The Cold War Postwar Outcomes. WWII’s end found the Soviets occupying most of East and Central Europe and the eastern part of Germany Partition of Germany.

The Cold War

Postwar Outcomes

• WWII’s end found the Soviets occupying most of East and Central Europe and the eastern part of Germany

• Partition of Germany into East and West Germany: West Germany became democratic and resumed self-government after a few years of American, British and French occupation: East Germany remained under the domination of the Soviets with no democracy.

The Division of Germany:

1945 - 1990

The Division of Germany:

1945 - 1990Post WW II:

4 zones created

US, Great Britain, France

West Germany

East Germany:

Soviet UnionBerlin: German capital split into eastern & western halves

• Japan was occupied by American forces after its defeat; it adopted a democratic government, resumed self-gov’t and became a strong ally of the US

• The US launched the Marshall Plan; it provided massive financial aid to rebuild European economies and stop communism’s spread in Europe

• United Nations – created near the end of WWII to give nations a way to prevent future global wars.

Marshall Plan: Economic plan to stop the spread of Communism in Europe

• $$$ given to European countries to rebuild after the war.

Origins of the Cold War

• The Cold War lasted from the end of WWII until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989

• The U.S. and the Soviet Union represented starkly different fundamental values; the US represented democracy and a free market economic system; the Soviet Union was a Totalitarian form of government with a communist (socialist) economic system

Cold War

• The Cold War was an economic and political power struggle from 1945-1989 between the democratic ideals of the United States and the communist government of the Soviet Union.

• The Truman Doctrine was a United States pledge to resist the spread of communism worldwide

Cold War:(1945-1989)Political & Economic Struggle

USA• Politically: – Democracy

• Economically: – Capitalist– Free Market

USSR• Politically:– Communist

• Economically:– Command Economy–Quota System

• Truman Doctrine – “containment of communism” guided American foreign policy during the Cold War, not to stop it, but to keep it from spreading and resist communist aggression into other countries.

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – was formed as a defensive alliance among the U.S. and western European countries to prevent a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

• Soviet allies in Eastern Europe formed the Warsaw Pact and for nearly 50 years both sides maintained large military forces facing each other in Europe

Truman Doctrine

• U.S. pledge to resist the spread of communism worldwide

• Policy of Containment

The Dividing of Europe: The Beginning of the Cold WarThe Dividing of Europe:

The Beginning of the Cold War

Communist satellite governments established in Eastern European countries

Soviet Union creates an Iron Curtain around Southern & Eastern Europe & East Germany

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO):Protect Western Europe vs Soviet invasion

Warsaw Pact, an alliance of Soviet and East European countries, was a response to NATO.

• China’s communist takeover, shortly after WWII, increased U.S. fears of communist domination of most of the world; instead, the communist nations of China and the Soviet Union would become rivals for territory and diplomatic influence, a split that U.S. foreign policy used (i.e. President Nixon in the 1970s)

• After the Soviets matched the U.S. in nuclear bombs in the 1950s, the threat of a nuclear war that would destroy both countries was ever-present throughout the Cold War; America, under President Eisenhower, adopted a policy of “massive retaliation” (MAD) to deter Soviet nuclear strikes.

China: The Communist VictoryChina: The Communist Victory

World’s largest population now Communist

Nuclear Arms Race: 1949 the Soviets build an A-Bomb

The Korean War (1950-1953)

• American involvement in the Korean War (conflict) in the early 1950s reflected the American policy of containment of communism.

• After North Korea invaded South Korea, the U.S. military led an attack that went deep into North Korea itself.

• Communist Chinese forces came into the war on the side of North Korea and the war threatened to widen, but eventually ended in a stalemate with South Korea free of communist occupation.

Korean WarU.S. & UN involved in the Korean War in 1950 Communist North Korea invaded South Korea.China entered on side of North Korea

Korea remained divided at 38th parallel

The Vietnam War (1954-1975)

• U.S. involvement in Vietnam also reflected the Cold War policy of containment of communism

• From the 1950s through the early 1960s, the communist government of North Vietnam attempted to install through force a communist government in South Vietnam; the U.S. helped South Vietnam resist.

Background to the Vietnam War

Background to the Vietnam War

z France controlled “Indochina” since the late 19th century

z Japan took control during World War II

z With U.S. aid (containment), the French attempted to retake control of Vietnam

z Domino Theory

Background to the War

Background to the War

z The French lost control to Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh forces in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu

z President Eisenhower declined to intervene on behalf of France.

Background to the WarBackground to the War

z Geneva ConferenceP Vietnam was divided at 17th

parallelO Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist

forces controlled the North

O Ngo Dinh Diem, a French-educated, Roman Catholic claimed control of the South (US support)

Background to the WarBackground to the War

z A date was set for democratic elections to reunify Vietnam

z No elections, leading to military conflict between Communist North and Free South (US supports)

• The U.S. military buildup in Vietnam began under President John F. Kennedy; after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the buildup was intensified under President Lyndon Johnson.

• The scale of combat in Vietnam grew larger over the course of the 1960s; American military forces repeatedly defeated the North Vietnamese forces in the field, but could not force an end to the war on favorable terms by fighting a limited war.

U.S. Military Involvement Begins

U.S. Military Involvement Begins

z Eisenhower begins warz Kennedy: Increases military

“advisors” to 16,000z LBJ major escalation of

troops: “Americanization”

Johnson Sends Ground Forces

Johnson Sends Ground Forces

z Remembers Truman’s “loss” of China Domino Theory revived

I’m not going to be the president who saw Southeast Asia go the way China went.

Johnson Sends Ground Forces

Johnson Sends Ground Forces

z Tonkin Gulf Incident 1964z American Navy attacked by

North Vietnamesez (acc. to Johnson, the attacks

were unprovoked)

z Tonkin Gulf ResolutionP “The Blank Check” *

• The U.S. was bitterly divided; while there was support for the military and conduct of the war among some, many opposed the war; the war’s active opposition grew, especially on college campuses.

• After Johnson didn’t seek re-election, President Nixon was elected on a pledge to end the war.

• Nixon instituted a policy of “Vietnamization”, withdrawing American troops and replacing them with South Vietnamese forces while maintaining military aid to the South Vietnamese.

Impact of the Tet Offensive

Impact of the Tet Offensive

z Domestic U.S. Reaction: Disbelief, Anger, Distrust of Johnson Administration

z Hey, Hey LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?

Anti-War DemonstrationsAnti-War Demonstrations

z May 4, 1970

z 4 students shot dead.

z 11 students wounded

Kent State University

z Jackson StateUniversity

z May 10, 1970

z 2 dead; 12 wounded

Impact of the Vietnam WarImpact of the Vietnam War

…I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.

Johnson announces (March, 1968):

Nixon on VietnamNixon on Vietnam

z Nixon’s 1968 Campaign promised an end to the war: Peace with HonorP Appealed to the great

“Silent Majority”z Vietnamizationz Expansion of the

conflict The “Secret War”P CambodiaP Laos

z Agent Orange(chemical defoliant)

• Ultimately “Vietnamization” failed when South Vietnamese troops proved unable to resist invasion by the Soviet-supplied North Vietnamese Army, and President Nixon was forced from office by the Watergate scandal. In 1975, both North and South Vietnam came under communist control

Cuba

• Fidel Castro led a communist revolution that took over Cuba in the late 1950s. Many Cubans fled to Florida and later attempted to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro (the “Bay of Pigs” invasion failed).

• In 1962, the Soviet Union stationed missiles in Cuba, instigating the Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuba• Located 90 miles from Florida• 1959: Fidel Castro took over

in a communist revolution

Bay of Pigs (1961)

• U.S. trained Cuban rebels invade Cuba & attempt to overthrow Castro.

• IT FAILED• US begins trade

embargo on Cuba (it still exists today)

• President Kennedy ordered the Soviets to remove their missiles and for several days the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Eventually, the Soviet leadership “blinked” and removed their missiles.

Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): 13 days in October

• JFK President• Issue: Soviet missiles in

Cuba • US Response: Protests then

a naval blockade to prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba

• Soviet Response: Respect the naval blockade and remove missiles in Cuba

• (US would later remove Nukes from Turkey)

Impact of the Cold War at Home

• The fear of communism and the threat of nuclear war affected American life throughout the Cold War.

• During the 1950s and 1960s, U.S. schools regularly held drills to train children what to do in case of a nuclear attack and U.S. citizens were urged by the government to build bomb shelters in their basements.

Cold War @ Home: Red Scare &

Nuclear Scare

• The convictions of Alger Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for spying for the Soviet Union, and the construction of nuclear weapons by the Soviets using technical secrets obtained through spying, increased domestic fears of communism.

• Senator Joseph McCarthy played on U.S. fears of communism by recklessly accusing many U.S. governmental officials, movie stars and citizens of being communists based on flimsy or no evidence. This led to the term McCarthyism, or the making of false accusations based on rumor or guilt by association.

• The Cold War made foreign policy a major issue in every presidential election during the period.

Communist Spies & Second Red Scare

• Spies in America:

• Alger Hiss & the Rosenberg’s (Julius & Ethel) convicted of spying

• America Paranoid that spies are everywhere

Communist Spies & Second Red Scare

• HUAC: House Un-American Activities Committee created to investigate potential Communist spies

• Joseph McCarthy: Wisconsin senator gains popularity by publicly accusing people of being spies

• People were considered “guilty” until proven “innocent”

• The heavy military expenditures throughout the Cold War benefited Virginia’s economy proportionately more than any other state, especially in Hampton Roads, home to several large naval and air bases, and Northern Virginia, home to the Pentagon and numerous private companies that contract with the military

American Military Forces during the Cold War

• In JFK’s inaugural address, he said the U.S. would “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” He also said, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”

• During the Cold War, millions of Americans served in the military, defending freedom in conflicts that were not always popular; many were killed or wounded. As a result of their service, the United States and American ideals of democracy and freedom ultimately prevailed in the Cold War struggle against Soviet communism.

• President Kennedy, a WWII veteran, was assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas, in an event that shook the nation’s confidence and began a period of internal strife and divisiveness, especially spurred by divisions over U.S. involvement in Vietnam.

John F. Kennedy(1961-1963)

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”

Assassinated in Dallas, Texas in 1963

• Unlike WWII veterans, who returned to a grateful and supportive nation, Vietnam veterans often faced outright hostility from some who opposed the war.

• It was not until several years after the end of the war that the wounds of the war began to heal in America, and Vietnam veterans were recognized and honored for their service and sacrifices.

Internal Problems of the Soviet Union

• High military expenses in competition with the U.S.

• Rising nationalism in Soviet republics• Fast-paced reforms (market economy)• Economic inefficiency• Gorbachev’s “glasnost” and “perestroika”

(openness and economic restructuring)

End of the Cold War: The fall of the Soviet Union

• Soviet Union economy collapsing

• Soviet republics push for independence

• Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev attempts to save the USSR

• Glasnost: Openness • Perestroika: Economic

Reforms• Too little to late

Role of President Reagan

• Challenged moral legitimacy of the Soviets; i.e., speech at Berlin Wall (“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”)

• Increased U.S. military and economic pressure on the Soviet Union

SOL Synthesis of the above information:

• The Cold War set the framework for global politics for 45 years after the end of World War II and influenced U.S. domestic politics, foreign affairs, and the role of the government in the economy after 1945.

• The Cold War was a competition between 2 different ways of organizing government, society, and economy.

• The American-led West’s belief in democracy, individual freedom and a market economy, and the Soviet belief in a totalitarian state and socialism.

• Our ant-communist strategy of containment in Asia led to U.S. involvement in the Korean & Vietnamese Wars.

• The Vietnam War demonstrated the power of U.S. public opinion in reversing foreign policy. It tested the democratic system to its limits, left scars on American society that have not yet been erased, and made many Americans deeply skeptical of future military or even peacekeeping interventions.

• A strong military was the key to America’s victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War.