Cold War Origins (History) PDF

2 Cold war origins WWII in Europe ended 1945, allies (UK, US, France, Russia) invaded Germany, Germany surrendered. Japan surrendered after the US dropped 2 atomic bombs(Hiroshima and Nagasaki) Conflict became communism vs capitalism - USA vs USSR which were allies. Cold w...

2 Cold war origins WWII in Europe ended 1945, allies (UK, US, France, Russia) invaded Germany, Germany surrendered. Japan surrendered after the US dropped 2 atomic bombs(Hiroshima and Nagasaki) Conflict became communism vs capitalism - USA vs USSR which were allies. Cold war - state of tension, mistrust, rivalry last 40 yrs. Peaked in the late 40’s and 50’s. Ended the 80's when communist government collapsed in Eastern Europe and Russia. No real fight but propaganda and spies. Nuclear weapons were too dangerous for use so less destructive methods were used. Brinkmanship - pushing opponent to brink of reaction Superpowers backed smaller conflicts e.g Vietnam Communism - one party, state owns all with no classes. Censorship and control over freedom Capitalism - free election between parties, private ownership of industry and agriculture with profit earned. Freedom without governmental interference Western allies wanted capitalism(free election) in Central + Eastern Europe. Boundary in Poland and wanted economic resurfacing of Germany The USSR wanted friendly countries as a protective barrier from Germany with communist government “the iron curtain”. Stalin wanted opposite of Allies- Germany weak and boundary in Poland redrawn USSR had been in Eastern Europe since end of WW2 after vacancy left by Hitler’s fall West feared Stalin spreading communism through domino theory Communism was spreading through Eastern Europe. Pressure was applied by the USSR to empower communists and manipulate elections etc. End of 1947 - all of Eastern Europe was communist. Stalin broke promise of free election worried allies that all of Europe could be taken over Tehran conference - western powers declared they would not aid in the freeing of eastern europe, leaving soviets and balkan states to do so alone, Stalin viewed this as intentional ploy to weaken USSR, also felt soviets had rights to eastern europe Yalta conference - held in Feb 1945 to discuss the future of Germany – allies decided to divide Germany in 4 between them. America, Britain, France and Russia each had a portion. The capital Berlin was in the Soviet zone but was also divided into 4, all temporary compromises Potsdam conference - continuation of Yalta, end of WW2 between USSR (Stalin), USA (Truman) and Britain (Churchill then Atlee) to decide punishment of Nazi Germany. Showed increased tension in allies caused by: ○ Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe (sphere of influence, buffer from Us and atomic bombs) ○ New leadership in US and Britain distrusted Stalin (Truman and Atlee) ○ Allyship ending with war ○ US tested an atomic bomb (“the gadget”) and agreed with Britain to end war with it but kept it from Stalin who found out about this through the KGB  ○ Disagreement of German reparations and what to do with Germany Iron curtain speech - speech of churchill condemning soviet communism angering Stalin Domino theory - theory that if one country fell to communism all that surrounded it were at high risk of doing so too The Truman doctrine displayed US foreign policy shift from isolation to containment, granting countries facing Soviet threats and civil war with military aid, money. This happened in Greece( support from satellite states), Iran(soviet occupation after war and allies leaving) and Turkey(land disputes from WW1) The Marshall plan - US giving countries post-war financial aid to countries to better their economies to lead them away from conditions that could result in communism in return for them aligning with the western POV, happened in countries such as France, Germany and Britain Cominform (link/centralise soviet states under commonality), molotov plan (with comecon) and comecon ( aid and economic policy) were reactions to truman doctrine and marshall plan Marshall plan prompted the creation of cominform to better connect soviet states, called it “dollar diplomacy” and later comecon Berlin crises Berlin blockade and airlift ○ West germany unified by allies, currency reformed and marshall aid granted ○ Economic prosperity of West made STaln take action (economic warfare) ○ USSR closed all routes to west berlin forming the blockade and gave west berliners generous rations to compensate but the west zones airlifted in supplies at heavy cost to display resolve to keep berlin ○ West berliners also opposed soviets, denying soviet reunification of berlin ○ Became FRG (federal republic of germany) vs GDR ( German democratic republic) Uprisings in East Berlin ○ Workers demanded greater freedoms (economic and political) and German unity ○ Protests violently crushed with 600 executed and 300k fled to west germany ○ USSR demanded berlin but was denied without much backlash from Khrushchev showing improvement of relations, Khrushchev and eisenhower even due to meet ○ Cut out by U2 spy plane incident, plane shot down in USSR that US refused to claim until damning evidence ○ Eliminated possibility of talks over berlin Berlin wall ○ Mass migration from E to W germany for better economy and opportunity becoming troubling to USSR ○ thus , wall erected with machine gun posts, searchlights etc to divide berlin, many killed attempting to escape  ○ Kennedy allowed wall so as not to provoke USSR into war, gave Ich bin ein Berliner speech boosting FDR morale and showing western resolve to soviets Nato and the warsaw pact Formation of NATO ○ Fear that socialism would spread to W europe, response to soviet aggression ○ Military alliance of western europe to protect all from soviets, one is attacked all will retaliate with American support(needed to have fighting chance) ○ USSR viewed as spreading sphere of influence for eventual attack ○ Policy expanded globally with SEATO and CENTO Formation of warsaw pact ○ Response to formation of NATO especially with west germany as a member leading to war in germany for germany ○ WEst viewed it as means of retaining control, soviet soldiers in all soviet states even despite some uprisings e.g hungary which was crushed and in Czechoslovakia ○ Brezhnev doctrine is then announced making all satellite states iron one party socialist states in the warsaw pact Became competition of military (MAD, strategic arms limitations, arms race), science and technology (space race) and economy ( Germany and berlin), statutes (propaganda usage) and information(espionage) Cuba Inequality and poverty led to Revolution led to Castro in power under US suspicion when socialist reforms e.g collectivisation and nationalisation of industry Us banned cuban imports and broke relations off, US became more hostile when soviet-cuba relations increased with soviet aid in cuba, domino theory fear and fear of soviet ally so close US planned the Bay of Pigs invasion, cuban deserters were made into task force to invade at bay of pigs and failed miserably, US publicly exposed and shamed Led castro further down soviet path announcing communism Cuban missile crisis ○ Castro greenlighted building of soviet missile bases in cuba to counter NATO missiles in Turkey ○ Americans learned of this and were alarmed cuba could target whole country but avoided confrontation by placing blockade in the sea ○ US forces ready for war if blockade was violated, close to all out nuclear war but khrushchev ordered retreat after negotiations for dismantling of bases in CUba and turkey in return of cuba going uninvaded ○ Brinkmanship to the fullest extent, Kremlin to White house communications were established China's relationship with: Itself Became people's republic under Mao after civil war with Nationalists, different take on Leninism but strong belief in Leninist view of communism Aggressive and radical 5 year plans, great leap forward Cultural revolution - Mao attempting to stomp out any “revisionists” by establishing his cult of personality, disbanding schools Became xenophobic especially of western peoples Taiwan(Formosa) - nationalist china NAtionalists forced to relocate here after civil war ( largely recognized as true government of China by West) Taiwan refused to recognise CCP (communist bandits) US support of Taiwan protected them from attack(threatened to go nuclear after Chinese attack on Taiwan) The USSR Initially thought to be a blossoming communist block of the eastern world, Mao and Stalin signed a friendship treaty giving PRC aid. also both supported North Korea. China wanted to be seen as equal but USSR saw them more as a satellite state differing beliefs (USSR valued urban proletariat while PRC valued rural peasantry) Mao wanted extended revolution into classless society but soviets did not Khrushchev further reduced original communist view, strive for peaceful co existence Mao accused Khrushchev of revisionism, veering away from marxist-leninism and stalinism, also judged handling of cuban missile crisis border disputes, aid discrepancy, PRC desire for nuclear weapons and struggle for influence also contributed ( became communism vs socialism, a struggle for reign over the red east world), The USA Began with US attempting containment, supporting nationalists and recognised them as Chinese government Feared combined power of USSR and China, destablilsed China trying to create a rift between them (wedge strategy) US block PRC from UN, banned trade with them tension rose in korean war, US supporting South similar situation in Vietnam war US also supported other Asian capitalists and formed SEATO, ANZUS to destabilise China Once Sino-soviet split was obvious US and China became closer ○ Gave USA an opening, started friendly period between them ○ Ping pong diplomacy and Nixon ended up visiting Tibet Tibet was distinct, led by Dalai Lama and was buddhist PLA invaded Tibet and made it an independent part of China (17 point agreement gave limited freedoms but gave China control over external affairs and military) Attempts at re-education were called cultural genocide Guerilla resistance to PLA was supported by US and plans to arrest DL caused revolt China crushed revolt, DL fled to India via mountains China increased hold on Tibet India One of first to support PRC, signed peaceful coexistence treaty and recognised Tibet as part of China but land disputes came about China didn’t accept british indian colonies(better access to Tibet), India set up military posts in both areas (USSR supported India in border disputes) Tibetan uprising ramped up tension because DL had refuge in India small war, India backed by US and USSR eventually split land Mao proved he could beat Tibetan supporters but gained suspicion India was now aligned with West from neutrality Vietnam communists north vs non-communist south US supported south and PRC supported north BUT Mao didn’t want to send troops (and too much aid during cultural revolution) USSR began to take over Relationship became tense as Vietnam grew closer to the USSR China invaded north vietnam after they invaded cambodia ( wanted to stop Khmer Rouge) The end of the cold war Gorbachev and his reforms 1985 - USSR in financial crisis ( arms race, space race, goods shortage, failing economy, inequality, war in Afghanistan against west sided Mujahedin but became Soviet version of Vietnam war draining resources and morale, controlling satellite states), Gorbachev comes into power Gorbachev withdrew from Afghanistan, wanted internal change so he introduced: ○ Glasnost (openness) - encouraged free speech and critisicm of government and allowed for non-soviet art and media(still government controlled but could report freely), Stalin questioned and political prisoners released. Censorship done away with  ○ Perestroika (restructuring) – aimed to boost soviet economy , get rid of corruption and reform communist system – market became more governed by supply and demand ( market forces), privste business aloowed and banks created and state subsidies were largely removed and replaced with supply and demand to power economy Gorbachev aimed to restore economy while reducing communist party control of it, making everything more democratic, reduce military spending, gain western support and investment and allow some elections while keeping power in hand of communist party Impact of reforms Western leaders supported gorbachev changes and became less reluctant to work with the USSR Arms race was taking to many resources paired with reform and had to be done away with, USSR began to take nonn-violent approach Reagan met with Gorbachev and agreed to reduce nuclear weapons Soviet Union did not take well to Gorbachev’s changes – perestroika was unsuccessful(systems collapsed without state control and cost of living went up with shortages and inflation with low production and debt) Glasnost allowed people to judge the government an dthey received hate and lost support and hold on people Gave soviet states the chance to challenge annexing of themselves Gorbachev’s reforms were taken much further Become battle of Conservative(hardline communists) and reformers such as Boris Yeltsin who claimed reforms had not gone far enough and wanted full democracy, dissolving the USSR and this gave him much support Eastern Europe First protests in Poland under Pope who didnt support communism and most Polish were catholic, USSR didnt allow religion, economic problems grew and workers strikes started Solidarity - Polish workers union led by Lech Walesa that grew from workers in Gdansk shipyard and put forward 21 point reform doc to gov which was accepted, Gained popularity and had 9m+ members in 4 months. (80% of workforce) Supportedn by NATO and west Solidarity became alternative to communism, was later banned after USSR brought military and martial law was inroduced, leaders arrested and protests crushed Kept working and came back in to the frame working with catholic church whioe criticising gov, neighbouring countries started to follow Due to military defunding, red army unequipped to help red states under fire from liberation seekers Held “Round Table Talks” with leaders, Poland would later have first free elections due to pressure and Solidarity would win making Lech Walesa president but Tedeusz Mazowieck was first non-communist leader in eastern bloc before him Hungary then followed with reforms and removal of itself from the iron curtain Germany and Berlin  Hungarian reforms allowed for open border that allowed East Germans an escape route to west germany through hungary and then Austria Government reacted, closed the border and protests took place in Berlin and other cities Gorbachev then visited, said USSR would not help crush protests and GDR troops did not follow orders and shoot protesters People marched to berlin wall and started chipping away at the wall while guards did not open fire, wall was taken down and a year later germans voted for reunification Fall of berlin wall inspired others such as Czechoslovakia (non-violent violet revolutions) where protests led to reform and then formation of democratic government Bulgarian dictator overthrown, ROmanian revolution took place against poor standard of living and authoritarianism Warsaw pact no longer existed, Iron curtain was gone and berlin wall was disintegrated Nationalism led to anger with Russian dominance and leadership States such as Latvia declared independence Coup against Gorbachev GOrbachev was losing power and control to Yeltsin (leader of Russia) and many satellite states had now declared independence Russian conservatives in the military staged a coup to save the USSR and arrested Gorbachev Coup was stopped by huge crowds behind the leadership of Boris Yeltsin climbing on a tank and calling for a stop \, gaining him moore support USSR replaced by Commonwealth of independent states(independent states freely linked together)[CIS} Turning point in South Africa: collapse of the USSR and its impact on SA Western policy on SOuth Africa West worried about communist governments in Angola and Mozambique West supported apartheid due to USSR assisting and training MK in Tanzania, ZAmbia and the USSR, SA was in an important position for sea routes Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan did not support sanctions of SA because of this and due to being anti-communist Towards end of war politics were no longer a factor and west could support end of apartheid, talking to the ANC Changing attitudes in SA Apartheid government used threat of communsm to gain foreign support, could no longer do this after collapse of the USSR and west stopped supporting national party As communism lost ground in Eastern Europe so did this fear The ANC lost source of aid in USSR after its collapse and starting to negotiate, SA was not of high importance to the USSR as they were focused on the eastern bloc Cuito CUanavale  Civil war in Angola, NP supporting UNITA ( Union for total independence in Angola lost to Cuban supported MPLA (nMovement for the Revolution of Angola) and Angolan forces which led to changes Ajority rule in namibia as a result gave ANC hope for the same De Klerk Global situation and protess led to NP tension FW De Klerk came in and was forced to instate refroms, releasing political prisoners and unbanning black parties and negotiationn for the end of apartheid Couldnt have haooended without collapse of USSR (allowed De Klerk to consider change in speech after collapse of the Berlin Wall Gorbachev and Bush announced end of Cold War New World Order The New world order had to be created to restore the balance to power after the Cold War because the USA had become the sole, dominant world power. Globalisation - the movement of people, information, investments, goods and services around the world and how these changes have shaped the world in the las 20-30 years Key features of globalisation that have allowed the world to become ‘smaller’ (more heavily linked) ○ Small distances - as a result of air travel, communications advancements etc far places have become more accessible ○ Availability of news and information - Technology (Internet, satellite television, smart phones) has allowed for information to travel around the world resoundingly fas ○ Disappearance of borders and greater migration of people - It has become easier for goods and people to move around the world ○ The dominance of global corporations and development of a shared global culture The new balance of power and its impact on Africa Democratic movements in Africa empowered as a result of fall of communism, much more multi-party democracies Withdrawal of superpower aid and need for good governance to receive donor aid resulted in fall of many regimes and promoted democracy North and South Relations ○ Globalisation disadvantaged Africa (was behind) and many African countries were in debt, Africa not caught up enough to reao globalisation benefits ○ Global South now at a disadvantage with large inequalities but is beginning to get better (developing → EMERGING) Dominance of Western Capitalism Capitalism had become the world’s primary ideology  Bretton Woods(1944( - meeting in USA where Allied leaders decide on ‘free trade’ tp be best way of restrengthening economies Led to formation of global economy(even containing former communist countries) dictated by three groups : ○ International Monetary Fund (IMF) - made to regulate international financial activities like exchange rates and granting countries loans in return for countries subscribing to capitalism(formally called Structural Adjustment Programs) ○ World Bank - made to help build up Europe after ww2, now funds projects in developing countries infrastructures ○ World Trade Organisation - promotes free trade and is held up by G8 (biggest industrialised countries) Civil resistance to global capitalism Globalisation received protest, first majorly in Seattle (1999), belief that WTO was supporting corporations and disregarding people Redress of past economic injustices (not examinable) South Africa had a large disparity, governemt tried to address this: ○ Reconstruction adn Development Program (RDP) - redistribution o fwealth and building of homes while providing people with necessities ○ RDP goals were unrealistic due to lack of funding ○ RDP was replaced by GEAR to focus on economic growth instead of redistribution ( Growth, employment, and redistribution) ○ SACP and COSATU were unhappy with shift because GEAR could owrsen inequality ○ Parliament also establisedh a land claim commission to allow redistribution of land: more effective in urban areas ○ Some wanted a developmental state: steeringe economy to balance of social and economic growth and had 50% of resources directed to things like health care, gov also used these resources for grants