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THE COLD WAR IN ASIA CHINA and KOREA
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Essential Question: What impact did the spread of communism into Asia have on the Cold War?
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The Cold War was a conflict of rival ideologies between the USA and USSR that lasted from 1945 to 1991
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Early in the Cold War from 1945 to 1949, the focus of the conflict was on Europe
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The United States used the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and NATO to successfully contain communism in Europe
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Beginning in 1949, however, containment seemed to fail as communism spread to China, Korea, and Vietnam in Asia
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For almost 2000 years, China was the world’s most dominant empire because of trade along the Silk Road and the power of the ruling dynasties
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In the 1600 and 1700s, European nations became powerful, began exploring, and claiming colonies
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The Industrial Revolution in the 1700s and 1800s made Europe the center of power in the world
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Europeans used imperialism to control Africa and Asia
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Britain won the Opium Wars and claimed trade rights in China
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By 1900, China was weak and divided into spheres of influence
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A group of reformers called nationalists called for changes
In 1912, Sun Yat-sen ended the Chinese dynastic system and created a democracy called the Republic of China
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But, the republic did not modernize China and led to an era of chaos
In the 1920s, nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek took over and ran China as a dictatorship
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Meanwhile, communism was growing in China under the leadership of Mao Zedong
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Mao’s Communist Party gained popularity among poor peasants by offering to redistribute land from wealthy warlords
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From 1930 to 1949, Nationalists and Communists fought in a bloody civil war for control of China
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From 1930 to 1949, Nationalists and Communists fought in a bloody civil war for control of China
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From 1930 to 1949, Nationalists and Communists fought in a bloody civil war for control of China
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When World War II began and Japan attacked China, Chiang and Mao agreed to a truce from 1937 to 1945
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After World War II was over and Japan was no longer a threat, the Nationalists and Communists continued their conflict
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Communists gained support and began to win control of China
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In 1949, the Communists won the Civil War and Mao created the Peoples’ Republic of China
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The three “revolutionary” Communists
Karl Marx Vladimir Lenin Mao Zedong
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Chiang’s government fled China and set up in Taiwan
The USA was shocked when China fell to communism and only recognized the Nationalists as the legitimate government of China
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Mao was determined to reshape China’s economy based on Marxist socialism
He seized land from the rich and divided the land among the poor peasants Mao followed Stalin’s example by creating collective farms and a Five Year Plan to improve Chinese industry
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Mao’s “Great Leap Forward”
In 1958, Mao began a massive program to increase agriculture and industry called the “Great Leap Forward”
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Image of a “People’s Commune”
Millions of Chinese citizens were sent to work on large collective farms to grow food Image of a “People’s Commune”
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“Backyard furnaces” to make iron
Other citizens were required to work on massive industrial projects like making iron and steel or building dams and railroads “Backyard furnaces” to make iron
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“Struggle hard for three years. Change the face of China
“Struggle hard for three years. Change the face of China. Catch up with Britain and America.”-Mao, 1958
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Mao’s Great Leap Forward started well…
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…but, it required forced labor and led to terrible suffering by millions of Chinese citizens
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Even when informed of massive shortages of grain, Mao pressed on with industrializing China, using brutal violence and terror to force the people to do what Mao wanted
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The Great Leap Forward was a failure and led severe food shortages, famine, and poor-quality industry
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Mao’s indifference to his people’s suffering and the famine caused the deaths of as many as 45 million Chinese people
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Mao looked for another way to maintain control over China
Mao ended the Great Leap Forward after three years Mao looked for another way to maintain control over China
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Mao’s “Cultural Revolution”
After the failure of the Great Leap Forward, Mao began the Cultural Revolution ( )
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The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to emphasize Mao’s strict socialist ideas and attack traditional Chinese ideas
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Mao distributed to all Chinese citizens the “Little Red Book,” a book of his quotes that reinforced what was acceptable for Chinese communists
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Mao targeted young people for recruitment into his Red Guards, a group that protected the communist culture of the revolution
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Mao targeted young people for recruitment into his Red Guards, a group that protected the communist culture of the revolution
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Mao targeted young people for recruitment into his Red Guards, a group that protected the communist culture of the revolution
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Red Guards closed schools and universities and burned books; they also humiliated, beat, arrested, and killed people who opposed Mao’s ideas
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Red Guards closed schools and universities and burned books; they also humiliated, beat, arrested, and killed people who opposed Mao’s ideas
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Parades united citizens
The Cultural Revolution unified the Chinese people, but also led to the deaths or imprisonment of many thousands of citizens Attacked teachers, politicians, & critics Parades united citizens
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Executing teachers, politicians, critics
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In 1976, Mao Zedong died and was followed by more moderate Communist leaders
Mao’s legacies are the tens of millions of deaths he caused and that China remains a Communist nation today
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THE COLD WAR IN KOREA
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The fall of China to communism had a major impact on the Cold War between the USA and USSR
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America’s response to the fall of China was to more aggressively confront communism in the world
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The USA was afraid of a “domino effect” in which communist nations make their neighbors fall to communism
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The USA acted when communism threatened Korea
As a result, the USA vowed to contain the spread of communism anywhere in the world The USA acted when communism threatened Korea
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In 1950, North Korea (using Soviet supplied weapons) crossed the 38th Parallel and attacked South Korea During World War II, Korea was liberated from Japanese control by the U.S. Army in the South and the Soviet Army in the North When South Korea appealed to the United Nations, the USA sent troops to fight the communist North Koreans After the war, Korea was divided along the “38th Parallel” with a communist government in North Korea and a democracy in South Korea But, when the Americans pushed too close to China, the Chinese Army entered the war and helped North Korea
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After three years of fighting, a ceasefire was agreed to in 1953, the Korean War stopped, and the “38th Parallel” was restored as the boundary between North and South Koreas
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The USA successfully stopped communism from spreading into South Korea and showed that it was willing to fight to contain communism Today, Korea remains divided between a communist North and a democratic South
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The fighting in Korea convinced many nations to not choose a side during the Cold War
These “neutral” countries during the Cold War were known as the “non-aligned nations” While Korea was a success, the Cold War would escalate in the 1950s and 1960s as communism threatened Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America
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Christopher Jaskowiak Revamped and redone by
Thanks to Brooks Baggett for several of the slides
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