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THE COLD WAR. In a Nutshell. Division of Germany. Division of Germany. Yalta Conference, February, 1945 Potsdam Conference, July, 1945 Trizone : Britain, France, USA (West Germany) East Germany under Soviet control. Yalta Conference. Potsdam Conference. Expansion and Containment.
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THE COLD WAR In a Nutshell
Division of Germany • Yalta Conference, February, 1945 • Potsdam Conference, July, 1945 • Trizone: Britain, France, USA (West Germany) • East Germany under Soviet control
Expansion and Containment Winston Churchill’s “IronCurtain”
Truman Doctrine • USA pledges to aid to any nation attempting to establish a democratic government • Criticized by communists as “dollar imperialism” • Practiced in the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) – first “proxy war” of the Cold War era
Marshall Plan • Part of the Truman Doctrine • Give economic aid to countries trying to rebuild after the war • Make Europe economically self-sufficient (and promote favour of capitalism)
Marshall Plan • Deutsche Mark introduced by West to stop inflation of German currency • Stalin resented Western influence in Berlin, initiates Berlin Blockade in June, 1948
Berlin Airlift • 200,000 flights over a 10 month period • Shipped vital provisions such a food and fuel • Stalin realized his ploy had failed and lifted the blockade in May, 1949
Domino Theory • In 1949, communist rebels win the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949), forming the People’s Republic of China (PRC) • USA views communist victory in China a major threat, as the PRC and USSR now dominate Asia • The West fears that new East Asian governments will turn communist
Proxy Wars • Direct conflict between USA and USSR would result in nuclear war • Both nations attempt to expand their influence by fighting through other agents or “proxies” • Providing economic support, weapons, equipment, training, etc. are means of aiding proxies
Korean War • USSR (North) and USA (South) occupy respective halves of Korean Peninsula • Attempts to unify Korea fail • Kim Il Sung aided by USSR and PRC in raids on South Korea • South Korea backed by newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) • War breaks out in June, 1950 • Attrition war ended with Armistice in 1953 (following Stalin’s death)
Vietnam War • France is defeated by Viet Minh army and withdraws from French Indochina • Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam become independent countries • Vietnam divided between communist North and (artificially) capitalist South • USA orchestrates election of capitalist sympathizer Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, despite popular support of communist North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh • Guerrilla insurgencies in South Vietnam lead to full-scale war • USA commits military while USSR simply provides weapons and support • Americans withdraw and North Vietnamese win the war in April of 1945
Mutually Assured Destruction • Fear of nuclear retaliation kept USA and USSR from directly attacking one another
McCarthyism and the RED SCARE • Suspicion of communist threats from within North America Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities