Chapter 31: The Cold War

The Cold War Begins

Balance of Power After WW2

• Areas of Disagreement– Eastern Europe

• US wanted it to be democratic• USSR refused to allow free elections

– Set up pro Soviet regimes– Greece

• Civil War led to introduction of Communism• Great Britain provided assistance• Financial problems led to Great Britain’s withdrawal

Balance of Power after WW2

• The Truman Doctrine (1947)– US would provide money to countries threatened by Communist

expansion– First countries to benefit were Greece and Turkey

• The Marshall Plan (1947)– Economic recovery plan for Europe– US provides Europe with $13 billion to aid rebuild

• Did not aid Soviet Union or Soviet Satellite nations• USSR created COMECON to assist Eastern Europe

• Policy of Containment (1947)– Stop the spread of communism– Limit it to where it already exists

Balance of Power after WW2

• Germany– Divided into 4 occupied zones (US, France, GB, USSR)– Berlin divided up in the same way

• West Germany (US, GB, France)• East Germany (USSR)

• Berlin Airlift (1949)– USSR tried to secure all of Berlin by isolating West Berlin– US and GB begin to fly in and drop off supplies for 9 months– 200,000 flights made (13,000 a day at one point)

Spread of the Cold War

• New Alliances– NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)- 1949

• Democratic countries• Provide assistance to one another if attacked

– Warsaw Pact (1955)• All Communist countries• Countered NATO

• Arms Race– Build up of nuclear weapons by US and USSR– Deterrence

• Build up of nuclear weapons to avoid going to war

• 1957: Sputnik I launched (first satellite to go into space)

Spread of the Cold War

• Berlin Wall (1961)– Designed to prevent East German citizens from fleeing into West Berlin

to escape Communism– 15 feet high; 100 miles long through and around West Berlin– Covered in barbed wire with Machine gun towers protected the wall– Anyone approaching it in East Berlin was shot on sight

Chapter 31: The Cold War

China after World War 2

Civil War in China

• Battle between Nationalists and Communists– Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek (Ruling Party)– Communists led by Mao Zedong

• Established in Northern China• Controlled 20-30 million• Army (People’s Liberation Army)

– 1 million soldiers

Civil War in China• 1946– Attempts to form a coalition government between the two

sides– Failed miserably which led to war– Communist Party was appealing to many groups

• Peasants in country because of land opportunities• Middle class in cities didn’t like Chiang’s policies• Nationalists troops switched sides

• 1948– Communists had taken control (October 1)– All Nationalists supporters fled to Taiwan

Civil War in China

• Great Leap Forward– 1955: Collectivization begins in China and industry

nationalized• Hope was for increased food production which never came

– 1958: Great Leap Forward• Establishing communes out of 700,000 farms• Each commune had 30,000 people• Goal was economic growth through group work and a classless society

– Results• Disaster

– Poor growing seasons led to starvation– 15 million dead

Civil War in China

• 1966– Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

• Hope to create working class culture• Mao’s Little Red Book

– Manual for Communism– Most important source of knowledge in China

• Red Guards– Police squad designed to rid society of impure– Targeted capitalists, old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits– Turned to path of violence and destruction

China and the Cold War

• Became an enemy of democracy• Showed they would support “national wars of

liberation”• US began to fear China when they got involved in

Korean War • China and Soviet Union although both Communist,

did not truly get along enough to unite• By 1970’s China began to improve relations with

West

Chapter 31: The Cold War

Cold War Conflicts

The US and the Soviet Union

• Creation of Proxy War– US and USSR never directly fight– Always fight other countries that are allies– Always threatened nuclear war– Both supported local wars for either communism or democracy– US begins to show policy of Containment

The Korean War (1950-1953)

• Japan controlled Korea through WW2• Divided in half after war

– North of 38th Parallel belonged to USSR– South of 38th Parallel belonged to USA

• Stalin supported North Korean troops invade South (6/25/50)– US responds by sending in troops– Goal was to unite the North and South portions in democracy– China responds by sending troops in to aid North Korea

• After 3 years, armistice signed in 1953– Re-established the 38th parallel as boundary line– North remains Communist and South remains Democartic

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1959– Fidel Castro stages revolution in Cuba– Supported by USSR

• 1961– The Bay of Pigs Invasion

• CIA supports Cuban rebels • Goal is to overthrow Castro• In 4 days, all rebels had either died or surrendered

• 1962– USSR begins to place nuclear missiles in Cuba– US had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey pointed towards USSR

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• October 1962– USSR send more missiles to Cuba– President Kennedy creates a blockade around Cuba– Bought time for both sides to create peace– Led to greater communication between the 2

The Vietnam War

• Beginnings– French colonial rule vs. Ho Chi Minh (Communist Leader)– Vietnam wanted its independence from French rule– 1945: Ho Chi Minh and Communists seize power through elections

• Set up government in Hanoi (North)• France maintained Saigon (South)

– 1954: France signs Geneva Peace Accords• Divided Vietnam into two parts

– 1956: Joint elections to be held• Goal was to unite the country• Failed miserably

The Vietnam War

• The Domino Theory– Idea that if one country falls to Communism, all neighboring countries

will as well– Validation for President Johnson to send in troops to Vietnam– North Vietnam sends in more troops to South

• Anti-War Movement– In US, growing number of troops sent leads to protest– Results in morale and public opinion of war decrease– Johnson criticized for decision making – President Nixon replaces him and removes US – 1973: Paris Peace Accords

• US withdraws forces• By 1975, Communist control all of Vietnam