The Cold War

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The Cold War

• 1949-1989

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Shape of the Cold War
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The Cold War in Asia
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In 1949, the Communists, under Mao Zedong, won
control over China.
The U.S. Refused to recognize the new Chinese
government--- an international crisis ensued.
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Korea had been part of the Japanese empire since
1910. Following World War II, it was divided into
two sections, North Korea, a communist regime
allied with the Soviet Union, and South Korea.
In 1950, Stalin gave into the pressure from North
Korean leader, Kim Il-Sung, to launch an invasion
of the South in an attempt to unify the country.
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A UN sponsored force, comprised largely of
American troops, fought alongside the South
Koreans from 1950-1953
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Spurred on by the U.S. policy in Korea, France
invoked their support in their attempt to hold on
to their colony in Vietnam.
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Japans economy was helped tremendously as the
U.S. spent 3.5 billion on military supplies to
fund the war.
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The war costs 3 million people their lives, and
at the end, Korea was still divided.
NATO decides to strengthen itself U.S. Defense
spending 13.5 billion to 50 billion/year.
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Bridges Brinksmanship
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Stalin died in 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower became
the U.S. President. Eisenhowers foreign policy
was shaped by his belief that if you try to run
away from nuclear war, if you are scared to go
to the brink, you are lost. (--Dulles) Unlike
Truman whos policy was to contain communism,
Eisenhower believed he had a moral obligation to
try to roll it back.
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In 1955, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the new
Soviet Leader. In 1955 leaders from the Soviet
Union, Great Britain, France, and the U.S. met in
Geneva to discuss how to step back, a bit from
the brink. In 1956 Khrushchev visited England.
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Khrushchev himself gave a secret speech in 1955
in which he suggested that there should be more
openness in Soviet society and that it is
ridiculous to think that revolutions are made to
order.
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Following his Secret Speech, Khrushchev had
also begun a program of de-Stalinization which
included releasing some four million prisoners
from slave labor camps in Siberia and releasing
some restraints on Free Speech.
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His secret speech also seems to have urged reform
movements in Poland and Hungary. In Poland
popular protests brought back their leader,
Wladislaw Gomulka. But in Hungary, the people,
led by Imre Nagy, demanded to leave the Warsaw
Pact.
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Khrushchev would not allow this and he sent in
tanks and soldier to repress the rebellion
20,000 Hungarians died.
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But instead of getting a hard-line Stalinist,
their new leader was Janos Kadar, relatively
progressive, and Hungary soon became one of the
most liberal countries in Eastern Europe.
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But this brutal suppression of the Hungarian
Revolt made the Cold War a bit chillier. In
response, the Soviets announced a voluntary ban
on nuclear testing in 1958. Khrushchev even
visited the U.S. in 1959, with hopes that new
talks would begin in 1960.
The U.S. had been rattled by the launch of
Sputnik in 1957.
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But then . . . in May, 1960, as Eisenhower and
Khrushchev were in Paris sitting down to talk . .
. Francis Gary Powers U2 Spy plane was shot down.
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A best-seller in America Herman Kahns On
Thermonuclear War.
At the end of the war, if there are two
Americans and one Russian, we win.-- General
Tommy Powers, Commander of the U.S. Strategic Air
Command.
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And then there was the Berlin Wall . . .
Berlin is the testicles of the West . . . Every
time I want to make the West scream, I squeeze
Berlin. -- N. Khrushchev.
A wall is a hell of a lot better than a
war. --John F. Kennedy.
Between 1948-1961, 2.8 million East Germans fled
into West Berlin 1/6 of the population! Two
weeks after the wall went up, the U.S.S.R resumed
nuclear testing.
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Meanwhile, in Cuba, Fidel Castro, toppled the
corrupt, but pro-U.S. regime of Fulgencio Batista
y Zaldivar. Faced with American opposition to his
plans for radical land reform, Castro was
courted, and won, by the Soviets.
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So in April, 1961, the CIA backed an invasion of
Cuba in an attempt to overthrow and kill Fidel
Castro. This was known as the Bay of Pigs.
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To defend Cuba from further threats by the U.S.,
Khrushchev sent advisors, weapons . . . and nukes
to Cuba!
(And, there were nukes in Turkey targeted for
Soviet cities.)
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President John F. Kennedy responded with a naval
blockade, public calls for a Soviet withdrawal,
and backdoor diplomacy.
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In the end, Khrushchev agreed to remove the
weapons from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. pledge
to not invade Cuba.
They had proven that they were tough, and serious
. . . and that this kind brinksmanship was
dangerous.
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Europe faces what Toynbee called, annihilation
without representation.
The Cuban Missile Crisis had also frightened
European powers who created their own move for
peace Germanys Social Democratic Party demands
a new Ostpolitik. East and West Germany recognize
each other and enter the United Nations
(1972). This led to detente-- an attempt to
stabilize the conflict between the superpowers
through negotiation and arms control. Strategic
Arms Limitation Treaty/Talks signed in
1972.) (Also, both U.S.S.R. and U.S.A. were
spending 50 million/day on weapons by 1970.)
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The Prague Spring (1968)
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1968 was a volatile year around the globe as
students organized to protest war, social
injustice, and societal values . . . and of
course sex, drugs, and rock roll.
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This movement had also reached Prague where young
people listened to rock music, embraced radical
ideas, and wore Texasskys.
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Czechoslovakia was composed of two large regions,
Czech and Slovakia. The Slovakians had felt that
the Czechoslovakian Communist Party was biased
against them. In 1968 the Youth and Slovak
movements would come together.
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Longtime communist leader, Antonin Novotny was
replaced by Alexander Dubcek. Dubcek wanted to
achieve socialism with a human face.
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But Poland also had its share of restless
students. They were marching the streets with
signs that asked, Poland, where is your
Dubcek. This was not good for Dubcek.
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On the night of August 20-21, 80,000 troops,
Soviet, Polish, Hungarian, and East German,
crossed the Czech border.
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Following the Prague Spring, Soviet leader
Leonold Brezhnev had to acknowledge that only
brute force could keep Eastern Europe within the
Soviet alliance systems. This lead to the
Brezhnev Doctrine.
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