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The Cold War

The Cold War. The Cold War. Containment Mutually Assured Destruction Korean War, 1950-1953 Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 Afghanistan, 1979-1989 Mikhail Gorbachev. The Kitchen Debates, 1959. The First Phase, 1947-1953. George Kennan’s “Long Telegram” and the policy of containment

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The Cold War

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  1. The Cold War

  2. The Cold War • Containment • Mutually Assured Destruction • Korean War, 1950-1953 • Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 • Afghanistan, 1979-1989 • Mikhail Gorbachev The Kitchen Debates, 1959

  3. The First Phase, 1947-1953 • George Kennan’s “Long Telegram” and the policy of containment • “Lessons” of World War II • Truman Doctrine • Creation of NATO and Warsaw Pact • Korean War, 1950-1953 US and Soviet soldiers meet on the Elbe, April, 1945

  4. US Capitalist System Democratic Ideals Russian support for Communist International Russia/USSR Communism Authoritarian Politics US Intervention in Russian Civil War US failure to help Republicans in Spanish Civil War The New Superpowers

  5. US Russian refusal to demobilize Russian treatment of Poland, Eastern Europe - The Iron Curtain Chinese Civil War 1949 Russian explosion of A-Bomb Espionage USSR US delay in invading France Truman Doctrine of 1947 Containment US nuclear supremacy US technological advantages NATO, Marshall Plan Recent Problems:A Bipolar World

  6. The Berlin Airlift of 1949: What were we doing and why?

  7. Nuclear Weapons • Technology • Threat of nuclear weapons • Deterrence and MAD • Arms control • Massive retaliation

  8. June 1950 US dilemma: how to respond to a Communist invasion of Korea without starting World War III? “Korea is outside the United States sphere of influence. We have no vital interests there” - American Secretary of State Dean Acheson, 1949.

  9. The UN Advance

  10. The Chinese Advance

  11. Stalemate!!! • “We have won an armistice on a single battleground - not peace in the world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our quest” - President Eisenhower, 1953.

  12. New US Defense Policies • 1950: NSC 68 recommended tripling defense budget • 1952: US introduced peacetime conscription • 1953: US builds first H-bomb • 1950-1953: US sends more military personnel to Europe than to Asia • 1955: (West) Germany rearmed The King gets drafted, 1958

  13. New Soviet Policies • Funding for “Wars of Liberation” • Launching of Sputnik, 1957 • Creation of Berlin Wall, 1961 • Imposed tight controls on Eastern Europe • Built links to Castro in Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America

  14. Phase Two: 1953-1979 • USSR and USA want to avoid nuclear war • So they fight “proxy” wars in the Third World • Connections to wars of anticolonialism • Few direct confrontations Soviet advisors in Vietnam, 1966

  15. Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 • USSR attempted to place long-range nuclear missiles in Cuba • JFK ordered a naval blockade of Cuba • US went to highest alert level ever • Compromise reached, hot line established between White House and Kremlin • Tensions high

  16. Arab-Israeli Wars • US supported Israel • USSR supported Arabs • Wars in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 • Both sides get to “field test” their equipment • US and USSR fuel wars, but also stop them Israeli pilots in 1973 flying the American-made F-4 Phantom

  17. The Cold War in the Third World • Building of US and Soviet military bases worldwide • US and USSR funding of wars • Afghanistan, 1979 • India and the “non-aligned” movement • China and the Cultural Revolution US supported mujahedeen rebel in Afghanistan. It seemed like a good idea at the time

  18. Final Phase, 1980-1991 • Reagan and “evil empire” rhetoric • SDI and massive US military spending • Alliances with Saudi Arabia to reduce USSR oil values, bring Arab states into US alliances • Defeat USSR with economic effort, not direct military confrontation Building tight US – Saudi links also seemed like a good idea at the time

  19. Soviet Initiatives • Perestroika (restructuring) and Glasnost (openness) • USSR spending 50% of its GDP on defense • Sign bipartisan disarmament agreements • Seek to use the US as a partner not an enemy • Dismantle Warsaw Pact, remove troops from Eastern Europe “I was talking about another time and another era” – Reagan when asked about his “evil empire” statement of 1982

  20. The End of History?

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