Part 5 Cold WarHope, Fear, and the

end of the Cold War

Limitations of a Communist System

Let’s face it - the economic policies of the USSR emphasize the production of heavy industrial goodsnot consumer goodsLifestyle in communist country in

1970s

Let’s face it - the USSR just could not keep up with the high cost of maintaining the arms race

Problems for the USSR

1. China is no longer the junior partner. They are alike in 5 Year Plans and the Great Leap Forward - plans to advance the economy to an ideal communist state.

They don’t agree with each other’s style of communism (China - its all about the peasants. USSR it is about workers and heavy industry)

and....they seem to be a little more friendly with the US

2. Hungary was problem earlier but that “velvet revolution” was stomped out but in 1968 it is Czechoslovakia that is a problem

1968 Czech leader Alexander Dubcek was beginning

liberalization reforms - the Soviet Union sent troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to overthrow the current government and replace it with a pro-communist regime. This proved to the world that the Soviets were willing to use military force to keep their control over Eastern Europe.

Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

1968

Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

1968Several major nuclear and even non-nuclear nations sign this treaty which is created to prevent the spread of nuclear technology.It did not prevent the spreadBUT - It was a success for people asking for arms controlbecause it did begin a serious mov’t to reduce arms

Cooperation is now the name of the game!

SALT Treaty

The US tries to cooperate with the USSR

The US and USSR sign two SALT (1972) treaties. One limits ABM systems; the other limits number of missiles

Still the US maintains superiority in nuclear warheads with MIRVs; arms race continues

SALT treatiesStrategic Arms Limitations

Talks

Many third world/developing countries intentionally adopt the nonalignment mov’t which means they won’t pick to side with either the US or USSR- leaves more options open for them.The non alignment mov’t gains political strength in the international scene

“We believe in nonaggression and noninterference by one country in the affairs of

another and the growth of tolerance between them and the capacity for peaceful coexistence. We, therefore, endeavor to maintain friendly relations with all countries, even though we may disagree with them in their policies.”

-Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India

This statement describes the foreign policy known as... nonalignment

Middle East is unstable

Six Day War Junea.k.a. Arab-Israeli War 1967•War b/w Israel & enemies

Egypt, Jordan, Syria

•Egypt’s Nasser used Soviet false claim of Israeli forces gathering on Sinai peninsula to kick out the UN Emergency Force

•Both Egypt and Israel mobilized forces

Israel won control of Sinai peninsularesults of this war affect geopolitics of this

region even today!

In the Six Day War of June 1967, Israel defeated the combined armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, capturing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. For Israel, it was a stunning triumph; for Arabs, a humiliating defeat.

Israel no longer occupies the Sinai or Gaza, but its continued hold over the other territories has stymied efforts to bring comprehensive peace to the Middle East.

Middle East is unstable

1972 Munich OlympicsPalestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic village and took 11 Israeli athletes hostage

Middle East is unstable

The gains Israel made in 1967 are established but the war in 1973 almost drew in the US and the USSR

1973 Yom Kippur War

The US and USSR came close to nuclear war

Meanwhile US President Nixon continues to support the racist white leadership in South Africa - apartheid

Nixon resigns: Watergate

Ford takes over but serves only one term

President Carter by 1977

SALT II treaty in 1979 - sets a limit on delivery vehicles and MIRV launchers but not warheads so military actually increases

USSR invades Afghanistan in 1979 and the US decides it will intervene to protect the Persian Gulf and oil shipments

Soviets invade Afghanistan

US supports local Mujahideen (strugglers) who fight against Afghanistan

PROXY WARboy, will we come to regret that - we sent millions of weapons to the Mujahideen who became the Taliban who we fight today in Afghanistan

United States involvement in the Vietnam War and the Soviet Union’s involvement in Afghanistan were motivated mainly by a desire to

1. exploit the mineral resources of the regions

2. support governments that would remain strong allies

3. stop the expansion of Japan into the Middle East

4. establish independent nation-states in the regions

PROXY WAR

Iranian Revolution 1979The Shah of Iran is overthrown and a

strict Muslim religious gov’t (theocracy) is established under the leadership of a

religious head called the Ayatollah

PROXY WARAmerican hostages are taken-they are beaten and kept in solitary confinement for 444 days

The Men Credited with the end of the

Cold War

Ronald Reagan is elected president (American hostages in Iran are freed on the the day of his inauguration_

Ronald Reagan Champion of capitalism

Largest military budget in US history

Star Wars campaign - Strategic DefenseInitiative

Miracle on Ice1980 Winter Olympics

Lake Placid, NY

The 1980s saw changes in the USSR satellite

nations

Poland experienced the Solidarity Mov’tShip workers and Catholics combined to protest against communist/Soviet rule in Poland.

Led by Lech Walesa

It was the first independent labor union in a Soviet-bloc country. Solidarity gave rise to a broad anti-communist nonviolent social movement that, at its height, united some 10 million members and vastly contributed to the fall of communism.

The 1980s saw changes in the

USSR

Because of the costs of the arms race, Afghanistan, heavy production, etc....

They begin to modify their command economy by introducing some market economy strategies

Perestroika - Traditionally, a communist, or command economy, controls the means of production by having governmental agencies involved in production planning. But Gorbachev sought to increase production in vital areas by introducing individual free enterprise.*1. Wanted to improve the economy and decentralize decision making

* 2. more reliance on local and regional decision making

3. idea wasn’t to dismantle communism but to make it work more efficiently (though now it is thought to be one of the main causes of the break up of the Soviet Union)

Berlin Wall Comes Down 1989

Dissolution of U.S.S.R.

1991 The Soviet Union dissolved.

The Soviet military was not getting paid - they revolted and that was the end of the grand USSR.

Since then it has faced many ethnic revolts and tensions in former Soviet controlled regions

Now you know it all...

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