After the blockade of Berlin the two superpowers were engaged in conflict until 1989, DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLD WAR communist bloc 1985 Graton o he Warsaw Pact 1856 Suppeesion of the ungarian Upesing 1959 Guba, Fe Casto’ revlon 1952 The Cuban risks | 1956 suee | canal Crisis ae [1949 creation od ONTO ssiitunan “i we Lone 1968 The Saves 1979 USSR Ivades| ‘Aghanstan 1985 Begioning of Perestroika by Gorbachev 1801 Disappearance of USSR tse | 109 aa alviemm | Wat tora ys leo soieae na Sy Grnata : THE EARLY STAGES OF THE COLD WAR The Cold War begins In 1948 the USA, Great Britain and France decided to merge their German sections and their territory in Berlin. The USSR didn't agree and Stalin blockad- ‘ed the cityThe USA and Britain flew in supplies for the civiian population of western Berlin over the heads of the Soviet soldiers — this was called the ‘Berlin Aitlft. The Soviets did not dare to shoot down the planes, because they knew this would begin a new war When Stalin ended the blockade in 1949, after 10 months, Berlin was divided into east and west, and two new states were forrmed: West Germany (a Federal Repub- lic) and East Germany (Communist). East Berlin became the capital of the new communist nation. A new frontier had been created between the two super powers, It was the beginning of the Cold War. 1 wc oi Creation of the military blocs ‘To make things worse for Stalin NATO (North At- lantic Treaty Organisation) was formed in 1949 by the USA and the western countries, as a military pact against the Soviet threat. Stalin reacted, but not until 1955, when the USSR and its allies formed the Warsaw Pact. Cone ken Fi foalProxy Wars Proxy Wars were conflicts that ‘would be fought by countries hostile or sympathetic to the ‘two different systems that we have already outlined, namely communism and capitalism. ‘They were ‘prony' wars because the USA and the Soviet Union did not fight each other face-to face, but were rather represent- ed’ by other countries, By 1949, Europe was clearly die vided into east and west, communist and capitalist. ‘Yugoslavia (under Josip Tito) was communist, but remained independent from the Soviet Union. The Iron Curtain was well and truly established. Stalin ‘was given his sphere of influence’. The world was ‘bi-polatised,, politically speaking tt looked as though European co-existence was possible, but there was the new problem of nuclear ‘weapons. The Soviets could not permit the USA to develop nuclear weapons alone, In August 1949 the Soviets tested a nuclear device, a prototype of the hydrogen bamb The West was alarmed and the ‘Arms Race! had begun. But the USA and Russia knew that it would be almost im- possible to fight each other now, because of the massive destruction that nuclear weapons could cause, The most important consequence of the Korean War was that the USA (and its allies) belioved that ‘the containment’ policy against communism was the best one. But the idea of containment was modified slightly when President Eisenhower frst mentioned a new idea on a radio interview in 1954. He was talking about Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam). He said that ifit fell to the communists, then there was a possibilty that Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia would also be taken over ~ that they would fall like successive dominoes, This would THE ‘DOMINO THEORY’ ‘This was the theory of deterrence’. The idea was that you woulein’t attack with nuclear weapons, be- ‘ause you knew that the enemy would defend itself ~ with nuclear weapons. So nobody would use them, Nevertheless. this did not stop a series of proxy’ wars being fought between communists and the ‘West. Here we will describe only the most signifi cant conflicts, ‘The first of these conflicts was in Korea, and itis important historically because it represented the first major conflict of the Cold War period, and it was the first major proxy war: it was also an early example of the consequences of decolonisation ‘that had begun after World War Two, because the Korean peninsula had been occupied by the japan. ese since 1910. In 1945, when the Japanese surren- dered, they were obliged to leave Korea They were replaced by the Soviets — who supported North Korea, and the Americans, who supported South Korea ~ an arrangement agreed at the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The two countries were divid- ed by the 38° parallel — a demilitarised zone, ‘To add to the problems, the Communist State of China had been set up by Mao Tse Tung in 1949, (after he had won the civil war that started at the end of WWI), and the western powers were wor- ried in case the whole of the peninsula became communist, The protection of South Korea by the USA was the first real test of the ‘Truman Doctrine’, leave countries like Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand and Australia with the responsibilty of resisting communism, because they were geographically the closest. Eisenhower was worried that some of them might even become friendly with the Sovi. ets, mainly through trade. Dsight David Esenhower US General ‘and pain (1890-1969)acu ha USC aS) Situation: After Potsdam, Korea was divided into two states: + North Korea was commu- nist under the government of Kirn fl Sung, supported by the Soviet Union. + South Korea was anti-com- rmunist, under the dictator. ship of Syngman Rhee, sup- ported by the USA, +The two Korean leaders hated each other Both lead- cers wanted to preside over the entire Korean peninsula, + In 1949, Kim Sung visited Stalin then Mao Zedong to ask them for'permission’ to invade South Korea. They gave this permission, + Injune 1950, North Korea crossed the 38" paral- lel and invaded South Korea. + The United Nations asked their members to in- tervene. The UN troops were 80% American, led by General MacArthur The North Koreans were very successful at first, and they captured most of South Korea, But the on Gan Consequences of war UN troops fought back and by October they had crossed back over the 38" parallel and were advancing towards the Chinese border: The Chinese were alarmed, and attacked the UN forces with 500,000 soldiers, re-capturing North Korea. Then MacArthur asked ‘Truman to use a nuclear bomb to stop the Chinese, Truman refused, and sacked MacArthur The UN forces fought back ‘again, this time using jot-ighters and heavy bombing of civiian and miltary targets with incen- diary devices (napalm). Al- though the Soviets also sup- plied jet fighters to the North Koreans, the United States gradually began to win the war When Stalin died in 1953 and Truman was replaced by President Eisenhower the two sides agreed to stop fighting. ‘The war ended in July 1953 ina stalemate. The two superpowers left and the borders were retumed to the same as 1950. The nuclear risk had decreased, but only after 5 million deaths, most of them civilian,A eee tec} ‘Another of the critical Cold War events, the Cuban crisis, was the closest the world has ever come to a full-scale nuclear war ‘The United States’ Cold War policy, as we know, ‘was one of ‘containment’ and the avoidance of the domino effect. But it also wanted to maintain friendly relations with all countries. geographically close. The USA had supported the Cuban dictator Batista since 1952, because American businessmen ‘owned much of Cuba's industry, and made big prof- its, white most Cubans lived in poverty. In 1959, del Castro overthrew Batista and set up a new regime. Castro was pro-Communist, and immedi- ately established friendly relations with the Soviet, Union But what caused the crisis with the USAT * Castro nationalised hundreds of US comparies. * Cuba began to sel its sugar to Russia, instead of to the USA. * Cuba began to buy weapons from Russ + The CIA began to train Cuban exiles in America to invade Cuba. When President Kennedy became US President in 1961, he authorised the invasion of Cubba by the ex- ites, They tried to invade the Bay of Pigs, but were easily defeated by the Cubans. Everyone knew that the USA had supported the rebels, and as a result Castro became more popular Then in 1962 a US U2 spy plane took photographs of several nuclear missile bases being built in Cuba. Cuba was only 100 miles from the US coast. The ‘nuclear missiles would be brought in ships from Russia. Khrushchev had done this because the ‘Americans had built a nuclear base in Turkey, close to the Soviet Union. The USA began a naval block- ‘ade of Cuba, and demanded that the missile bases bbe dismantled, When Russian ships continued to sail ‘towards Cuba in October 1962, people thought ‘that a nuclear war was really beginning. lin the end, the ships turned round, Khrushchev promised to withdraw the missle bases from Cu ba, and Kennedy prom- ised to withdraw his from Turkey. War was a avoided, but only just. aber 27, 1962-4 10S In 1963, the two coun 98 He apenan tries signed @ Nuclear Test Galices SH pate in Ban Treaty, which limited ibe Ne ane ota ae tests of these weapons “Pefifasthouattatia nuclear Kennedy became very ‘Buttto was removed fom pow Hi er in 1964 and replaced by Brezhnev, ie Aikhipo) said. ly saved’ the world Fel Casiro ats Medial Congress.Cuba (Novem 1999) Watcha eg. anrepated popular, but Khrushchev oe yal officers ewe said yes, fasiiiMexanidrovieh, ‘He proba~ 0 'this;:theBr dha Gs ‘The Vietnam War was a good example of the ‘domino effect’, Vietnam had been part of the French empire in Indo-China but by 1954 after the ‘decolonisation of Indo-China, Vietnam was divided into two under the 17 Porolle! North Vietnam was under a communist government, and South Viet nam under a government friendly to the west In 1956 there should have been an election to choose a government for a united Vietnam, but the United States opposed it because they were aft that the communists would win and that other states would follow ~ like dominoes. Many people in South Vietnam resented this, which led to the Vi etcong or NLF (National Liberation Front) fighting to overthrow the South Vietnamese government, with help from the North Vietnamese. ST a @ wmewnee ‘The new US President, Lyndon Johnson, was de- termined to keep South Vietnam communist-free, so he sent 23,000 troops in 1964, By 1967 there were 500,000 American troops in South Vietnam. But the war was very difi- cult for the Americans. It ended in 1975 when Saigon fell to the Vietcong, and the USA left Vietnam. MEKONG DELTA, Vieinar (1970). Air Force cron 8 00 {combat set ‘ation over reutheasiem Aaa ‘The Vietnam War was very traumatic for both sides. * For the USA, because they lost the war and ex- perienced ideological divisions in their own country. + ForVietnam, because the country was devastat- ced by the waz with 4 milion civilians killed. After the war ended, many South Vietnamese who had supported the government were tortured or obliged to leave. These refugees became known as the Boat People!‘DETENTE’ AND TENSION Eisenhower's idea of the domino effect had less im- mediate consequences than the basic results of the Korean War and the different events that happened in the 1950s.These events led to a ‘détente’ situa- tion after 1955, The events were: + The United States realised that it could not fight China again, with its massive population + The Korean War showed how easy it was for a regional conflict to suddenly escalate and cause a possible world war + Russia accused the USA of using the UN for its ‘own purposes, + In 1953 Stalin died and was replaced by Khrushchev. + In 1953 Eisenhower, who was less anti-comrnu- nist, replaced Truman as American president. + In 1955 Eisenhower and Khrushchev met at the Geneva Conference, and agreed to reduce Cold War tensions * Khrushchev rejected the policies of Stalin and shocked the Russians by publicly criticising the old regime. + In 1956 Khrushchey called for'peaceful coexistence’ between East and West, ‘or between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The first years after the Ko- Nita Sergyevich Khuschew reanWarwere adefinite at. __Sovetpollan (894-1971) tempt to reduce (relax) tensions between the two superpowers, called ‘dé- tente’ (relaxation in French). The only events that ‘threatened this ‘peace’ were the Suez (Canal) Cri- sis and the Hungarian Uprising. both in the Octo- berNoverber of 1956. ‘The Suez Crisis began when the Egyptian leader Nosser decided to nationalise the Suez Canal Com- pany in 1955. This caused problems for Great Britain and France, because the canal had become the major gale’ for Europe's booming oil industry. Britain also owned 45% of the company. Also, the new state of Israel, (whose history we learnt last year) — and whose relationship with Egypt was very bad — also wanted to use the canal. Egypt was becoming friendly with the Soviet Union and China, and had bought arms cheaply from both. A coalition of French, British and Israeli troops in- vaded the northern canal zone and fought with Egyptian soldiers. The USA criticised the invasion and was afraid it would provoke the Soviets into fighting for the Egyptians. After US pressure, in 1957 the war ended, and the UN sent in a peace-force (UNEF— United Nations Emergency Force) to pro- tect the area.The English Prime Minister, Eden, was. forced to resign, the French pulled their troops out ‘of NATO, and the Egyptian leader Nasser became a hero from the more militant Arab perspective. ‘The Hungarian Uprising took place almost simulta- neously, Hungary was part of the Soviet bloc, but after the death of Stalin the nationalists in Hungary saw a chance to free the country from the Soviets and to regain control. The nationalists rose up in ‘October against the ‘puppet’ government, and in- LANGUAGE. MATICA sialled their own communist leader, Imre Nogy. The USA an- nounced that they would not support the uprising, so Khrushchev realised that he could act without beginning ar- other major superpower con- flict, When Nagy announced that he would allow free elec.” tions and take Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact, the Soviets sent in soldiers to brutally sup- press the revolution and main tain Hungary's position in the Soviet Union, Docu