Geography 101

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GEOPOLITICS of EASTERN EUROPE
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Geopolitics

• The ability of a state (or nation) to control
  territory and affect the foreign policy of
  states, nations, and international relations
• Examples of Geopolitics in action
• Colonialism / Imperialism / (threat of) Military
  Intervention / USSR
• Neocolonialism
• Dependency and International Aid
• Treaties, Organizations, Alliances, Agreements
  (EU, NAFTA, NATO, World Bank, UN, etc.)

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Geopolitical Theories for the 20th Century

• Lebensraum (Friedrich Ratzel)
• Heartland Theory (Halford Mackinder)
• East / West Theory
• Domino Theory
• Red Scare
• European Union as a
• theory

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Lebensraum

• Friedrich Ratzel Germany, 1897
• Lebensraum (Living Space) land and resources
• The State Living Organism
• Social Darwinism if you successfully adapt to
  / occupy a new location, you will naturally and
  necessarily move on to fill another location as
  an essential part of survival

And where would the Germansfind thisliving
space?
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• In the East

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Generalplan Ost (GPO)

• Hitler reinterpreted Ratzel to justify mass
  Ethnic Cleansing and / or displacement
• Any non-Germans not welcome
• 50m Slavs to be removed or killed
• Poland to have only 4m residents
• 1939 Had 35m residents
• Drang Nach Osten Drive to the East
• Reichskommissariats (tactical regions)
• Ostland (Baltic States, Belarus, East Poland)
• Ukraine (Ukraine and adjacent territories)
• Kaukasus (Transcaucasia)
• Moskau (Moscow metro area, adjacent European
  Russia)

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Alford Mackinders Heartland Theory (Taken from
Ratzels geographic view of the state as an
organism)
Eurasian Land Mass
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Mackinders Heartland Theory 1904

• If you control the Heartland (Pivot Area
  Eurasian land mass) you control the world
• The Great Game between Britain, Russia
  1800s-1900s
• Maritime powers need to control Rimland (Inner
  Crescent), i.e. Middle East
• Need to prevent Russo-German alliance or Russian
  control of Germany
• Stalin, Hitler, Genghis Khan?

Alford Mackinder, Great Britain
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East vs. West (post WWII)
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East / West Theory Cold War

• 2 Options
• Ally with the West free, good
• Ally with the East Communist, Fascist evil
• But from whos point of view?

Yugoslavia?
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xxxxx
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Not Just USSR vs. NATO

• Ideological battle
• Reds vs. Whites
• Socialists vs. Capitalists
• Economic system
• Communism vs. Democracy
• Political system
• Soviet aggression vs. American imperialism
• Bolsheviks vs. Mensheviks on a larger scale
• Either A or B every country needs to decide
  which team to join

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Message to entire world Whose team are you on?
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Domino Theory

• If one country turns to communism, then the next
  one will, and the next one, and the next one,
  etc. (i.e. China, Cuba, Korea, Vietnam, etc.)

1945
1980
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View of Communist Red Bloc during Cold War
Theory failed to recognize differences among
Communists, or other causes of conflict
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But from whose point of view?
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The Red Scare

• Spread of Communism
• (post WWI and post-WWII)
• Yugoslavia (1946)
• Berlin Airlift (1948)
• Chinese Revolution (1949)
• Vietnam / Civil War (1950-75)
• Korean War (1950)
• Warsaw Pact (1955)
• Soviet interventions
• East Germany, 1953
• Hungary, 1956
• Cuba, 1962
• Prague Spring, 1968
• Afghanistan, 1979
• Others

Joe McCarthy
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U.S. Interventions

• Q Did the U.S. have its own interventions during
  the Red Scare(s)?
• 10?
• 20?
• 40?
• 50?

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At least 67 U.S. interventions in just Latin
America since Stalin came into power (1922)
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• 1959 Cuba
• Cuba wants independence without U.S. influence
  (i.e. Puerto Rico)
• Since no longer part of West and free of U.S.
  influence, U.S. had fears of Cuba going
  Communistonly 90 miles away!
• 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion organized by
  CIAfailed
• Castro seeks help fearing future invasions
  into Cuba

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• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
• Cuba allies with USSR (defense and trade) and
  agrees to allow USSR to put missiles in Cuba (90
  mi. from U.S.)
• Cuban Missile Crisis U.S. reacts blockades
  Cuba orders removal of missiles
• USSR tells Cuba if U.S. fires or invades, launch
  missiles
• 2 weeks go by. Khrushchev blinks Russia
  removes missiles
• Biggest red scare in U.S. history Communism at
  U.S. Doorstep nearly WWIII

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WWIII possible flashpoints
West Germany / West Berlin 1948, 1961 Yugo
1946, 1980s Cuba 1961, 1962 Korea 1950
until? Vietnam 1959-1975 Iran 1946, 1980 Q
Were these actually real fears of a Soviet
invasion?
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3rd World

• US-USSR indirect Hot Wars
• Struggles mainly nationalist, not Communist
• Third World competed for aid until Cold War ended
• East - West competition in culture

Cuba
Guatemala
Vietnam
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3rd World

• Soviets pro-liberation in Cuba, Vietnam,
  Angola, South Africa, Chile, Nicaragua,
  Palestine, etc.

Question Could a country be free of
neocolonialism without becoming Communist?
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NATO today North Atlantic Treaty Organization
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Q If the West justified their actions through
this map,
then can Russia similarly justify
its actions (e.g. Georgia) with this one?
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Pull of the European Union
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European Union
2004 10 new members 2007 Bulgaria,
Romania 2010 Croatia? 2015 Turkey?
Democratic Peace Proposition No two democracies
have ever gone to war with one another. Therefore
, by meeting the criteria to join the EU, if
Russia and others are allowed into the EU, will
this mean the end of any intra-European
geopolitical issues forever?
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Or a Blue Curtain?
Per Capita Income

• East-Central Europe as a Mexico for Western?
• Less developed economy reserved for labor?

Per Capita Income
Renault factory in Romania
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To be continued