The Hot Spots of the Cold War

A Jewish State is CreatedBritish Balfour Declaration –

Arthur Balfour, British Foreign Secretary declares that he favors the establishment of a Jewish state in PalestineFollowing the Holocaust, many

Europeans felt the Jews should return to their homeland in remembrance of the 6 million victims

Arabs, consider the Jews invaders and violent conflict emerges

The United Nations Resolution – 1947 –the United Nations partitioned the Palestine area into two (one Arab and one Jewish)

May 14, 1948 – independence of a Jewish state, Israel is declared with the support of U.S. President Harry Trumanfirst prime minister was David Ben-Gurion

Arab nations; Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq immediately invade Israel but are defeated in 1949, as Israel expands its borders

Cold War implications – United States and Israel become firm allies, while the Soviet Union supports the Arabs

Left map: Israel (1947)Right map: Israel (1949)

The Six Day War (1967)Israel was invaded by Egypt, Jordan, and Syria.Israel defeated the Arab nations and took claim to

the West Bank (Jordan), the Golan Heights (Syria), and the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt)

A UN resolution forced Israel to withdraw and return all lands back to the Arab nations.

Religious and cultural differences still the root of conflict in the area.

Many experts believe if a World War III would occur it would happen here.

The U.S. still backs Israel while Arab countries like Iran feel Jews are intruding on Muslim Holy Land

Map 29–4 ISRAEL AND ITS NEIGHBORS IN 1949 The territories gained by Israel in 1949 did not secure peace in the region. In fact, the disposition of those lands and the Arab refugees who live there has constituted the core of the region’s unresolved problems to the present day.

Possible Easing of Cold War Tensionsarmistice in Koreas, the death of Stalin, and a

summit in Geneva over nuclear weapons and Germany seem to indicate an easing of the Cold War

Geneva meeting provides little agreement and the Cold War soon resumes

Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964)Replaced Stalin after his

mysterious death in 1953In “The Secret Speech,”

Khrushchev condemned the vicious rule of Stalin

Started “de-Stalinization”—reducing the power of the secret speechAllowed more intellectual freedom

BUT, Hungarian uprising of 1956 was crushed by the Red Army

Retreated from Stalin, but not from Communism or authoritarian gov’t

Timeline: Tensions increase1956 the US and SU began to talk about

“peaceful coexistence”1957SU launches Sputnik, first satellite to

orbit the earthSIGNIFICANCE?1958Negotiations began to limit nuclear

testing1959U.S. leaders (VP Nixon) visited Moscow

and Khrushchev toured the U.S.

Paris Summit ConferenceA meeting was scheduled for the leaders of

several countries to meet in ParisJust before the SU shot down an American U-

2 spy planeKhrushchev demanded an apology from Pres.

EisenhowerHe refusedKhrushchev was in Paris but did not attend

the conferenceBack where we started NO TRUST!

The Berlin WallIn 1961 a large

number of Germans were leaving East Germany to escape communism and entering West Berlin

Aug. 1961 a concrete wall was built to separate West and East Berlin

U.S. does not respond to the wall while West Berliners plea for help

Effects of the Cuban Missile CrisisA U.S. spy plane discovered the SU was building

missile silos in CubaJFK and Khrushchev came as close to WWIII as any

point after WWII until Khrushchev backed downThe Soviet Union removes missiles from CubaThe United States removes missiles from TurkeyThe United States and Soviet Union avoid nuclear

warKennedy and Khrushchev establish a “hot line”

telephone system to keep communications openMoscow to Washington D.C.

In 1963, the U.S., Great Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Test Ban which ended aboveground nuclear tests

Khrushchev lost prestige in the SU and will be removed from power in 1964

The Brezhnev EraOn Oct. 16, 1964

Khrushchev was forced to resignCMC fiasco, rebellions by

Hungary and Poland during the 1950s

Poor agricultural productionLeonid Brezhnev emerged

as the dominant figure in SU Communist PartyWas considered a hardline

communist

1968: Invasion of Czechoslovakia“Prague

Spring”Alexander Dubcek began to experiment with liberal communism freedom of discussion

SU and Warsaw allies sent troops and replaced Dubcek

In the summer of 1968, Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia, ending that country’sexperiment in liberalized communism. This picture shows defiant flag-waving Czechs on a truck rolling past a Soviet tank in the immediate aftermath of the invasion. Hulton Archive Photos/Getty Images, Inc.

Brezhnev Doctrine declared the right of the SU to interfere in communist countries to sustain communist gov’ts of Eastern Europe

Détente with the United StatesNixon’s “détente” or cooling

off relations with the Soviets during the late 60s and early 70s

Nixon, Henry Kissinger and Brezhnev conclude agreements on trade and reduction of nuclear arms

1972—Nixon visits Moscow and China—1st in U.S. History

President Gerald Ford, SU and other European nations sign Helsinki Accordthe Soviet sphere is Eastern Europe as long as human rights are protected

1979:Invasion of AfghanistanBrezhnev gov’t invaded to ensure SU

influence in central AsiaU.S. embargoed grain shipments to SU,

boycotted 1980 Olympics in Moscow, sent aid to Afghan rebels

CIA directed rebel forces of whom were radical Muslims

Conflict will last for 10 years resulting in about 20,000 SU deaths

Reagan Ends DétenteRonald Reagan elected in

1980 and 1984 and begins presidency by calling the Soviets the “Evil Empire”

Reagan begins a massive military buildup and pushes for “Star Wars”

The Soviets unable to keep pace will begin to feel the financial crippling of their country

REVOLUTION IS COMING!!!

Mikhail GorbachevBecomes Soviet leader in

1985Introduces “glasnost”

(openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring) with the SU

Will be the leader when the Revolutions of 1989 engulf Eastern Europe and the Berlin Wall is torn down

Reagan Ends DétenteP. 1133Read last section on Reagan and answer the

following question.How did Ronald Reagan change the path of

the Cold War ending détente and pushing the SU towards its financial downfall?