COLD WAR

1. COLD WAR

2. 1943 at Casablanca it was determined that only “unconditional surrender” by the Axis powers was accepted to the Allies • December 1943 - Teheran, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met - controversial issues affecting the post-war years were not discussed • Roosevelt proposed a landing in France in 1944 to make a second front that Stalin had been promised • In 1944 Churchill and Stalin agreed to areas of demarcation in eastern Europe • In 1945 the ‘big three’ met at Yalta and agreed on Poland and eastern Europe • Stalin also agreed to enter the war against Japan

3. In Potsdam (July 1945) after the German collapse the three leaders met again, but with Truman from America • Soviet troops already occupied eastern Europe and eastern Germany • The were already signs of problems between the east and the west • In 1945 a conference in San Francisco established the United Nations with Britain, USA, USSR, China, and France getting permanent seats on the Security Council • After the war there were only two real powers - the United States and the Soviet Union - most other countries allied with one or the other • In reality the United States was richer, stronger, and had the atomic bomb. The Cold War rivalry would define global politics for almost 50 years

4. After the war the United States and the Soviets each signed separate peace treaties with Japan • Korea, which had been controlled by Japan was divided between the USSR (north) and US (south) • China regained most of its lost territory, but a civil war between the Nationalists (supported by US) and the Communists (supported by USSR) divided the country • Truman was less willing to work with the Soviets, possibly because of his atomic capabilities • In 1946 at Fulton Missouri, Winston Churchill made his iron curtain speech, but needed American help against the Soviets • The United States criticized the Soviets at every opportunity and responded with money and resources to Soviet aggression

5. In 1947 Britain told the US that they could not support the people of Greece and Turkey in their struggle against Communism • Truman responded with the Truman Doctrine - a promise to aid free people everywhere against communism. Gave $400m to aid Turkey and Greece • 1947 George Marshall proposed an economic packet to help war-torn Europe • The soviets refused to participate • The European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) provided $13b in aid • 1948 a communist-backed coup in Czechoslovakia persuaded the Americans that they had to stop the spread of communism

6. The Soviets saw the Marshall Plan as a threat and a potential attempt by the US to interfere in European affairs • The British, Americans, French and Soviets each controlled a part of Berlin • Berlin was an area controlled by the Soviet Union, but roads and railroads were allowed to link to the western sectors • In 1947 the western sectors all merged for economic reasons • But in 1948 the soviets cut off access to Berlin. The Allies, led by the US organized the Berlin Airlift to keep the city supplied • In May 1949 the Soviets lifted the blockade

7. Both sides created governments - The Federal Republic of Germany had a government in Bonn. The East Germans created the German Democratic Republic with the government in East Berlin • 1948 Britain, France and the Benelux countries signed the Brussels Pact for collective self-defense • 1948 America establishes a peace time draft • 1949 twelve countries (Brussels Pact + 5) signed the North Atlantic Pact – gradually other countries were added – this became NATO • Thousands of American soldiers were stationed in Europe as the US committed itself not to abandon Europe to the Communists • The Truman Doctrine, NATO, and the Marshall Plan all focused on fighting communism

8. The western European nations showed remarkable economic success because of American aid • In 1949 the Soviets and their satellite states formed the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (COMECON) • In 1949 the Soviets developed their own atomic bomb • In June 1950 the North Koreans invaded South Korea • The United Nations condemned the invasion and since the Russians were not participating in the UN at that time they were unable to implement a veto vote • North Korea was supported by China and Russia, while South Korea was supported by the United States in what became a battle against communism • The United States rallied the support of non-communist countries and both sides competed for the non-aligned nations

9. In July 1951 a cease-fire ended the fighting, but was not ratified until 1953. • The war cost over $15 billion and thousands of American lives. Allies believed communism had been stopped, while many saw what happened as another act of aggression by an old imperialistic power • In 1952 Egyptian general Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew King Farouk • Nasser, very nationalistic, want the British away from the Suez Canal. A move supported by the Americans • Nasser was non-aligned but, like many other leaders played the soviets against the Americans • Many non-communist countries in Asia and Africa grew even more determined to steer a middle course

10. 1953 Eisenhower replaced Truman and continued the Truman Doctrine • 1953 Stalin died, eventually replaced by Khrushchev • Khrushchev became the leader and promised “peaceful coexistence” and de-Stalinization • Khrushchev initiated a thaw in the Cold War and in a 1956 speech even attacked Stalin • Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd, and Stalin’s body was removed from inside the Kremlin • West Germany became part of NATO in 1955 • 1955 the soviets established the Warsaw Pact • In 1955 Austria became independent, but pro-western • In 1956 the Hungarians rioted for their independence. Imre Nagy, a moderate Communist was the head of the government.

11. Initially the soviets left the Hungarians alone, but when Nagy announced that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact the soviets returned with tanks and replaced Nagy with Janos Kadar • In 1957 the Russians launched the first satellite Sputnik I which seemed to indicate the supremacy of the communists • 1958 Khrushchev demanded that the west accept the neutralization of West Berlin or they would sign their rights to East Berlin to East Germany • August 1961 Khrushchev closed the east/west Berlin border • Began construction of the Berlin Wall • 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco forced Castro to move closer to Moscow

12. But in 1962 Khrushchev supported the Cubans in the Cuban missile crisis and was forced to back down • 1963 American-Soviet Nuclear Test ban • In 1964 he was forced from office and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, a tough, hardliner who ended the thaw and started a re-Stalinization • There was only one more time when communists and non-communists clashed on a battlefield and that was in Vietnam • Vietnam had been a French colonial possession. The French requested American help to fight communism • After the defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 the French decided to pull out • Eisenhower expounded his ‘domino theory’ that if Indochina fell to the communists then other nations would also fall

13. The North Vietnamese were led by Ho Chi Minh and the South Vietnamese were led by Ngo Dinh Diem • Eisenhower promised to help Diem, but Diem became more resolute in his control and refused to allow the country to reunify. The United States agreed • American foreign policy was predicated upon the principle of brinksmanship • The idea that sometimes a nation had to go to the brink of war to defend its policies replaced the idea of containment

14. In 1964 the United States issued the Tonkin Gulf Resolution after two American destroyers were attacked by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin • Now the United States would take all necessary steps to stop the North Vietnamese • American involvement would not end until 1973 • The Cold War ended in the 1980s when President Reagan increased military spending to such an extent that the soviets could not compete • In 1985 Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev started talks to reduce arms, specifically nuclear weapons • In 1989 the soviets acknowledged the independence of the satellite states of eastern Europe • In 1991 the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union