1. L8: China, Détente, and The Cold War The Cold War Unit Agenda Objective: 1.To understand events in China in the 1970s and how they represent a turning point in the Cold War Schedule: 1.Lecture Homework: None

2. The Cold War in the 1970s Foreign Policy of this period characterized as Détente Relaxing of tensions between the Cold War Superpowers Core idea: despite differences between the capitalist and communist systems, war is not inevitable, there are mutual interests which can be best served by cooperation in: Avoiding a major war; pursuing arms control and disarmament Joint approaches to regional conflicts Trade and investment

3. Why Détente? Nixon administration is guided by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who is a proponent of realpolitik. –Idea that foreign policy should be not on moral principles but on maintaining strength Decided shift away from managing the Cold War “ideologically” through containment Instead the goal should be to attain/maintain US superiority in the world and adopt whatever course necessary with the communist world to achieve this goal

4. Why Détente? The realpolitik mindset coupled with Sino-Soviet Split, causes a shift in US Cold War policy under Nixon Sino-Soviet Split Ideological conflict between USSR and China cause the two nations to break their alliance The Sino-Soviet split was one of the key events of the Cold War, as the divide fractured the international communist movement This created an opening for Kissinger to play the Chinese and the Soviets, which ultimately led to a softening of Cold War relations

5. What is Going on in China in the early 1970s? Mao is in power (until 1976) Cultural Revolution is occurring (1966-1976) Mao decides to meet with Richard Nixon in 1972 in an effort to bring China into the world following the Sino-Soviet Split Meeting results in: –US formally recognizing the PRC – PRC being admitted to the UN

6. China’s Leadership after Mao: Deng Xiaoping Mao dies in 1976 To oversimplify, there is a power struggle that results in Deng Xiaoping coming to power. He rules until 1989 Three important attributes of Xiaoping’s rule: –Ec onomic modernization –Further diplomacy and communication with the US –Maintain political repression

7. China Modernizes and Liberalizes Economically Begins the modernization of China in four key areas: –Agriculture –Industry –Science and Technology –Military Encourages the liberalization of the Chinese economy: –Allows limited capitalism and market economies

8. China continues to Engage with the United States Official state visits happen between the two nations American companies begin to move production overseas to China

9. Political Repression Continues No democratization accompanied the movement towards capitalism Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989 –Chinese people begin to demand greater political freedoms from Xiaoping –Chinese students and workers stage mass protest in front on Chinese government buildings –Refuse to leave until reforms are made –Chinese government enacts violence on the crowd killing 3,000 people

10. The Cold War Re-Escalates 1980-1988 President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988) Republican Believed that the USSR posed a bigger threat than Nixon had perceived Wanted to “firm up” America’s anti-Communist stance

12. Reagan’s Take on the Cold War: Re-Escalation In his first term, Reagan rejected the policies of containment and détente; he wanted to destroy communism. Destroy communism through: –Stop the growth and expansion of communism in Latin America and the Middle East Regime change, military aid, covert operations –A resurgence of deterrence as a military strategy (resume the arms race) Strategic Defense Initiative –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =4hGLBA65tZghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v =4hGLBA65tZg

13. The Strategic Defense Initiative What is the Strategic Defense Initiative? How does it exemplified a Cold War re- escalation? How is the Strategic Defense Initiative reflective of past US foreign policy aims/rhetoric? –Island Theory of Self-Defense? –Cowboy Foreign Policy? –Others?

14. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union… Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union in 1985. He took the reins of a Soviet Union that was in deep economic decline. –Industrial and farm production, population growth, education, and medical care all fell. –The Soviet Union started importing food –Strikes in Poland led to anti-communist movements In 1987 Gorbachev announced an agenda of reform –Perestroika, or restructuring Introduced capitalist elements into Russia’s economy. Allowed private ownership of businesses and foreign investment. –Glasnost, openness, greater permission of freedom of expression on political and social thought

15. US-Soviet Communication Begins Reagan and Gorbachev begin a series of negotiations in 1984 Gorbachev, was a new Soviet leader who understood that Soviet communism was changing around him and that he could not participate in a new arms race with the United States

16. INF Treaty Between 1985 and 1988 Reagan and Gorbachev met four times and produced the Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. First treaty to actually reduce nuclear arms INF Treaty destroyed a whole class of weapons (more than 2,500 missiles).

17. Reagan pushes for the collapse of Communism Emboldened by the negotiations, Reagan begins to call for Gorbachev to release the Soviet Union’s hold on Eastern Europe which was clamoring for Democracy This is encapsulated in Reagan’s speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin "In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards... Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself. The inescapable conclusion is that freedom is the victor. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

18. Wave of Demonstrations in Eastern Europe Beginning in September 1989, a wave of huge demonstrations shook Communist regimes across eastern Europe. A massive tide of East German emigrants surged through Czechoslovakia and Hungary to the West, undermining the authority of the Communist hard- liners who still clung to power in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

19. The Wall Comes Down Finally, on the night of November 9, 1989, ordinary Germans poured through the Berlin Wall. The GDR quickly disintegrated, and by the end of 1990, all of East Germany had been incorporated into the wealthy, powerful Federal Republic of Germany.

22. Events in Eastern Europe Communist governments in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria either tumbled or underwent reform. The Communist dictatorship in Romania fell after a week of bloody street battles between ordinary citizens and police, who defended the old order to the bitter end.

23. Independent Republics The Communist party quickly collapsed, and the Soviet Union began the uncertain process of reorganizing itself as a loose confederation of independent republics.

24. Russia Becomes a Democracy Under Boris Yeltsin Boris Yeltsin, who headed the Russian Republic, replaced Gorbachev as president of a much- diminished state. Gorbachev found that there was no Soviet Union to lead and retired into private life.

25. Reagan’s Role In the United States, Reagan supporters claimed much of the credit for ending the Cold War. Reagan's frank denunciation of the Soviet Union as an “evil empire," along with his administration's military buildup, were said to have inspired eastern bloc dissidents at the same time the arms race exhausted the productive capacity of the Soviet Union and other inefficient Communist regimes.

26. Gorbachev’s Role Recognized and honored the demands for democratic reform at home and in the Eastern Bloc Was willing to engage in negotiations with the United States Gorbachev won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.