’s Republic” and putting Communist Mao Zedong in Charge.

4. Korea Korea suffered a similar fate to Germany after WWII. Japan had to give up all of its colonies, Korea included. The United States and the Soviet Union involved themselves once more, the United States trying to prevent the spread of communism, and the soviets trying to spread it further. Korea was split in half, the Democratic People’s republic of Korea (DPRK) was the Communist North, and The Republic of Korea was the Democratic South. This separation later led to the Korean War

Even today you can see the divide…

5. Vietnam & the rest of Asia In Vietnam the spread of communism caused a scenario very similar to that of Korea. After World War II, Vietnam wanted to break away from French rule. The Soviet Union sent revolutionaries, the United States supported Democratic leaders. Laos and Cambodia were also affected by communism and changed their political systems after WWII.

6. Africa Many countries in Africa took advantage of the instability around WWII as a time to revolt. Again, the Soviets sent support to nations that would establish communist governments, and the United States did the same to those who supported democracy The United States biggest fear was the “Domino Theory” which held that if one country in an area went communist, those around it would follow, like a row of Dominoes.

7. Latin America In Latin America, Cuba was the first country to establish a communist government, with the help of the Soviet Union, and placed Fidel Castro as their leader. The Soviet Union tried to spread communism through Cuba in the 1970s and 1980s. In El-Salvador troops supported by Castro and the USSR fought troops backed by the United States In Nicaragua the Soviets overthrew the government, and the United States helped a group called the “Contras” fight back. A member of the Contras