1.2 The Cold War

• Cold War


  Tension between the United States and Soviet Union over ideological, political, and economic differences, where they applied espionage, propaganda, diplomacy, and other secret operations instead of direct fighting
• Lesson Outline


  • Opposing Ideologies of USA and USSR
  • Events that Reflected Conflict between USA and USSR
  • China-Taiwan Conflicts
• United States


  • Encourage democracy in other countries to help prevent the rise of Communist governments
  • Gain access to raw materials and markets to fuel booming industries
  • Rebuild European governments to promote stability and create new markets for US goods
  • Reunite Germany to stabilize it and increase the security in Europe
• Soviet Union


  • Encourage communism in other countries as part of a world-wide workers' revolution
  • Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe's industrial equipment and raw materials
  • Control Eastern Europe to protect Soviet borders and balance the US influence in Western Europe
  • Keep Germany divided to prevent its waging war again
• Problems of Peace at Potsdam Conference

  • Division and governance of Germany and its capital, Berlin; get rid of Nazi influence and beliefs
  • Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949) – Allied military courts tried more than 200 Nazi and military officials for their war crimes
  • Payment of reparations for the destruction caused by the war in the form of German currency and industrial equipment
  • Eastern Europe – USSR wanted to make it a buffer zone to prevent invasions and attacks and Stalin promised to respect the rights of the people, but the American and British believed that he planned to establish pro-Soviet Communist governments in the region
• The Conflict Worsens


  1. Pro-Soviet Communist governments were soon established throughout Eastern Europe

  2. Tension between the Soviet Union and the western democracies continued to grow

  3. Soviet failure to remove troops from northern Iran, which they had occupied during the war
• In January 1946, Truman warned his secretary of state that "another war is in the making." In February 1946, Stalin stated publicly that he believed war between the East and West is inevitable in the future.
• Iron Curtain


  A 1,393 km long line that separated Europe's Soviet Eastern bloc from the democratic Western bloc, made popular after Winston Churchill used the term to indicate the existing ideological differences between the Communist East and the Democratic West
• Truman Doctrine

  The United States pledge to provide economic and military aid to oppose the spread of communism (Turkey and Greece)
• Marshall Plan


  A document proposed by US Secretary General George C. Marshall in June 1947 that provided approximately $13 billion to restore Europe, including the provision of food, machinery, and other materials to countries of Western Europe to help them recover from the war and preserve political stability
• Policy of Containment


  Adopted by USA in July 1947 to prevent further Soviet aggression and to keep communism within its existing boundaries
• Division of Germany


  1. Germany was divided into four zones and occupied by the Allies – the USA, USSR, France and Great Britain

  2. Western leaders began planning for the creation of an independent democratic German nation, to be formed from the three western zones of occupation, including Berlin which is deep inside the Soviet zone

  3. The Soviets opposed this plan
• Berlin Airlift


  1. The Soviets did not allow entry on any of the three western zones that made the 2.5 million people to experience starvation

  2. The Americans and the British continued to help East Berlin by transporting food and other supplies through airplanes

  3. In May 1949, the Soviets surrendered and lifted the blockade
• New Alliances


  • NATO (1949) - USA, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland
  • Warsaw Pact Treaty Organization (1955) - USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania
  • SEATO (1955) - USA, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand
  • CENTO (1955) - USA, Great Britain, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan
• Berlin Wall


  1. Two days after sealing off free passage between East and West Berlin with barbed wire, East German authorities begin building the Berlin Wall to permanently close off access to the West

  2. For the next 28 years, the heavily fortified Berlin Wall stood as the most tangible symbol of the Cold War—a literal "iron curtain" dividing Europe
• Global Events


  • Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Bay of Pigs
  • Korean War
• Cuban Missile Crisis


  1. In 1959, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista was removed from power and was replaced by the revolutionary Fidel Castro, who was supported by the Soviet Union

  2. Leaders of the U.S. (JOHN F. KENNEDY) and the Soviet Union (NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV) engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores
• Bay of Pigs


  President Kennedy supported a secret mission for some Cuban exiles to revolt against Castro and his government, but it was an unsuccessful mission because many of the Cuban exiles were captured, and some were killed when they attempted to land at Bay of Pigs in Cuba
• Cuban Missile Crisis: Timeline of Events


  • Oct 14 - A U-2 spy plane discovers Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba
  • Oct 16 - President John F. Kennedy is briefed about the missile sites and convenes a group of advisors known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (ExComm)
  • Oct 22 - President Kennedy addresses the nation, revealing the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and imposing a naval blockade or quarantine around Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments
  • Oct 24 - Soviet ships approach the naval blockade, and tensions escalate as the world watches for potential military confrontation
  • Oct 26 - A U.S. U-2 plane is shot down over Cuba, increasing tensions
  • Oct 27 - A U.S. reconnaissance plane strays into Soviet airspace over the Arctic, prompting Soviet forces to scramble fighters. The situation becomes extremely tense, with fears of accidental war.
  • Oct 28 - Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev agrees to remove the missiles from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. promise not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey and Italy
  • Oct 28-29 - The crisis de-escalates as both sides agree to steps to avoid future confrontations and tensions ease
  • Nov 20 - The Soviet Union begins dismantling its missile sites in Cuba, and the crisis officially ends
• VASILY ARKHIPOV: 'A Soviet naval officer during the Cuban Missile Crisis who played a critical role in preventing a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union by refusing to authorize the use of nuclear torpedoes against US naval forces despite being under extreme pressure to do so'
• Korean War


  World War II ended dividing Korea into North and South, with the 38th parallel North chosen by US military as an army boundary; in the northern part, the Soviet Union accepted the Japanese surrender; and in the southern part, the US accepted the Japanese surrender
• The crisis de-escalates as both sides agree to steps to avoid future confrontations and tensions ease


  Oct 28-29
• The Soviet Union begins dismantling its missile sites in Cuba, and the crisis officially ends


  Nov 20
• Vasily Arkhipov


  A Soviet naval officer during the Cuban Missile Crisis who played a critical role in preventing a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union by refusing to authorize the use of nuclear torpedoes against US naval forces despite being under extreme pressure to do so
• Korea was divided into North Korea (under Soviet influence) and South Korea (under US influence) after World War II along the 38th parallel
• North Korean forces invaded South Korea, aiming to unify the country under communist rule


  1950
• The United Nations Security Council condemned the invasion and authorized military intervention to support South Korea. UN forces, led by the US, are sent to Korea
• In September, UN forces, under General Douglas MacArthur, launched a successful amphibious landing at Incheon, behind enemy lines, and push North Korean forces back
• UN forces established a defensive line around the city of Pusan in the south, preventing further North Korean advances
• As UN forces approach the Yalu River (border with China), Chinese forces entered the war to support North Korea, leading to a retreat of UN forces
• The war reaches a stalemate around the 38th parallel, with neither side making significant gains
• After years of negotiations, an armistice agreement is signed on July 27, 1953, establishing a ceasefire and demilitarized zone along the border. The war technically continues as a ceasefire, but no peace treaty is signed

  1953
• US involvement in Vietnam can be traced back from the idea of containment. Vietnam was once part of French Indochina, a colony of France in Southeast Asia composing of present-day Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia
• When Vietnam wanted to gain its independence from France, a young Vietnamese nationalist leader, HO CHI MINH, asked for help from the Communist. Ho became the leader of revolts and attacks against the French by the Indochinese Communist party
• The French were aggressive in arresting Vietnamese protesters and sent Ho to exile. Just about Ho's return to Vietnam in 1941, World War II broke and Vietnam was occupied by the Japanese forces
• In 1945, the Japanese left Vietnam after losing the war. Ho was thinking of their independence, however, France wanted to gain back its territory. The united Vietnamese Nationalists Communists defeated the French army. France surrendered its military to Ho Chi Minh in 1954
• Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into North Vietnam (communist) and South Vietnam (anti-communist) along the 17th parallel


  1954
• Ngo Dinh Diem became president of South Vietnam, supported by the United States


  1955
• National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) was formed in South Vietnam to oppose Diem's government


  1960
• Increasing U.S. military assistance to South Vietnam, including advisors and aid

  1961-1963