Cold War - A political, strategic and ideological struggle between the US and Soviet Union. Spread throughout the world-Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Democracy - The citizens vote for the leaders.
Communism - Military ruling with one leader.
Capitalism - People own the businesses. Free enterprise.
Socialism - Government controls the businesses.
Causes of the Cold War:
- Different political systems
- US is based on democracy, capitalism, and freedom
- USSR is based on dictatorship, communism, and control
- BOth thought their system was better and distrusted the others intentions
- Stalin despised capitalism
Causes of the Cold War:
- Stalin breaking his promise to allow free elections at the Yalta Conference
- American fear of a communist attack (Red Scare) and USSR's fear of a US attack
- USSR's fear of the atomic bomb
- USSR's actions in their German zone
- USSR's goal to spread communism around the world
- This feeling of suspicion lead to mutual distrust and this did a great deal to deepen the Cold War
Post WW2/Cold War Goals for US
- Wanted to promote open markets for US goods to prevent another depression
- Promote democracy throughout the world, especially in Asia and Africa
- Stop the spread of communism
Post WW2/Cold War Goals for the USSR
- Wanted to create greater security for itself
- Lost tens of millions of people in WW2 and Stalin's purges
- Feared a strong Germany
- Established defensible borders
- Encourage friendly governments on its borders
- Spread communism around the world
Yalta Conference
- Before the end of the WW2, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta to plan what should happen when the war ended. They agreed on many points
- The establishments of the United Nations
- Germany divided into four zones
- Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe
- Russia promised to join the war against Japan
Key Terms
- Iron Curtain Speech - Given by Winston Churchill (1946). Talking about the split between Europe (East and West). These were Communist and Free.
- Domino Theory - Something that affects one country will begin affecting other countries. (Like communism in Europe)
- Policy of Containment - US policy to prevent spread of communism without nuclear war. (George Keenan)
- Truman Doctrine - Truman said that the US would back (and help with money and military supplies) Greece and Turkey from falling into communism. 1947
- Marshall Plan - 1947. George C Marshall. Called for European Recovery Program. $13 billion was given to European countries to get their confidence back (so they didn't go to communism.
- Brinkmanship - Going to the brink of war without actually going to war.
- Massive Retaliation/Mutual Deterrence/Mutual Assured Destruction - MR - When a country massively retaliates with nuclear weapons. MD - Both sides mutually agree not to fight. MAD - When a country knows that both countries can destroy each other.
- NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. There are currently 28 members. This was signed on April 4, 1949. Democratic countries. These are defensive alliances. US was in this to go against the communist countries. Prevented communism invasion.
- Warsaw Pact - Warsaw pact fell apart when the Soviet Union fell apart. These are defensive alliances.
- CIA - Central Intelligence Agency - Gathering information on other countries by spying.
- KGB - The CIA of the Soviet Union.
- Peaceful Coexistence - A policy of peace between countries that are enemies (don't like each other).
- De-Stalinization - Soviet wanted to get rid of the terrible things the Stalin did.
- Detente - French for "easing of tensions".
- Perestroika - McHale Gorbachev gets credit for ending cold war- he first said this which means being an open in economy
- Glasnost - increasing openness again but in government
- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963 - Banned nuclear testing above ground.
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 1968 - Prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (Treaty) - US and Soviet Union to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons countries could have.
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty - Both countries agree not to make a weapon, that would destroy any nuclear weapon shot at them.
Berlin Blockade
- In 1948, the three western controlled zones of Germany's(US, France, UK) were united, and grew in prosperity due to Marshal Aid.
- The west wanted the east to rejoin, but Stalin feared it would hurt Soviet security.
- In June 1948, Stalin decided to try to gain control of west Berlin which was deep inside the eastern sector
- He cut road, rail and canal links with West Berlin, hoping to starve it into submission
- The west responded by airlifting in the necessary supplies to allow west Berlin to survive.
- In May 1949, Russia admitted defeat and lifted the blockade
Bay of Pigs
- Our Project
Cuban Missile Crisis
- October 1962
- For 2 weeks, both countries people were nervous.
- We quarantined (blockade) Cuba
- Next, was to do airstrikes to take out the nuclear missiles
- The plan then said we would invade Cuba
- The Soviet Union said they would withdraw their weapons from Cuba. The US said we would never invade Cuba in exchange. We also said we would withdraw our nuclear weapons from Turkey 6 months later.
Red Scare
- Fear of rising communism
- In 1950 McCarthy gave a speech where he claimed to have a list of 205 communist in the State Department
- No one in the press actually saw the names on the list, but McCarthy announcement made national news and caused panic throughout the country
- McCarthy became one of the most powerful in the US
- People who supported McCarthy were:
- Republicans
- Catholics
- Conservative Protestants
- Blue collar workers
- Joseph and Robert Kennedy
- In the spring of 1945, McCarthy charged the US Army had promoted a dentist accused of being a communist
- For the first time, television broadcast allowed the general public to see the Senator as a blustering bully and his investigations as little more than a misguided scam
- McCarthyism - Accusing people without having any evidence
Berlin Wall
- The wall was built by the Soviets to keep people in the city
- Berlin wall was built in 1961-1989 to separate East and West (communist from democrat)
- If you wanted to go from East to West you had have special permission and fill-out paperwork. You also had to go through Brandenburg Gage and Checkpoint Charlie.
- Berlin wall comes down on November 9, 1989 - A symbol of the end of the Cold War
Korean War
- Called the "Forgotten War"
- Korea was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910 until 1945.
- After WW2, Korea was split into two- North (USSR) and South (US) at the 38th parallel
- An election was going to be held to eventually unify Korea
- The United Nations held an election in 1948.
- The Soviet Union refused to allow participation in the election in their occupied zone.
- Instead, they handed over power to the North Korean Communist Party under Kim IL-Sung.
- The south elected the nationalist exile Syngman Rhee.
- War Summary
- US had pulled troops out of South Korea shortly after WW2.
- June 25th 1950 - The North invades the South (with permission from USSR and China)
- By September the North controlled almost the whole country except for the Pisan Perimeter (south east)
- United Nations gets involved, We invade 2 different places. And we take back almost the whole country. It looks like we are going to unify the whole country.
- When we were getting close to China, they got scared and china invades.
- China quickly pushes us back down, But we push them back up a little bit.
- Fighting takes place at the DMZ.
- The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the Cold wAr, and it set a model for many later conflicts.
- It created the idea of a limited war, where the two superpowers would/could fight without using nuclear weapons.
- It also expanded the Cold War, which to that point had mostly been concerned with Europe.
- The total number of deaths including all civilians and military soldiers from UN Nations and China, was about 2,000,000
- US had 54,000
- We didn't use nuclear bombs in Korean War, but we did bomb the daylights out of them
Vietnam War
- 1950 - 1975
- Beginnings
- Goals (United States)
- Stop communism
- Goals (North Vietnamese)
- Independence
- The French Connection
- France had gained control of Indochina in a series of colonial wars beginning in the 1840's and lasting until the 1880s.
- During WW2, Vichy France had collaborated with the occupying Imperial Japanese forces.
- Vietnam was under Japanese control during WW2, although the Vichy French continued to serve as the official administrators.
- After the Japanese surrender, the French fought to retain control of their former colony against the Viet Minh independence movement, led by Communist Party leader Ho Chi Minh.After the Viet Minh defeated the French colonial army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the French withdrew, and the colony was granted independence.Geneva Conference - 1954
- Geneva Conference - 1954
- Vietnam was partitions temporarily into a Northern and a Southern zone of Vietnam at the 17th parallel.
- The North was to be ruled by Ho Chi Minh, while the South would be under the control of Emperor Bao Dai.
- In 1955, Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem became President of a new South Vietnamese republic.
- Set up elections to unify the country by July, 1956.
- Such elections were never held because neither side wanted to lose.
- Who Fought
- The United States Armed Forces
- The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN - The South Vietnamese Army)
- The NLF, a group of South Vietnamese guerrilla fighters (Vietcong)
- The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN - the North Vietnamese Army)
- Escalation 1957 - 1975
- Under escalation, US involvement increased over a period of years.
- Sent money to French.
- Started with the deployment of non-combat military advisors to the South Vietnamese army.
- The started using specials forces (Green Berets) for commando-style operations.
- Combat troops for defensive purposes.
- 1964 - Combat troops are being sent in for offensive uses.
- Throughout 1968, troops continued to be sent in.
- Unpopularity
- Media- this was the first war the the media was overseas reporting everything
- Tet Offensive- caused people to question our military and president (people thought that the government was lying to us)
- Diem- discriminating against Buddhists 99% of the people
- Pentagon Papers- It was a top-secret historical study about the war, that showed how the government was misleading the US public
- Injuring/killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)- killing babies and women. Bodies were being mutilated. Also raping women.
- Nixon expanding the war into Laos and Cambodia.
Johnson
- Once Johnson became president troops sky rocketed in Vietnam
- The Gulf of Tonkin
- US ship were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese torpedoes in the Gulf of Tonkin
- Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- Congress gave Johnson power to take military action against Vietnam
Tet Offensive
- North Vietnam launches an attack on all the major cities in the south
- We thought the North Vietnam was almost failing
- Named after the lunar new year festival which is the most important Vietnamese holiday
- We demolished them but it goes down in history as a failure because it caused people back home to question our military and president. They question this because American people thought the war was already over.
- Pentagon Papers
- The support of the government and war effort suffered even more when the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers.
- It was a top-secret historical study about the war, that showed how the government was misleading the US public in all stages of the war.
- Tiger and Elephant Reference
- It means that they would make the United States tired (outlast us) which would force them us leave.
Operation Rolling Thunder
- Code Name for the bombing campaign of the constant bombing of north Vietnam
- We would never invade North Vietnam because we didn't want China and the USSR involved.
- Kent St
- Students were protesting the Vietnam War
- National Guardsmen were brought in to keep order.
- The Guardsmen were being hit with rocks and shot and killed 5 students.
- How Did People Get out of Serving in the War?
- Went to Canada or Sweden
- Went to college (student deferment)
- Got married
- Medically unfit for service
- Joined the National Guard or Peace Corps
- Claimed to be homosexual
- Being rich
- Nixon and Vietnam
- Nixon called for the "vietnamization" of the war.
- "Peace with Honor"
- Gradually pull US troops out and train the ARVN to take our place fighting the North
- Expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia leading to college protests (Kent St)
- The End
- On January 15, 1973, President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam
- The Paris Peace Accords were later signed on January 27, 1973, which officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam conflict
- Fighting stopped
- US would pull out of Vietnam
- North and South Vietnam would recognize each other's independence
- After the US Left
- The peace agreement didn't last
- In March 1975, the North invaded the South
- The South was not strong enough and fell quickly
- Saigon, the South's capital fell on April 30, 1975
- US didn't live up to it's promise to come to their aid if the North attacked.
- North Vietnam united both North and South Vietnam on July 2, 1976, to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
- Saigon was re-named Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the former president of North Vietnam
- Vietnam is still communist today.
- Why did the US win and the Soviet Union lose?
- We had close ties with Allies and Soviets didn't
- China started siding with us after 1972
- Soviet economy was in shambles whereas the US's was flourishing
- Soviet Union had huge deficit
- High inflation
- Corruption
- Social problems
- Shortage of basic needs (food, housing)
- The strong anti-communist presidency of Reagan
- Gorbachev's willingness for change and reform.
- Goals (United States)
Comments