The Cold War [1945-1991]: An Ideological Struggle

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The Cold War 1945-1991 An Ideological
Struggle
Soviet Eastern Bloc NationsIron Curtain
US the Western Democracies
GOAL ? Containment of Communism the eventual
collapse of the Communist world.George Kennan
GOAL ? spread world-wide Communism

• METHODOLOGIES
• Espionage KGB vs. CIA
• Arms Race nuclear escalation
• Ideological Competition for the minds and hearts
  of Third World peoples Communist govt. command
  economy vs. democratic govt. capitalist
  economy ? proxy wars ? Limited War
• Bi-Polarization of Europe NATO vs. Warsaw Pact

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Reasons We Resisted Communism

• Soviet power, unlike that of Hitlerite Germany,
  is neither schematic nor adventuristic. It does
  not work by fixed plans. It does not take
  unnecessary risks. Impervious to logic of reason,
  and it is highly sensitive to logic of force. For
  this reason it can easily withdrawand usually
  does when strong resistance is encountered at any
  point.
• According to Kennan
• The Soviets perceived themselves to be in a
  state of perpetual war with capitalism
• The Soviets would use controllable Marxists in
  the capitalist world as allies
• Soviet aggression was not aligned with the views
  of the Russian people or with economic reality,
  but with historic Russian xenophobia and
  paranoia
• The Soviet government's structure prevented
  objective or accurate pictures of internal and
  external reality.

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Map of NATO vs. Soviet Union
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Why is it a Cold War?

• Places where it got Hot (Limited War)
• Korea (1950-1953)
• North Korea (Communist supported by China)
• Kim il-Sung North Korean Leader
• South Korea (Democratic supported by U.S./NATO)
• Vietnam (1955-1973 or 75)
• North Vietnamese (weapons provided by China)
• Ho Chi Minh North Vietnamese Leader
• South Vietnamese (support provided by U.S.)
• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
• Fidel Castro attempted to receive a nuclear
  missile from Soviet Union
• U.S. threatened nuclear war if Cuba received
  weapon

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The Division of Berlin
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The Bipolarization of Europe
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Two Superpowers Left in the World

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Founded in 1949
• Western Democracies
• Supported Capitalism abroad
• Warsaw Pact
• Founded in 1955
• Eastern Nations under Stalin
• Supported spread of Communism

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U.S. Policies to Fight the Cold War

• Marshall Plan
• Announced in 1947
• Give loans () to European nations to rebuild
  after WWII
• Total of 12.4 billion dollars loaned to Europe
• Significant success in Europe
• U.S. gains a lot of Europeans trust
• Soviets felt the plan was Economic Imperialism

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U.S. Policies to Fight the Cold War

• Truman Doctrine
• It must be the policy of the U.S. to support
  free peoples who are resisting attempted
  subjugation by armed minorities or foreign
  pressures
• -Harry S. Truman
• Provide support for nations resisting Communism
• Provide Aid (Military, weapons, money)
• Quickly used to help Greece, Turkey

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George Kennan X Article
CONTAINMENTGoals Means
Actual Application

1. Restorationof the balance of power

Encouragement of self-confidence in nations
threatened by Soviet expansion.
Long-term program of U.S. economic assistance
Marshall Plan
Exploitation of tensions in international
communism.
Cooperation with communist regimes supporting
Titoism in Yugoslavia

1. Reduction of Soviet ability to project outside
   power.

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George Kennan X Article
CONTAINMENTGoals Means
Actual Application

1. Modification of the Soviet concept of
   international relations.

Negotiating settlement of outstanding differences.
Using carrots sticks containing Germany with
an embrace and Russia at arms length.
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Failures of US Strategy

• Soviet Union tests an Atomic Weapon (1949)
• Soviet Union tests a Hydrogen Bomb (1953)
• Failure to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba (Bay of
  Pigs incident in 1961)
• By 1962, the US created a Quarantine Zone
  around the Caribbean in order to prevent the
  Soviets from delivering Nukes to Castros
  Communist government
• It was a 13-day stand-off in the sea with both
  sides threatening M.A.D. (Mutually Assured
  Destruction)

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Failures of US Strategy

• One of the biggest failures of Containment was
  when Chinas civil war ended and Mao Zedong
  started the Peoples Republic of China a
  communist country.
• Mao then began to turn his attention, with the
  help of the Soviet Union, to fixing some of the
  domestic issues that had plagued China for almost
  a century (starvation, lack of infrastructure,
  lack of modernization, disparate peoples and
  lands, etc.)

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National Defense Budget 1940-1964
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Korean War1950-1953
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Korean War1950-1953
Kim Il-Sung
Syngman Rhee
Domino Theory
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The Shifting Map of Korea1950-1953

• -Both sides continue to arm the Korean border so
  that the possibility of renewed warfare remains
  a threat even today.
• -The most militarized location on the planet
  38th parallel.

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Korean Peninsula at Night Present Day
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Vietnam The Long-lasting limited war

• Ho Chi Minh had been trying to free his nation
  from French rule from 1941-1950
• In 1950, North Vietnamese declared the
  independence of Vietnam and the creation of the
  Communist Government.
• In 1950, Minh met with Mao Zedong and Josef
  Stalin to address recognizing the nation and
  providing support from foreign attack

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Vietnam The Long-lasting limited war

• By 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
  agreed to fund the government in South Vietnam to
  prevent all of Vietnam from falling to Communism.
• The South Vietnamese leader Ngo Ding Diem refused
  to hold free elections
• Objective observers Ho Chi Minh would have won
  easily.
• By 1963, President Lyndon Johnson inherited a
  small-scale war from President Kennedy. Johnson
  decided to commit U.S. troops to try and defend
  South Vietnam.

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• By 1966, 365,000 US troops were in the Vietnam
  War
• The Viet Cong (Hos supporters were called Viet
  Cong) were successful at killing US troops and
  escaping. Ho Chi Minhs military success is now
  considered one of the greatest military
  strategies used in Guerilla War
• By 1973 a growing anti-war movement in the US
  protested the cost and the growing number of US
  casualties. A cease-fire was reached between the
  North and South Vietnam.
• However, in 1975 the North Vietnamese troops
  overran the South Vietnamese army and reunited
  the two parts of Vietnam.

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The Unforeseen Benefit of the Cold WarThe Space
Race

• With competition for superior technology, the two
  superpowers also competed for outer space as
  well.
• The Soviets launched the first space satellite in
  1957
• Sputnik created fears in the US that the Soviets
  would control space and the Space Race began.
• The US responded and launched their own satellite
  a few months later.
• During the 60s the Science and Technology race
  continued until the United States reached the
  moon with a manned spacecraft in 1969.

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Questions (Due Monday)

• What was the policy of Containment?
• How did Containment get the U.S. embroiled in
  foreign wars/conflicts?
• Was the U.S. in support of North or South Korea?
  Explain why.
• Was the U.S. in support of North or South
  Vietnam? Explain why.
• Is there a belief system today that you believe
  must be stopped even if it involves invading
  foreign nations?
• Explain the Truman Policy. How does it encourage
  getting into other nations affairs?
• Explain the Marshall Plan. Did it work?