1. A NEW INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT
THE COLD WAR
A NEW INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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 one 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

7. 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

8. Council for Mutual Assistance (COMECON)
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

11. 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

12. 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. 1949
East Germany set up by the Soviets a month later

14. 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

15. 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

17. 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

18. Divided at the 38th Parallel – DMZ
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 38th Parallel – DMZ
54,246 U.S. dead in three years, 103,284 wounded
4 million Koreans die

20. Conflicts Trouble in the Suez (1956) Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)
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

21. 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

23. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. Tonkin Gulf Incident (1964)
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

29. Antiwar movement in the U.S.
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

32. 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

34. 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