Unit 7: The Cold War Standard 7-5 Goal: The student will demonstrate an understanding of international developments during the Cold War era. Vocabulary 7-5.1 OCCUPIED 7-5.2 UNITED NATIONS NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO) WARSAW PACT 7-5.3 & 7-5.4 SATELLITE NATIONS CONTAINMENT DEFECTING VIETCONG DOMINO THEORY CONTRAS SANDINISTAS NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) 7-5.5 SOLIDARITY DEMOCRATIZATION GLASNOST PERESTROIKA
7-5.1 Compare the political and economic ideologies of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The USA and the Soviet Union (USSR) were directly opposed and competing with each other. The Cold War (war without fighting) was a result of this conflict. The United States had a limited government with a representative democracy, a constitution, and a capitalist economy. The Soviet Union had an unlimited government under communism and a socialist economy. Tensions had begun before World War II was over. Franklin Roosevelt (USA) and Winston Churchill (GB) wanted the lands freed from Axis control to be given self-rule with limited governments. Josef Stalin (USSR) wanted these lands to have the option to become communist. Despite his promise to allow elections in Eastern European countries OCCUPIED (militarily controlled) by the Soviet Union, he forced them to become communist after WWII. An example of this conflict was found in post-war Germany. The Soviets had invaded Germany from the East while the United States, Britain, and France occupied zones in the West. Each side demanded their style of government was used in Germany. At the Yalta Conference in 1945, the United Nations met on the issue of what to do with Germany after WWII. The decision was to divide Germany into two countries. West Germany would become a democracy with a capitalist economy, while East Germany became communist with a socialist economy. The capital city of Berlin was divided in the same way, even though it was completely in East Germany. This division represented the two sides of the Cold War. **In the VENN diagram below, compare and contrast the two Cold War superpowers.
7-5.2 Summarize the impact of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United Nations, and the Warsaw Pact on the course of the Cold War. The United States was concerned that communism would spread. President Truman created the Truman Doctrine to prevent this. Under the Truman Doctrine, communism would be contained by giving economic aid to countries in danger of becoming communist and preventing communist supporters from making communism look good. The US gave four-hundred million dollars. Countries in Western Europe received aid from the Marshall Plan, which gave them 12.5 billion dollars to help them rebuild and prevented the spread of communist ideas. The US also provided economic and military aid to rebuild and democratize (becoming a democracy) Japan after World War II. This program kick started the Japanese economy and created strong US ally at that same time. The League of Nations, which had been proven to be ineffective, was replaced with the UNITED NATIONS (UN) in 1945. The UN had the same mission as the League of Nations: prevent future wars and settle global conflicts. However, the UN had the ability to use military force and was joined by the US. The UN would become a major figure in the conflicts of the Cold War. The biggest problem of the Cold War was that it could turn hot at any time. The two superpowers (the US and the Soviet Union) had a stockpile of nuclear weapons. The first of these showdowns occurred in Germany in 1948 during the Berlin blockade and airlift. The Soviets blockaded West Berlin in order to capture the entire city for the East. The Western nations responded by flying supplies and food to the people of West Berlin for almost eleven months. The Soviets were eventually forced to lift the blockade. After the problems created by the blockade and airlift the US, Canada, and ten Western Europe nations formed a military alliance called the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION (NATO). Threatened by this new alliance, the Soviet Union created its own organization called the WARSAW PACT, including Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. NATO Countries Warsaw Pact Countries What government? What government? Main Leader (s) Main Leader (s)
7-5.3 Explain the spread of communism in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including the ideas of the satellite state containment and the domino theory. 7-5.4 Analyze the political and technological competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for global influence, including the Korean Conflict, the Berlin Wall, the Vietnam War, the Cuban missile crisis, the "space race," and the threat of nuclear annihilation. The spread of communism continued to spread through Eastern Europe. Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Albania, and Hungary all became communist. These nations, which surrounded the Soviet Union and were controlled by it, became the SATELLITE NATIONS. One goal of CONTAINMENT (stopping the spread of communism) was preventing the creation of more satellite nations. Winston Churchill used the phrase behind the iron curtain to describe the part of Europe under communist control. There was a major difference between lives in the East and the West. Many people began DEFECTING (leaving) from the East. In 1961 the Berlin Wall was built to keep people from escaping into West Berlin and it became a symbol of the division between the two sides. The Soviet Union began trying to spread its influence in Asia, Africa, and Latin America by looking for places where revolutions were happening or would be happening soon. The Soviet Union offered revolutionaries economic or military support if they agreed to create communist governments. They also attempted to spread communism by sending representatives to nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to explain the benefits of communism and invited delegates from interested nations to visit the Soviet Union to see how their system worked. Asia China was the first Asian country to turn communist. The Chinese Civil War had begun during World War II and continued throughout the war. The noncommunist Nationalist army, led by Chiang Kai-shek, and Communist guerillas, led by Mao Zedong, was forced to fight together against Japan. After the Japanese surrendered the war between the two sides resumed. The Communists took over China in 1949 and made Mao Zedong its leader. Communism also spread to Korea. Like Germany, Korea was divided at the end of World War II. North Korea was communist, while South Korea was a western democracy. The Korean Conflict was an example of how the Cold War was fought. In 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea, hoping to turn the whole country communist. South Korea asked the United Nations for help, and the US led a group of nations supporting the South. The Soviets supported the North by sending them money and weapons. China soon joined the war in support of the North as well. By 1953 the war had reached a stalemate and a cease-fire agreement was signed. Korea remains divided at the 38th Parallel. The spread of communism had the same effect on Vietnam. The Soviet Union supported revolutionaries while the US backed democratic leaders. Vietnamese nationalists, led by communist leader Ho Chi Minh, wanted to get free from French control. The United States gave the French money and weapons to fight the Communists because the superpower was afraid that if one Asian country fell to communism, the rest of the region would also become communist. This idea, known as the DOMINO THEORY, became the basis of United States foreign policy. The French however, were defeated in 1954 and Vietnam was split into a communist North and a non-communist south led by Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem s government was corrupt. Ho Chi Minh, who was popular in the North, invaded the South to try and unify Vietnam under communist rule. The US sent aid to the South and in the mid-1960s
President Lyndon Johnson sent American troops into Vietnam. Americans were fighting against the North Vietnamese and the VIETCONG (communists in South Vietnam). The South Vietnamese government did not have the support of its people, and the US could not win. The US withdrew and communists took over the whole country in 1975. Other nations in Asia such as Laos and Cambodia were also influenced by the spread of communism and changed their political systems after World War II. The US feared the domino theory, meaning that if one country fell to communism, so would those around it. This never actually occurred. Africa In Africa, nations that had been under imperial rule since the 1800s took inspiration from World War II and began standing up to unfair governments. They began demanding independence from their European rulers. As in other places, the Soviet Union and U.S. tried to win support of nations for their side. The Soviet Union gave military support to Angola and Mozambique, as well as the African National Congress in South Africa. They also offered scholarships to young Africans, especially those from English and Portuguese colonies, so they could persuade young Africans to adopt communist ideas. Nations such as Guinea, Egypt, Congo, Uganda, Ethiopia, Benin, and Somalia received Soviet military or diplomatic aid. The US and Western Europe tried to prevent the spread of communism into Africa, continuing the idea of containment and preventing the domino effect, by providing military and economic aid. Latin America Cuba, led by Fidel Castro, was the first communist nation in Latin America in 1959. Castro (with help from the Soviet Union) began trying to spread communism in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s. In El Salvador, troops supported by Castro and the Soviet Union fought troops supported by the United States. In Nicaragua, communist rebels called SANDINISTAS overthrew the government. US backed CONTRAS tried to take the country back from the Sandinistas. The Cuban Missile Crisis was another major conflict of the Cold War and came very close to a nuclear showdown. American spy planes flew over Cuba and took pictures of Soviet missiles being assembled on the island. President Kennedy feared the Soviets would use them to attack the US and blockaded Cuba. The Soviets threatened to break the blockade and both sides prepared for war. After 13 days of negotiations at the United Nations the two sides backed down. The Soviet missiles were removed from Cuba and US missiles were removed from Turkey. The Space Race The US and the Soviet Union also competed for power through the space and arms races. Both countries strengthened their militaries, built more weapons, and focused on building bigger and more powerful nuclear weapons. The Soviets were first to launch a satellite (Sputnik) into space in 1957. In response to the Soviet lead, the USA strengthened its math and science educational programs and crated the NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA) to manage the space program. Soon the US had launched a satellite of its own. The USA was the first to land on the moon in 1969. Both the Soviets and the USA adopted shuttle programs to accomplish various space tasks. Both the space and arms races continued to grow until the Cold War s end.
7-5.5 Analyze the events that contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union and other communist governments in Europe, including the growth of resistance movements in Eastern Europe, the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, and the failures of communist economic systems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s communist governments began falling out of power. Citizens in these nations began protesting against their governments to win their political rights. Standards of living had continued to decline and people saw the comparative freedom and economic success of democratic governments. Poland s labor union called SOLIDARITY opposed communist rule. Led by Lech Walesa, Solidarity gained popularity through strikes and sit-ins as the government continued to struggle with economic issues. When free elections were held in 1989, Lech Walesa was elected president. In Hungary, citizens began escaping to Western Europe after cutting a hole in a fence that separated communist Hungary from the democratic nations to the West. As the hole grew, more and more Hungarians (and many people from other communist countries) defected. Resistance and protests increased and in 1989, the Hungarian communist party was overthrown. Demands for reforms and more rights increased in East Germany. In November of 1989, the Berlin Wall began to come down. East and West Germany were finally united into one democratic country. The Soviet Union began its economic collapse due to the cost of stopping anti-communist resistance in Eastern Europe. Decreasing levels of production, income, and standard of living demonstrated communism s failures. Citizens in the Soviet Union wanted more power and political rights. When Mikhail Gorbachev became leader in 1982, the Soviet Union became less totalitarian. He pushed for reforms like PERESTROIKA (more group decision making and ownership of private property) GLASNOST (more public participation in government and more individual rights), and DEMOCRATIZATION (the process of creating a government elected by the people). He also worked closely with President Ronald Regan to ease tensions between the two countries. Regan began his term as president as an opponent of the Soviet Union, including calling them the evil empire in 1983. He proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which used ground and space systems to protect the US from a nuclear attack. In 1985, Reagan met Gorbachev in person and their relationship began to change for the better. In 1987, Gorbachev and Reagan signed a treaty to begin reducing their numbers of nuclear weapons in an effort to end the arms race and to show greater cooperation between the two nations. The granting of greater freedom to those within Soviet borders led various nationalist groups to call for independence which, in turn, led to rising ethnic tensions. In March 1990, Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union. Gorbachev ordered an economic blockade of the country in an attempt to force it to rejoin the Union, but he eventually had to use force in early 1991 when the blockade proved ineffective. These challenges led to the official end of the Soviet Union in December of 1991.