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Part 5 Cold WarHope, Fear, and the
end of the Cold War
Limitations of a Communist System
Let’s face it - the economic policies of the USSR emphasize the production of heavy industrial goodsnot consumer goodsLifestyle in communist country in
1970s
Let’s face it - the USSR just could not keep up with the high cost of maintaining the arms race
Problems for the USSR
1. China is no longer the junior partner. They are alike in 5 Year Plans and the Great Leap Forward - plans to advance the economy to an ideal communist state.
They don’t agree with each other’s style of communism (China - its all about the peasants. USSR it is about workers and heavy industry)
and....they seem to be a little more friendly with the US
2. Hungary was problem earlier but that “velvet revolution” was stomped out but in 1968 it is Czechoslovakia that is a problem
1968 Czech leader Alexander Dubcek was beginning
liberalization reforms - the Soviet Union sent troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to overthrow the current government and replace it with a pro-communist regime. This proved to the world that the Soviets were willing to use military force to keep their control over Eastern Europe.
Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty
1968
Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty
1968Several major nuclear and even non-nuclear nations sign this treaty which is created to prevent the spread of nuclear technology.It did not prevent the spreadBUT - It was a success for people asking for arms controlbecause it did begin a serious mov’t to reduce arms
Cooperation is now the name of the game!
SALT Treaty
The US tries to cooperate with the USSR
The US and USSR sign two SALT (1972) treaties. One limits ABM systems; the other limits number of missiles
Still the US maintains superiority in nuclear warheads with MIRVs; arms race continues
SALT treatiesStrategic Arms Limitations
Talks
Many third world/developing countries intentionally adopt the nonalignment mov’t which means they won’t pick to side with either the US or USSR- leaves more options open for them.The non alignment mov’t gains political strength in the international scene
“We believe in nonaggression and noninterference by one country in the affairs of
another and the growth of tolerance between them and the capacity for peaceful coexistence. We, therefore, endeavor to maintain friendly relations with all countries, even though we may disagree with them in their policies.”
-Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India
This statement describes the foreign policy known as... nonalignment
Middle East is unstable
Six Day War Junea.k.a. Arab-Israeli War 1967•War b/w Israel & enemies
Egypt, Jordan, Syria
•Egypt’s Nasser used Soviet false claim of Israeli forces gathering on Sinai peninsula to kick out the UN Emergency Force
•Both Egypt and Israel mobilized forces
Israel won control of Sinai peninsularesults of this war affect geopolitics of this
region even today!
In the Six Day War of June 1967, Israel defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, capturing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. For Israel, it was a stunning triumph; for Arabs, a humiliating defeat.
Israel no longer occupies the Sinai or Gaza, but its continued hold over the other territories has stymied efforts to bring comprehensive peace to the Middle East.
Middle East is unstable
1972 Munich OlympicsPalestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic village and took 11 Israeli athletes hostage
Middle East is unstable
The gains Israel made in 1967 are established but the war in 1973 almost drew in the US and the USSR
1973 Yom Kippur War
The US and USSR came close to nuclear war
Meanwhile US President Nixon continues to support the racist white leadership in South Africa - apartheid
Nixon resigns: Watergate
Ford takes over but serves only one term
President Carter by 1977
SALT II treaty in 1979 - sets a limit on delivery vehicles and MIRV launchers but not warheads so military actually increases
USSR invades Afghanistan in 1979 and the US decides it will intervene to protect the Persian Gulf and oil shipments
Soviets invade Afghanistan
US supports local Mujahideen (strugglers) who fight against Afghanistan
PROXY WARboy, will we come to regret that - we sent millions of weapons to the Mujahideen who became the Taliban who we fight today in Afghanistan
United States involvement in the Vietnam War and the Soviet Union’s involvement in Afghanistan were motivated mainly by a desire to
1. exploit the mineral resources of the regions
2. support governments that would remain strong allies
3. stop the expansion of Japan into the Middle East
4. establish independent nation-states in the regions
PROXY WAR
Iranian Revolution 1979The Shah of Iran is overthrown and a
strict Muslim religious gov’t (theocracy) is established under the leadership of a
religious head called the Ayatollah
PROXY WARAmerican hostages are taken-they are beaten and kept in solitary confinement for 444 days
The Men Credited with the end of the
Cold War
Ronald Reagan is elected president (American hostages in Iran are freed on the the day of his inauguration_
Ronald Reagan Champion of capitalism
Largest military budget in US history
Star Wars campaign - Strategic DefenseInitiative
Miracle on Ice1980 Winter Olympics
Lake Placid, NY
The 1980s saw changes in the USSR satellite
nations
Poland experienced the Solidarity Mov’tShip workers and Catholics combined to protest against communist/Soviet rule in Poland.
Led by Lech Walesa
It was the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the fall of communism.
The 1980s saw changes in the
USSR
Because of the costs of the arms race, Afghanistan, heavy production, etc....
They begin to modify their command economy by introducing some market economy strategies
Perestroika - Traditionally, a communist, or command economy, controls the means of production by having governmental agencies involved in production planning. But Gorbachev sought to increase production in vital areas by introducing individual free enterprise.*1. Wanted to improve the economy and decentralize decision making
* 2. more reliance on local and regional decision making
3. idea wasn’t to dismantle communism but to make it work more efficiently (though now it is thought to be one of the main causes of the break up of the Soviet Union)
Berlin Wall Comes Down 1989
Dissolution of U.S.S.R.
1991 The Soviet Union dissolved.
The Soviet military was not getting paid - they revolted and that was the end of the grand USSR.
Since then it has faced many ethnic revolts and tensions in former Soviet controlled regions
Now you know it all...
how about a cartoon review?