Chapter 12 Section 1: Development of the Cold War

  1. Confrontation of the Superpowers
  2. Rivalry in Europe
  3. After the fall of Germany, the Soviet Union was not willing to give up Eastern Europe in order to protect themselves from future aggression from the west.
  4. Britain and US wanted Eastern Europe to freely determine their own governments.
  5. USSR opposed this since these freely elected government would be anti-Soviet.
  6. Soviet Troops stayed in these areas to make sure this wouldn’t happen.
  7. In Greece (1946), a civil war broke out between the Communist People’s Liberation Army and anticommunist forces supported by Britain.
  8. Because Britain had to rebuild their own nation so they withdrew aid from Greece
  9. The Truman Doctrine
  10. Alarmed with British withdrawal from Greece allowing Communist to expand into eastern Mediterranean, in 1947, Truman asked congress for 400 million dollars and presented the Truman Doctrine.
  11. The US would provide money to countries threatened by Communist expansion.
  12. If Soviets were not stopped, then the US would stop the spread throughout the world.
  13. Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, supported this ideology arguing that Iran and all of the east would be next after Greece.
  14. The Marshall Plan
  15. Following the Truman doctrine was the European Recovery Program proposed by General George D Marshall referred to as the Marshall Plan.
  16. Rebuild Europe with more than $13 billion in aid for recovery.
  17. It was believed that Communist aggression was only successful in nations with economic problems so this program would stop the communist.
  18. This plan was made to shut out the Soviet union and its Eastern European satellite states which were completely dependent on the Soviet Union.
  19. These states refused to participate and Soviets saw the plan as a attempt to buy the support of countries.
  20. Soviets responded by founding the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to help the Eastern European states.
  21. This would fail because the USSR could not provide the necessary financial aid.
  22. 1947 George Kennan argued for a policy of containment to keep communism within its existing boundaries and prevent further Soviet aggressive moves.
  23. This became the official American Policy.
  24. The Division of Germany
  25. Germany was divided into four zones following world war 2: The US, Britain, France, and USSR controlled each zone.
  26. Berlin was also divided the same way except it was surrounded by the Soviet zone
  27. By 1948, Britain, US and France made plans to unify their sections of Germany (Berlin also) and create a West German government.
  28. In response to this move, Soviets blockaded West Berlin of all supplies including food and essential supplies.
  29. Soviets planned to starve the 2.5 million people in these three zones.
  30. To avoid World War III, allies formed a solution referred to as the Berlin Airlift.
  31. American and British airplanes flew all supplies into Berlin for 10 months until the blockade was lifted.
  32. 200,000 flights resulted in 2.3 millions tons were delivered
  33. Soviets, wanted to avoid a war, lifted the blockade in May of 1949.
  34. In September 1949, the Allies merged their zones creating the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) with its capital of Bonn.
  35. Soviets responded by created the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) with east Berlin as its capital.
  36. Spread of the Cold War
  37. Change of Views
  38. The Chinese Communist in 1949 took over China and the Soviet union signed a alliance with China after testing their first atomic bomb in 1949.
  39. This started the arms race in which both nations built up their armies and weapons with increasing destructive capabilities.
  40. Both sides believed that if one attacked with nuclear weapons, the other had enough time to respond with nuclear weapons.
  41. Neither side could risk using their massive supplies of weapons.
  42. New Military Alliances
  43. To maintain security, new military alliances were created in Europe.
  44. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 1949- Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Iceland, US, and Canada.
  45. Each promised to promote mutual help if another is attacked.
  46. Later West Germany, Turkey, and Greece will join.
  47. Warsaw Pact (1955) – Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania
  48. In Korea, the North Koreans (allied with Soviets) invaded South Korea confirming American fears of the spread of Communism.
  49. US would now extend its military alliances around the world and not just in Europe.
  50. To maintain security, new military alliances were created in Asia
  51. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) – US, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand.
  52. Stop Communism in Asia
  53. Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) – Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Great Britain, and US.
  54. Stop Soviets expanding South.
  55. By mid 1950s, the US was allied militarily with 42 states around the world.
  56. The Arms Race
  57. 1950s both USSR and US tested their first Hydrogen bomb and then crated intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of sending bombs anywhere.
  58. Policy of the deterrence would then be followed by both nations
  59. Huge arsenals of nuclear weapons prevented war
  60. This confirmed the idea of mutual assured destruction (MAD)
  61. In 1957, Soviets launched Sputnik I, the first human made space satellite to orbit the earth.
  62. This launched the fear that now Soviets could launch missiles from space.
  63. A Wall in Berlin
  64. After Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union in 1955.
  65. Western Berlin was seen as a island of prosperity while eastern Berlin/Germany was poor and poverty stricken.
  66. Eastern Berliners began escaping and fleeing through west Berlin.
  67. To combat this flow of refugees, Khrushchev (August 1961) built a wall separating West Berlin from East Berlin.
  68. This became a massive barrier guarded by barbed wire, floodlights, machine-gun towers, mine fields, and dog patrols.
  69. This became the symbol of the division between the two superpowers.
  70. Cuban Missile Crisis
  71. During Presidency John F Kennedy, the Cold War reached its highest level of confrontation.
  72. 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government led by Fulgencio Batista and set up a Soviet-supported totalitarian regime in Cuba.
  73. Kennedy approved a secret plan to invade Cuba by Cuban exiles who would then overthrow Castro.
  74. The invasion was unsuccessful and the exiles were killed or captured at the landing at the Bay of Pigs.
  75. In response to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Soviets sent arms and military advisors to Cuba and by 1962 Khrushchev began to place nuclear missiles in Cuba.
  76. In October 1962, Kennedy, knowing that Khrushchev sent ships carrying missiles to Cuba, blockaded Cuba and prevented the ship from reaching Cuba.
  77. Khrushchev agreed to turn back the fleet as long as Kennedy does not order another invasion.
  78. Kennedy agreed and the ship returned to USSR.
  79. This then created a communication system between Moscow and Washington in 1963 so that they could communicate quickly in times of crisis.
  80. Vietnam and the Domino Theory
  81. Stopping Communism
  82. President Lyndon B Johnson increased the number of troops in Vietnam in order to keep the Communist regime of North Vietnam form gaining control of South Vietnam.
  83. US followed a policy called the domino theory in which other countries in Asia will also fall to communism if Vietnam is taken.
  84. Despite have more equipped men and stronger firepower, the US failed to defeat the North Vietnamese and President Johnson continued to send troops.
  85. This continued war created a antiwar movement in the US in which mostly college students resisted the draft.
  86. American televisions brought the images of war to the public created more supporters of the antiwar movement.
  87. Richard Nixon won the next election and pledged to stop the war.
  88. 1973 Nixon reached an agreement with North Vietnam and American withdrew within 2 years of the agreement.