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THE COLD WAR. WHEN DID THE COLD WAR BEGIN??. 1918?? – US fails to recognize Bolshevik regime and the USSR April 12, 1945?? FDR dies – Stalin had immense respect for FDR which did not carry through to Truman
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THE COLD WAR
WHEN DID THE COLD WAR BEGIN?? • 1918?? – US fails to recognize Bolshevik regime and the USSR • April 12, 1945?? FDR dies – Stalin had immense respect for FDR which did not carry through to Truman • 1946?? – Kennan Telegram – urging the US gov’t to recognize the evil’s of Stalin’s regime
WHEN DID THE COLD WAR BEGIN?? • August 1945?? Atomic Bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1946?? Winston Churchill – coined the phrase “The Iron Curtain” What other dates can be included in this list???
WHY DID THE COLD WAR START? • IDEOLOGICAL • Communism is incompatible with democracy and capitalism • TWO BIG SUPER POWERS • Giant Chess game of power • Chess board was the world • Decisions were made for national self-interest
WHY DID THE COLD WAR START? • PSYCHOLOGICAL • Misperception – no matter what the Russians did it would be misperceived and vice versa • Mirror Imaging – Americans believe that what we do is right and good, and look at Soviets and what they do as bad and evil (reverse happens in USSR)
WWII Left a Power Vacuum • Before WWII – Europe was the center of World Politics • WWII – Europe was destroyed by the war, leaving power vacuum which needed to be filled
Bi-Polar System • Initially – filled by US • Marshall Plan • Nuclear Power • Only intact industrialized country • USSR – begins a rapid recovery – initiating the Bi-Polar Period
"The Iron Curtain" Spheres of Influence - A Bi-Polar World
1948 - BERLIN BLOCKADE • Soviet Troops block all road, rail and water traffic between West Berlin and the West • US, Britain, and France airlifted 23 million tons of food and supplies into the city for 15 months
1949 - Communism takes hold in China • Mao Tse Tung • Enormous land mass now under communist control • Korean War 1950-53
Initial Attack • Counter attack
Chinese Advance • Armistice
SECURITY ORGANIZATIONS • NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization • ANZUS – Australia, New Zealand and US • SEATO – South East Asia Treaty Organization
September 1953 - Krushchev becomes leader of the USSR
COUNTER ORGANIZATION WARSAW PACT – 1955 7 East European Countries and the USSR sign pact to ensure unified command against NATO
CONTAINMENT - MISAPPLIED Kennan’s policy to halt Soviet expansion – a policy of determined and continued resistance against Communism.
Hypocracies • US supported dictators with horrible human rights records solely because they were anti-communist • Vietnam – Civil War? - A Misapplication of Containment?
Hypocracies • Southeast Asia and Middle East – became the battlegrounds for the Cold War • Aid Programs – created as weapons to buy influence during the Cold War
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE • Most visible and most frightening aspect of the Cold War • Awesome Power of the weapons • WWII’s most powerful conventional bomb – 1,200 Tons of TNT • Hiroshima – 20,000 tons of TNT • 1 megaton warhead on an ICBM = 1,000,000 tons of TNT
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE 1945 – Hiroshima and Nagasaki – US display their atomic power 1949 – USSR test first atom bomb 1952 – US tests first Hydrogen bomb 1952 – Britain tests first atom bomb 1960 – France tests first atom bomb 1964 – China test first atom bomb
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE • Height – Late 1970s Early 1980s • 23,000 large Nuclear Warheads • 50,000 smaller Nuclear charges • Enough to kill populations of both the US and the USSR many times over • MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - 1962 • Khrushchev decided to deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba • Kennedy said no – told Soviets to get out • Khrushchev backed down
United States Soviet Union 2 Bipolar Spheres began to Break up
1960s Sino-Soviet Split • Khrushchev promised Nuclear Weapons to China and reneged • US Couldn’t believe the split – thought it was a game
Problems within Soviet Sphere of Influence 1963 – Rumania begins to pursue independence 1964 – Brezhnev succeeds Khrushchev 1968 – Soviets invade Czechoslovakia to stop reform movement 1980 – Solidarity movement established in Poland
New Powerful Actors • Japan and West Germany • OPEC – degree of control over the supply of oil into the international market • Multi-polarity - Economically
Why did the Cold War end??
1. Ideological Explanation • Implosion Theory • USSR collapsed from within • Devoid of creativity • Devoid of Competition • Devoid of Incentive • The base it was founded on were the seeds of its destruction
2. Idiosyncratic Explanation • Personality Theory – It is people who made the difference • Gorbachev – 1st leader of USSR to graduate from College • Perestroika – reform • Glasnost – free exchange of information
2. Idiosyncratic Explanation • Ronald Reagan – • won the Cold War • This would demean 50 years on Containment • Gorbechev – unleashed forces he could not control • Yeltsin (former Mayor of Moscow) – pushed for democratic reforms
3. Systemic Theories • Strategic Overstretch –Soviet put too many resources overseas • No way could they maintain their empire • Containment – Constant Pressure from the West • Reagan’s - $3Trillion Defense Budget • SDI – Strategic Defense Initiative – A Shield (Force Field) – The system was going to cost a fortune
The Legacy?? • Superpowers withdrew from their spheres of influence • Bosnia • Balkans • Enormous Spread of Democracy • Refurbishing culture and economies of E. European States
The Legacy?? • New Countries have entered the International arena • 14 from the break down of the USSR alone • Greater use of the UN • More peacekeeping operations than in it’s entire history
The Legacy?? • Nuclear Legacy • Economy of USSR is struggling • Security Problems • USSR Nuclear Technicians are hiring themselves out • New Game of Nuclear Proliferation • India and Pakistan