Cold War: Power Struggle

• The Cold War spanned from 1945 to the early 1990s.
• The US and the Soviet Union competed for global influence.
• An arms race developed, with nuclear arsenals capable of destroying the world.

Power Struggle

• The US and USSR had conflicting ideologies and desired global dominance, which led to major conflict.
• US promoted capitalism and democracy.
• USSR promoted communism/totalitarianism.
• Eastern Europe was divided among Allied forces at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences in 1945.
• The Soviet Union demanded control over neighboring states, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, but the US disagreed.
• In 1948, the French, US, and British sections of Germany were merged, while Eastern Germany remained under Soviet control, leading to the Berlin Blockade.
• The US organized the Berlin Airlift to supply the trapped Western side until the Soviets relented.
• Berlin was split in half, with the Soviets building the Berlin Wall.

East vs West

• Europe was divided into East and West.
• The Soviet bloc included East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary.
• The Western bloc included Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, West Germany, Greece, and Turkey.
• The Truman Doctrine (1947) stated that the US would aid countries threatened by communism (containment).
• NATO, a military alliance, was formed by the Western bloc for this purpose.
• The Eastern bloc formed the Warsaw Pact in response.
• The two alliances became heavily weaponized.
• The Iron Curtain was the line separating the two alliances.
• Many countries remained non-aligned, accepting investments from both the US and USSR without fully siding with either.
• Non-aligned countries sought cooperative economic relations.
• The Bandung Conference (1955) was held for leaders from Africa and Asia to discuss these partnerships.

China

• After the fall of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911, Sun Yat-sen led the Chinese Revolution of 1911.
• The goal was to Westernize and strengthen China.
• Sun Yat-sen advocated the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, socialism, and democracy.
• Sun Yat-sen formed the Kuomintang (KMT) political party.
• Chiang Kai-shek established the KMT in the 1920s, facing competition from Japan and the Soviets.
• The US helped drive out Japan, but the Chinese Civil War continued between the communists and the KMT for four years.
• Communists, led by Mao Zedong, recruited peasants and drove the KMT out of mainland China to Taiwan (Republic of China).
• Mainland China became the People's Republic of China.
• It became the largest communist nation in the world.
• Taiwan and the People's Republic of China remain separate entities.

Mao Zedong

• Mao Zedong initially succeeded in increasing China's productivity and agriculture.
• Mao implemented the Great Leap Forward, establishing communes to achieve a Marxist state.
• The agricultural quotas could not be maintained, causing widespread starvation.
• After the Soviets withdrew support, Mao focused on military strength and implemented capitalism, but he disliked it.
• Mao's Cultural Revolution eliminated Western influences to prevent the emergence of privileged classes.
• Universities were shut down, and many people became farmers between the 1960s and 1970s.

Deng Xiaoping

• Deng Xiaoping focused on restructuring the economy and reimplementing education.
• He introduced free-market capitalism elements, property ownership, and foreign relations, while remaining largely communist.
• The Tiananmen Square Massacre involved the killing of democratic reform protesters by government troops.

Division of Korea - Korean War

• After WWII, Korea was divided with the Soviets in the north and the US in the south.
• A communist regime was installed in North Korea.
• A US-backed democracy was installed in South Korea.
• North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950 to unite the two countries.
• The United Nations, under General MacArthur, supported South Korea, while China supported North Korea.
• An armistice was agreed in 1953, but the conflict was never officially ended.
• North Korea remains isolated and dangerous.

Vietnam War

• France attempted to maintain control over Indochina after WWII.
• Vietminh nationalists fought back, leading to the division of the nation.
• A communist North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh.
• A democratic South Vietnam was led by Ngo Dinh Diem.
• War broke out between North and South.
• France and the US supported the South.
• The communist Viet Cong fighters eventually took over the South, undermining the US.

Genocide in Cambodia

• Communism took over Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge took over the government.
• Their goal was to eliminate the professional class and religious minorities, resulting in the deaths of 2 million people.

The Cuban Revolution

• The US remained involved in Cuba after the Spanish-American War under the Platt Amendment.
• The US supported the Batista Dictatorship from 1939 to 1959.
• Peasants began a revolution in 1956, led by Fidel Castro, resulting in the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
• Castro initially promoted democracy but established a communist dictatorship.
• The US imposed economic bans on trade with Cuba, which fostered stronger ties with the Soviets.
• The US organized the Bay of Pigs Invasion, but Cuban exiles were immediately captured.
• The Soviets installed missiles in Cuba.
• The US established a naval blockade around the island, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• The Soviets backed down after the US agreed not to invade Cuba, which was the closest brush with nuclear war.

Cold War Tensions and Democratization in Latin America

• US's capitalistic destruction of resources in Latin America stirred radical political parties.
• Countries affected included Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, and Brazil.
• The US was seen as an imperialist "Good Neighbour".
• The US was distracted by wars and the Cold War, leading to single-party rule in Mexico, brutal militaristic leaders in Argentina and Chile, and socialist democracies in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
• The US focused on Nicaragua, using it as ground for the Bay of Pigs Invasion and targeting Sandinista guerrillas in the 1980s.
• Reliance on export economies has resulted in poor domestic economies and debt.
• Mexico had its first multiparty election in 2000 when the opposition PAN party won.

Cold War Ends

• People in Eastern Europe began to revolt over the poor living conditions compared to the West.
• They demanded democracy and self-determination.
• Poland saw a Solidarity movement under Lech Walesa.
• Thousands of workers wanted reform of the communist economic system.
• Reform-minded Mieczyslaw Rakowski became Prime Minister and legalized Solidarity in 1989.
• Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a Solidarity member, became Prime Minister in the first open elections.
• Communism fell in 1990, Lech Walsea became President, and the economy improved rapidly.
• The decline of communism in the Soviet bloc led to East Germany cutting ties with the Soviets.
• The Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, and East and West Germany reunified.
• Germany focused on peace and economic reform instead of violence.

The Soviet Union Collapses

• Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1986.
• Gorbachev urged restructuring of the Soviet economy.
• Gorbachev instituted elements of private ownership and nuclear arms treaties with the US.
• Former Soviet nations separated from the USSR resulting in the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991.
• In the Balkans, ethnic cleansing occurred.
• Many Muslims were murdered by Christian Serbians, and UN troops were involved.
• Most new countries formed constitutional democracies.
• The Cold War ended, and the US emerged as the world's only superpower.

Democracy and Authoritarian Rule in Russia

• Russia looked like a perfect federal state.
• Abrupt introduction to democracy and capitalism led to corruption, high unemployment, poverty, and widespread crime.
• The first president, Boris Yeltsin, faced the challenge of reforming Russia.
• Yeltsin resigned in 1999, and former KGB agent Vladimir Putin became head, alternating between President and Prime Minister.
• This has caused significant unrest in relations with other nations.

Independence Movements and Developments in Asia and Africa

• The Indian National Congress (mostly Hindu) was established in 1885.
• The Muslim League was established in 1906 to increase the rights of Indians.
• The Amritsar Massacre in 1919, where 319 Indians were killed, catapulted resistance.
• Mohandas Gandhi became an important figure in resistance.
• His resistance philosophy involved passive resistance, demonstrations, and boycotts instead of violence.
• Hindu and Muslim groups disagreed while fighting for the same cause.
• Muslims pushed for their own nation called Pakistan.
• Britain granted independence to India after WWII.
• Muslims and Hindus disagreed on how the independent nation should function.
• One group wanted unity between Hindus and Muslims.
• The other wanted to partition the subcontinent and form a separate Muslim nation led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
• Britain separated the subcontinent into three parts: India (Hindu), and Pakistan (Muslim) in two parts.
• Religious persecution and migration resulted in international conflict between Pakistan and India.

Africa

• In 1910, South Africa established a constitution that was discriminatory to native Africans.
• The African National Congress was formed in 1912 to oppose European colonialism.
• In the 1950s, independence movements grew across Africa.
• Gamal Nasser, an Egyptian general, overthrew the Egyptian king and established a republic, inspiring Islamic nationalists.
• Many Africans were undereducated and lacked the skills to build productive, independent nations.
• European influence caused major destruction in social dynamics
• Algeria fought a war for independence against France from 1954-1962.
• Nigeria and Ghana negotiated their freedom from Britain.
• Kenya also negotiated its constitution with Britain.
• Angola and Belgian Congo overthrew colonial governments.
• These actions resulted in civil wars.
• Zimbabwe was among the last to establish majority African rule in 1980.
• 53/54 African nations belong to the African Union, which replaced the Organization of African Unity.
• Still, Chad, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda, and Congo continue to be wrecked by civil wars.
• Conflict between Tutsi and Hutu groups in Rwanda.
• The Tutsi (15% of the population) governed the Hutu and the conflict caused ethnic strife, genocide, and human rights violations after colonial authorities left.
• The Hutu revolted and killed as many as 800,000 Tutsis over 100 days of genocide.

Apartheid In South Africa

• The Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, combining British and Dutch colonies.
• The South Africa Act completely excluded Black people from politics.
• 1923 saw segregation established and enforced.
• In 1926, Black people were banned from certain occupations.
• In 1948, the system of apartheid (racial separation) was established.
• Black people were forced into the worst parts of the country and city slums.
• Nelson Mandela became the leader of the African National Congress in the 1950s.
• He sought to abolish apartheid.
• The Sharpeville massacre resulted in the killing of 67 protesters against apartheid.
• The African National Congress then supported guerrilla warfare resulting in Mandela being jailed in 1964.
• Mandela was released in 1990, and apartheid crumbled.
• He was the first president elected in a free and open election.

Middle East

• After WWI, France was put in charge of Syria and Lebanon.
• Britain was put in charge of Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq (Iran between Britain and Russia).
• Arabia united itself as Saudi Arabia.

Creation of Modern Israel

• Palestine became more and more Islamic.
• Many Jews left the region for what is now modern Israel.
• During WWI, Zionists convinced Arthur Balfour to issue the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
• The declaration stated that Jewish people had the right to live in Palestine without displacing current Palestinians.
• More Jews fleeing antisemitic mobs began flooding into Palestine, and then more came during the 1930s to escape Hitler.
• In 1948, there were two Palestines, one for Jews and one for Muslims.
• As soon as David Ben-Gurion became the first prime minister of Israel, Muslims attacked Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
• Israel fought back and eventually controlled most of Palestine, while Jordan held remaining portions (West Bank).
• The 1967 Six-Day War resulted in Israelis taking over all of Palestine, including the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip (Egypt), and Golan Heights (Syria).
• In 1977, Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist.
• The Camp David Accords was signed between Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt.
• Since then, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has been dedicated to reclaiming land and establishing a Palestinian state.
• The PLO has been unsuccessful in negotiating a homeland.
• In 2000, violence continued and Israel PM Ariel Sharon constructed a wall between the Palestinian West Bank and Israel.
• In 2005, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signed a cease-fire with Israel after previous president Yasser Arafat failed to do so.
• Intense division, military violence, and terrorism still exist, and no advancements have been made.
• When Reza Shah Pahlavi rose to power in 1925 in Iran, Westernization was introduced.
• In the 1960s, rights of women increased drastically which angered Islamic fundamentalists.
• President Jimmy Carter visited Iran to congratulate them on their modernization which was the breaking point for fundamentalists.
• The 1979 Iranian Revolution ousted the current shah and went back to a theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
• Human rights advancements were reversed, and women went back to traditional roles, as the Qu'ran became the basis of the legal system.
• Iraq soon after invaded Iran over border disputes.
• Iraq received quiet support from the US, but still led to an 8-year Iran-Iraq War.
• The power struggle still continues in Iran, and the American-led war complicated matters further.
• The Middle East was sitting on more than two-thirds of the world's oil reserves.
• Multinational corporations rushed to gain drilling rights.
• Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, and Iraq started to earn billions annually.
• The nations organized with oil-exporting nations to form a petroleum cartel (OPEC) and it led to more money and modernization.