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United States vs. Soviet Union

“Reds”

Part I: Background

What is the Cold War?

General definition: A state of conflict; does not involve military action, rather it involves political and economic action

The Cold War Era was communism vs. capitalism, East vs. West, Soviet Union vs. U.S.

Comparison of SystemsCommunism focuses on a total command economy, high government control, and limited individual freedoms.– In a communist economy, the government

owns the means of production (such as stores, farms, etc.)

Capitalism focuses on a market economy where private individuals or corporations own the means of production.

Who Started Communism?

• Karl Marx is considered to be the Father of Communism.

• The goal of pure communism is to create a utopian society where every individual is equal (a “class-less” society).

–That sounds nice, so what’s wrong with that?

What’s the big deal about communism?

• According to Marx, there must be no opposition to communism in order for the Communist Party to achieve supreme equality.

• The system would need to spread around the world until all countries were on board.

• Most examples of communism has involved violent takeover, dictatorships, and suppression of rights.

Symbolism• The symbol of communism is a

sickle laying over a hammer, which represents working in harmony as equals.

– sickle is a symbol for agriculture

–hammer is a symbol for industry/factories

• Red is the color associated with communism.

Communism Then

Communism Now

Part II: Causes

July 1945: Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met at the Potsdam Conference.

Truman told Stalin that the U.S. had a bomb “of unusual destructive force.”

Stalin was secretly aware of the bomb and was doing his own atomic research in the Soviet Union.

After the Potsdam Conference, Stalin’s army occupied Eastern Europe and turned them into communist countries controlled by the Soviet Union.

Cause: Potsdam Conference

USSR’s Eastern Bloc

The U.S. using the bomb on Japan also is considered a cause.

This was seen as an aggressive, threatening move on the world’s stage.

Cause: Use of the bomb

Cause: Iron Curtain SpeechOn March 5, 1946, Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech warned of spreading Communism/Soviet power in Eastern Europe.

This message angered Stalin and he accused U.S. and Britain of being “imperialist racists” and compared them to leadership under Hitler’s Germany.

The “iron curtain” is the dividing border between democratic western Europe and communist eastern Europe.

Truman’s Policies, Doctrines, and Plans

• Marshall Plan

– Financial aid to help European countries rebuild after World War II (and also avoid communism).

Containment Policy– U.S. would send military and/or financial aid to

countries to stop the spread of communism.

(keep it contained to where it already was at)

Truman Doctrine

– This provided U.S. aid to people/countries fighting to remain democratic.

– Examples: Greece and Turkey remained non-communist due to Truman Doctrine aid, despite being surrounded by communist countries.

NATO (non-communist alliance)

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization: This political/economic/military alliance began in 1949.

• Member countries agreed to defend each other in response to an outside attack.

• NATO began with U.S., Canada, and several Western European countries.

• It still exists today and has expanded.

Warsaw Pact (communist alliance)

• This alliance formed in 1955 was directly in response to formation of NATO.

• Member countries agreed to defend each other in response to an outside attack.

• This included Soviet Union and Eastern European communism countries, and no longer exists today.

NATO

Warsaw Pact

Foreign AlliancesThe U.S. and the Soviet Union both wanted to protect their allies and weaken their enemies.

U.S. intervened in Communist leadership in Iran, Guatamala, and Egypt.

Part III: Division of Germany

1945-1948 -Germany is divided and controlled by Allies post-WWII.

End of occupation: While three allied areas reunited and formed Democratic West Germany, Stalin formed his area into Communist East Germany.

The capital city of Berlin was also occupied and divided; it was located within the east.

Berlin Airlift

• To take over West Berlin, Stalin blocked land access.

• Truman authorized the Berlin Airlift.

– U.S. and Britain flew two million tons of supplies into West Berlin for nearly a year.

Berlin Airlift

• Effect: West Berlin stayed out of Stalin’s control and continued to be the capital of West Germany, even though geographically located completely within East Germany.

• West Berlin became “an island of democracy in the sea of Communism.”

West Berlin

Berlin WallRise of the wall: • Construction of the

war began overnight in 1961. Before this, over 2.5 million people from East Berlin escaped to West Berlin between 1949 and 1960.

• The wall was to keep East Berliners from escaping into West Berlin.

Other walls and security areas were built at country borders as well.

Berlin Wall• Over the years, the wall became much more

complex. Escaping East Berlin/East Germany became very difficult and dangerous.

• Many families were separated until the wall came down almost 30 tears later.

• The wall became a symbol for the Cold War.

Berlin Wall

Part IV: Communism Spreads

Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959 when he led a Communist-inspired revolt.

In 1948, North Korea came communist rule when Kim il Sung took over.

In 1943, Mao Zedong became Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. He took over as dictator of China in 1949.

Bay of PigsInvasion

Cuba was the first communist country in the western hemisphere.

U.S. supported Cuban exiled rebels to invade and overthrow Castro.

The Bay of Pigs incident embarrassed the U.S. because Cuba knew about the “secret” attack to overthrow Fidel Castro, and the rebels were easily defeated and captured.

Fear of Communism

• Spread of Communism became a major fear in the U.S.

• Convicted spies validated that fear:

– Alger Hiss, a state department official

– Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: executed

“McCarthyism” – Red Scare

Senator McCarthy encouraged the “Red Scare” (fear of communism spreading in the U.S.) by announcing he had a list of government employees who were part of the Communist Party (without much facts or evidence).

McCarthy was put on trial, ending his career and reputation.

Now the term McCarthyism applies to any wild accusations against someone.

Government role in fear of communism

• Truman ordered “loyalty checks” on government workers; many were forced to resign.

• House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) : this government agency was formed to investigate suspected communists.

– Targeted the movie industry

– Many people were “blacklisted”

– Fear spread even further

compare and contrast

McCarthy

Differences

• Reprimanded for his actions

• Targeted government officials

HUAC

Differences

• Official Congressional committee

• Targeted movie industry

Similarities• Sought out communists

• Contributed to fear of communism• Damaged reputations

CIAThe Central Intelligence Agency was developed in 1947 as a result of Truman’s National Security Act; this still exists today.

The CIA looked for communist spies as well as used their own spies to find threats to communism.

Part V: Korean War

Domino Theory: The idea that if one country fell under Communist power, all nearby countries would follow

– U.S. used this theory to justify involvement in other countries’ conflicts (such as the Korean War and Vietnam War).

Domino Theory

Korean WarLike Germany, Korea was divided and occupied after WWII.

Soviet occupation supported a Communist government coming to power in the North, led by Kim il Sung.

Korean WarThe U.S. entered the Korean War because communist North Korea invaded South Korea, a U.S. ally.

U.S. troops, led by General MacArthur, and UN troops pushed them back close to China, ignoring China’s warning to not get too close.

Korean WarEffect of MacArthur’s push north:

• China joined North Korea, and pushed U.S./UN forces out.

The 38th Parallel (38 degrees North) became the final dividing line of North and South Korea.

Korean WarOutcomes:

Truman fired MacArthur for his actions during the war.

Many Americans felt frustrated by the indecisive war; it never officially ended with a treaty.

North Korea is still communist, under a harsh controlling dictatorship that requires complete loyalty and limits nearly all personal freedoms.

Part VI: Races and Conflicts

U2 Incident

The Soviets shot down a United States U2 spy plane.

President Eisenhower denied it was a spy plane until Soviet leader Khrushchev said the pilot had been captured.

Outcome: Peace talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were cancelled.

Arms Race

• The arms race was a competition between U.S. and Soviet Union with amount and power of weapons.

• This led to major scientific and technological advancements.

Arms Race timeline:

1) 1945: U.S. developed and used the first atomic bomb

2) 1949: First Soviet test of atomic bomb

3) 1952: first test of Hydrogen bombs by the U.S.; more powerful than atomic bomb

4) 1961: Soviets test most powerful bomb ever: a atmospheric nuclear bomb

Preparing for attack• Fear of communism led to regular

preparations for nuclear attack, such as school duck and cover drills and building personal bomb shelters.

Arms Race IronyMAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) was the idea that if a nuclear attack is launched against another nuclear-armed country, it would result in the annihilation of both countries.

The arms race ultimately was build up of weapons only; no attacks happened between the U.S. and Soviet Union because that would have destroyed both sides.

Cuban Missile CrisisThe Soviet Union and Cuba made a deal for the Soviets to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent U.S. attacks. (Meanwhile, U.S. also had missiles near Soviet Union, in Turkey).

This conflict was the closest the U.S. and Soviet Union came to engaging in nuclear war.

Cuban Missile CrisisU.S. president Kennedy and Soviet leader Khruschevnegotiated, and the crisis ended when the Soviet Union agreed to remove the Cuban missiles and the U.S. agreed not to invade Cuba.

Arms Race Slows Down

U.S. president Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev agreed to reduce arms in the 1980s.

The Arms Race ended with the Cold War, but both sides continue to have atomic weapons, in addition to other countries.

Space Race

Like the arms race, the space race was a technological competition between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The space race focused on advancements of space science and technology.

1957: Soviet launch of Sputnik was the world’s first satellite into space and began the “Space Race.”

Space Race

The Soviet Sputnik launch led directly to the creation of NASA in the U.S. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

Space Race TimelineApril 12, 1961: The Soviet Union launched the first man into orbit.

May 5, 1961: U.S. put their first man into space.

1969: U.S. puts the first men on the moon.

1975: The Space Race ends when the Soviets and the U.S. agree to do a joint space mission.

Today, both countries continue space funding and exploration.

Part VII: Early Vietnam War

• Late 1880s until WWII: Vietnam was part of the colony French Indochina, which also included Laos and Cambodia.

• 1930 -Communist groups formed to revolt against the French, united their leader by Ho Chi Minh.

Imperialism

World War II

• These rebels formed as a communist group called the Viet Minh after Japan took over Indochina during WWII.

• Viet Minh’s goals: get rid of foreign rule, become independent, and unify Vietnam.

End of WWII• After Japan’s surrender at

the end of WWII, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence, but France attacked to regain to control.

Vietnam War under Truman and Eisenhower

• Due to Containment Policy and Domino Theory, the U.S. aided France financially to stop and contain the spread of communism in Asia.

Geneva Accords

This agreement between France and the Vietnamese divided Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the 17th Parallel (DMZ) until an election was held.

North and South Vietnam Leadership

North Vietnam Leader: Ho Chi Minh• communist, popular with his people

South Vietnam Leader: Ngo Dinh Diem• Anticommunist, but corrupt• did not have support of the South

Vietnam people

Failure of South Vietnamese government

• Diem refused to hold the election. Eisenhower supported this, since he knew Ho Chi Minh being would have been elected as leader of all of Vietnam.

• Diem led a corrupt government who jailed, tortured, and killed opponents.

• Under Kennedy, the U.S. increased financial and military aid to South Vietnam due to containment.

• In 1963, both Diem and Kennedy were assassinated (not connected).

Vietnam War under Johnson

Escalation policy: This increased Vietnam intervention into military involvement.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident• August, 1964 – U.S. Navy destroyers in the Gulf of

Tonkin near Vietnam reported possibleunprovoked attacks from the Vietnamese.

President Johnson was able to push Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave the president the power to use military force in Vietnam, even though war making powers belong to Congress.

Viet Cong• Southern Vietnamese formed a rebel group, called

the Viet Cong, that aligned with the goals of Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh in the north. The Viet Cong were very skilled at using guerilla warfare.

• Viet Cong launched surprise ambush attacks, then disappeared in the jungle or into a huge network of tunnels.

• They used land mines, covered pits, and booby traps.

Viet Cong Tunnels

Ho Chi Minh Trail

• This trail was the North Vietnamese supply route to South Vietnam, which cut through the jungle and mountains of Laos and Cambodia

• The U.S. did not close down the trail because they did not want to expand the war into Laos and Cambodia.

Geography and Climate• U.S. troops were not used to the mountainous jungle

and humid tropical climate.• The U.S. used chemical weapons--napalm bombs

and Agent Orange--to kill the plants to reveal and destroy Viet Cong hideouts.

Part VIII: Later Vietnam War

U.S. Conflict at Home

Hawks: people who supported the Vietnam War

Doves: people who opposed the Vietnam War

Protests Against the War

Protestors (doves) believed that the U.S. should not be involved in someone else’s civil war, the methods used to fight were immoral, and the costs to American lives and the economy were too high.

Kent State Killings, May 4, 1970: National Guard troops fired into a crowd of protestors, killing four and wounding nine.

U.S. Draft and InequalityDraft: involuntary service in the armed forces

There was a disproportion between African Americans who were drafted and other races, and lower classes to higher.

Upper classes could avoid the draft by going to college or leaving the country.

Some practiced civil disobedience by refusing to serve and/or burning draft cards.

Civil Rights and the Vietnam War

Martin Luther King, Jr. was concerned that the war took money from antipoverty programs in the U.S.

Draft disproportion showed racial inequalities.

During the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement was spreading across the country.

Vietnam War under Nixon

Nixon’s policy: turn the ground fighting over to the South Vietnamese people and end the war quickly.

• Nixon also wanted to improve relationships with other communist countries, China and the Soviet Union, to help bring peace.

Nixon and Cambodia• Nixon authorized

secret military action inside Cambodia to destroy communist troops and supplies to end the war sooner.

• When Americans found out, the antiwar protests increased.

My Lai Massacre• March 1968 – a U.S. search and destroy mission

was looking for Viet Cong, but U.S. troops massacred 300 unarmed civilians (non-military) in the village of My Lai.

• This was a huge scandal and tragedy, further increasing opposition to the war.

Lieutenant Calley, who gave the command to kill everyone, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but later released.

Pentagon Papers• June 1971 – These secret papers, leaked to The New

York Times, showed the U.S. government was not honest with the public about its involvement in the Vietnam War.

– Effect: U.S. distrust of the govt. increased

Vietnam War Ends

Paris Peace Accords: March 29, 1973 - U.S. ended its involvement by withdrawing U.S. combat troops.

• April 30, 1975 – North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, and the government surrendered.

War TollApproximately….

• 58,000 U.S. soldiers killed

300,000 wounded

• 224,000 South Vietnamese killed

• 1 million wounded

• 1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong killed

• 600,000 wounded

• Countless numbers of civilians from South and North Vietnam were killed

American Soldiers Return Home

• Some people treated the returning Vietnam Veterans poorly, blaming them for losing the war.

• Many soldiers returning from the war developed stress disorders as a result of their experience in Vietnam.

Overall Effects of the War in the U.S.• Public distrust of the U.S. govt. grew.

• The U.S. spent over $200 billion, damaging the economy.

• Americans began to question involvement in other countries’ affairs.

• 26th Amendment was passed, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. This was passed because the draft age was 18, but the voting age was 21.

• War Powers Act – This limited the president’s war-making powers, and was passed due to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

Effects of the War in Vietnam

• North and South Vietnam were united into one country in 1976, and still remains a united Communist country today.

– Division between rich and poor shrank and Vietnam’s literacy rate increased.

• Over 1 million Vietnamese emigrated from Vietnam between 1975 and 1990.

Napalm and Agent Orange: The U.S. damaged the local environment and caused health affects both for U.S. soldiers and local Vietnamese.

Part IX: The Thaw of the Cold War

Soviet Leader Gorbachev’s Reforms

Glasnost = “freedom of speech” or “openness”

Reforms:• Freedom of speech• More openness/transparency in

government• Freedom of the press

Examples: • More protests were legal• More media coverage of the government• Un-banned books were un-banned

Soviet Leader Gorbachev’s Reforms

Perestroika = “restructuring”

Reforms:Restructured the Soviet economy, shifting away from total command economy

Examples:• Private ownership allowed• Smaller government role in the economy

Fall of Berlin WallNovember 9, 1989: • As the role of communism

weakened in Eastern Europe, the East German government initiated a plan to open up the borders…an official accidentally said “effective immediately.”

• Crowds rushed to the wall, and were allowed through. This turned into a big celebration and people began to even chip away at the wall.

Cold War Ends• Germany was officially reunited almost one year

later, on October 3, 1990.

• Many communist economies and governments were growing weak, and Eastern Europeans were calling for freedom and end of communism.

• The Cold War officially ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union broke up.

Communism TodayThere are far fewer communist countries today than during the Cold War. Only China, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam are communist.

Communism TodayThese governments each had an era of extreme harsh oppression, ranging from limits on freedom of speech/media to mass genocide.

North Korea still exists under total suppression of rights and conformity/ loyalty towards their leader, the grandson of Kim il Sung.