Cold War and WW2

• Cold War


  A period of permanently tense international relations between 1947 and 1991, when the world was divided into two opposing blocs, each led by one of the two superpowers: the United States of America and the Soviet Union

  
• Cold War Characteristics


  • Bipolar order
  • Areas of influence
  • Arms race/space race
  • Regional conflicts
  • Propaganda
  • Threat of war
  • Spionage and secret services

  
• Origins: Peace Conferences at the end of WW2

  1. Yalta February 1945

  2. Potsdam July 1945
• Western Bloc


  • Capitalist economy
  • Marshall Plan
  • Democratic governments
  • Military Alliance: NATO 1949
• Eastern Bloc


  • Planned economy ruled by the State
  • COMECON: coordination of economies, mutual help
  • Communist regimes
  • Iron curtain in Eastern European countries
  • Military Alliance Warsaw Pact 1955
• Non-Aligned Countries


  • Bandung Conference 1955
• Division of Germany & Berlin into 4 zones of occupation after Potsdam Conference in July 1945
• Yalta Conference February 1945

  Tensions about Poland, a government will set up in Poland (communists and non-communists), Agreement to split Germany into four zones of occupation, and to allow free elections in Eastern European countries, Russia was invited to join the United Nations, Russia promised to join the war against Japan when Germany was defeated
• Potsdam Conference July 1945

  Disagreements about Poland: Truman was angry since a communist government was being set up in Poland. Communists were coming to power in Eastern Europe, Arguments about the boundaries of the 4 zones in Germany, Truman did not tell Stalin that he had the atomic bomb. He threw the first bomb so that Japan would surrender before Russian troops could go into Japan
• Cold War Goals for USSR

  • Establish defensible borders
  • Encourage friendly governments on its borders
  • Spread communism around the world

  
• Post WWII/Cold War Goals for US

  • Prevent the spread of communism
  • Truman Doctrine: foreign policy led by USA president Truman=end to isolationist policies, preventing the Soviets Union from getting any more powerful. It involved supporting free countries to help fight against Communism
  • Marshall Plan: massive economic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from the damage caused by the war and, by generating prosperity, to reject the appeal of Communism
  • NATO: military alliance

  
• USSR prevented Eastern European countries from receiving American money
• Witch hunt in USA, launched by the anti-communist senator McCarthy
• Invasion of Hungary 1956 & Prague Spring 1968, challenging reforms repressed by USSR
• The Berlin Crisis: June 1948-May 1949


  Three western controlled zones of Germany united; grew in prosperity due to the Marshall Plan, West wanted East to rejoin; Stalin feared it would hurt Soviet security, June 1948: Stalin decided to gain control of West Berlin, which was deep inside the Eastern Sector, Cuts road, rail and canal links with West Berlin, hoping to starve it into submission, West responded by airlifting supplies to allow West Berlin to survive, May 1949: USSR admitted defeat, after 318 days!! USSR lifted blockade
• Space race between USSR and USA
• 1989: Fall of Berlin Wall, Reunification of Germany
• 1991: Dissolution of Soviet Union
• 1993: Separation of Czechoslovakia
• 1995: War in Yugoslavia
• Second World War (1939-1945)

  
• Major causes


  • Invasion and occupation of Poland
  • Blitzkrieg against Denmark and Norway
  • Blitzkrieg against the Netherlands, Belgium and France
  • Evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk and France surrenders
  • Battle of Britain
  • Desert war in North Africa
  • Nazi seizure of Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete
  • Germany invades the USSR
  • Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
  • Unstoppable advance of Japan in the Pacific

  
• Combatant powers


  • THE ALLIES: France, Britain, Britain, USSR, USA, France (1945)
  • THE AXIS POWERS: Germany, Italy (until 1943), Japan

  
• Turning point


  1. Operation Torch: Allied landings in North Africa

  2. German surrender at the Battle in Stalingrad

  3. Invasion of Italy and arrest of Mussolini

  4. Russian advance towards the west: Seizure of Bulgaria and Romania

  5. Operation Overlord: Normandy landing and allied advance towards Germany

  6. Japanese defeats in the Pacific

  7. Axis collapse: Hitler commits suicide and Soviet forces enter in Berlin

  8. Atomic bomb dropped in Japan (6th and 9th August 1945)

  
• Blitzkrieg or "Lighting War"


  One after the other: Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France fell under the Nazi military power
• France officially surrendered on 25 June 1940. It will be divided into 2 zones
• Battle of Britain


  Britain resisted. The only power that faced Hitler in that moment. The Luftwaffe bombed British air and naval bases, harbors, communication centers, and war industries. Later Hitler ordered the bombing of cities hoping to destroy British morale
• Winston Churchill: 'We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, in the fields, in the streets, and in the hills. We shall never surrender.'
• Internationalisation


  1. Mussolini invades Greece and Egypt, but his defeat provokes Hitler's occupation of the Balkans/desert war (Rommel)

  2. USSR: "Operation Barbarossa" 4 million Axis soldiers invaded the USSR (June '41)

  3. USA: attacked by Japan on Pearl Harbour (Dec '41)
• After attacking US base in Hawaii (Pearl Harbour), Japan continued conquering new territories in Southeastern Asia and the Pacific

  
• Turning point: The Axis is stopped

  1. Japan stopped by USA in the Pacific

  2. Germany stopped by USSR (Stalingrad) and Britain (N. Africa)

  3. Allies landing in Sicily→S. Italia→ fall of Mussolini
• Allies double offensive


  1. Britain &USA (West): Normandy Landings Jun '1944→ liberation of Fce, Belgium, Netherlands, Western Germany occupied

  2. USSR (East)→April 1945, Berlin. Germany surrenders on 7 May '45

  
• A German Soldier, On the Battle of Stalingrad: 'The horses have already been eaten. I would eat a cat; they say its meat is also tasty. The soldiers look like corpses or lunatics, looking for something to put in their mouths. They no longer take cover from Russian [Soviet] shells; they haven't the strength to walk, run away and hide. A curse on this war!'
• Battle of Stalingrad significance

  It was Nazi Germany's 1st Major defeat in World War 2. Soviet had a decisive Victory over the Axis. It is considered the beginning of the end of the Nazi regime. Almost of the German 6th Army was totally wiped out (300,000 Men)
• Allied advance towards Germany

  1. Soviets from the East, Westerners from the West

  2. Battle of Germany (1944-45)

  3. Hitler committed suicide (30th April 1945)

  4. Berlin conquered by the Soviets (2nd Mai 1945)

  5. Unconditional surrender (7th -8th May 1945)

  6. Allies didn't arrive to Berlin until the 1st June '45
• End of war in the Pacific

  1. Japanese had been defeated in Midway (June '42) and Guadalcanal (Aug '42-feb '43) due to the operation led by general McArthur

  2. 6th August 1945: USA throws atomic bomb in Hiroshima: 60.000 casualties

  3. 8th August 1945: Stalin declares war on Japan

  4. 9th August '45: USA throws a second atomic bomb in Nagasaki (60.000+ 40.000 casualties)

  5. Japan surrenders without conditions on 15th August 1945

  
• The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima by the Americans did not have the effect intended: unconditional surrender by Japan. 3 days later, they dropped a second bomb over Nagasaki.
• In the period between the 2 bombs, USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria.

  
• Characteristics of WW2


  • 60 countries were involved in this war (Europe, Africa, Pacific)
  • More than 100 million soldiers fought in WWII. Around 800 million civilians suffered occupations and bombardments
  • WWII can be considered the cruelest war in the history since many atrocities were carried out, such as genocide, deportation, systematic torture, and the creation of concentration and extermination camps. 11 million civilians and prisoners from eastern Europe countries were murdered
  • New and destructive weapons were used in this war: Planes, Tanks, Aircraft carriers, Flying bombs (V-1, V-2), Missiles, Atomic bomb
• 6 million Jews were killed in concentration camps through all Europe. 1,5 million were children.