An overview of the Cold War How can a war be ‘cold’? What were the Hotspots of the Cold War?

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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 it spread (USSR).

Background: Who: The definition above says it all (almost). Many smaller countries in Asia, South America and Africa became involved. What: Intense economic, political, military, and ideological rivalry between nations, short of military conflict Where: Covered by above. When: Approximately 1945-1989

How: Beginnings: US, USSR, Great Britain unnatural allies during World War II Tensions submerged until close of war Yalta and Potsdam Conferences (1945) Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt Decided on USSR declaration of war vs. Japan, setting up of International Military Tribunal Free elections for Eastern Europe Truman drops A-Bomb hint to Stalin… Stalin arranges pro-communist governments in Eastern European countries 1946: “Iron Curtain” descends.

Soviet and U.S. troops celebrating victory over the Germans

“Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin working together to save the world”

The Big Three Disagreed… But in fact the Allies had disagreed openly about:    The details of how to divide Germany. The size of reparations Germany ought to pay. Soviet influence over the countries of eastern Europe.

The Yalta Conference – held during the war in 1945

Western Reactions to Soviet Threat The Truman Doctrine (1947) World divided into free and enslaved states US to support all movements for democracy “containment” of Communism “domino theory” Blocs Develop NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the Warsaw Pact established The Marshall Plan (1947) Named for George C. Marshall (1880-1989), US Secretary of State Proposed in 1947, $13 billion to reconstruct western Europe The United Nations formed (1945) to resolve international disputes

Berlin Germany and Berlin split between East and West (4 ways, but West merges) Soviets Blockade Berlin East and West struggling for control of Capital West Berlin government overwhelmingly elects democratic leaders… Berlin Airlift 11 months of air shipments to Berlin, beginning June 1948 Cold war did not go “hot” Retribution: British/U.S. embargo on Soviet imports Soviets lift blockade in summer 1949 Berlin Wall (1961) Built to stop escaping East Germans Becomes symbol of the Cold War

Focus on Berlin After World War II, Germany was divided into four zones, occupied by French, British, American, and Soviet troops. Occupation zones after 1945. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone.

Soviet blockade: East Berlin West Berlin East Germany West Germany · In June of 1948, the French, British and American zones were joined into the nation of West Germany after the Soviets refused to end their occupation of Germany.

Eventual site of the Berlin Wall · In response, the Soviets cut off West Berlin from the rest of the world with a blockade. Eventual site of the Berlin Wall

STOP

A huge airlift: · President Truman decided to avoid the blockade by flying in food and other supplies to the needy people of West Berlin. · At times, over 5,000 tons of supplies arrived daily.

The Berlin Airlift, 1948 Stalin blockaded the city and the U.S. came to the rescue with “Operation Vittles”

Germany remains divided: · In May of 1949, Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union ended the blockade. · The Soviet zone of Germany, including East Berlin, became known as the nation of East Germany. October, 1949

The Berlin Wall 1961 Between 1949-1961 3.5 million East Germans fled 1961: Barrier built, barbed wire, watchtowers, guards, “shoot to kill”

The Cold War: Roots of the Conflict Soviet Expansion: · The Soviet Union occupied most of Eastern Europe by the end of World War II.

In 1946, Winston Churchill correctly warned that the Soviets were creating an “iron curtain” in Eastern Europe. Winston Churchill giving the “Iron Curtain” address at Westminster College on March 5, 1946

Winston Churchill - “The Sinews of Peace” March 5, 1946 - Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow….Whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts - and facts they are - this is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace….

What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed, the more difficult it will be and the greater our dangers will become. From what I have seen of our Russian friends and Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness.

Peep under the Iron curtain March 6, 1946

· By 1948, every Eastern European country was under communist control. American Response: · Truman Doctrine – statement of President Truman that promised military and economic support to nations threatened by communism… CONTAINMENT!

Aid for Europe: · Secretary of State George Marshall toured Western Europe and witnessed widespread homelessness and famine. Children in a London suburb, waiting outside the wreckage of what was their home. September 1940.

Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942

· Marshall, fearing that communist revolts could occur in such an atmosphere, proposed that the U.S. help to rebuild the European economy in what became known as the Marshall Plan. Nuremberg, Germany, April 20, 1945

* The U.S. gave over $17 billion in aid to European countries between 1948 and 1952, helping to improve their economies and lessen the chance of communist revolutions.

The Arms Race North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949 Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact), 1955 Nuclear proliferation End of 60s: Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) Show dr. Strangelove here

US Test Hydrogen Bomb-1952 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb Set off on Bikini Island in the Marshall Islands

Massive Retaliation  Mutually Assured Destruction

Hot Spots and Proxy Wars: Korea Vietnam Berlin Wall Afghanistan Chinese Communist Revolution Cuban Missile Crisis

The Korean War 1950-1953

The Chinese Communist Revolution… 1945 -

The Berlin Wall 1961

The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

The Vietnam War 1963-1975

Cuba Fidel Castro Rus (1926-), 1959 revolution Cancels promised elections, expropriates foreign properties, kills or exiles political enemies US imposes trade embargo Soviets step in with massive aid, gain foothold off US shores

The Bay of Pigs Castro declares undying allegiance to Soviet foreign policy, 1960 Kennedy and CIA send 1,500 Cubans into Bay of Pigs to spur revolution American Air support does not appear, force destroyed in 3 days US embarrassment

Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs

Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962 Soviets begin assembling missiles in Cuba Kennedy publicly challenges USSR Quarantines CUBA Soviets concede, but US guarantees non- interference with Castro regime US Secretary of State Dean Rusk: “Eyeball to eyball, they blinked first”

The Cold War, 1949-1962

The Space Race Nonviolent aspect of cold war rivalry Initial Soviet successes: 1957: Sputnik, first satellite 1961: Yuri Gagarin orbits space US sets up NASA, lands Apollo XI on the moon, July 1969

Challenges to Soviet Power Rebellions quashed: Yugoslavia expelled from Soviet bloc, 1948 Hungary, 1956 Prague Spring, 1968 Brezhnev Doctrine: right to invade any socialist country threatened by elements “hostile to socialism”

The Cold War: 1945-1960

The Cold War: 1960-1991

The Cold War in Africa and Asia · The United States and Soviet Union supported their allies worldwide, turning small conflicts into international wars. Examples: - In Africa, the U.S. supported Somalia while the Soviets supported Ethiopia. - In Asia, Pakistan became an ally of the U.S., while India accepted assistance from both the U.S. and the Soviets. Also, the U.S. supported democratic forces in Indochina while the Soviets supported the communists. - (Note: today, Indochina consists of the nations of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.)

End of the Cold War President Ronald Reagan (in office 1981-1989) deeply opposes USSR The “evil empire” Promotes massive military spending, beyond Soviet economy to keep up Strategic Defense Initiative (“star wars”) Forces Soviet Mikhail S. Gorbachev (1931- ) to implement reforms, ultimately brings down the USSR

Revolutions in Eastern and Central Europe Polish trade union Solidarity movement opposes Polish Communist Party rule, forces multiparty elections, 1989 Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania follow The “Velvet Revolution” Bloodless revolutions East Germany decides to open the Berlin Wall East and West Germany reunite (1990)

Collapse of the Soviet Union Reforms under Gorbachev Economic Social Perestroika: “restructuring” Glasnost: “openness” Nationalist sentiments, long suppressed, come to the surface Several non-Russian republics secede, August 1991 Attempted hardliner takeover in Moscow fails, Soviet Union collapses by end of the year

The collapse of the Soviet Union and European communist regimes