THE COLD WAR A NEW INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT

After WWII, a new international conflict emerged, the Cold War – It was primarily an ideological conflict between the U.S. and the Soviet Union which dominated world politics from 1945 until the end of the 1980s Different forms of gov’t and economic systems, a conflict between communism and capitalist democracy

The Cold War Begins Nearing the end of WWII, Roosevelt and Churchill realized that millions of Soviets had taken possession of much of Eastern and Central Europe – They want self-determination and free elections in these nations – Stalin promises to allow this after the war – Roosevelt can’t anger Stalin, he needs the Soviet Union to declare war on Japan

Potsdam Conference (July 1945) – Truman demands free elections in Eastern Europe and Stalin refuses – Stalin wants a communist buffer zone in Eastern Europe to guard against future attacks Pro-Soviet Communist gov’ts are established in Eastern Europe – The only way to force free elections was to invade Soviet-held territories – no wants more war Winston Churchill claims that “An Iron Curtain has descended across the continent” – This division is the beginning of the Cold War – U.S. fears communism and the Soviets fear the capitalist West

The United States Responds In 1947 Soviet-backed Communists threaten the gov’t of Greece – The British can’t help because their economy is in bad shape, so the U.S. steps in Truman Doctrine – 1947 President Truman issues this doctrine that states the U.S. would give money to countries threatened by Communist expansion Afraid communism would spread if unchecked – Greece is able to stop the Communists

Marshall Plan (June 1947) – also known as the European Recovery Program – Set up to rebuild war-torn Europe Theory that communism is successful in places with economic problems U.S. spends 13 billion rebuilding Europe – Money is offered to the Soviet Union and its politically dependent Eastern European satellite states, but Stalin refuses the aid Council for Mutual Assistance (COMECON) – Set up in 1949 by the Soviets in response to the Marshall Plan to help rebuild Eastern Europe – Fails due to the fact that the Soviets have no money

Policy of Containment – Adopted by the U.S. in 1947 to keep communism within its existing boundaries and prevent further Soviet aggressive moves – Main U.S. foreign policy for the next 45 years – stop the spread of communism, will lead to two wars

Germany Divided 1948 the U.S., Britain, and France work to unify the three western sections of Germany and Berlin to create a democratic gov’t – The Soviets oppose this and set up a blockade of West Berlin – The U.S. and British respond with the Berlin Air Lift to fly supplies to West Berlin – It is successful and the Soviets end the blockade in May 1949 West Germany is created in Sept East Germany set up by the Soviets a month later

Spread of the Cold War and New Alliances China falls to Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong in 1949 The Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb – The U.S. and Soviet Union begin an arms race, each trying to gain an advantage in weapons – Both sides began to stockpile nuclear weapons – Deterrence = the development or maintenance of military power to prevent an attack

Nato = North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949) – Military alliance set up by the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, and most of Western Europe to provide help if any member was attacked Warsaw Pact (1955) – Military alliance between the Soviet Union and the Communist nations of Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and East Germany The U.S. also made other alliances in Southeast Asia and Central America

Korean War ( ) After the surrender of Japan, the U.S. and S.U. temporarily divided Korea – The Soviets establish a communist gov’t in North Korea, while the U.S. supports a non-communist gov’t in the South War begins when the Communist gov’t of North Korea tries to take over South Korean and unite the country under a communist gov’t (June 1950) – Confirms U.S. fears of Communist expansion and the U.S. asks the United Nations to approve the use of force to stop the invasion

The UN sends a military force with soldiers from 17 nations, although most of the soldiers are from the U.S. – These forces, led by General MacArthur, push the North Koreans out of South Korea – Keep going deep into North Korea China sends troop to aid the North Koreans and the UN forces are driven out of North Korea – Leads to a stalemate and in 1953 both sides agree to an armistice Divided at the 38 th Parallel – DMZ – 54,246 U.S. dead in three years, 103,284 wounded – 4 million Koreans die

Conflicts Trouble in the Suez (1956) – Egypt takes over the Suez Canal, greatly angering Great Britain and France – Britain, France, and Israel then attack Egypt, and the Soviet Union threatens to fight on Egypt’s side – The U.S. steps in and tells its Allies to back down to prevent a larger war Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) – In 1959 Fidel Castro establishes a Communist gov’t in Cuba and makes an alliance with the Soviets – President Kennedy approves a secret plan for Cuban exiles to invade Cuba to remove Castro

The CIA secretly trains these 1500 Cubans and sends them to invade Cuba – The invasion fails – no air support Berlin Wall (1961) – Soviets have the East German gov’t build a wall to stop the flow of East Germans escaping to West Berlin – By 1961 approximately 1,000 people a day were leaving East Germany through Berlin – Wall is heavily guarded with machine guns, barbed wire, and attack dogs

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) – Soviet leader Khrushchev begins to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to counteract U.S. nuclear weapons placed in Turkey – In October, Kennedy finds out that Soviet ships carrying nuclear missiles are heading to Cuba Orders the blockade of Cuba The ships meet eye-to-eye, world on edge of a nuclear war The Soviets turn back – Khrushchev removes the missiles from Cuba and Kennedy promises not to invade Cuba again

Vietnam War ( ) Domino theory = idea that if one country falls to communism, neighboring countries will also fall – Purpose of the Vietnam War was to keep the Communist gov’t of North Vietnam from gaining control of South Vietnam – Afraid if South Vietnam fell, so would other nations in Asia Starts off as a war for independence from France – After WWII France worked to regain its colonies and fought against the Vietminh, who wanted independence from France

The leader of the Vietminh was Ho Chi Minh, a Communist who received aid from the Soviet Union – The French pull out of Vietnam after their military base of Dien Bien Phu falls in 1954 Vietnam was divided, with the Vietminh and Ho Chi Minh getting control of North Vietnam The U.S. supported South Vietnam to keep it from being taken over by the North – The leader of South Vietnam was brutal and corrupt – A group called the Vietcong (Vietnamese Communists) formed to overthrown his gov’t and reunite Vietnam

North Vietnamese forces entered South Vietnam to fight alongside the Vietcong – The U.S. sent thousands of military advisors to help South Vietnam Tonkin Gulf Incident (1964) – North Vietnamese destroyer mistakenly fires on 2 U.S. ships President Johnson informs Congress of this unprovoked attack – Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Gives Johnson the power to expand U.S. involvement without a formal declaration of war Hundreds of thousands of soldiers sent to Vietnam

Tet Offensive (1968) – Massive attack by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese forces – Ultimately a failure offensively, but it greatly weakened American support for the war Antiwar movement in the U.S. – Draft instituted, people want out of the war – Kent State University (1970) four students are killed by the national guard My Lai (1968) – Lt. William Calley and his troops murder almost an entire village in S. Vietnam – kill hundreds

1973 President Nixon pulls the U.S. out of the war – 58,226 Americans killed – War resumes without U.S. intervention and within two years Vietnam is forcibly reunited by Communist armies from the North when Saigon falls in 1975

A Thaw in the Cold War Détente = relaxation of tensions and improved relations between the superpowers – In the 1970s American-Soviet relations enter a new phase – Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT) Agree to limit the number of nuclear weapons they have 1979 détente collapses when the Soviets invade Afghanistan to restore a pro-Soviet regime – U.S. cancels American participation in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow – CIA trains people in Afghanistan to fight the Soviets, including Osama bin Laden