Cold War

• The Yalta Conference


  FEBRUARY 1945

  
  

  Winston Churchill - determined to look after British interest and limit Soviet expansion

  Franklin D Roosevelt - willing to work with the USSR to rebuilt Europe however his view was that only a Europe built on American capitalist principles would prevent future war

  Joseph Stalin - main aim is prevent future war, had good relationships with other leaders despite ideological differences as he recognised the need for cooperation
• The Yalta Conference ISSUES


  ISSUE

  decided that germany would be split into 4 zones as well as Berlin

  leaders disagreed on who should hold power in Poland,

  USSR wanted to keep their influence with the communist government, the West wanted old Polish government to return, eventually accepted Soviets territory should include the Balkans

  future of other Eastern European countries remained uncertain
• The Potsdam Conference

  JULY 1945

  
  

  Harry S Truman - same goals as Roosevelt however an unfriendly relationship with stalin, fearful of growth of Soviet power in Eastern Europe

  Clement Attlee - concerned about USSR's expansion into Eastern Europe, recognised that Britain was no longer the dominant force and saw it as vital to stay close to the US in face of growing Soviet power

  Joseph Stalin - convinced USA was a rival for power and influence in Europe and was determined to ensure Soviet security in the long term, trusted Truman less and American atomic weapons strengthened this distrust
• The Potsdam Conference AGREEMENTS

  AGREEMENTS

  germany divided as discussed in Yalta

  Nazi Party was banned and its former leaders would be tried as war criminals

  Germans living in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were to be returned to Germany

  Poland was to lose some territory in the east to the USSR
• the Potsdam Conference ISSUES

  ISSUES

  Stalin wants Germany to pay reparations to USSR

  Attlee and Truman wanted Eastern European countries to be independent and hold free elections however with the exception of Yugoslavia and Greece, almost all of Eastern Europe was occupied by the Red Army

  - due to the war against Japan still ongoing, Allies had to stay together so the West accepted the situation with communist governments in power in most Eastern European countries
• The Truman Doctrine

  MARCH 1947

  
  

  Truman made a speech to the US Congress in which he outlined his beliefs about the threat posed by communism across the world and his determination to stop it from spreading

  he promised to support ANY country threatened by communism

  
  

  the speech was a response to ongoing events in Europe

  - Greece was in a civil war between supporters of the former king and the Greek communists

  (according to the percentage agreements, greece was mainly in the western sphere of influence and was also a country close to central Europe)

  - Turkey, if under control of Soviets, gave them access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East
• Cominform

  OCTOBER 1947

  
  

  Stalin's response to Truman's speech by creating the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform)

  organisation was created to bring unity to communist countries behind the Iron Curtain and members would meet regularly in Moscow to ensure the countries were all following the same policies
• Marshall Plan

  JUNE 1947

  
  

  George Marshall launched a huge recovery plan, aimed to provide economic support for the countries of the Europe (including the ones behind the Iron Curtain) as they rebuilt after the war years

  
  

  TOTAL $13.15 BILLION was divided between the countries of Europe that accepted aid

  
  

  KEY AIMS

  - creation of a market for American goods to help US economy

  - aid the economic recovery of Europe, making communism less attractive

  - promote unity in Europe, which would halt the spread of communism

  
  

  OUTCOME - aims achieved
• Comecon

  1949

  
  

  Stalin saw US involvement in Europe was long term, with the Marshall Plan seen as an example of DOLLAR IMPERIALISM where the USA was using its wealth to gain support and power and to secure the position of capitalism

  
  

  AIM

  - was to provide support and bring economic stability to Eastern European countries, it would avoid the need for these countries to accept Marshall Plan

  
  

  DIFFERENCE COMPARED TO MARSHALL PLAN

  - didn't involve a singular wealthy country supporting the poorer ones, instead the countries were to work together to share knowledge and resources in a way that would benefit them all

  (officially an union of equal partners but in reality all decisions made in Moscow)
• The Berlin Blockade


  JUNE 1948

  
  

  Germany split into 4 parts as well as Berlin

  shortly after division, French, Britain and US united

  
  

  MINI-BLOCKADE

  Soviet troops used their control of the area surrounding West Berlin to block the transport of military supplies to Western troops stationed in the city

  they introduced traffic restrictions, closed bridges for 'maintenances' and searched people travelling to the western sector

  
  

  collision between a British and a Soviet plane over Berlin on 5th April (most likely accidental) lead to a lack of cooperation in the investigation showing how bad relations were

  violence increases in the city amid plans for new currency

  
  

  FULL BLOCKADE

  - all transport links blocked (no supplies reached West Berlin including food, fuels and medicines)

  - electricity from power stations in the Soviet sector to factories and offices in West Berlin was cut due to coal shortages but still made lives extremely difficult
• The Berlin Airlift


  JUNE 1948 - MAY 1949

  
  

  2.5 million inhabitants forced to rely on reserves which would eventually run out

  
  

  24th June - counter-blockade was introduced, which stopped trains travelling from West Germany into the Soviet Zone

  
  

  26th June - Operation Vittles (USA) or Operation Plainfare (UK) began with around 80 American transport planes (C-47s) each making 2 trips a day

  
  

  a plane was arriving every 3 minutes

  around 4000 tonnes were delivered a day

  
  

  15th April - West launched the 'Easter Parade'

  nearly 12,000 tonnes of coal were delivered to West Berlin

  
  

  12th May - lifting of Blockade
• FRG and GDR


  FRG - Federal Republic of Germany created on 23rd May 1949

  
  

  in response USSR created GDR

  GDR - German Democratic Republic in October 1949
• NATO


  APRIL 1949

  
  

  12 countries (including USA, Britain and France, no countries behind Iron Curtain) signed the North Atlantic Treaty to form the NATO

  NATO was the principle that an attack on one member would be considered an attack on al

  the treaty promised that the countries' military forces would coordinate joint military action
• Warsaw Pact


  1955

  An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. This was in response to the NATO
• China and Communism


  Happened under the rule of Mao Tse-tung.

  This showed that Soviet ideals were spreading across the globe and had to be contained.

  
  

  WEST

  - represented a failure of Truman's policy for communism containment

  -millions of US dollars were pumped into Taiwan and Japan to halt the spread of communism in Asia

  
  

  USSR

  - only major country to recognise the communist government of PRC in 1949

  - FEB 1950 they signed the Treaty of Friendship

  $300 million of aid provided to China

  95% needed to be repaid with high interest and requirements that aid needed to be spent on Soviet products

  China gave 2 major ports and mining rights in Xinjiang territory to USSR

  8000 chinese students allowed to travel to USSR to study tech and science

  - different interpretations of communism
• The Korean War


  1950 -1953

  
  

  FEB 1950 - Stalin agrees to provide North Korea with military equipment but would not get involved in war against Americans

  JUNE 1950 - North invades South, UN called for a ceasefire

  (USSR was boycotting UN for not recognising China's government so they couldn't veto the decision)

  with UN support, the USA could send troops to support Rhee (South korea) meaning the USA couldn't be accused of acting on its own

  JUNE 1951 - war reaches stalemate and peace negotiations begin

  JULY 1953 - final ceasefire agreed with peninsula divided in almost the exactly same place as before war
• The Korean War OUTCOMES

  OUTCOMES

  - demonstrated the USA's commitment to containing communism

  - showed power of USA within the UN

  - was the first proxy war of the Cold War

  - dismissal of General MacArthur shows that USA didn't want to risk full military engagement with Soviets, who now had their own nuclear weapons (soviets equally as keen to avoid direct conflict with US)
• The Vietnam War


  1954 - 1975

  
  

  France controlled Indochina however faced opposition by leader of Viet Minh who proclaimed the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a communist state

  1952 - france attempts to keep control, despite superior weaponry, the French couldn't compete with the guerrilla warfare tactics of the Viet Minh

  1954 - France withdraws from Vietnam, great concern for USA as US had paid 75% of the French campaign as part of their policy of containing communism in Asia

  
  

  JULY 1954 - meeting in Geneva between major world powers agreed that Vietnam would be split in 2 along the 17th Parallel

  the French would lose the northern zone where Ho Chi Minh had established the communist republic of the Viet Minh

  the plan was temporary and elections were scheduled for 2 years later when the country would be reunited

  the USA refused to sign the agreements as Eisenhower couldn't accept a communist North Vietnam

  
  

  Domino Theory and New Look Policy led to increasing amounts of US money, equipment and military and political experts being sent to south Vietnam

  Although South Vietnam leader Ngo Dinh Diem was highly corrupt, he was also hugely anti-communist

  
  

  DECEMBER 1960 - Vietcong formed to overthrow Diem's government

  Diem losing control of country and brutal attempts to deal with opposition. the US backed his removal form power

  Diem murdered NOVEMBER 1963

  
  

  ONGOING WAR

  - more than 16,000 US advisors and experts send to South Vietnam

  - after JFK's death, successor Lyndon Johnson ordered full US military involvement

  - the US army struggled against guerrilla tactics of Vietcong

  - long and bloody war showed US's commitment to containing communism
• Domino Theory


  early 1950s, the American idea of the Domino Theory was devised

  the theory was that if communism spread to South Vietnam, it would spread to nearby countries, which would fall like dominoes
• New Look policy


  policy driven by Domino Theory

  was about the wider strategic approach and increasing the focus on the number and power of nuclear weapons
• Space Race CAUSES


  WHY WAS THERE A SPACE RACE?

  - propaganda

  showing their country and system of government were superior

  - fearful of weapons

  intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) could be launched in the same way as rockets and be carried thousands of miles to their target
• Space Race


  4th OCTOBER 1957 (USSR)

  - first manmade satellite to orbit the Earth : Sputnik

  
  

  12th APRIL 1961 (USSR)

  - first human in space : Yuri Gagarin

  
  

  5th MAY 1961 (US)

  - first successful space flight : controlled by pilot Alan Shepard

  
  

  20th JULY 1961 (US)

  - first human on the moon : Neil Armstrong

  
  

  15th JULY 1975 (US + USSR)

  - first joint space mission : Apollo-Soyuz

  - space race ended, with this mission demonstrating detente
• Arms Race


  a competition between US and USSR for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons

  
  

  AUGUST 1945

  - detonation of 2 atomic bombs in Japan by USA

  - at this point in time, the soviets didn't have their own nuclear bomb therefore Stalin made it a priority for the USSR

  
  

  AUGUST 1949

  - using information from the Manhattan Project where USSR's spies gained vital knowledge, the work for a atomic bomb was accelerated and the USSR successfully tested an atomic bomb

  - in SEPTEMBER, evidence of the bomb was discovered by US spy planes, making the US public fearful as they no longer had the advantage of being the sole possessor of the nuclear weapons, this lead to the order for the development of the hydrogen bomb

  
  

  NOVEMBER 1952

  - US tested first hydrogen bomb

  - USSR followed in 1953

  
  

  30TH OCTOBER 1961

  - USSR detonates largest bomb ever, equivalent of nearly 50 tonnes of dynamite

  
  

  MISSILE GAP

  - defence budgets of both sides rose continously throughout Cold War driven by US (probably incorrect) fears that Soviets were ahead in the Arms race and there was a 'missile gap'

  - by 1960, the US had nuclear weapons ready to fire from air, land and sea, including from Polaris, a submarine based missile
• THREAT of Arms Race

  THREAT OF ARMS RACE

  - a campaign taught people how to 'duck and cover' in event of an attack (US)

  - Britain issued booklets to all houses detailing how to 'protect and survive'

  - advice uses to reassure people but realistically made no difference

  - secretly huge underground shelters were built so government could continue in event of nuclear attack
• OPPOSITION to Arms Race

  OPPOSITION TO ARMS RACE

  - organisation called Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

  - message of 'ban the bomb' spread across Europe

  - CND called for unilateral disarmament, meaning Britain should give up nuclear weapons in hope that it would encourage others to do the same
• MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION (MAD)

  - none of the superweapons were used

  - this was because both sides knew that launching a weapon would bring about retaliation from the enemy and their own destruction

  - in theory, as long as each side had the ability to obliterate the other, no one would make the first move

  - the superpowers were on constant alert and ready to launch nuclear weapons if needed
• BRINKMANSHIP


  the practise of trying to achieve an advantage by pushing a dangerous policy to the brink of conflict

  e.g

  - Stalin in Berlin Blockade

  - Korea, Truman fires General MacArthur after he calls for use of nuclear weapons

  - Cuban Missile Crisis
• Hungary Uprising Causes

  PRIOR TO UPRISING

  - Hungary was within Soviet sphere of influence

  - Moscow tightly controlled Hungary after initial Hungarian communists weren't loyal to Stalin and made link with Yugoslavia (non-communist government)

  - communism banned religious traditions and leaders despite Hungary being a strong Catholic country

  - Secret Police arrested and tortured those who challenged the government

  - after Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation, protests in Poland had less to some minor reforms and the students of Hungary saw this as the opportunity to gain a greater level of independence
• Hungary Uprising


  OCTOBER 1956

  
  

  UPRISING

  - 23rd OCTOBER 1956, students took to the street of Budapest

  - issued a list of demands, calling for greater freedom and civil rights, withdrawal of Soviet troops and some of the restrictions and oppressions

  - wanted removal of Rakosi as leader and the return of Imre Nagy

  - soviet tanks open fired on some protesters

  - Nagy was proclaimed PM, promised reform and freedom as well as formation of new government

  - Soviet forces were withdrawn from Budapest

  - after Nagy's compromise, the protesters called for even greater reforms, as Hungary as an independent state and no loyalty to USSR as well as withdrawal from Warsaw Pact

  - 1st NOVEMBER Hungary was an independent and neutral country
• Soviet Response to Hungarian Uprising

  SOVIET RESPONSE:

  - 4th NOVEMBER, uprising was crushed, soviet troops and tanks killed revolutionaries

  - communist party took power again

  - over 200,000 Hungarian fled to Austria

  - Nagy was put on trial an executed

  - brutality showed that opposition wouldn't be tolerated although Khrushchev talked of peaceful coexistence abroad
• US Response to Hungarian Uprising

  US RESPONSE:

  - Eisenhower made it clear that US involvement was not an option as Hungary was within the Soviet sphere of influence and interfering would be seen as a direct attack on soviets

  - many Hungarian revolutionaries felt betrayed and the incident established that the Soviets could do anything behind the Iron Curtain with no US interference
• UN Response to Hungarian Uprising

  UN RESPONSE

  - issue was raised at meeting of UN

  - Security Council held a vote but USSR vetoed it

  - most of international community was involved in growing crisis of Suez Canal
• SPIES


  House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

  - to question those it believed might be involved in communist activities

  
  

  McCarthyism

  - Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made totally unfounded allegations

  -idea of a 'witch-hunt'

  - focused on people in entertainment industry and rival Democratic Party

  
  

  John Edgar Hoover (director of FBI)

  - convinced that communists had infiltrated every area of US life

  - accused teachers and launched secret surveillance programmes on high profile politicians and public figures

  
  

  - fear and paranoia, along with propaganda led people believing there were 'Reds under the bed'

  
  

  CASE STUDIES

  - Alger Hiss

  a state department official who was found to have passed state secrets to USSR, leading to the White House being accused of harbouring communists

  convicted of spy (unsure)

  - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

  found to be passing secrets about atomic bomb to Moscow and were executed (true)
• THE U2 CRISIS


  1ST MAY 1960

  
  

  U2 spy planes were able to photograph the USSR without being spotted or shot down

  provided valuable information about weapon development

  the flights violated Soviet territory and risked a military response

  
  

  Gary Powers undertook his mission but he was faced with the Soviets new, more powerful anti-aircraft guns

  the US claimed his plane was gathering weather data and simply strayed into USSR's territory

  Gary Powers was put on trial as a spy

  the Soviets had evidence of cameras and a suicide pill, to prove that that it was no weather plane

  
  

  happened a few days before the first major summit to take place in Paris

  
  

  LONGERTERM

  - Gary powers tried and imprisoned for 10 years in Soviet Union

  - after only 21 months in prison, Powers was exchanged for a Soviet spy

  - they were exchanged in Berlin in FEB 1962
• The Paris Peace Summit

  MAY 1960

  
  

  Eisenhower had hoped to make progress on bringing the Cold War to a conclusion

  Khrushchev had distanced himself from Stalin's approach and called for peaceful coexistence between superpowers

  
  

  IMPACT OF U2 CRISIS

  - in the first meeting, Khrushchev was very critical of the Eisenhower and demanded for him to punish those responsible for a 'deliberate violation of the Soviet Union'

  - President Eisenhower accepted U2 was a spy plane but refused to apologise and say it wouldn't happen again

  his decision was to 'suspend' spy flights implying it would continue

  - Khrushchev stormed out of the meeting and refused to meet with Eisenhower again

  
  

  DID KHRUSHCHEV WANT THE SUMMIT TO FAIL

  - the Soviets had known for a long time about U2 spy planes and the Soviets themselves were involved in spying against the US

  - Khrushchev felt that the USSR was in a strong position in terms of weapons and power and had the upper hand in the Cold War

  - others argue he needed to look tough as some in Moscow saw peaceful coexistence as weak
• The Vienna Summit

  3 - 4 JUNE 1961

  
  

  Kennedy met Khrushchev at a summit in Vienna

  one of the major point discussed was Berlin

  Kennedy was committed to keeping West Berlin capitalist, Khrushchev used the opportunity to overpower Kennedy in discussions

  little was achieved at the summit but it set the tone for superpower relations in the following years
• Berlin Wall CAUSES


  PROBLEM + WHY IS WAS BUILT

  - by 1960, over 3 million East Germans had gone west, having a huge effect on industry and business

  - Khrushchev didn't want communism to be seen as a prison however he felt that it was needed

  - prevented spies entering Soviet territory from West Berlin

  - the East was losing too many educated people to the West
• Berlin Wall


  AUGUST 1961

  
  

  THE WALL

  - 13th AUGUST 1961, east German troops lined the border between East and West Berlin

  - no East Berliners were allowed to pass, barbed wire fences were put up and trains could no longer cross the border

  - over 7 days the wall was built around West Berlin
• Berlin Wall US RESPONSE

  KENNEDY'S RESPONSE

  - the USA sent an official complaint to Moscow but nothing more

  - later, in JUNE 1963, Kennedy travelled to West Berlin outlining his belief about the evils of communism and the need to protect the freedom of West Berlin, proclaiming 'Ich bin ein Berliner
• Cuba History


  in 1889, the USA helped Cuba become independent from the Spanish empire

  American businessman made huge investments into the country buying land and industry

  
  

  Batista, in 1933, came to power

  - was a dictator

  - undemocratic with political opposition quickly silenced

  - corrupt government and US investors made lots of money

  
  

  Castro, in 1953, called for a revolution

  - he was imprisoned and then forced into exile in Mexico

  - he returned to Cuba in DECEMBER 1956 with 81 supporters and launched a 2 year campaign of guerrilla warfare

  1ST JANUARY 1959

  Batista's regime collapsed

  next day, Castro and supporters entered Havana and declared a new Cuba

  
  

  NEW CUBA

  - willing to work with US but Eisenhower refused to meet with him

  - took business and industry into state ownership

  - seized control of many US-owned businesses and land

  - turned to USSR, who provided loans and oil to Cuba

  - US government declared a total embargo on Cuba, banning all trade with the country

  - politically aligned with USSR and economically dependent of USSR