The Cold War1. Why did the U.S. and

Soviet Union become political rivals?

2. How did this war between the superpowers

influence smaller countries?

Vocabulary (CH: 18 368-381)

• Satellite State• Policy of Containment• Arms Race• Commune• Permanent Revolution• Proxy War• Domino Theory

WW 2 Background

• United States and Soviet Union were military allies during World War 2

• Political tension between communist Soviets and capitalist U.S. before the end of the war

Tension in Europe

• Soviets and Americans occupied the territory they conquered during the war

• America / Britain wanted free elections in Eastern countries occupied by Soviets

• Soviets set up regimes in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary

Truman Doctrine

• Created in 1947 to stop Soviet Expansion

• U.S. will provide money to countries that were threatened by communist expansion

• First used in Greece, Turkey and Germany

Germany Situation

• Divided into four zones after war (France, Britain, U.S. and Soviet)

• City of Berlin (was in Soviet zone) was also divided into four zones

• Soviets Blockade West Berlin in an attempt to secure all of Berlin

Berlin Airlift

• American dilemma: Keep 3 zones of Berlin free without starting World War III

• Solution: 200,000 flights carrying 2.3 million tons of food / supplies

• Result: Won hearts of Germans and increased tension with Soviet Union

Marshall Plan

• 2 facts from page 369

• How is the Marshall plan different than the Treaty of Versailles after World War 1?

Berlin Wall

• Construction began in 1961

• Response to East Germans fleeing to the west (mostly professionals)

• Stood as a physical barrier and symbolic barrier

NATO Treaty, 1949. Warsaw Pact, 1955.• North Atlantic

Treaty Organization• Formed to confront

Soviet aggression and provide small countries with safety

• Warsaw pact is the same but for communist countries

Nuclear Arms Race

• Soviets detonated nuclear bomb in 1949

• 1950’s deadlier hydrogen bomb

• Late 1950’s (Intercontinental ballistic missiles)

• Deterrence (Mutually assured destruction)

Korean War Begins

• 1945-Soviets and Americans agree to divide Korea into North and South

• Plan was to hold election to form unified government

• Breakdown - Communist N. Korea invades capitalist S. korea in 1950

U.S. involvement

• Truman sees this as communist aggression

• Convinces U.N. to get involved

• Mostly U.S. troops fight for the U.N. (South Korea)

• Officially called a “Police Action” -War was not declared

The Fighting

Communist China sends in hundreds of thousands of fighters into Korea

Major battles:Battle of SoulBattle of InchonBattle of Bloody Ridge

Ending the War

• 1953 Armistice signed• Dividing line remains

the 38th parallel• Divided Result• American casualties =

33,686• China / North = 600,000

Legacies

Eisenhower adopts policy of total retaliation against communism

Korea becomes the “Forgotten War”

Korea remains a divided country today (Communist North / Capitalist South)

Revolution in Cuba

• 1959 Left Wing revolutionary named Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator to gain power

• Castro set up communist government in cooperation with Soviet Union

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• Purpose was to cause uprising against Castro• Exiled Cuban fighters would invade• Invasion was disaster:

– 114 Cuban exiles die– Rest surrender

• Results– Kennedy looks like a fool– Soviets start to build up Cuban defenses

Cuban Missile Crisis Notes / Assignment

Vietnam Heats Up

• Decolonization in S.E. Asia (Philippines got independence in 1946 from U.S.)

• France would not let go of Vietnam (French Indo-China)

• Ho Chi Minh is the leader of the independence war.

Communist’s Seize Power

• Ho Chi Minh controls most of Vietnam with broad communist support

• Peace agreement in 1954 to have election in two years to form government

• Temporary division between north and south became permanent as part of cold war

U.S. Involvement

• Domino Theory• 1950’s military advisors to

help S. Vietnam• Support Ngo Dinh Diem

(Catholic elitist dictator)• 1965 Gulf of Tonkin

Incident• Increasing level of American

troops

Tactics of the War

• 3 Video Facts

Reaction to the War in U.S.

• Majority of Americans always supported the war

• Pessimism about war– TV war– Lack of government

honesty / tactics – Draft (1/3 of soldiers were

from lower socio-economic status)

– Long and unsuccessful

Timeline of Vietnam War• Aug. 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Incident• Feb. 1965 – Operation Rolling Thunder (Massive

Bombing Campaign)• Jan. 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh and Tet Offensive

(Military victories for U.S. / Moral defeats)• 1970-71 Nixon extends the war to Cambodia and

Laos w/ bombing and ground forces• 1972-73 Paris Peace talks with Operation

Linebacker• 1973 U.S. ground forces leave and 1975 Saigon

and south fall to communist forces

Facts about Vietnam

• 58,202 American deaths• 8.7 million American GI’s

served in Vietnam• 303,000 wounded (75,000

severely wounded)• 706 POW’s (116 died in

captivity)• 82% of Vietnam veterans say

the war was lost because of “Lack of Political Will”

Lessons of Vietnam

• Know your enemy and their motives

• Work to get support of your people

• Guerilla tactics can allow small country to defeat large country

• Domino Theory was not fact

De-Stalinization of USSR

• Khrushchev relaxed loosened government control on some aspects of life

• Brezhnev ruled during détente (relaxation of tensions)

• Communism’s problems– In-efficient bureaucracy– Lack of motivation of farmers / workers– Couldn’t keep up economically with west

Revolts of Satellite States• Hungary (1956) declared

itself a free nation and Imre Nagy promised elections

• Three days later, Soviet tanks attacked Budapest and Nagy was executed

• Czechoslovakia writers rebellion of 1968

• 7 months later, Soviet Union invades and removes government from power

Tiananmen Square (China)

• May 1989 thousands of student protesters filled the streets of Beijing

• Protesters wanted less corruption and more freedom

• Communist rulers sent tanks into crush rebellion and between 500-2000 students killed

War in Afghanistan (Video)

• Write three notes about what happened:

• Question: Who did we support? Why?

Gorbachev Ends Cold War

• Stops supporting satellite states• Lech Welesa wins democratic

election in Poland in 1988• Protests in Prague in 1989 lead

to elections (Czechoslovakia breaks into Czech Rep. & Slovakia)

• Gorbachev resigns on Dec. 25, 1991 (USSR is over)

Great Example (Germany)

• October 3, 1989 Berlin Wall is torn down by protestors and nobody stops them

• Difficult reunification with different economies

• Germany is most powerful economy in Europe and thriving

Terrible Example (Yugoslavia)

• 1990 Communist Party Collapses

• Ethnic Serbs, Croats, Bosnians all wanted more territory and independence

• Ethnic cleansing occurred between ethnicities and religions