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1945-2000-ish

1945-2000-ish. Effects of WW II. Cities leveled Millions killed: ca. 72 million total (military and civilian) New fear of atomic war Antagonism between West and USSR= Cold War Decolonization. Decolonization. Decline of Imperialism due to: Nationalism and self-determination

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1945-2000-ish

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  1. 1945-2000-ish

  2. Effects of WW II • Cities leveled • Millions killed: ca. 72 million total (military and civilian) • New fear of atomic war • Antagonism between West and USSR= Cold War • Decolonization

  3. Decolonization • Decline of Imperialism due to: • Nationalism and self-determination • anger against oppression • military withdrawal during the war. (Vietnam and France, e.g.) • weakness of European nations after WWII • began Aug. 15, 1947, India declared indepen-dence from British empire. • This created a domino effect throughout the empire.

  4. Decolonization • Vietnam from France (Ho Chi Minh and Viet Minh. US foots most of the bill for that war. • Lasts from 1947-1954 • 1949: Dutch out of Indonesia. Fought a costly and futile war.

  5. Palestine • 1947: Britain announced withdrawal from Palestine, leaving its future in the hands of the UN. • In response, the UN partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish homelands. • May 14, 1948: Israel declared independence --immediately attacked by the Arab nations. • Israel won the war with American aid. (1st Arab-Israeli war)

  6. Egypt • Although Egypt independent since 1922, Britain economically maintained a degree of influence. • Abdul Nasser (E. Pres)believed Britain’s significant influence detrimental to future of Egypt. • 1956: Egypt announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal. • In response, Britain, France, and Israel planned asurprise attack on Egypt. • The USSR announced backing Egypt, and the US ordered Western powers to withdraw. • ***event illustrated that the western European powers had little ability to act w/o American approval.

  7. Sub-Saharan Africa • 1957: Ghana (British) declared independence, and was set free. • Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Kenya also declared independence and were freed from British empire. • The British let go without much of a fight, because few British settlers in any of the nations.

  8. Rhodesia • Rhodesia had many British settlers. • 1965: White British settlers formed their own white-supremacist government and declared independence from Britain. • 1980: After much warfare, the Africans finally won control of their nation. • It was renamed Zimbabwe.

  9. Cold War Roots • Teheran Conference 1943 • Soviets liberate E. Europe • Yalta Conference 1945 • EE democratic elections • Germany divided into 4 zones • Potsdam Conference 1945 • Promises made and promises broken • Buffer zone

  10. US POV • Stalin intent on creating “spheres of influence” • Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech Calls USA out to future conflict • US wants democracy spread (certainly anti-communism) w/strong international org to maintain global peace

  11. Soviet POV • Democracies hostile toward communism and USSR: Archangel expedition in WWI and non-recognition of USSR by US until 1933 • US and Britain dragged feet opening second front during war. Millions of Soviet soldiers died fighting Nazis alone until mid-‘44 • US and Britain excluded USSR from A-bomb project • US terminated lend-lease to USSR in ‘45 , but continued to GB until ’46 • Buffer zone for western borders, especially in Poland

  12. The Cold War 1945-1990

  13. The Cold War • The Truman Doctrine (1947) • Greece and Turkey (individually) fight guerrilla war against indigenous communists • Britain no longer able to protect Greek and Turkish governments • Asks United States for assistance • President Harry Truman declares that the US will “help any country fight against outside aggression” • $ 400 million to Greece and Turkey appropriated

  14. The Cold War • United States becomes involved in international affairs • To prevent mistakes after World War I • US joins United Nations formed in 1946 • US forms North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949) • First permanent alliance for the United States • Defense alliance between US and Western Europe • To prevent Soviet Union from spreading influence westward • Soviet Union forms Warsaw Pact in response

  15. The Cold War • The Marshall Plan • Western Europe destroyed by war • Industries, infrastructure, economy • Western European nations could not recover alone • Need US economic assistance • Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposes European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) • Massive US economic assistance toward European recovery • Eastern Europe invited to take part but USSR stops them • Marshall Plan helps Western Europe recover • Also helps US economy by providing markets for US goods

  16. The Cold War • Disagreement over Germany • Germany divided and occupied by the Allies after World War II • Future government to be decided by Allies • Soviets want Germany permanently weakened • US and Britain wanted Germany to recover and to rearm against future Soviet aggression • Germany emerged as two countries in 1949 • Federal Republic of Germany (West) • German Democratic Republic (East) • Berlin Airlift (1949) • Soviets unsuccessfully try to drive US, British, and French out of West Berlin

  17. The Cold War • Confrontations in Berlin • Divided among the Allies in 1945 • Berlin Airlift showed Soviet Union could not force Allies out • East Germans leave East Berlin for West Berlin • East German government builds Berlin Wall in 1961

  18. The Cold War • Soviet domination of Eastern Europe • Soviet troops refuse to leave Eastern Europe • Only Yugoslavia under Josef Tito stands up to Stalin because it was not occupied by Soviet troops • Communists come to power with Soviet help • Manipulation of elections • Elimination of opponents • Communists confiscate private property and impose censorship • Do everything Soviets tell them

  19. The Cold War • Changes in Soviet leadership • Stalin dies in 1953 • Had reinstituted oppressive rule after War (justified by Cold War w/ US) • Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier in 1956 • Tries to introduce reforms but unsuccessful • De-Stalinization • Removed in 1964 • Leonid Brezhnev becomes premier in 1964 • Communist hard-liner. Sort of a “Re-Stalinization” • Did not allow any reforms for Soviet Union and Eastern Europe • Dies in 1982 • Prague Spring • Gorbachev becomes premier in 1985 • Allows reforms • Last Soviet leader

  20. The Cold War • Threat of nuclear warfare • World War II ends with atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki by US in 1945 • Introduction of atom bombs change nature of warfare • Soviet Union explodes first atom bomb in 1949 • US no longer holds monopoly on nuclear weapons • US and Soviet Union engage in nuclear arms race, increasing threat of nuclear war

  21. The Cold War • The Cold War expands beyond Europe • China • Fighting civil war between Nationalists (US supported) and Communists (Soviet supported) between 1945 and 1949 • Communists under Mao Zedong gain control of China in 1949; shocks US • Nationalists retreat to Taiwan where they are protected by US

  22. The Cold War • Cuba (1959) • Fidel Castro overthrows US-backed dictatorship • Castro ultimately sides with Soviets • Cuban Missile Crisis • Soviet Union discovered to be installing missiles in Cuba • Kennedy demands Soviets to take out missiles; closest b oth countries got to nuclear war

  23. The Cold War • The Vietnam War • Vietnam a former French colony • France attempts retake Vietnam between 1945 and 1954 and fails • Vietnam divided into communist north and anti-communist south • US spends 20 years protecting South Vietnam against Communist guerrillas • Lyndon Johnson escalates US involvement in 1965 • “Domino Theory”—if Vietnam becomes communist, other countries could become communist • South Vietnam falls to communists in 1975 • Major blow to American military and society

  24. The Cold War • Changes in Western society • Most affluent society in history • Rise in middle class • Major population growth • Western Europe develops welfare states • Religion plays less of a role in Europe and US • Catholic Church makes reforms in Vatican II • More opportunities for women • Popular culture spreads around the world

  25. The Cold War • Challenge to Soviet domination • Hungary (1956) • Hungarians demonstrate against communist rule • Demand Soviets withdraw troops from Hungary • Uprising put down by Soviet tanks • Czechoslovakia (1968) • “Prague Spring” • Czechs wanted to make domestic reforms: Dubcek and “socialism with a human face” • Soviet tanks put down Prague Spring • Brezhnev Doctrine stated that no country in the Warsaw Pact may leave and USSR had a right to intervene in any Communist nation if they attempted to via internal or external strife

  26. The Cold War • Middle East • US replaces Britain as major power in the Middle East • State of Israel created in 1948; seen as “catastrophe” for Arabs who wanted to create Arab state in Palestine • US backs Israel, while Soviets back Arab states • Oil plays major role in Middle Eastern politics • Review: • McMahon-Hussein Correspondence • Sykes-Picot Agreement • Balfour Declaration

  27. Détente • Period of decreased tensions between US and Soviet Union • Nuclear arms agreements reached during 1960s and 1970s • US recognizes People’s Republic of China as legitimate government of China • Split between Soviet Union and China during 1960s • Nixon hoped friendship with China would weaken Soviet Union. • Everybody wondering what the other side is talking about. • Nixon visits USSR and China in 1972 • Realpolitik: Nixon and Kissinger think US should make alliances based on national interests not a particular world view (pragmatic).

  28. End of Dètente • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to • U.S. refusal to ratify SALT II treaty (reducing nuclear armaments) • President Carter boycotting 1980 Olympics in Moscow • US stopped shipments of grain and certain advanced technology to the Soviet Union. • Only Britain stood behind U.S. in its sanctions. • France, Italy and especially West Germany argued that Soviet’s deplorable action should not be turned into an East-West confrontation.

  29. Arab Nationalism • Arab nationalists loosely united by opposition to colonialism and migration of Jews to Palestine • Israel and Palestine • Balfour Declaration in 1917 indicated Britain favored creation of Jewish “national home” in Palestine—opposed by Saudi Arabia & Transjordan • Great Britain announced its withdrawal from Palestine in 1948. • United Nations voted for creation of two states, one Arab and one Jewish • Palestinians vowed to fight on until state of Israel destroyed or until they established own independent Palestinian state; led to several wars and numerous conflicts in late 20th century

  30. Student Revolts in the Late 1960s

  31. Causes of Student Revolts • Opposition to U.S. war in Vietnam triggered revolutionary ferment among youths • Influenced by Marxist current in French universities after 1945 & “new left” thinking in US • Believed older generation & US fighting immoral & imperialistic war against Vietnam. • Students in western Europe shared US youth's rejection of materialism and belief that postwar society was repressive and flawed.

  32. Causes of Student Revolts • Problems in higher education: • classes overcrowded; • little contact with professors; • competition for grades intense; • demanded even more practical areas of study to qualify for high-paying jobs after college • Some students warned of dangers of narrowly trained experts ("technocrats") who would serve the establishment to the detriment of working class.

  33. French Student Revolt1968 • Students took over the university (Uparis), leading to violent clashes with police. • Most students demanded changes in curriculum and real voice in running the university • Appealed to industrial workers for help; spontaneous general strike spread across France. At first distanced from students) • To many it seemed the French Fifth Republic might collapse • De Gaulle called in troops and called for new elections (which he won decisively) • The mini-Revolution collapsed. • For much of the older generation in western Europe, the student revolution of 1968 signaled the end of illusions and end of an era.

  34. The End of the Cold War • Causes • Soviet Union unable to keep up with the West • Unable to provide consumer goods • Technology behind the US and the West • “Détente” period of decreased tensions with the West • Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) • Youngest Soviet leader • Believed reforms could save Soviet Union

  35. The End of the Cold War • Glasnost • “Openness” • Gorbachev allowed criticism of the government • Perestroika • “Restructuring” • Gorbachev allowed economic and political reforms • Reforms caused instability in Soviet society

  36. The End of the Cold War • Unrest in Eastern Europe • Poland • Economic stagnation during 1980s • Rise of Solidarity Movement • Led by Lech Walesa at the Gdansk shipyard • Demanded recognition as a trade union:better pay and political rights • Gained support of new pope John Paul II (Polish) • Government recognizes Solidarity in 1989 after years of it being underground and Poland resorting to martial laws • Promises political reforms • Communist Party gives up power • Walesa elected President

  37. The End of the Cold War • Demonstrations throughout Eastern Europe • Hungary opens border with Austria • Mass migrations • Gorbachev announces he would not interfere in Eastern Europe • Leads to series of revolutions in ‘89: • Hungary, Czechoslovakia(Velvet Revolution—non-violent), Bulgaria, Albania, Romania and East Germany • The Berlin Wall goes down in November 1989 • Germany reunifies in 1990 • By Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Germany • With support from the US

  38. The End of the Cold War • Reforms destabilize Soviet Union • Soviet economy in chaos • People question government and communist system • Soviet republics demand independence • Coup by hard-liners put Gorbachev in house arrest in 1991 • Demonstrations bring back Gorbachev (more on this later) • Soviet Union dissolves in 1991 • Unable to reach agreement with Soviet republics

  39. Romania • Most revolutions in E. Europe were relatively peaceful. Romania? Not so much. • The violent dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu refused to give in to the will of the people. Used his private police force to desperately cling to power. • He and his equally repugnant wife, Elena, were executed on Christmas Day, 1989.

  40. Break-up of Yugoslavia • Death of dictator Josef Tito in 1980 causes instability in Yugoslavia • Yugoslav republics declare their independence • Ethnic and religious tensions rise among Serbs, Croats, Bosnians • Civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-95 • United Nations unable to stop fighting • NATO action brings war to an end • Occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina by US and NATO troops

  41. Break-up of Yugoslavia • Kossovo War • Serbs begin ethnic cleansing in Kossovo (a Serbian province) in1999 • Serbs drive out Albanian population back to Albania and Macedonia • Serbs believe Kossovo the birthplace of Serbian people • US an NATO intervene and launch air raids on Belgrade • Kossovo under NATO occupation

  42. The USSR • Gorbachev’s glastnost + perestroika + political transformation of the Soviet satellites = a desire for change in the Soviet population. • Disasters such as • Soviet invasion of Afghanistan • Chernobyl nuclear accident • revealed the deplorable state of affairs within the nation.

  43. Problems in the USSR • Gorbachev saw the need for change but wanted Communist party to lead and control them. • economic changes very slow • reformers, such as Boris Yeltsin, wanted to speed up process. • 1990: The Soviet government was forced to allow the political participation of non-Communist parties.

  44. More Problems • As political and economic structure of the USSR began to collapse • nationalist movements throughout the USSR also popped up, • begins with the declaration of independence by Lithuania. • Other republics, such as Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakistan, and Uzbekitan soon followed. • By 1992, 17 republics had broken away.

  45. Revolution in Russia • December 1990: Gorbachev appointed a few hard-liners to government positions hoping to stop the tide of rebellion. • Hard liners very concerned about break-away republics and wanted to stop the secessionist movement. • This move backfired and started a rivalry between Gorbachev and Yeltsin (a reformer and Chairman of the Russian Parliament)

  46. That Coup vs. Gorby = Epoch Fail • August 1991: Gorbachev on vacation • the hard-line communists staged a coup and placed him under house arrest in his vacation home. • Why did they do this? • because the hard-liners feared that Gorbachev’s policies were threatening the existence of the Communist party. • Yeltsin bravely stood atop a tank outside the parliament building and led the resistance, thus becoming the popular hero of the revolution.

  47. The Coup Fails, Epically • As a result of Yeltsin’s leadership and the popular support for the reform movement, the coup failed, and the hard-liners were discredited. • August 1991-December 1991: More of the Soviet republics continued to break away, further weakening the USSR. • December 1991: The USSR was dissolved and Gorbachev resigned.

  48. Problems in Russia • The Commonwealth of Independent States formed in 1992, but ineffective and short-lived because break-away republics feared that Russia had too much power in the confederacy. • The new Russian Republic faced serious political, social, and economic challenges, many of which still continue, today. • The mob became very influential in Russia and many break-away republics, as well.

  49. Western Europe Political Recovery • Economic hardship after WWII: scarcity of food, runaway inflation, black markets • Many people believed Europe was finished. • Suffering was worst in Germany

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