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Unit VII
The Cold WarPart I
Two Superpowers Face Off
What was the Cold War?
What was the Cold War?The period of tension and hostilitythat developed between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after World War II. It lasted almost 50 years.
How was it an ideological conflict?Conflict between capitalism and communism.
Why called a cold war?There was never direct military confrontation between the two countries.
The Early Cold War Cast
Soviet PremierJoseph Stalin
U.S. PresidentHarry S Truman
British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill
Tensions Arise in Europe
U.S. Goals Soviet Union’s Goals
Encourage spread of democracy to prevent rise of communism.
Gain access to raw materials andmarkets to fuel booming economy.
Rebuild Europe to promotestability and create new marketsfor American goods.
Reunite Germany to stabilize it and increase stability of Europe.
Encourage communism in other countries as part of worldwide worker’s revolution.
Rebuild its war-ravaged economy using Eastern Europe’s industrial equipment and raw materials.
Control Eastern Europe to protect Soviet borders and balance U.S. influence in Western Europe.
Keep Germany divided to prevent it from waging war again.
Roots of the Cold War
Different Post-war Goals in Europe
What promises did Stalin make at Yalta Conference? Promised to hold free
elections in Poland and other parts of
Eastern Europe.
Promised to allow western monitoring of elections.
What concessions were granted to the Soviets? Soviets permitted to annex
eastern Poland and to occupy eastern part of Germany.
Yalta Conference
Potsdam Conference
February / July 1945
Yalta and Potsdam
Roots of the Cold War
Key Battleground: Eastern Europe
Stalin intent on maintaining a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Why?
Soviets controlled Eastern Europe so were in a position to enforce their will by force.
U.S. could not control events there.
Soviet Expansion
Stalin reneged on Yalta and Potsdam promises. How?
Quickly installed pro-Soviet puppet governments through-out Eastern Europe.
Soviet controlled “ _______” established.
satellites
Which countries wereconsidered to be Soviet“Satellites”?
East Germany
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
U.S. Response
U.S. feared this was the first step of a larger plan of global conquest.
Truman demanded Stalin honor Yalta agreements. Called for “free elections” and self-determination in Eastern Europe.
Truman adopted tough, combative policy towards Soviets.
Stalin Cracks Down
Tightened his grip on EasternEurope and denied Westernobservers promised access.
Gave belligerent 1946 speech inwhich he declared what?
Capitalism and communism couldn’t peacefully coexist. Predicted war with the U.S.
March, 1946
Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech
Speech was a response to Stalin’s speech.
Given in Fulton, Missouri.
Meant to warn Americans of the danger communism posed to Europe.
The “Iron Curtain”
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”
Winston Churchill, 1946
Stalin’s response? Described Churchill’sspeech as a “call to war.”
CBS report on iron curtain speech
What’s the common theme in these illustrations?
Truman’s Policy of Containment
Containment was a policy ofblocking Soviet influence andtrying to prevent the spread
of communism. Became the cornerstone of American foreign policy for the next 45 years.
The Truman Doctrine (1947)
1947 speech to Congress: Truman tried to convince (scare?) Americans into taking more active role in the world.
Said future of the “free world” was in America’s hands.
Requested $400 in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. Why?
“I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
“Truman Doctrine” committed U.S. to policy of containment -a turning point in U.S. foreign policy.
The Truman Doctrine
Dresden, Germany1945
London, England1945
1948
The “Marshall Plan”
European Recovery Plan: U.S. program of economic aid to war- torn Western Europe to pre- vent economic disaster and lessen communism’s appeal to voters.
“Our policy is not directed against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” (Sec. of State George C. Marshall)
The Marshall Plan
Little support in Congress until communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948.
$12.5 billion spent to rebuild Europe 1948-1951.
Revitalized Europe’s economy. No country in Western Europe fell to communism.
The Division of Germany After WWII
1948
Two German States Established
West combined French, British, and U.S. zones of occupation to create state of West Germanywith democraticallyelected government.
Soviet zone became state of East Germany – acommunist dictatorship.
1948
Berlin Blockade
Soviets imposed blockade around West Berlin in effort to drive Western powers out.
How did Truman respond?
Rejected both concessions orconfrontation and organized massive airlift to fly in food
and supplies to 2 million citizens of Berlin.
The Berlin Airlift
Berlin airlift lasted 324 days. 2.5 million tons of provisions (food, clothes, coal, medicine) flown in on 227,000 flights.
Outcome?
In May, 1949, Stalin conceded defeat and lifted blockade.
ABC News Report
To be free meant to be walled in…
Check Point Charlie
The most famous of these escapes was made by 19-year-old guard Conrad Schumann on August 15, 1961, just the third day of the wall's construction
1949
NATO Established
Alliance / mutual defense pact to deter Soviet aggression.
Committed U.S. to defense of
Canada and Western Europe.
First permanent / peacetime alliance for U.S.
How did Soviets respond?Est. Warsaw Pact in 1955
NATO MeetingBrussels, Belgium
NATOWarsaw Pact
OpposingCold War Alliances
1949U.S.CanadaU.K.FranceIcelandBelgiumNetherlandsLuxembourgItalyDenmarkNorway
1952GreeceTurkey
1955West Germany
1982Spain
1990East Germany
1999PolandHungaryCzech Republic
2004EstoniaLatviaLithuaniaSloveniaSlovakiaRomaniaBulgaria
2009AlbaniaCroatia
NATO’s Expansion
NATO Today:
28 total members
Includes 13 former communist states
All are democracies today.
NATO’s Article V
“An armed attack against one or more (members) shall be considered an attack against them all”.
Only ever invoked once.When?
Other Cold War Alliances
Who Started the Cold War?
Conservative historians have blamed the Soviet Union. Why?
Its takeover of Eastern Europefollowing WWII.Its aggressive attempts to spread Communism.Its commitment to worldwiderevolution.Its hostility towards capitalism.
Who Started the Cold War?
Liberals have argued what? That Soviet actions were often a defensive response to U.S. actions and were driven by fears of U.S
intentions.
Most historians today emphasize that both countries were respon-sible.
Unit VII
The Cold WarPart II
The Nuclear Arms Race
The Cold War Nuclear Arms Race
Arms Race: A competition between two or
more countries in the building up (escalation) of weapons.
A cycle of action and reaction motivated by fear.
The World’s First Atomic Bombs
“Little Boy” – bomb dropped on Hiroshima. 15 kiloton bomb (the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT).
“Fat Man” – 20 kiloton bomb used on Nagasaki.
Soviet A-Bomb Test, 1949
Unexpected 1949 Soviet A-bomb test shocked the West.
U.S. depended on monopoly of A-bomb to deter Soviet aggression. Forced U.S. to rethink strategic doctrine.
First Soviet A-bomb
First Soviet A-bomb test
The H-Bomb Decision
Truman sided with Teller over Oppenheimer and approved thedevelopment of the hydrogen bomb.
“We have to do it – make the bomb – though no one wants to use it. But… we have got to have it if only for bargaining purposes with the Russians.”
- President Truman
“Stand Aside, Junior -- I Take Over
From Here”
Tzar Bomba test5o+ megatonH-bomb
4,000 x more powerful than Hiroshima bomb
Bravo test15 megatonH-bomb
1,000 x more powerful thanHiroshima bomb
Largest U.S. test 1954
Largest Soviet test 1961
HiroshimaA- bomb15-20 kilotons
A-bomb vs.
H-bombTests
Tsar Bomb Test
The H-Bomb Tests
First U.S. H-bomb test in Nov. 1952.
Soviets conducted their first test in Aug. 1953.
First U.S. H-bomb
First U.S. H-bomb Test (“Mike”), 1952
First U.S. H-bomb test, 1952
Nuclear Arms Race… Next Step
1960s Nuclear missiles on submarines.
Nuclear Arms Race… Next Step
1960s ICBMs with multiple warheads.
The Concept of Deterrence
Deterrence:
The maintenance of military power for the purpose of discouraging anattack.
Nuclear Deterrence During the Cold War
To use nuclear weapons became unthinkable. Their primary purpose was to prevent war.
The threat of retaliation using nuclear weapons was intended to deter or discourage either side from launching a first strike.
This Cold War concept of deterrence known as
MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction).
“Brinkmanship”
Eisenhower gave much authority to Sec. of State John Foster Dulles.
Staunch anti-communist (a Hawk).
Favored policy of “brinkmanship” towards the Soviets – pushing the Soviets to the brink of war before considering negotiations.
Nuclear Proliferation
Nuclear Proliferation The spread of nuclear weapons.
The “Nuclear Club”The countries with nuclear weapons:
•5 original members•9 members today
Original Nuclear Weapons States
The United States 1945
The Soviet Union 1949
U.K. 1952
France 1961
China 1964
Additional Nuclear Weapons States Today
India 1974 /1998
Pakistan 1998
North Korea 2006
Israel (Undeclared) 1967
Remaining U.S. H-Bombs
• Largest remaining bomb in U.S. arsenal is B-83
1.2 megatons. 80x more powerful than Hiroshima bomb.
• Average U.S. warhead today 300 kilotons 24x more powerful than Hiroshima bomb.
B-83 Thermonuclear Bombs
Reagan - Gorbachev Summits
No summits with Soviet leaders during Reagan’s first term.
Four Reagan-Gorbachev summits during Reagan’s second term!
American Experience Reykjavik Summit (10:51)
Then Came Gorby!
New Soviet leadership: Mikhail Gorbachev, age 54, came to power in 1985.
Introduced political and economic reforms thatchanged the world.
Gorbachev’s Reforms
“Glasnost” (“ _____________ ”). Decreased government censorship Political dissidents released from
prison. Press freedom and criticism of the
government permitted. Practice of religion permitted.
Democratization (Political reforms) First elections with candidates not
handpicked by Communist Party.
openness
Economic Reform
“Perestroika” (Economic “ _______________”) Goal was to make Soviet economy
more efficient and productive. Ended central planning. Allowed some private ownership
of land and small businesses.A move away from communism, which had clearly failed!
restructuring
June 12, 1987
Reagan at the Berlin Wall
Reagan's Berlin Wall Speech 1:43
Summit Success
Arms Control
Signed INF Treaty, 1987.
Eliminated all intermediate-range nuclear missiles that
both nations had placed in Europe.
First ____________treaty signed by U.S. and USSR.
disarmament
The Collapse of Communismin Eastern Europe
1989-1990
December, 1988New Soviet Policy Towards Eastern Europe
Gorbachev announced that all Soviet troops would be withdrawn from Eastern Europe.
Said each nation needed to determine its own political
future.
Urged communist govern-ments in Eastern Euorpe to
make necessary reforms.
Elections in Poland, 1989
Lech Walesa led the Solidarity trade union movement in a seriesof strikes that crippled Poland’s Soviet-controlled government.
Gorbachev instructed Polish govt to negotiate with reformers.
Solidarity Party won free elections in June 1989. Communists ousted from power.
Lech Walesa elected President.
Lech Walesa
East Germany Opens Borders
In response to mass demonstrations theCommunist government announced…that it was opening the country’s borders and that East Germanswere now free to leave the country!
What became irrelevantovernight as a result?
The End of the Cold War
Fall of the Berlin Wall marks the symbolic end of the Cold War. Why?
Because the Wall had become such a huge symbol of communist repression.
Free Elections Spread, 1989-1990
• Demands for free elections spread throughout Eastern Europe and ledto defeat of communist governments in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
• The Soviet Union held its first free elections since 1917. Hundreds of Communist Party officials defeated (March, 1989)
Collapse of the Soviet Union
1990-1991
1990The USSR Begins to Break Apart
The Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were the
first Soviet republics to declare their independence from the Soviet Union.
(March, 1990).
August, 1990
Coup Against Gorbachev
Communist hardliners carried out coup against Gorbachev, placing him under house arrest.
Attempt to preserve the Soviet Union.
BBC Report on Soviet Coup
August, 1990
Coup Fails. Yeltsin Emerges as Hero
• Boris Yeltsin, chairman of Russian parliament, thwarted the coup by rallying Russian citizens and facing down the army.
• Gorbachev weakened by the failed coup; Yeltsin emerged as powerful force for reform.
August, 1991
Russian Revolt
Soon after coup attempt, Boris Yeltsin elected as thepresident of Russia.
Russia then proclaimed its
independence from Soviet control.
The End of the Soviet Union, 1991
• On Christmas Day 1991, Gorbachev resigned.
• The Soviet Union ceased to exist, replaced by fifteen newly independentstates. Collapse of the Soviet Union (7:03)
