Moscow in the Cold War, Part 1

1. Moscow in the Cold War, Part 1

2. The Cold War • 1946-1991 • Compared to World Wars I and II – a long period of peace • The main weapons were never used in it • Democratization, reforms, progress • Why do they call it a war?

3. Conflict and cooperation • The Cold War started in the framework of an international order built jointly by Western democracies and the Soviet Union – wartime allies • It had a cooperative base • That order never broke down for the remainder of the century, despite being tested severely by Cold War conflicts • The Cold War can be seen as global struggle over the specific terms of the international order • It came to an end in the 1980s when the struggle subsided, and the order was reinforced through East-West convergence

4. The Three Worlds • The West – capitalist states • The East – communist (state socialist) states • The Third World – countries emerging from colonial rule

5. What about “world revolution” and “the communist threat”? • A global uprising against “capitalism”? • The Global Left • Radicals • Reformists • 3d world nationalists • Communist states • Never anything united - different interests, goals, strategies

6. The Global Left didn’t overthrow capitalism • Instead, often in spite of their own ideologies, they helped capitalism reform, grow and spread • The Global Left’s contributions to the rise of the contemporary world order: • Progress in socioeconomic development • Peaceful coexistence • Decolonization • Expansion of human rights and democracy • East-West convergence

7. The communist states • Each communist state evolved from a rebel state into a developmental state with its national interests and ruling class, behaving in ways similar to any other state • Socioeconomic development • Modernization • Interest in normal relations with the West • Participation in global economy • World revolution postponed indefinitely • Convergence of systems

8. The Cold War started unexpectedly early after the end of WWII – almost without a pause • The main cause – enormous upheavals in world politics triggered off by World War II

9. Western insecurity • The crisis of global capitalism • The shift to the Left in the politics of Western countries: socialism on the agenda, growth of communist parties • The upsurge of national liberation struggles in the Third World • The emergence of the USSR as the most powerful state in Eurasia • The US steps in to contain both Soviet power and the growth of the Left in the West and in the Third World

10. Soviet insecurity • Enormous economic losses from the war • How to control society after the war • The war as school of citizenship • Mass exposure to European life • The population of new territories under Soviet control • The legacy of terror • Fear of a united Western coalition against the USSR

11. Western self-confidence • The USSR is internally weak • The US is a powerhouse • US had enormous advantages in late 1940s: • 50% of global production • Nuclear monopoly • Naval and air superiority • Army on a par with USSR • The architect of a liberal world order • Totalitarianism will be resisted by most people; the West should promote freedom and liberal democracy

12. Factors of Soviet self-confidence • The Soviet system passed the test of survival and strength • Soviet assets: • Control of territory: the dominant power in Eurasia • A powerful state machine capable of mobilizing society for a wide range of tasks – from rebuilding the country to competing with the West in military power • Positive attitudes to Russia in many countries – its role in defeating fascism, its attempt to build a new, non-capitalist society • Capitalism is in systemic crisis • The postwar rise of the Global Left eases Western pressures on the Soviets

13. The Global Left: the postwar offensive EUROPE • Yugoslavia and Albania – Communists have come to power on their own • Greece, Italy, France – Communist parties may come to power on their own • Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria – defeated states in shambles; Soviet occupation a major boost to local Communists • Poland – Soviet occupation assures Communist takeover • Czechoslovakia – gradual Communist takeover from a strong domestic base, with Soviet help • Moderate, reformist Left makes major political gains in the West (e.g. Labour Party in Britain, German Social Democrats, French Socialists)

16. The West was primarily concerned about survival and rebuilding of capitalism in Western Europe • USSR was primarily concerned about strategic control of Eastern Europe – securing the Western flank • The division of Europe, agreed in 1945, was institutionalized • The fate of Germany remained the one major bone of contention – but even there, the lines established in 1945 helped stabilize the situation • In Asia, it was a series of open-ended continental struggles – but not between Russia and America

17. ASIA: • Indochina: Vietnamese Communists as the main anti-colonialist force, proclaim Vietnam’s independence in 1945 • China, 1945-49: Communists defeat Nationalists • Korea, 1945: Communists control the North with Soviet help, try to conquer the South in 1950 • India, 1947: Independence won by nationalists supported by communists • Indonesia, Burma: nationalist-communist coalitions lead anticolonial campaigns • Iran: the rise of a Communist-nationalist alliance • Turkey: emergence of a strong Communist-led Left • The Mideast • The establishment of Israel - with Soviet support • The rise of Arab nationalism against Western colonial rule

18. “Containment of Communism” • The state-to-state level: C of the USSR. Nuclear deterrence, a chain of anti-Soviet alliances (NATO and others), economic attrition strategies, propaganda war against Communism, subversion • The transnational level: C. of the Global Left. Revival of the global economy, the Marshall Plan, use of force, propaganda, subversion - and also cooptation, tactical alliances with elements of the Global Left on anti-Soviet platforms • A massive, complex, messy, costly, evolving strategy of saving global capitalism

19. Did containment work? 1. Yes: in Europe. Why? • There was a geopolitical deal between Stalin and the West (Yalta) • Successful cooptation of the reformist Left • Stalin’s influence on Western Communists and his policy of discouraging revolution 2. In Asia, these conditions were absent: • No deal • The US refused to co-opt the Left • Asian Left-wing forces were mostly out of Soviet control; Stalin was prepared to gamble (Korea) 3. Soviet totalitarianism hardens, a crackdown in Eastern Europe

20. By 1950, containment looked like a manifest failure: • The USSR rapidly rebuilt its economy (5 years instead of expected 15-20 years) and went nuclear • Eastern Europe was firmly under Soviet control • China went Communist • North Korea invaded the South The image of Communism on the march; unstoppable, winning Revolt of the American Right against failing Cold War policy

21. 1952-53: start of a new phase in the Cold War • Nov. 1952: • Gen. Dwight Eisenhower is elected US President with a commitment to victory in the Cold War • First hydrogen bomb tested by the US • Stalin considers a new world war inevitable

22. 1949: Celebrating Stalin’s 70th birthday, Molotov delivering report

23. American soldiers in the Korean War

24. Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as US President

25. March 1953: • Stalin dies, a new leadership emerges in the Kremlin. It proclaims the goal of peaceful coexistence • Release of GULAG prisoners begins • May 1953: • The war in Korea continues. Pres. Eisenhower approves a military plan for winning in Korea which includes use of atom bombs • July: Armistice signed in Korea

26. Moscow, March 1953: Stalin’s funeral

27. Survivors (L to R): Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, Premier Nikolai Bulganin, Communist Party Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, Geneva, 1955

28. Stalinism could not survive Stalin’s death --Extreme degree of state control over society, permanent emergency rule was hard to maintain --Communist elites needed more normal, stable regimes in which they would be secure from dangers from: the dictators the people --Warwith the West was not inevitable; coexistence of the two systems was possible; the Korean War could be stopped by negotiation

29. Changes were inevitable: they were in the interests both of the rulers and of the ruled BUT: Stalinist features remained at the foundation of communist power --Communist bureaucracy reigned as the New Class (nomenklatura); no interest in sharing power --One-party systems --Control of information --Mechanisms of repression (security services, the military) remained in place

30. Post-Stalin changes • Dismantle some elements of the totalitarian system • Negotiate to end the Korean War • Relaxation of tensions with the West • First steps toward nucleararms control • Development of ties with newly independent states in the Third World • Seek to widen cooperation with the Global Left

31. Khrushchev’s conviction: the global revolutionary process continues leading to ultimate victory of communism over capitalism • How will communism win? By creating better conditions of life for working people: Peaceful competition between the two social systems, struggle for people’s minds and hearts • Meanwhile. the two systems can and must avoid war and promote mutual cooperation

32. February 1956, 20th Party Congress: • Exposing and condemning Stalin’s rule of terror • War is not inevitable: proclaiming peaceful coexistence between East and West as a realistic policy • Socialism means improvement of the people’s living conditions • Khrushchev establishes his primacy in the leadership

33. Khrushchev spoke for 5 hours at the 20th Congress

34. As Khrushchev was exposing Stalin’s crimes at the Congress, someone in the audience asked: • “If you knew about these mass repressions, why did you keep silent? • Khrushchev responded: • “Who said this?” • There was no answer. • “So, you keep your mouth shut, eh? Well, I kept mine shut, too.”

35. Poland, October 1956: reformer Wladyslaw Gomulka comes to power

36. Imre Nagy, reformer at the head of the Hungarian Communist Party, 1956

37. Hungary, October 1956: Overthrowing Stalinism

38. The Hungarian Revolution, 1956

39. Hungarian revolutionaries in Budapest

40. Soviet troops move in to save the Communist regime

41. "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in" – K to Western Ambassadors at the Polish Embassy in Moscow, Nov. 1956 K in Yugoslavia, August 1963: "I once said, 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you,” – He was referring to the Marxist saying, "The proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism”, based on the concluding statement in Chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto: "What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable".

42. K. launches a massive program of free housing construction

43. Dreaming of turning villages into “agro-cities”

44. Private ownership of cars was allowed for the first time since the 1920s

45. Admiring the harvest in his native village

46. In Kalinovka, his birthplace

48. June 1957: Minister of Defence Zhukov acted decisively to prevent an attempt by Stalinists to oust Khrushchev

49. The Space Era starts on Oct.4, 1957 with the launch of Sputnik, Soviet-made Earth satellite

50. In September 1959, the Soviets were the first to put a space probe, Luna-2, on the Moon