Cold War

• Essential Questions• What impact did World War II have on the

development of democracy in Germany and Japan?

• How did different political systems help cause the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union?

• How did the rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union involve other nations around the world?

How was Europe divided?

• Western Europe democracies • Eastern Europe occupied by Soviet Union• Stalin wanted to spread communism

• Why? buffer zone from west• Forced communist governments in Poland, Czechoslovakia • Countries became known as satellites

• Led to iron- curtain imaginary line splitting communist from democracies

Who were the two Superpowers?

United States• Western Nation• Democracy• Capitalist

Soviet Union• East• Communism

Comparison of Market and Command Economies

Market Economy Command Economy

Ownership All property including the means of production are privately owned

The government owns the means of production, distribution and exchange

Economic Decisions

Private businesses and individuals are free from public control so that they can make basic economic decisions

Government officials make all basic economic decisions, such as what will be produced, when and where

Market Controls

Prices are determined by supply and demand. Competition promotes high quality and low prices

The gov’t plans the economy. There is limited production of consumer goods

Cold War Begins

• Conflicts in thinking and hostility between nations led to Cold War

• Distrust between nations• “cold” because armed conflict between

superpowers did not exist

The Cold War 1945-The Cold War 1945-19911991

What was the US response to the Soviet expansion?

Truman Doctrine

• 1947• Economic and military

program designed to help nations resist Soviets

• Sent aid to Greece and Turkey

Marshall Plan

• 1947• Economic aid package

designed to strengthen democracies

• US sent billions to help democracies

Why did the US support Greece and Turkey?

• Theory of containment• Limiting communism• Wanted to maintain pro- democratic governments

What crisis existed in Germany?

• Germany divided into four zones• Increased tensions• Stalin blockaded Berlin to force out Allies• Leads to Berlin Airlift

Berlin Blockade and the Division of Germany

Leads to the Formation of a Free West Germany

Opposing Alliances

NATO • North Atlantic Treaty

Organization• Western Europe• Military & defensive

alliance

Warsaw Pact• Consisted of Soviet Union

and satellites• Military & defensive

alliance

Were all countries aligned?? NO!

• Nonaligned Nations not allied with US or USSR• Non aligned nations wanted to reduce world

tensions• Yugoslavia, India, African Nations, China, South East

Asia• US & USSR offer military and economic aid to gain

influence in the developing world

How did people react in Eastern Europe?

• Hungarian Revolt 1956– Imre Nagy nationalist

• Ended 1 party rule/ withdrew from Warsaw Pact

• Czechoslovakia Revolt 1968– Alexander Dubcek

• Eased censorship/ new constitution

• Soviet Union used force to put down both rebellions

Race Time

Arms Race• Buildup of atomic weapons• Raised levels of tension• Raised fears among public• Feared destruction of the

world

Space Race• 1957 - Soviets launch

Sputnik, a satellite orbited the Earth

• ‘58- American Satellite (NASA)

• ’61- Soviets man in space• ‘69- US man on the moon

Where did conflicts exist around the world?

• East Asia• Middle East• Africa• Latin America

East Asia

Korean War• 1950-1953• North Korea Soviets• South Korea Americans • North Korea tried to unite

country under communism• UN forces pushed back

surge• Divided at 38th parallel

Vietnam War• 1954- 1975• North Communist (Ho Chi

Minh)• South Democratic• North Vietnam tried to unite

country under communism• Americans unable to push out

forces• United under communist

control in 1975

The Vietnam War

• North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, was communist and backed by the Soviet Union.

• South Vietnam, led by Ngo Dinh Diem, was democratic and backed by the U.S.

· In addition, it was very difficult to identify which South Vietnamese were our allies and which were supporting the Vietcong.

· Jungle warfare was difficult, and it was hard to locate the enemy.

Video Clip: Platoon The Uncertain Enemy

Ex Vietcong showing secret tunnels, November 7, 2004

· Many South Vietnamese distrusted Diem and joined the Vietcong, a communist guerilla group supported by North Vietnam.

An execution of a Vietcong prisoner Feb. 1, 1968

Vietnam War

• 1959-1975• US sent troops to contain Communism• US loses, Vietnam to become Communist

Middle East

Arab States & Israel• Gamal Abdel Nasser

leader in Arab Egypt• Nationalized Suez Canal• Built Aswan Dam w/ help

from Soviets• Israel supported by

Americans• Fought two wars

Iran & Iraq• Rivalry over oil• US supported

The Cold War in Latin America• Causes of Cuban Revolution 1959

• 1. Political: Rule by Repressive Dictator Corruption and bribery of government officials.

2. Economic: Unequal distribution of wealth High unemployment Foreign influence by US

Result: Fidel Castro uses guerrilla army and establishes a communist dictatorship

What was the Bay of Pigs?

• 1961--indecision, embarrassment for Kennedy.

• On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba

• failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• Castro turns to Soviet Union for support • The Soviet Union began to build missile bases

in Cuba• Kennedy responds with Naval Blockade• Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to

remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba.

"That Tuesday the first of thirteen days of decision unlike any other in the Kennedy years or, indeed, inasmuch as this was the first direct nuclear confrontation, unlike any other in the history of our planet." - Theodore Sorensen, aide to Pres. Kennedy

Video: Cuban Missile Crisis (1:09)

· Pres. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying missiles.

Collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union

How were tensions eased during the Cold War?

• Nixon and Brezhnev promoted a period of détente: lessening of tensions

• Involved arms controls and treaties• Cultural exchanges• Trade agreements

Why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan?

• Détente ended with the invasion in 1979• Wanted to maintain a procommunist

government• Increased tensions

Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union

• 1985: Pulled troops out of Afghanistan• Move away from Command economy• Goal: Reformed government and economy• Why?

• Economic problems leading to political problems• Communism failing as an economic system• Underproduction/poor quality/ unable to motivate

workers

Gorbachev

• Perestroika: • goal restructure and stimulate the economy• Free market reforms• Small privately owned businesses similar to Lenin’s

NEP/local managers more decision making• Negative effects: Inflation increased/ shortage of food

• Glasnost: • Openness to democratic ideas• Ended censorship and encouraged discussion

Germany and Poland• 1989 Berlin Wall torn down• 1990 free elections in East and West Germany• Unification of Germany in 1990• Effects Of Reunification of Germany

• West German Economy hurt by reunification to modernize East Germany

• Major recession

• Poland– Economic problems cause unrest– Lech Walesa: led workers Solidarity movement– Became president after first free elections in 1989

Eastern Europe Transformed• Between 1989 to 1991 Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Albania, and

Bulgaria held free elections.

• Romania overthrew and executed their brutal president Nicolae Ceausescu who refused to have free elections.

• In 1991 the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined NATO

• Chernobyl nuclear accident

• All eastern European nations as well as the Soviet Republics had great difficulty switching from communism to capitalism: high inflation and high unemployment.

The Fall of the Soviet Union

Causes• Leadership of Gorbachev• Glasnost• Perestroika• Economic problems• Freedom movements in

Eastern Europe

Effects• Loss of role as superpower• End of Cold War• Economic hardships• Conflicts between

democrats and communists

December 1991 Collapse of Soviet Union

• 15 Republics are formed• Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)• Boris Yeltsin Becomes President of Russia• ‘Shock Therapy’ sharp switch from a

command to a market economy

Boris Yeltsin

• Transition from communism to democracy• Transition from communism to free market• 1993/ 1994 hyperinflation 800%• High unemployment• Severe shortages/high crime• 1991 War in Chechnya/demanded

independence/rebel battles/still going on today• 1999 Replaced by Putin/new president former

KGB agent

Vladimir Putin- 1999

• Sought new relationships with West• Signed nuclear arms reduction agreement

with US