Cold War Part II

The Arms Race

The race begins….• Both countries began developing their weapons so as to be able to ‘outgun’ their opponents. This meant:

• developing more powerful weapons

•Having more of one weapon than the other side

• WHY NUCLEAR WEAPONS?WHY NUCLEAR WEAPONS?

• Cheaper than having a large armyCheaper than having a large army

• They were a They were a deterrent. deterrent. The idea was to have so many missiles that The idea was to have so many missiles that they could not all be destroyed. If one side attacked then it knew they could not all be destroyed. If one side attacked then it knew that the other could retaliate. This was known as MAD – that the other could retaliate. This was known as MAD – MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION.MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION.

•For some the Arms Race was a test of the strengths of Capitalism For some the Arms Race was a test of the strengths of Capitalism v communismv communism

What the US had

76 IBMs

700 Medium range bombers

1,600 bombers

38,000 Tanks

12 Nuclear submarines

495 Conventional submarines

0 Battleships and cruisers

450 ICBMs (intermediate-range ballistic missile)

250 Medium range missiles

2,260 Bombers16,000Tanks32 Nuclear submarines260 Conventional

submarines76 Battleships and carriers

What the Soviets had

Dates of the nuclear arms race, 1945 - 1960

1945 – USA tests and drops the first atomic (A) bombs

1949 – USSR tests A bomb

1952 – USA tests its first hydrogen (H) bomb (hydrogen is 2,500 times more powerful then the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.)

1953 – USSR tests its first H bomb

1957 – USSR

1. tests ICBM capable of carrying an H bomb from USSR to USA

2. puts the space satellite ‘Sputnik’ into orbit.

1958 – USA

1. Places IRBMs targeted on USSR in NATO countries. Both sides could now launch direct attacks on each others’ cities

2. Launches its own satellite

1960 – USA launches first nuclear powered submarine capable of firing a Polaris missile with an atomic warhead from underwater

· In 1949, the U.S. learned that the Soviet Union also possessed atomic weapons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz3t4LcXwtE

Barry McGuire

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDVl-QgM7M

First man in space• In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a

Soviet cosmonaut was the first man to orbit the earth – the Soviets had the lead. For Khrushchev it was a triumph for communism

• Score: USA – 0

• Soviets - 2

Apollo program

• USA spent the 60s trying to catch up to the Soviets.

Armstrong lands on moon!

Cuban Missile Crisis

1959 - Castro takes power

• January 1, 1959 leftist forces under Fidel Castro overthrow Fulgencio Batista

• Castro nationalizes the sugar industry and signs trade agreements with the Soviet Union.

• The next year, Castro seizes U.S. assets on the island.

Post Revolution• Rents were reduced to historically low levels. Wage

and price controls were also implemented, and the Agrarian Reform Law was passed in May. With this, the largest estates on the island were confiscated and redistributed in smaller parcels to small farmers or cooperatives.

• Castro also began to implement major social reforms such as a literacy program, which would eventually assure that all Cubans could read and write, the construction of hospitals and public housing, and providing education and health care universally for free.

• What do some of those reforms sound like?

Khruschev Embraces Castro,Khruschev Embraces Castro,19611961

Bay of Pigs Invasion

· The U.S. became worried as Cuba received increased amounts of aid from the Soviet Union.

· In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved of a plan to overthrow Castro’s government with the help of Cuban exiles.

· The exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Southern Cuba where they were easily defeated by Cuban forces, strengthening Fidel Castro and embarrassing the United States.

Fidel Castro, parading through the streets of Havana after his victory against Cuban expatriates in the Bay of Pigs invasion. (1961)

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• The Soviet Union began to build missile bases in Cuba, worrying Americans that we were vulnerable to attack.

A U2 spy plane found these missile silos in Cuba, 1962.

SovietSoviet--Cuban ConstructionCuban ConstructionSovietSoviet--Cuban ConstructionCuban Construction

Range of the Cuban MissilesRange of the Cuban MissilesRange of the Cuban MissilesRange of the Cuban Missiles

Global Thermal Nuclear Global Thermal Nuclear WarWar??

Global Thermal Nuclear Global Thermal Nuclear WarWar??

• Upon approaching Cuba, the Soviet boats turned back.

• Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba.

"I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide on a course of action which would answer the American threat but which would also avoid war.  Any fool can start a war, and once he's done so, even the wisest of men are helpless to stop it-- especially if its a nuclear war.”

- Nikita Khrushchev

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, We went eyeball-to-eyeball with the Russians, and the other man blinked!and the other man blinked!

End to a crisis!

• The Soviets removed the missiles in Cuba.• In exchange, USA

pledged to not invade Cuba again. And to remove missiles in Turkey (right).

BERLIN WALL

1961

Divides East and West Berlin

During the period from 1961 to 1989. In the years between 1949 and 1961, about 2.5 million East Germans had fled from East to West Germany, including steadily rising numbers of skilled workers, professionals, and intellectuals. Their loss threatened to destroy the economic viability of the East German state. In response, East Germany built a barrier to close off East Germans’ access to West Berlin (and hence West Germany). This barrier, the Berlin Wall, was first erected on the night of August 12–13, 1961, as the result of a decree passed on August 12 by the East German Volkskammer (“Peoples’ Chamber”).

The Brandenburg Gate, as seen through a barbed-wire barrier that represented the earliest version of the Berlin Wall.

John Waterman—Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The original wall, built of barbed wire and cinder blocks, was subsequently replaced by a series of concrete walls (up to 15 feet high) that were topped with barbed wire and guarded with watchtowers, gun emplacements, and mines. By the 1980s this system of walls, electrified fences, and fortifications extended 28 miles (45 km) through Berlin, dividing the two parts of the city, and extended a further 75 miles (120 km) around West Berlin, separating it from the rest of East Germany.

Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie. October 1961

Berlin, Checkpoint CharlieView from West to East Berlin, 1961

The Brezhnev Years

• Brezhnev replaced Khruschev in 1964 and ruled the USSR until his death in 1982.

• Although he did not reinstate the terror of the Stalin era, he did seek to once again strengthen the role of the Communist party bureaucracy and the KGB.

• Brezhnev also clamped down on reform movements in the E. European satellite states and called for a “new cold war.”

War in Vietnam• U.S., with huge military might,

invaded tiny country but lost.

• 7,000,000 tons of bombs dropped

• Almost one 500 pound bomb for each person in Vietnam.

Why was the U.S. involved?

• French colony until the French were defeated in 1954

• Geneva Accords divided country into North and South—communist North.

• U.S. installs Ngo Dinh Diem as leader (dictator)

• Democratic elections slated for two years—never happened

Why was the U.S. involved?

• Opposition to Diem regime grew

• A few landlords became rich, but peasants grew poorer

• In 1960, National Liberation Front (NLF) formed. Included many groups, most not communist

• In 1963, Diem assassinated in military coup (supported by U.S.)

Conflict escalates

• Generals could not suppress NLF• In 1964, Gulf of Tonkin. • Allegedly, U.S. ship Maddox attacked• Later, Pentagon Papers suggest that incident

was staged, though many don’t agree• Congressional Tonkin Resolution gives

President power to use force

Bombing (and protest) begins

• In 1965, D.C. protest attracts 25,000

• By 1968, 500,000 American troops on the ground

• War polarizes the nation—takes down LBJ

• In 1968, Nixon proposes “vietnamization”

Horrors of war

• My Lai massacre—68

• Over 500 civilians intentionally killed

• In 1969, the story broke in the NYT

• William Calley, the Unit leader, convicted

• Nixon commuted sentence

May 1968 Protest in France• Started by students,

• Moved to workers (over 11 million)- 22% of the population

• What caused it- Algeria, time period, people dissatisfied

• Result- De Gaulle steps down

Czechoslovakia: ‘The Prague Spring’, 1968

• 1948: Czechoslovakia becomes a communist state• By 1967, many people felt their communist leaders were

out of touch with the problems they were facing– Standard of living was falling– Trade was doing badly– People who publically disagreed with the government were put

into prison– Leaders of student demonstrations were beaten

Antonin Novotny

• Process of de-Stalinisation began in Czechoslovakia in the late 1950s and into the 1960s

• Proclaimed the completion of socialism and the constitution.

• Adopted the name Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Writers

• As the strict regime eased its rules, the cautiously began to air discontent, and in the union's gazette, , members suggested that literature should be independent of Party doctrine.

Economy

• Underwent an economic downturn

• The Soviet model of industrialization applied poorly to Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakia was already quite industrialised before WWII and the Soviet model mainly took into account less developed economies

• Novotný's attempt at restructuring the economy, the 1965 New Economic Model, spurred increased demand for political reform as well.

Prague Spring

• January 1968, new leader of the Czech communist party was elected: Alexander Dubcek

• He replaced the cruel and repressive leader Antonin Novotny

• Dubcek brought reform

Prague Spring reforms

• Relaxed government control of industry – left decision making to managers and workers

• Ended censorship of the press• Czech’s were free to travel to other countries• Czech’s were allowed to hold political meetings

inside Czechoslovakia• The Communist Party held meetings with non

communists• Remained a member of Warsaw pact

Reaction of the USSR

• Brezhnev was alarmed by what was happening• Soviet’s held military manoeuvres near Czech border• Warsaw pact countries held military exercises inside

Czechoslovakia• Dubcek met with Brezhnev and other communist

leaders, promising that the Communists would remain in control, they would remain in the Warsaw pact and that the Czech press would not criticise the USSR

• Brezhnev was not convinced and was afraid that Dubcek’s reforms might be copied by other Eastern Bloc countries

• Both Romania and Yugoslavia assured Dubcek of their support

Brezhnev acts

• August 21st 1968, 500 000 Warsaw pact troops marched in and took control of Prague and other Czech cities

• Dubcek was captured and sent to Moscow (in the USSR)

• Reforms of the ‘Prague Spring’ were cancelled before Dubcek was allowed to return to Czech

• Eventually Dubcek was replaced as leader by Gustav Husak

Key Players in the Cold War: Leaders of Russia

•

Joseph Stalin

Nikita Kruchev

Mikhail Gorbachev

Leonid Brezhnev

Harry Truman was elected as the 33rd

president of the United States. Truman had a very strong belief in containing Communism. The theory of Containment was the hallmark of the Truman administration. Illustrated by the U.S. involvement in the Berlin Airlift, becoming a member of NATO, enacted the Marshall Plan, and the establishment of the Truman Doctrine.

U.S. Presidentfrom 1945-1952

Joseph Stalin was leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 until 1953.

A ruthless dictator, he was the first Cold War Soviet Premier. Stalin played a key role in the beginning of the Cold War by

his actions at the Yalta Conference. He promoted a

sense of distrust and competition between East and West. His aggressive attempts to spread

the Soviet Empire elevated tensions between East and West

escalating the Cold War.

• Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and while trying to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

• "America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world."                                                        

U.S. President from1952 -1960

Nikita Khrushchev elevated Cold War tensions by ordering the building of the Berlin Wall as well as providing funds and materials to communist North Vietnam during the war. He

presided over the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was Kennedy’s main

adversary throughout his presidency.

leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 till 1964

John F. Kennedy played a key role in the Cold War. He started aggressive American involvement in Vietnam, as well as being involved with the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, and President during the creation of the Berlin Wall.

U.S. President from1960-1963

Lyndon B. Johnson became President hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. During his campaign for re-election, Johnson promised to withdraw troops from Vietnam. However, Johnson violated his campaign promises and steadily increased U.S. involvement in Vietnam, for fear he would be the first President to lose a war. His popularity plummeted and he did not run for re-election.

President from 1963 - 1968

Richard Nixon carried out Vietnamization ending the war and removed American troops from Vietnam. Nixon also negotiated and signed the SALT treaty.

President from 1968 - 1974

Under Brezhnev, The Soviet decision in 1968 to invade Czechoslovakia was an early indicator of Brezhnev's world view. In a speech justifying the move, he spelled out what came to be called the "Brezhnev Doctrine," asserting Moscow's right to intervene in the affairs of other socialist states. He supported U.S. antagonists throughout the world; Vietnam, the Middle East and the Third World. A new era of peace was heralded in 1972, when Brezhnev and President Nixon signed the SALT treaty, but the new era was short-lived. By 1979, it was only a memory, as Brezhnev and his comrades approved the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Years of heavy spending on the defense and aerospace industries, at the expense of agriculture and other sectors of the economy, had taken a toll, and economic productivity and the Soviet standard of living fell into a slow but steady decline under Brezhnev.