General History of the Cold War

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Cold war course

• Natalia Tsvetkova
• Associate professor, ph.d
• American studies dep.
• tsvetkoffa_at_mail.ru

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The aim of the course

• Problem
• There are a lots of stories about this event
  (cold war)
• All stories are based on some selected documents,
  and every author tries to find surprising things
  using his (her) personal interpretations, so
• Solution
• To write ones story of the event using a set of
  documents
• The course will be a combination of my lectures
  (my story of cold war) and your analysis of
  documents reading
• Result you will tell your own story.

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Requirements and Assesment

• 6 credits
• Reading and analysis of documents
• Participation in discussions
• Final exam (1 question1 document for analysis)
• If you need only 4 credits or nothing a passive
  participation 1 question for a final exam

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How do you download reading and documents
ushistory.ru/cold_war/readings.rar
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General History of the Cold War
Overview of Cold War events
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Cold War Map
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Periods of the Cold War are relative to the
periods of American foreign policy

1. the period of the pre-Cold War, 194547,
2. the containment period, 194754,
3. the flexible response, 19541969,
4. the period of Détente 19691979,
5. the collapse of the communist in the countries of
   Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union,
   1980s1990, and
6. the aftermath of the Cold War, 19901992

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The pre-cold war, 194547

• 1) 1943 Teheran and 1945 Yalta Conferences
• Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph
  Stalin
• shaped the spheres of influence in Europe in
  regard to the real presence of the Soviet troops
  in countries of the region.
• An agreement on free elections in occupied
  countries
• 2) The death of F. Roosevelt and new president H.
  Truman insisted on Soviet obligations to arrange
  free elections in client countries

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The pre-cold war, 194547
4) Potsdam conference, July and August
1945 German question to be unified or not, how
to govern it by 4 Zonal Administrations, and how
meet reparation demands of the Soviet Union. 5)
Stalins rejection to insert democratic parties
in governments of the countries in Eastern Europe
his rejection to leave Iran Kennan diplomatic
reports from Moscow, winter 1946 gtgt U.S. policy
was to be more tough with Russians and
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The containment, 194754

• East and West coalitions fell into place Stalin
  establish strong international movement of
  communists (Cominform)gtgt
• Communists took the political power in Eastern
  European countries gtgt Truman doctrine and
  Marshall plan, 1947 was to save the part of
  Europe
• Germany was not unified and Berlin Airlift of
  194849 a Soviet test of American aims
  concerning the Soviet Union (map)
• communists under Mao Zedong defeated Chinese
  nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek gtgt
• Mao formed a communist Peoples Republic of China
  on October 1, 1949

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Division of Europe
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Division of Germany
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containment, 194754
5) 1950-1953 Korean War gtgt a unstable pacific
region 6) India received its independence from
Great Britain in 1947 and was broken into two
nations Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India gtgt wars
between them were started 7) Conflict between
Jewish state and Arab world in middle East after
withdrawal of the Great Britain. 8) Russians are
ready for world expansion gtgt American containment
strategy, 1951
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Near and Middle East
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The period of the flexible response, 19541969

1. Eisenhower Khrushchev massive rolling back of
   each other
2. Vietnam, 1954 -1973 Ho Chi Minh defeated the
   French armygtgtGeneva Peace Accords called for the
   temporary creation of North and South Vietnam
3. Revolts in Germany (1953), Hungary (1956) and
   Czechoslovakia (1968) and cool position of the
   USAgtgt the stability of European confrontation
4. Developing world as a new border of the Cold War,
   since the end 1950s.

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The period of the flexible response, 19541969
6) Outer space Soviet satellite, 1957 Gagarin,
1961 and atom 7) new Berlin and Cuba crises,
1961-1962 gtgt and idea of a peaceful coexistence
and détente was discussed in both Moscow and
Washington 8) Six Day War between Israel and
Arab states, 1967 gtgt the Soviet and American
allies in the region became clear (until the end
1970s) EgyptSyria the Soviet Union, Israel
the United States
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Détente, until 1979

• Pragmatic approach to Cold War politics by Nixon
  and Henry Kissinger ideology was put aside
• West recognition of Soviet influence in Europe,
• American alliance with China and
• West evolutionary pressure on the Soviet Union
  policy in the area of human rights.
• Ostpolitik, initiated by W. Brandt to establish
  friendly relations with East Block
• 2) Helsinki Summit, 1975 the West gained a
  possibility to communicate with human rights
  activists and with dissidents in E. Europe and
  in the Soviet Union.
• 3) The end of 1970s the Soviet invasion in
  Afghanistan and the denial of the U.S. Congress
  to ratify a treaty on the reduction of nuclear
  weapons

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Collapse of communism, 1980s1990

• Afghanistan (the invasion of the Soviet Union)
  and Ronald Reagan approach to the Soviet Union
  (dissidents, economic sanctions and Strategic
  Defense Initiative in 1983) made the Cold War to
  be similar its initial phase and undermined the
  might the Soviet Union
• Gorbochev decided to talk with Regan, 1985-1987
• Inside reforms in Russia gave impetus for
  revolution in the Eastern European countries,
  1989-1990
• Poland and Hungary- free elections, October 1989
• Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, November 1989
• German reunification, 1990

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Collapse of communism, 19801990

• 4) Officially the Cold War was ended in September
  1990 Great Britain, the U.S., and the Soviet
  Union signed a peace treaty with East and West
  Germany
• the withdrawal of the Soviet Army and admit the
  unification of Germany
• 5) On November 1990 - the nonaggression agreement
  between member of NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
• George Bush said that We closed the chapter of
  history. The Cold War is over.

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The aftermath of the Cold War, 1990-1992

1. A process of dissolution of the Soviet Union,
   Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia gtgt era of
   nationalistic and religious conflicts
2. The U. S. and Russia weakened the ties with
   extremists groups in different parts of the world
   gtgt
3. New ideologies are determining of international
   relations system Islam fundamentalism as the
   substitution of communism.

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2014 Russian Revanche and a new Cold War means
again a values's gap

• -Russian historical memory about a buffer zone in
  Eastern Europe
• Territorial gains in Russia are evaluated like a
  power (no european postmodern, post- political)
  a traditional society