The Cold War

 

I.                    Causes

A.     US vs. USSR

1.                  different economic and political systems

2.                  after World War II chance to spread their ideas

3.                  US was capitalist

a.                         private property

b.                        free enterprise

c.                         profit motivated

d.                        supply and demand

4.                  USSR was communist

a.                         gov’t decides production, distribution and use of resources

b.                        for good of all the workers

c.                         no private property

d.                        cooperation  in society

e.                         goal = classless society

B.     Events leading up to cold war

1.                  Yalta Conference

a.                         Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt meet

b.                        Plan for Europe after war

c.                         Agreed Germany divided into 4 zones

d.                        Each zone occupied by a nations troops

e.                         Free elections in all he countries

2.                  Potsdam

a.                         allies meet again

b.                        differences develop between US and USSR

c.                         focused on East Germany

3.                  Stalin refuses to allow elections in Poland

4.                  US refuses to share secrets of atomic bomb

5.                  USSR puts communist governments in charge of Eastern Europe countries

a.                         Satellite states set up

b.                        Travel and contact limited

c.                         “Iron Curtain”

II.                 Early Events in the Cold War

A.     Containment Policy

1.                  reacting firmly to spread of Communism

2.                  prevent communism from spreading to new nations

3.                  Truman Doctrine (1947)

a.                         promised American support to any nation fighting Communism  

b.                        beginning of containment policy

c.                         give military aid to Turkey and Greece

B.     Marshall Plan (1948)

1.                  Secretary of State George Marshall develops it

2.                  aid given to Europe to rebuild economy after WW II

3.                  only given to those countries who had free elections

 

C.     NATO v Warsaw Pact

1.                  In response to Cold War  NATO formed (1949)

a.                         US, Canada, 10 Western European nations

b.                        NATO was to protect Western Europe from communist aggression

c.                         collective security (attack against one = attack against all)

2.                  USSR responds by forming Warsaw Pact in 1955

a.                         Eastern European countries under their control

D.     Nuclear Arms Race

1.                  1949 USSR develops own atomic bomb

2.                  1952 US develops hydrogen bomb

3.                  1953 USSR develops own hydrogen bomb

4.                  nuclear weapons used as deterrent

a.                         USSR wouldn’t attack because US could retaliate

b.                        Threat of retaliation better and cheaper than large military

E.      Space Race

1.                  1957 USSR launches Sputnik

a.                         first man-made satellite

b.                        starts space race

c.                         military threat if missiles could be launched from space

2.                  1958 US puts own satellite into space

3.                  1961 First Man in Space (soviets)

4.                  1963 John Glenn orbits earth

5.                  1969 Man on the Moon (Neil Armstrong)

F.      Problems at home

1.                  House Un-American Activities Committee

a.                         Loyalty review Boards

b.                        Check the loyalty of actors, directors, writers, communist sympathizers

2.                  McCArthyism

a.                         1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy

b.                        said knew names of hundreds of communists in state department

c.                         never  proved it

3.                  Rosenbergs Trial

a.                         1950

b.                        Julius and Ethel Rosenberg charged with selling secret information on atomic bomb to USSR

c.                         Tried and executed

4.                  Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

a.                         Cuban exiles trained in US

b.                        Invade Cuba to overthrow Communist leader Fidel Castro

c.                         US did not give air support

d.                        Invasion fails

5.                  Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

a.                         US discovers Cuba building nuclear missile bases for USSR

b.                        President Kennedy imposed a naval blockade

c.                         US threatens to invade if not withdrawn

d.                        Khrushchev agrees to withdraw if US does not invade Cuba

6.                  Re-opening Relations with China (1972)

a.                         US refused to establish diplomatic relations with Communist China since 1949

b.                        Recognizes Taiwan instead

c.                         President Nixon visits China

7.                  Détente (1972)

a.                         Policy of relaxing strained relations with USSR

b.                        Nixon visits Moscow in 1972

c.                         SALT I Accord signed

d.                        Selling of US grain to USSR for food shortage

 

8.                  Invasion of Afghanistan

a.                         USSR invades (1979)

b.                        US CIA gives training to rebel forces

c.                         US boycotts 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow

d.                        Beginning of end of USSR

9.                  US troops in Grenada (1983)

a.                         President Reagan sends Marines to protect Americans

b.                        Wants to stop spread of communism

10.              Star Wars

a.                         Reagan proposes

b.                        Uses lasers to prevent Nuclear attack

 

III.               Cold War around the World

A.     Germany  and Eastern Europe

1.                  Division of Germany

a.                         1948 US, Great Britain, and France merge zones into West German state

b.                        Berlin was 110 miles within Soviet zone

c.                         Berlin had also been divided into sectors

d.                        Stalin reacted to the merger of zones with blockade of West Berlin

e.                         West began shipping supplies into West Berlin

f.                          After 11 months blockade lifted

2.                  Berlin wall built in 1960’s

3.                  during next 40 years troops sent to put down democratic uprisings in nations

a.                         Czech

b.                        Hungary

 

B.     Korea

1.      After World War II, Korea divided into two zones

a.                          North controlled by USSR

b.                        South Controlled by US, GB, France

c.                         38th parallel

2.      June 25, 1950 North Koreans invade South

a.                   US helps them resist

b.                  goes to UN about this

c.                   UN agrees to send international force to Korea to stop invasion

d.                  15 nations send troops

3.      fighting goes both ways over years

a.                         General Douglas MacArthur wants to push back North Korean forces (and does) as well as regain China from Communist control

b.                        MacArthur wants to use nuclear weapons

c.                         Truman says no

d.                        MacArthur publicly criticizes him and is dismissed

4.      July 1953 North and South sign cease fire

a.       border set at 38th parallel

b.      two countries

c.       border an issue to this day

d.      border patrolled by troops

4.   communist North is hurting economically

a.                   ruled by Kim Il Sung

b.                  Kim Il Sung dies 1994

c.                   Son Kim Jon Il takes over

d.                  Nuclear power

5.      South rule by series of rulers

a.                   high economic growth

b.                  democracy gaining

c.                   1987 free elections

6.      late 1990’s meetings between two sides

7.      2000 allow meetings between families in North

a.                   more to come

 

C.     Vietnam

1.                     France controlled the area

2.                     World War II Japan invades and controls

3.                     France wants to control after WWII

a.                   war breaks out

b.                  Vietnamese nationalists and communists vs. French (1945-1954)

c.                   Ho Chi Minh requests aid from US and is rejected

d.                  Defeat at Dein Bien Phu ends French hold (1954)

4.                     US afraid the Communists would take over all the area

5.                     Divide Vietnam at 17 parallel

a.                   communist in north

b.                  anti communist gov’t in south

6.                     Ho Chi Minh leader of North gains popularity

a.                   land redistribution

b.                  people opposed to corrupt govt. in south

c.                   Vietcong begins (guerilla forces)

7.                     US gets involved

a.                   1964 US sends military advisors

b.                  US boats attacked in Gulf of Tonkin

c.                   Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964) Johnson says US ships in international water (not true) when attacked Congress gives him full military power to stop North Vietnam

d.                  US send troops (1965)

e.                   Losing battle

f.                    Tet Offensive (1968) Vietcong launches military offensive in S. Vietnam, terror acts committed, turning point in war because public realizes US victory a long way off

g.                   1969 Nixon plans to take troops out (vietnamization or South Vietnam fighting North only)

h.                   US leaves in 1973

8.                     1975 Saigon (south capital) falls renamed Ho Chi Minh City

9.                     Communist control all of Vietnam

a.                     people flee tight control (boat people)

b.                     now foreign investment encouraged

 

D.     Kampuchea (Cambodia)

1.      French influenced before World War II and after

2.      During Vietnam War, Vietcong troops hide in Cambodia

3.      US bombs Cambodia to drive out Vietcong

4.      1975 Khmer Rouge comes to power

a.                         try to rid country of foreign influence

b.                        people rounded up and sent to labor camps

c.                         mass starvation and execution of people

d.                        communist government

e.                         leader = Pol Pot

f.                          over 2 million die

g.                         mine fields

5.      1979 Khmer Rouge removed from power

a.                         Pol Pot goes into hiding

b.                        People flee the country and come to West Coast of America

6.      Pol Pot dies in 1998