Cold War Handout PDF

COLD WAR INSTRUCTOR: MS. MINAMI O. IWAYAMA, MA  WATCH: COLD WAR OVERSIMPLIFIED PART 1 LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79TpDe3t2g...

COLD WAR INSTRUCTOR: MS. MINAMI O. IWAYAMA, MA  WATCH: COLD WAR OVERSIMPLIFIED PART 1 LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79TpDe3t2g PART 2 LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIYy32RuHao  WORLD WAR II World War II is a battle between two parties, the AXIS POWERS (A.K.A. the “Rome-Berlin-Tokyo-Axis”) and the ALLIED FORCES (Key players: United States, Great Britain, France, and later the Soviet Union)  WORLD WAR II World War II ended with Germany’s surrender (a week after Adolf Hitler’s suicide) and Japan’s Emperor Hirohito’s surrender (after US detonated an atomic bomb to Hiroshima and Nagasaki). The events that transpired during the WWII contributed to the COLD WAR  CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR TENSIONS BETWEEN SUPERPOWERS NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT  TENSIONS BETWEEN SUPERPOWERS America and the Western Bloc - A.K.A. "Free World" or "Western world" - The group of capitalist countries under the United States Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS): Australia, New Zealand, and United States SouthEast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO): Pakistan (until 1972), Philippines, Thailand, South Vietnam (until 1975) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany (from 1990), West Germany (1955-1990), Greece (from 1952), Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain (from 1982), Turkey (from 1952), United Kingdom, and United States Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc - A.K.A. Socialist, Communist, and the Soviet Bloc Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics/USSR) - a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991 - its government and economy were highly centralized - the country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party Eastern Europe: East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania Asia: Mongolian People's Republic, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the People's Republic of China America: Caribbean Republic of Cuba  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE World War II ended in Europe by May of 1945 with the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allied Powers, but the war did not officially end in the Pacific Theater until the atomic bombing of Japan in August of 1945. The United States had developed its atomic weaponry during the final years of the war through its secretive program called the Manhattan Project. With the atomic bombing of Japan, the United States had begun the era of nuclear weapons and the nuclear arms race.  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE the United States was the only nation in the world to contain atomic weapons. As such, the Soviet Union was not able to militaristically challenge the United States and worked to develop their own atomic weapons. However, the Soviet Union was later able to perform a test of their first atomic bomb codenamed ‘First Lighting’. This increased the tensions and anger between the two superpowers. Because of the development of nuclear weapons, the two nations did not trust each other.  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE Moscow (Soviet) and Washington (US) are thousands of miles apart (4860 miles), and as of the late 1940s, rockets can only reach targets up to a few hundred miles away. Hence, the best way to cover the shortfall is by launching rockets through space. Both Soviet and America were able to develop rockets that can carry weapons above the atmosphere, which led to the idea of utilizing rockets to spy on the enemy. This led to the “Space Race”  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE “SPACE RACE” Inspired by the idea of using rockets to spy on the enemy, the race to get the first satellite into orbit began (“Sputnik 1” by the Soviets was the first technology to orbit the earth). Having this enemy technology flying over their homeland made the Americans terrified. America established the NASA with the goal of launching the first human on space. However, the Soviet Union was able to launch ahead of them (Major Yuri Gagarin is the first man in space). The Soviet Union was also able to achieve the following: launch the first object to reach the moon (Luna 2), launch the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshvova), and have the first man to do a “spacewalk” (Alexsei Leonov). This devastated America.  NUCLEAR ARMS RACE Apollo 8 was America’s first victory in space– it launched the first humans to orbit the moon and it took the first photo of Earth from the moon (“Earthrise”). Neil Armstrong of America becomes the first human to walk on the moon. The Soviet focused on launching the first space station (“Mir”) instead of targeting the moon. [Trivia: In 1991, Sergei Krikalev, the man inside “Mir” was stuck in space as the Soviet Union collapsed. He ended up staying in space for a year before getting his permission to return.]  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT The main principles of the United States and the Western Bloc is based upon capitalism and democracy, while the main principles of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc is based upon communism and dictatorship.  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT CAPITALISM An economic system based upon the values of individualism and promotes individual liberty over government regulation and control. Capitalism sought to reject the idea of government control of the economy and instead put the focus on individuals (“laissez-faire” – literally “to leave alone”). Capitalist societies are often based on free-market economies that operates on the concepts of private ownership, competition, free trade, self-reliance, self- interest, and the principles of supply and demand. Hence, America and the Western Bloc being called the “FREE WORLD”  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT COMMUNISM An economic system that is based on the principles of Marx’s socialism. Communism is centered on the idea of establishing a society based upon public ownership of the means of production and the removal of any form of social classes. It focuses on the government having much more control over the economy, and is often referred to as a command economy. Hence, the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc being called the “Socialist” “Communist” Bloc.  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT DEMOCRACY A Democracy is a political system that is associated with the idea that power or authority in a society rests with the people. In a democracy the people have the power over the major aspects of government. In general, the people exercise their authority through elections in which they choose others to represent their interests in a formal legislative structure.  IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT DICTATORSHIP A form of government in which most or all authority of the country is in the hands of a single individual; the leader. A dictatorship is ruled by a single person who generally acts to protect his own position and power over the welfare of the citizens. [Note: One of the criticisms on the Socialist-Communist Soviet is that it had failed to exercise communism because the leaders had become self-serving dictators.] The ideological conflict - campaign of the Soviet to spread communism around the world [“Soviet Expansionism”- A form of communism with the goal of converting the world into a communist society that is stateless] vs. America’s containment projects [George Kennan’s “Long Telegram” (policy to contain Soviet Expansionism) and “Truman Doctrine” (policy to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion)] drew these two superpowers into a COLD WAR.  COLD WAR COLD WAR (1947–1991) - A period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states (Eastern Bloc), and the United States with its allies (Western Bloc) after World War II. - “Cold" because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two blocs, but each competed through the Nuclear Race and the Proxy Wars. PROXY WARS - An armed conflict between two states or non-state actors which act on the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities.  COLD WAR - The establishment of the Alliance of Nations made the war even “colder”. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - A.K.A. North Atlantic Alliance - An intergovernmental military alliance between North American and European countries. - Constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party WARSAW PACT - A.K.A. the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance - A collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland between the Soviet Union and seven Eastern Bloc satellite states - Established as a balance of power or counterweight to NATO The Cold War began to de-escalate after the Revolutions of 1989. The extensive use of campaigns of civil resistance, demonstrating popular opposition to the continuation of one-party rule and contributing to the pressure for change. Events of the full-blown revolution first began in Poland in 1989 and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided East and West Germany. It came to symbolize physically the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War In 1989 a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries—Poland and Hungary in particular—caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Wall. 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing during 1989. Protests started on 15 April and were forcibly suppressed on 4 June when the government declared martial law and sent the military to occupy central parts of Beijing Later known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, troops with assault rifles and tanks fired at the demonstrators. Although it failed to stimulate major political changes in China, the Tiananmen Square protests influenced protesters around the globe. The collapse of the USSR in 1991 was the end of the Cold War. The Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, resulting in the following new countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The rest of the Soviet Union became the Russian Federation in December 1991  COLD WAR CREATED THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE The origin of dividing countries into the North-South Divide arose during the Cold War of the mid 20th century. During this time, countries were primarily categorized according to their alignment between the Russian East and the American West. – Countries in the East like the Soviet Union and China which became classified as Second World countries. – In the west, the United States and its allies were labeled as First World countries. – This division left out many countries which were poorer than the First World and Second World countries. The poor countries were eventually labeled as Third World countries. the Second This categorization was later abandoned after World countries joined the First World countries.  COLD WAR CREATED THE NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE New criteria was established to categorize countries which was named the North-South Divide where First World countries were known as the North while Third World countries comprised the South. END