Cold War History

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Cold War History

• An Overview of Major Events

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The post-war period two streams

• The end of European imperialism combined with the
  growing sense that self-determination should be a
  guiding principle in international politics led
  to a tremendous wave of decolonization between
  1945-1980.
• The end of hostilities in 1945 also lead quickly
  to a period of intense hostility between the U.S.
  and Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.)

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Decolonization

• The process of decolonization was relatively
  peaceful in many cases it led to revolutionary
  wars in others (e.g., Algeria).
• The struggle for independence/national liberation
  became embroiled in Cold War conflicts when the
  superpowers and/or their allies became involved
  (e.g. Vietnam).

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Superpower confrontation

• There are disagreements about when the Cold War
  started, why, and who was responsible.
• Misperceptions?
• Inevitable?
• The Cold War started in Europe with the failure
  to implement agreements reached at Potsdam and
  Yalta.
• Conferences focused on issues like free elections
  and democratic institutions in Eastern Europe
  (especially Poland) and the future of a divided
  Germany.

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The Cold War An Overview
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Confrontation, 1945-1962

• Yalta Conference, 1945
• Soviet troops stationed throughout East Europe

• Stalin, Roosevelt, Chuchill
• How should the victorious powers manage Europe?
• Can the U.S.S.R. be stopped from overrunning
  Europe?

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Policy of Containment

• George Kennan
• Emphasized economic recovery in W. Europe
• Marshall Plan, 1947
• NATO, 1949

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Revising Containment

• Public military displays by U.S.S.R. make Europe
  nervous press U.S. for more security
• NSC-68
• Most important revision of strategy of
  Containment
• Any substantial further extension of the area
  under the domination of the Kremilin would raise
  the possibility that no coalition adequate to
  confront the Kremlin could be established

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Korea

• First application of the new policy of
  containment
• Domino theory
• Resulted in U.S. military build-up in Europe
• End of WWI
• South occupied by U.S.
• North occupied by Soviets
• UN unable to hold elections in 1948

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Korea

• U.S. and Soviet forces face off across the 38th
  parallel
• June 1950, North Korean Army attacks South Korea

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Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1962 American spy planes spot rocket sites on
  Cuba
• Kennedy demands removal of missiles
• Russian ships approach Cuba
• U.S. orders naval quarantine of Cuba
• Crisis ends when Soviets agree to remove missiles
• Closest the superpowers came to nuclear war

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From Coexistence to DétenteVietnam

• French imperial expansion into Indo-China
• Includes Laos and Cambodia
• After WWII
• Ho Chi Minh dominates north, including Hanoi
• French intended to recognize Ho Chi Minhs
  republic north of the 18th parallel
• Set up puppet regime South of Saigon

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Vietnam

• 8 May 1953 France defeated at Bien Dien Phu
• Vietnam partitioned into North and South at the
  17th parallel
• Vietcong (North Vietnamese forces) attack south
• By 1963, ¼ of population of South Vietnam under
  control of Northern forces
• U.S. increases military support for South
• 1965, U.S. engaged in bombing North
• 1967, U.S. has 400,000 troops fighting

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Nixon

• Failure of U.S. to gain victory in Vietnam forces
  President Lyndon B. Johnson from office
• Richard Nixon, who promised to bring the troops
  back, takes office in 1968
• New political reality
• Soviets achieve nuclear parity

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Detente

• Less confrontational policy
• Aimed at managing U.S.-Soviet relations through
  negotiation
• Carrots and Sticks
• Check Soviet expansion by forming alliances with
  states that neighbored the U.S.S.R.
• 1972 U.S. establishes diplomatic relations with
  Communist China

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Confrontation to Rapprochement

• The period of U.S.-Soviet détente is followed by
  a period of renewed confrontation.
• Second Cold War
• NATO agreed to deploy land-based Cruise and
  Pershing II missiles in Europe if arms
  negotiations with Soviets did not reduce serious
  what was seen as a serious force imbalance.

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Afghanistan

• December 1979, Soviet forces intervened in
  Afghanistan to support its revolutionary allies.
• Western powers denounced U.S.S.R.s actions,
  leading U.S. President Jimmy Carter to change his
  view of the Soviets.
• 1980 U.S. Olympic boycott

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Iran

• 1978, a series of protests erupts in Iran after
  an inflammatory story about the exiled Ayatollah
  Khoemeini is run in the official press.
• American Embassy in Tehran captured. U.S.
  Hostages held for 444 days (14 months).
• Iranian leader, Shah (King) Mohammad Reza
  Pahlavi, a staunch U.S. ally against the Soviets,
  was eventually forced from power in January 1979.
  Islamists take control.

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Ronald Reagan Inaugurated

• In the midst of the Iran Hostage Crisis,
  President Jimmy Carter loses his bid for
  re-election to Ronald Reagan.
• Reagan committed to a more confrontational
  approach with the Soviets.
• Initiates research on space-based missile defense
  system (Star Wars).

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The Soviet Leadership

• The early years of Reagans presidency involved
  few high level contacts with Soviet leaders.
• One problem three Soviet leaders (Brezhnev,
  Andropov, and Chernenko) die in fairly rapid
  succession

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Glasnost and Perestroika

• Mikhail Gorbachev succeeded Chernenko and
  instituted a program of limited reforms known as
  Glasnost and Perestroika.
• Glasnostopenness
• Perestroikarestructuring
• Gorbachev lost control of the reforms.
• Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.