The Cold War

“No Heroes, No Battlefields, and No Monuments…Only Casualties”

--Captain Marko Ramius

Red October, USSR Submarine

Cold War VocabularyThese can be found throughout Sections 1-5 in Ch 33

United Nations Mao ZedongCold War 38th ParallelIron Curtain Ho Chi MinhContainment Domino TheoryTruman Doctrine VietcongMarshall Plan VietnamizationWarsaw Pact Khmer RougeNATO Third WorldU-2 Incident Non-Aligned NationsDestalinization DétenteRonald Reagan SALT

The History of the Conflict1945 – Los Alamos, NM

First successful test of an atomic bomb. This allows Pres. Truman to end WW II. This also causes uneasiness on Stalin’s part—Why?

“Shaky Alliances” One of the main reasons the USSR and the USA were allies

was due to Hitler betraying Stalin. The USSR and USA merely had a common enemy —Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The US also knew that the mere size of the Soviet army was a huge advantage.

“They may be SOB’s, but at least they’re our SOB’s”- FDR about the USSR

What do you think happens as a result of the USA having a bomb, and our attitude toward the Soviet’s?

The End of WW II As the war drew to a close, the USSR began building buffer

states along its Western border, as well as demanding more and more territory from Germany. These buffer states were loyal communist countries who rejected democratic ideals and values. As the number of these states grew, so did the fear and anxiety of the new US president – Harry Truman.What was Pres. Truman fearful and anxious about?

To combat the further addition of additional “buffer states” the US implemented the Marshall Plan. This was a plan to rebuild the economies of Western Europe (i.e. prevent them from converting to communism). The Soviets responded with the Molotov Plan, that in like fashion, sought to prevent additional countries from becoming democratic.

Iron Curtain and Truman Doctrine The new “map” of Europe was starkly defined as having new

democratic states in the West, and new communist states in the East. Winston Churchill referred to this as “[having a] iron curtain descend across the continent (Europe).” What does he mean by this?

As a result of these new states, Truman pledged that he would see to it that no new states would become communist, furthermore, any state resisting communist aggression would receive the help and aid of the USA. This was know as the Truman Doctrine.

The First “Battle” of the Cold WarCommunist Revolutions in Greece & Turkey

Due to hunger, job shortages, and overall despair, the countries of Greece and Turkey were on the brink of having mass communist revolutions.Why do the people prefer communism over capitalism?

In the name of the “Truman Doctrine” – which aided any country resisting communism or containing it where it already was – the US had to see to it that these two states did not fall to communist control.

Using “the bomb” Truman was able to “persuade” Stalin to back off in his support of the revolutions, and the first “battle” of the Cold War was a “w” for the US.

NATO v. Warsaw PactNATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization – was a group of pro-democratic nations that were aligned. These nations were pledged to defend each other in the event that war broke out between the US and USSR.

Warsaw PactLikewise, these were pro-communist countries

that pledged their support to the USSR.

“Brinkmanship” 1950 – Korea

The first real armed conflict came about in 1950 when Communist North Korea invaded Democratic South Korea.

President Eisenhower invoked the Truman Doctrine, involved the UN, and within two years, an armistice had been signed. Although it is said that no one “won” the war, the US considers this a victory.

On what grounds do you think this is considered a victory for the US? 1957 – Sputnik

The tensions of the Cold War were heightened when in 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik. This was nothing more than a spherical satellite that orbited the earth and emitted a single repeating radio wave that was known as a “blip”.

How do you think the US government and citizens responded to Sputnik?

1959 – USSR and A-Bomb In addition to Sputnik, the Soviets tested their own A-Bomb in 1959.

Now the threat of war was more than simply going to battle, it would now be a battle of nuclear weapons.

Brinkmanship With both sides having a nuclear weapon, a new diplomatic term was

added to the Cold War vocabulary – Brinkmanship. This was the constant state of being on the “brink” of going to nuclear war with USSR.

The Cold War Continues…And EndsThe Decades of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.

All of these decades were considered part of the Cold War. The US and USSR saw their leaders change, and with that, some were more determined than ever to prove their countries military superiority over the others—two leaders to the point that they signed a treaty called M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction)—I think this speaks for itself on its meaning.

However, in the end, the USA was “victorious” over the USSR. In December 1991 the USSR officially disbanded and all of its provinces declared independence.

Free WritingWhat evidence would you give to say that no

one really won the Cold War? Defend your answer.

Or…

What evidence would you give to say the US won the Cold War, and the USSR lost? Defend your answer.

Korea and VietnamAfter WW II, Korea was divided at the 38th Parallel. In the

North there were communist and in the South there democratic governments.

When the North invaded South Korea in 1950, the policy of containment was violated and Truman called into action the Truman Doctrine. When NATO and the UN got involved, the Allies proved victorious and pushed the North back beyond the 38th Parallel.

The first battle of the Cold War was “won” by the Allies.

Battle for South Vietnam Like Korea, Vietnam was divided into North and South, and

likewise the North was communist and the South was democratic. When Northern forces tried to overtake the South.

When Pres. Kennedy sent in advisors to train the S.Vietnamese army, things quickly worsened and soon the US would become involved in an “all out” war in South Vietnam.

History of the Vietnam WarThe French in Indo-China

Since the late 1800’s, the French had been one of the only democratic influences in Indo-China to the point that the US began financing their efforts there.

After the massacre at Dien Bien Phu, the French pulled the forces out, and a “democratic vacuum” was left.

The US, according to Pres. Kennedy, had no choice but to send troops in their place.

The Growing Resistance After attempting to set up a democratic govt under Ngo

Dien Diem that later failed, the US was ultimately 100% responsible for the protection of South Vietnam.

However, after 7 years and over 58,000 combat deaths and casualties, the US – under Pres. Richard Nixon – pulled all forces out. The plan called for training the SV troops to protect themselves, aka Vietnamization. The plan worked, but only for a few months. By the end of 1973 the US was completely out of SV and by 1975 SV had fallen to NV control.

Other Events in the Cold WarThird World Countries

With economic struggles abundant in these coutries, they were prime targets for communist take-over.

Fidel Castro & Cuba When Castro took control in 1959, he initially was a “friend of

the US”. However, harsh rulings, and unfair political practices soon drove him to become one of the nation’s harshest enemies.

1962 and the Cuban Missile Crisis Cuba had become an all-out communist country by 1960.

With that, the USSR sought to destabilize the Western Hemisphere by introducing nuclear missiles in Cuba. For 13 days, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. However, in the end, the USSR removed the missiles if we pledged to not attack Cuba in the future.

The Cold War ThawsDestalinization

As Stalin left, so did his ways. After his death, people in the USSR wanted reform and changes. They wanted to embrace US ideals and experiment with capitalism.

However, this was not widespread throughout Soviet satellite nations. If other nations sought to reform, the USSR quickly struck it down.

Realpolitik One of the most critical aspects of ending the Cold War

was the term realpolitik used by Pres. Nixon. This means using whatever means necessary to ensure that peaceful governments can co-exist. Another name for realpolitik is “détente” or “easing of nuclear tensions”

For while—it seemed—the Cold War was on its way to being over.

Détente? The Decade of the 80’s

In 1981, after a series of presidents who were seemingly “politically weak” communist fighters, Ronal Reagan took office. His goal was to rid the world of what he called the “Evil empire of the Soviet Union”

He began the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) or also known as “Star Wars” program.This program was a missile defense system set up to defend

the US from Soviet missile attacks both at home, and abroadThis caused the USSR to again begin to assert its nuclear

strength

1985 – Michael Gorbachev Gorbachev took over the USSR in 1985 and sought peace

with the US. Reagan seemingly wanted peace as much as Gorbachev did. After introducing policies of “glasnost” and “perestroika” widespread internal revolution eventually led the USSR to collapse.

The USA had “won” the Cold War