THE COLD WAR

STAGE 1

ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR

• As WW2 ended, tensions between US and USSR increased
• USSR claimed the US didn't support them until the very end
• USSR was upset about the US not sharing their nuclear technology
• FDR and Stalin had a good relationship that Truman and Stalin didn't have
• There were major disagreements about post-WWII Germany

ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR

• George Kennan (US diplomat) wrote the "Long Telegram" in 1946
• The Long Telegram presents Soviet aims as threatening
• Shaped US policy towards the USSR

WHO IS TO BLAME?

• Orthodox View
• Resulted from Soviet ideology
• US had no choice but to contain Communism
• Cold War responsibility rested on Soviet Union
• Because of their aggressive expansionist policies

WHO IS TO BLAME?

• Revisionist View
• USA was responsible for the start of the Cold War
• Stalin focused on internal politics and economic policies
• Stalin's aid to revolutionary outbreaks was little to none
• USSR was pushed to establish tighter control in Eastern Europe

WHO IS TO BLAME?

• Post-Revisionist View
• Entire blame goes to neither superpower
• Misunderstandings arose when Truman replaced FDR
• Economic control mechanisms led the USSR to break off negotiations

STAGE 2

TRUMAN DOCTRINE & MARSHALL PLAN

• Joseph McCarthy spearheaded the anti communist movement in the US
• Truman announced a policy saying Communism needed to be contained
• The US would assist countries that resisted communism
• Marshall Plan was set to assist countries of Western Europe
• USSR did not like US domination in Europe

COMMUNISM IN EUROPE

• Communist victory in 1946 in Poland
• Opposition to communism restricted in Bulgaria
• Communist victory in 1947 in Hungary
• The People's Republic of Romania declared in 1947
• Communists and their allies won in new elections in Czechoslavakia

BIZONIA AND TRIZONIA

• In 1946 Britain & US joined their zones in Germany
• In 1948 France joined, creating Trizonia
• USSR saw as an attempt to build up Western Germany's economy
• Tensions between US & USSR continued to build

BERLIN BLOCKADE

• Soviet Union cut off road, rail, and freight traffic to West Berlin
• The US responded with the massive Berlin Airlift
• The airlift brought in food, clothes, and other goods to Berlin
• A year later, Stalin recognized the blockade's failure and called it off

CHINA

• Communist victory in China (Mao Ze Dong)
• USSR & China signed the 30-Year Treaty of Friendship & Mutual Assistance
• Stalin agreed to give Mao economic assistance
• Stalin refused Mao's request for nuclear weapons
• Relationships between USSR & China increased tensions in the US

KOREAN WAR

• USSR supported North Korean communist forces
• US supported South Korean forces
• China eventually got involved
• US recognized the loss of Korea to Communism
• Fear of Domino Theory increased

STAGE 3

IMPORTANT PEOPLE

• On March 1953 Josef Stalin dies, replaced by Nikita Khruschev in 1955
• "Peaceful Coexistence" policy aimed to transition world peacefully to socialism
• Dwight D Eisenhower came to office in 1952
• Eisenhower changes the "Containment policy" to "New look policy"
• In 1960 John F Kennedy becomes a strong anti-communist president

TENSIONS INCREASE

• Berlin Wall built in August 1961
• Khrushchev falls after Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962
• JFK assassinated in November 1963
• Leonid Brezhnev comes to office & pursues détente
• Lyndon B Johnson sworn into office in 1963

ASIA

• Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap defeats French in 1954
• Ho Chi Minh was recognized by China & the USSR as the leader of Vietnam
• The Prime Minister of South Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem
• He was appointed by the US in 1954

ASIA

• SEATO was created by the US in 1954
• SEATO's aim was to contain communism in Asia
• US breaks off talks with China in 1957
• Mao asks USSR for support
• Johnson escalates involvement in Vietnam after 1964

LATIN AMERICA

• Castro was exiled, where he met Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
• Fidel Castro leads Cuba in 1959, turns to communism in 1961
• Supported by US, Fuldencio Batista ruled Cuba until overthrown 1959
• Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 humiliated JFK
• By 1962, Krushchev was installing missiles in Cuba

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

• JFK responds to the Cuban Missile Crisis with a Naval Blockade
• Crisis ends with The Soviet Union taking their missiles out of Cuba
• In return, The US took their missiles out of Turkey

DÉTENTE (1969-1979)

• Vietnam war led the US to follow the détente policy
• In 1968, Nixon wins election and calls for withdrawal from Vietnam
• Henry Kissinger becomes Secretary of State in 1973
• Kissinger negotiates ceasefire in Vietnam
• To reapproach China, Nixon flew to China in 1972

DÉTENTE

• Between 1972-1974 summit meetings between US and USSR
• Salt 1 Brezhnev & Nixon discuss limiting nuclear weapons
• Salt II talks agreed on preventing nuclear war
• August 1970, USSR & West Germany sign Moscow Treaty
• Helsinki Conference 1973-1975 discuss European security

STAGE 5

USSR LEADERS

• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982) led October 1964-November 1982
• Mikhail Gorbachev (Born 1931) led March 1985-December 1991

US LEADERS

• Jimmy Carter (Born 1924) led January 1977-January1981
• Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) led January 1981-January 1989
• George H.W. Bush (Born 1924) led January 1989-January 1993

CUBAN LEADERS

• Fidel Castro (Born 1926) led Dec. 1976-Feb. 2008

NORTH KOREA

• Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) led Sept. 1948-July 1994

MIKAIL GORBACHEV

• Brezhnev's death left behind a USSR that seemed more powerful & secure
• New approach involved removing "Marxist-Leninist" ideology
• ideas made him popular abroad but caused tension in the USSR
• Election in 1985 marked the beginning of the the end of the War

JIMMY CARTER

• Issued the "Carter Doctrine"
• US would intervene in the Persian Gulf if interests were threatened
• First step in second Cold War- Carter's reaction to Soviets in Afghanistan
• In the end of his presidency Carter blocked off grain deliveries to USSR
• Called for a boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow

STAGE 6

GEORGE HW BUSH

• Vice President to Reagan in 1980, president in 1988
• In 1989 Bush & Gorbachev met to allow thaw in US-Soviet relations
• Took advantage of Soviet weakness - overthrew Panama & invaded Iraq
• In the Malta Summit 1989-1991 Gorbachev & Bush declare end of Cold War