Superpower Relations and the Cold War

Superpower Relations and the Cold War 1941-1991 1

What was the Cold War? Almost as soon as the Second World War had ended, the winners started to argue with each other. In particular, a bitter conflict developed between the USA and the USSR (sometimes called Russia or the Soviet Union). This struggle continued until the late 1980s At various point between 1945 and 1989, it looked as their hatred of each other might actually result in a nuclear war, which would have seen the whole world wiped out. Historical Context In 1917 there was a revolution in Russia and Russia became the world s first communist country. In 1919, Britain, France and America sent soldiers to Russia to support the White Russians (the Russians who were AGAINST the new Communist government). The USSR never forgot this and felt threatened by America and other wealthy, powerful, capitalist countries. The Russians wanted their communist ideas to spread to every country in the world, including America. Meanwhile Americans believed that the answer for all world problems was for other people to learn to live in an American way. Although the USA and the USSR worked together against Japan and Germany in the Second World War they were never true Allies. So why did this mistrust turn into The Cold War? Here are 3 interpretations: The Soviet Union (USSR) was to blame. Stalin had plans for a Communist takeover of the world. His demand to control Eastern Europe was the first step towards world domination. America (the USA) was to blame. Soviet actions were defensive, not aggressive. The USA wanted to control its area of influence but weren t prepared to let the USSR to do the same. Neither side was to blame. The Cold War was based on misunderstandings and forces beyond the control of either side. 2

How did the Cold War Develop? By 1941 the USA and the USSR had emerged as the two superpowers of the world. In order to defeat Japan and Germany they had formed a Grand Alliance (along with Great Britain). Apart from being at war against the same countries, the USA and the USSR had nothing in common. Even before the Second World War was over, questions began to be asked about what would happen after the war. Whose ideas should dominate in Europe and Asia? Should the defeated nations be encouraged to be democratic and capitalist or should they be encouraged to follow the USSR and become communist states? What would happen to land in Europe and Asia which had been conquered by Germany or Japan? The end of the Second World War would be the beginning of what became known as The Cold War. What do the terms Iron Curtain, sphere of influence and buffer zone mean? Just after the war had ended Winston Churchill was on a tour of the USA and gave a speech in which he came up with the expression the Iron Curtain to describe the imaginary wall dividing Europe. This imaginary wall separated the Western countries who were looking to the US for help and support and the Eastern European countries, which were under the control of the USSR. The truth was that the US and the USSR wanted to create spheres of influence in the world - regions where their particular political system was adopted. Stalin saw this as crucial because in 1941 Hitler had invaded Russia through the countries of Eastern Europe. Stalin wanted to make sure that this could never happen again. The East European countries would be a buffer zone between the capitalist West and the communist USSR. The Big Three and the Three Conferences Before Germany was defeated, the Grand Alliance had three big conferences to discuss how to finish the war and what should happen to the defeated nations once the war was over. It was at these conferences that the cracks in the Alliance really began to show. The three conference were at Tehran in 1943, Yalta in February 1945 and Potsdam in the last week on July in 1945, 3

What was agreed at Tehran in 1943? 1. The USA and Britain would open up a new front in France and push towards Germany via Western Europe and the Soviet Union would approach Germany via the countries of Eastern Europe. 2. The USSR should have influence in Eastern Europe while the USA and Britain should have influence in Western Europe. 3. The idea of the USSR helping the USA against Japan was discussed but nothing was agreed. What was agreed at Yalta in February 1945? 1. The United Nations would be created to make sure that major conflicts like the Second World War War never happened again. 2. The borders of Poland would be moved so that the USSR gained a huge amount of land and Poland would be in the Soviet sphere of influence. 3. Free elections for new governments were to be held in all countries previously occupied by the Germans (including Poland). 4. Once defeated, Germany would be reduced in size and forced to pay reparations. The Nazi party would be banned and war criminals put on trial. 5. Once Germany had been defeated, the USSR would declare war on Japan to speed up the end of the war in Asia. What happened between Yalta and Potsdam? 1. Germany had surrendered in May 1945. 2. Roosevelt died and was replaced by his Deputy President, Harry Truman, who was much more suspicious of USSR. 3. Winston Churchill lost the General Election in Britain and was replaced by the Labour leader, Clement Attlee. 4. The Soviet Army had expanded into Finland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Baltic States 5. Stalin had failed to organise elections in Eastern Europe because he was determined that these countries must have pro-soviet communist governments for the future safety of the USSR. What was agreed at Potsdam August 1945? 1. The new boundaries of Poland were agreed. 2. Germany was to be split into 4 zones of occupation and each zone would be controlled by either France, Britain, USSR or USA. 3. Germany s capital Berlin, which was in the Soviet zone, would also be divided into the same 4 zones as the rest of Germany. 4. Each country would be allowed to take reparations from its German zone. 5. Trials were to be held at Nuremberg to punish Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes. 4

How did the use of the atomic bomb affect relations between the superpowers? Less than a week after the Potsdam Conference, on the 6th and 9th of August 1945 the USA used two different types of atomic bombs against Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) to end the war in the Asia. This was the start of what became known as the ARMS RACE. Although the USA and the USSR were still Allies at this point, the USA was the only country with nuclear weapons because the technology wasn t shared with the USSR. This meant that the USSR had to figure it out for themselves, which it had done by 1949. The firestorm in Hiroshima ultimately destroyed 13 square kilometres of the city. Almost 63% of the buildings in Hiroshima were completely destroyed after the bombing and nearly 92% of the structures in the city had been either destroyed or damaged by blast and fire. Estimates of total deaths in Hiroshima have generally ranged between 100,000 and 180,000, out of a population of 350,000. Approximately 22.7% of Nagasaki's buildings were consumed by flames, but the death toll and destruction was less than in Hiroshima. Estimates of casualties from Nagasaki between 50,000 and 100,000. The existence of nuclear weapons meant that a war between the USA and the USSR would no longer be a war between two armies; it would be a war between two nations and the impact would be catastrophic. If the COLD war should become a HOT war, then massive damage could be done to the population and infrastructure of the two nations. A War of Words 1946 During 1946 it became clear that, because of the Second World War, Europe had been split into two spheres of influence. This was made even more obvious when, In 1947, Stalin and Churchill engaged in a war of words. Their speeches revealed that the former allies now viewed each other with tremendous suspicion. Truman and Stalin were very concerned about the possibility of a new war. Each leader asked for secret reports from their embassies, to help them understand what their opponents were thinking. Both reports were sent as telegrams. These reports were very important because they greatly influenced the thinking and policies of Truman and Stalin. 5

The Long Telegram This telegram was sent by George Kennan, America s ambassador in Moscow. It reported that Stalin had given a speech in Moscow calling for the destruction of capitalism. There could be no peace with the USSR while it remained. determined to resist capitalism. The USSR was building up its military power, even though the Second World War was over. Why would it be doing this if it had peaceful intentions? Novikov s Telegram This telegram was sent to Stalin by the Soviet Ambassador in American, Novikov. It reported tha t: Following the death of President Roosevelt, the American government had no interest in working with the USSR. Truman wanted to use its power and wealth to dominate the whole world and eliminate communism. The American public would support its government if a war broke out against the USSR. How did the USSR become so powerful in Eastern Europe? 1. The Red Army remained in Eastern Europe after defeating Germany because Stalin felt that the security of the Soviet Union depended on these countries acting as a buffer zone. He was afraid that if these countries were allowed to choose between capitalism and communism, they might choose capitalism. For this reason he didn t allow these countries to have free elections despite what had been agreed at Yalta 2. Between 1945 and 1948 Stalin installed pro-soviet puppet governments in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia; these were governments made up entirely of communists who supported Stalin. 3. Stalin set up an organisation called Cominform to guarantee that there was no freedom of speech and no alternative political parties in the satellite states. Cominform made sure that the Communist governments were run along the same lines as countries within the USSR. 4. Stalin also set up an organisation called Comecon in 1949. Its role was to control the economies of the satellite states. Mainly it worked to nationalise and collectivise their agriculture and industries because these were the key features of a communist economy. Needless to say, none of this pleased the USA! 6

What was The Truman Doctrine? President Truman was determined to work out a way of making sure that America would remain more powerful than the USSR. He was concerned that Stalin would try to extend the influence of communism by offering support to communist groups in European countries which had been devastated by the war. History has shown that revolutions tend to happen when countries are in a mess economically. Communism was highly attractive to poor people because it involved taking the wealth from the wealthy few and sharing it out amongst the majority. To make sure that this didn t happen in post-war Europe, Truman set out a new policy that soon became known at The Truman Doctrine. Key Ideas within the Truman Doctrine The world had a choice between communist tyranny and democratic freedom. America had a duty to fight for freedom and protect the world from the spread of communism, which, he said, was evil. America would give military and economic support to any nation which was threatened by a communist takeover. An example of this was that America gave $400 million to Turkey and Greece in an attempt to stop the communists in these countries winning the civil wars which were being fought between them and pro-western governments. Why was the Truman Doctrine important? 1. Before the Second World War America had maintained a policy of isolationism. Isolationism meant that America did not get involved in international affairs unless it absolutely had to. The Truman Doctrine was a change of policy ; the new policy was called containment. Containment meant that America would do all that it could to stop the spread of communism, apart from actually attacking the Soviet Union. 2. Another reason why the Truman Doctrine was important was because it was Truman s way of telling the world that there could be no cooperation between the superpowers so long as the USSR remained a communist country. It formally ended the Grand Alliance and started what became known as the Cold War. 3. To Stalin, it must have seemed a bit like a declaration of war against the Soviet Union, since the USSR was the only Communist country at this time (China didn t turn Communist until 1949). What was Europe s response to the Marshall Plan? European leaders, including representatives from the USSR, met in Paris in 1948 to discuss the American offer. Most leaders were delighted with the offer and 16 countries accepted the strings which were attached to the deal (trade with the USA). However the Soviet delegation walked out of the conference. 7

Stalin claimed that Marshall Aid was the first step towards a military alliance between Europe and America which was being created to attack the Soviet Union. Stalin insisted that its satellite states turn down the offer of help. He promised that the Soviet Union would set up a similar scheme to help them - he didn t! Stalin had stopped the Eastern European countries from having access to the prosperity which was to be experienced by Western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. The First Berlin Crisis 1948-1949 Remember how Germany had been divided up after the Second World War? Germany had been divided into four zones and the capital Berlin (which was within the Soviet zone) had also been divided up into four zones. In 1948, Berlin became the first area where it looked like there could be a new war between East and West. What happened in Berlin in 1948 and 1949 and why did it matter? In 1947 the USA and Britain combined their zones in Berlin to create one zone called Bizonia and then the French joined in, creating Trizonia. Trizonia would have a single government and a single currency. This went against what had been agreed at Potsdam. Stalin was angry; he wanted to end western involvement in Germany and a good starting point would be to force them out of Berlin. For this reason in June 1948 he ordered that all land communication links (eg roads, canals, rivers and railways) between West Berlin and the rest of the world should be cut off. This was known as the Berlin Blockade. 8

Stalin s was convinced that the people in West Berlin wouldn t be able to survive without Western supplies of food and other essentials and this would force the Western Powers to give up. West Berlin would then be merged with East Berlin and all Western influence in the Eastern zone of Germany would be at an end without any fighting. The Berlin Airlift June 1948 - May 1949 The US was determined not to let Stalin have his way, partly because this as the first of what was likely to be many confrontations and so the Berlin Blockade was defeated by the Berlin Airlift. This was when US and British planes delivered up to 8000 tons of supplies A DAY to keep West Berlin going. Key Facts about the Berlin Airlift There were over two million people living in the city at the time. The army estimated that it would take over 1500 tons of food each day to keep them alive. Over the next ten months the United States and Great Britain flew around 277,000 flights into Berlin. They carried over 2.3 million tons of supplies into the city. Around 65% of the cargo was coal. To make the turnaround in Berlin more efficient, flight crews were not allowed to leave their planes when they landed. Jeeps would drive out to the planes and bring them snacks. To help with moral in the city, pilots would drop sweets attached to little parachutes over Berlin. This was called "operation little vittles". Over three tons of candy was dropped by the end of the airlift. On May 12, 1949 the Soviet Union stopped the blockade and the airlift was over. The West had won. What were the consequences of the Airlift? 1. The Division of Germany: After the airlift the division of Germany became formalised - West Germany became the German Federal Republic (FRG) while East Germany became, somewhat ironically, the German Democratic Republic (GDR). 2. The Creation of NATO: The Western Powers now understood that that collective action would be needed so they formed NATO in 1949 (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation); the Eastern Bloc formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955 as a military organisation to counter NATO. If the Cold War should become hot, then both superpowers now had military alliances to back them up. 9

What were the consequences of the death of Stalin in 1953? 1. Soviet policies under the new leader, Nikita Khrushchev, initially seemed less harsh than Stalin s. 2. This was known as the thaw in the Cold War. 3. Khrushchev said that he was in favour of peaceful co-existence ; he met with President Eisenhower of America at the Geneva Summit in 1955. 4. Khrushchev agreed to withdraw Soviet troops from Austria at the same time as the US, France and Britain. He also freed many political prisoners and reduced censorship. 5. Finally, in 1959, despite events in Hungary in 1956, h e became the first Soviet leader to visit the USA suggesting that the thaw in the Cold War was real. What happened in Hungary in 1956? The Background Hungary had suffered a lot under Stalin s control. Food and industrial products were taken FROM Hungary and shipped off to Russia. All non-communist political parties had been banned and Russian officials controlled the government, the police and the army. Matyas Rakosi was made the Dictator of Hungary and the people gave him the nickname the Budapest Butcher. Under his rule, 387,000 Hungarians were imprisoned and more than 2,000 more were murdered. In 1956, the new Russian leader, Nikita Khrushchev made a very important speech. In the Secret Speech Khrushchev promised an end to the brutality of Stalinism, under which around 20 million people had died. Encouraged by the hope of reform, students in Budapest rioted and attacked the police and army. The police lost control and the protests spread to other major cities. Rather than crush the protest, Khrushchev stepped in and agreed to the replacement of the hated Rakosi by a more liberal leader called Imre Nagy, who was a communist but he believed in a less repressive form of communism. Nagy began to introduce reforms but in November 1956 he want too far. when he promised to: Turn Hungary into a Western style democracy with free elections. Withdraw Hungary from the Warsaw Pact; he even asked the United Nations for protection from Russia 10

What was Khrushchev s response to this? 1. Khrushchev sent in 200,000 Soviet troops and 5,000 tanks to crush the anti-communist movement. In the two weeks of bitter fighting which followed around 20,000 Hungarians were killed. Nagy was arrested, put on trial for treason and found guilty. He was hanged in June 1958; Khrushchev said that Nagy s fate was a warning to the leaders of all socialist countries. 2. A new leader, called Janos Kadar who was loyal to the USSR, was installed as leader of Hungary. Kadar promised to re-establish communist control of Hungary, keep Hungary in the Warsaw Pact and then negotiate for the removal of Soviet troops once the crisis was over. 3. Although the West protested, it ignored the pleas of the Hungarians for military help. American President Eisenhower did offer $20 million worth of food and medical aid to Nagy s government and praised the bravery of the Hungarian people, encouraging them to fight on. However he refused to send actual military support because he said it was a matter of highest priority to prevent the outbreak of war. What was the importance of these events and how did all of this affect the relationship between the superpowers? The Soviet response to the Hungarian Rising showed that, despite what had been said in the Secret Speech, Khrushchev was prepared to use military force to defend his sphere of influence. America s response to Khrushchev s intervention proved that its commitment to liberating Europe from communism did not include offering military support. This discouraged opponents of communism in other Eastern countries from protesting against communist oppression. 1961 - The Refugee Crisis and the Berlin Wall Berlin was still a major cause of tension between the superpowers in 1961 because of the refugee problem : 1. Between 1949 and 1961 over 2.5 million people had left East Germany through Berlin, over a sixth of the population. This was highly embarrassing for the USSR and was also a brain drain as many of the best Germans were leaving - the ones with the skills needed to make East Germany successful ie engineers, technicians, teachers etc. 2. In November 1958 Khrushchev issued the Berlin Ultimatum. He demanded that the USA, Britain and France remove their troops from West Berlin and the Berlin should become a free city. The West had six months to make these changes or he would hand over control of all transport routes to the government of Eastern Germany. 11

3. Neither side wanted to go to war over Berlin so between 1959 and 1961 a series of talks were help to try to resolve the issue. Two summits were held in 1959, first at Geneva then at Camp David in the USA. At Camp David, Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the Berlin Ultimatum and it did seem like better relations were being established. However, Eisenhower and Khrushchev couldn t come to an agreement and a third conference was organised for 1960, to be held in Paris. Gary Powers and the U-2 spy-plane fiasco Just before the Paris Summit, the USSR shot down an American U2 spy plane which was illegally flying over Russia. Eisenhower denied that it was a spy plane but Khrushchev showed Eisenhower up to be a liar by revealing that the pilot, Gary Powers of the CIA, was alive and had confessed to being a spy. He showed photographs of both the pilot and the plane wreckage to show that he, not Eisenhower, was telling the truth. Khrushchev demanded an apology from Eisenhower but Eisenhower refused to give one so the planned Paris Summit was called off. An invitation for Eisenhower to visit the USSR was also withdrawn. The temporary thaw in relations was over and the problem of Berlin had still not been resolved. When and why was the Berlin Wall built and how did it affect relations between the superpowers? The US elected a new President in 1961, John F Kennedy. He and Khrushchev agreed to meet at the Vienna Conference. Khrushchev renewed the Berlin Ultimatum. Kennedy was determined not to look weak so, not only did he NOT agree to withdraw American troops, he actually increased defence spending by over $2 billion. This made it quite clear that he was up for war if that was what Khrushchev wanted. As tension increased more East Germans than ever decided to cross to the West, just in case the border WAS closed. Khrushchev felt he had to act. On the 1 3th August 1961 a physical barrier was built across the city of Berlin. This wall was fortified with barbed wire and machine gun posts; East and West Berlin were now completely separated. What were the consequences of the Berlin Wall? By the end of the summer the Berlin Wall was finished. Along the 27 mile section that cut through the centre of Berlin there were actually two walls, separated by a sort of No Man s Land which was packed with boody traps, barbed wire and minefields. The Wall was guarded by lookout towers with machine gun nests and powerful searchlights. Anyone who attempted to escape East Berlin was shot. It is estimated that more than 130 people were killed trying to escape. 12

Once the Wall had been built, it was only possible to enter West Berlin through a limited number of air, road, rail and river routes. Only aircraft from Britain, France and America were allowed to fly to or from West Berlin; river traffic, which was hugely important, was subjected to numerous inspections and petty restrictions by the East German authorities. Rail traffic was excruciatingly slow as locomotives and train crews had to be changed at the border. The USA declared its commitment to protect West Berlin. Kennedy visited the city in June 1963 and declared his solidarity with its people famously saying: Ich bin ein Berliner. Berliner means citizen of Berlin. The crowd in Berlin treated Kennedy like a rock star or a sporting hero. Unfortunately the word Berliner is also a type of doughnut, so some people have argued that Kennedy really said I am a doughnut! Why was the building of the Berlin Wall so important? The Berlin Wall remained in place for another 30 years and over 100 people were killed trying to climb over it. This remained a constant source of embarrassment from the Soviet Union and a symbol of how bad communism must be if they needed a wall to keep people IN. Consequences of the building of the Berlin Wall The Wall made the Soviet Union look bad; a system that had to build a wall to keep people IN can t be all that good. This seemed to offer proof that people didn t like communism and would prefer capitalism. For this reason, the Berlin Wall because a powerful symbol of the differences between East and West until 1989, when it was finally taken down It became much more difficult for people in the East to escape to the West. Now that Berlin was formally divided and the borders between East and West were closed there was far less likelihood that the USA and the USSR would go to war over Berlin. In this way the building of the wall actually REDUCED tension between the superpowers. 13

The Arms Race in the 1950s and 1960s 1. 1957: The Soviet Union test fired the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and launched Sputnik 1, the world s first satellite; it was now winning the Arms Race as ICBMs meant that the USSR could launch a nuclear missile attack on the USA and could use Sputnik 1 to spy on the USA. 2. Later in 1957, the USA s Atlas ICBM was launched and in 1960 it announced the development of Polaris, the first submarine-launched ICBM. 3. By 1967 the USA had 1,000 ICBMs but the USSR began to catch up as the USA became increasingly entangled in Vietnam. The point was, both sides now had enough nuclear weaponry to destroy each other many times over. 4. As well as the Arms Race, the costly space race was continuing. The USSR got the first man in space - Yuri Gagarin in 1961 but the USA was the first to get men on the moon in 1969. Was this a draw?? When and why did Cuba become a problem for the USA? In 1959, Fidel Castro successfully overthrew the corrupt Cuban government led by an American backed dictator called Fulgencio Batista. Cuba was only 100 miles from the USA and while Batista had been in power (1952-1959) he had allowed American businessmen and the Mafia to make huge profits in a country where most people lived in poverty. What changes did Castro make? Castro shut down the gambling casinos and the brothels and nationalised the American owned sugar mills. Compensation was offered to the previous owners but the US government refused to agree and stopped buying Cuban sugar. This forced Castro to find a new market for Cuba s sugar so, in February 1960, he made an agreement with the USSR. The Soviet Union would buy Cuban sugar and would also provide economic aid. There was also a secret clause saying that Cuba would receive military help from the Soviet Union. President Kennedy was horrified by this turn of events and, in 1961, he agreed to support a CIA trained invasion of Cuba by pro-american Cuban rebels. Remember, Cuba is just 100 miles away from the US mainland so this friendship between Cuba and the USSR seemed a very worrying development. 14

The Bay of Pigs Incident The Bay of Pigs invasion began when a group of CIA-financed and-trained Cuban refugees landed in Cuba intending to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961. Though many of his military advisors indicated that an attempt by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban people, who would rise up and overthrow Castro s government. The plan immediately was a complete failure; over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured. Why had it been such a fiasco? Castro had found out about the plan and had put in plans to defeat it meaning that the tiny Cuban air force was able to sink most of the exiles supply ships The United States didn t provide any ground or air support because it wanted this to look like a Cuban effort to get rid of Castro, not an American one The expected uprising never happened as most ordinary Cubans felt happy with Castro This invasion had one very serious consequence; it pushed Castro into the arms of the USSR as it made him feel that Cuba needed Soviet military assistance. Castro used this attack by the Yankee imperialists to consolidate his power and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.he knew he would have to deal more impressively with whatever crisis should happen next. 15

What was the Cuban Missile Crisis aka The Thirteen Days? The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 14, 1962 October 28, 1962) was a major stand off during the Cold War between the USA and the USSR. For a week, the world held its breath as it looked as if a nuclear confrontation between America and the Soviet Union was inevitable. What was this crisis all about? How was it resolved? How did it affect the relationship between the superpowers? Background Following the Bay of Pigs incident, the relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union became even closer. Castro announced that he was a communist and asked Khrushchev to help him defend Cuba against any future from the USA. In September 1961, Khrushchev announced that he would provide arms to Cuba. This was a nightmare for John F. Kennedy. If the Soviet Union placed nuclear weapons on Cuba, the USA would be under direct threat. Kennedy warned Khrushchev that it would not tolerate the Soviet using Cuba as a base for nuclear weapons and Khrushchev assured he had no intention of doing so. However, in October 1961 Kennedy discovered that Khrushchev had lied. An American U-2 spy plane captured photographs of what looked like launch pads for medium-range ballistic missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads capable of causing terrible damage to US cities. More bad news followed immediately; intelligence agencies informed Kennedy that a fleet of Soviet ships was on its way to Cuba, presumably carrying the missiles themselves. 16

What happened next? - The Thirteen Days Two more important words you need to understand Hawks: This was the name given to Americans who supported going to war against the Soviet Union. Doves: Americans who wanted to find a peaceful solution to each crisis that arose during the Cold War. Cuban Missile Timeline 16 Oct Kennedy is informed that Khrushchev plans to put nuclear missiles on Cuba 22 Oct Kennedy announces that America will impose a naval blockade around Cuba to stop more missiles reaching Cuba; he calls on Khrushchev to recall his ships. 23 Oct Khrushchev replies that his ships will break the blockade. 24 Oct Khrushchev announces that the USSR is prepared to launch nuclear weapons if America goes to war. 25 Oct Both sides are on high alert and armed forces are told to prepare for war. Kennedy writes to Khrushchev asking him to withdraw missiles from Cuba. 26 Oct Khrushchev replies in a telegram, offering to remove missiles so long as the USA provides a guarantee that it will not invade Cuba. 27 Oct 1. After sending the first telegram, Khrushchev learns that the USA is preparing to invade Cuba within 24 hours and he proposes a second deal - the USSR would withdraw missiles from Cuba only if America would agree never to invade Cuba AND to withdraw its nuclear missiles from Turkey. 2. A US spy plane is shot down over Cuba and the Hawks in the American government urge Kennedy to take immediate military action. 3. Kennedy ignores both the Hawks demand for action AND the second telegram. He accepts Khrushchev s demand that the US should promise not to invade Cuba. 28 Oct Khrushchev accepts the deal and the crisis is over. What the world doesn t know is what has gone on behind the scenes. Robert Kennedy has approached the Russian ambassador and, on his brother s behalf, he has agreed to the second deal. So long as the Soviet Union would agree to remove the missiles from Cuba, America would agree to remove the missiles in Turkey. However, the removal of America s missiles from Turkey had to be kept secret. So... the Kennedys had been prepared to compromise but didn t want to look weak. 17

Who won the Cuban missile crisis? Both Kennedy and Khrushchev claimed victory. Kennedy had shown himself to be a strong leader as he had stood up to both Khrushchev and the Hawks in his own government. His popularity increased nationally and internationally. This was what he had hoped would happen and why he had insisted that his agreement to remove American missiles in Turkey not be made public. Khrushchev also claimed victory; he had guaranteed the security of Cuba which meant that America was going to have to accept living next door to communist neighbours in a country which had once been one of America s closest allies. However, the fact that he had agreed to keep the Turkish side of the deal secret made him very unpopular with many high up officials in Moscow. The leaders of the Soviet army felt that they had been forced into a humiliating withdrawal from Cuba. In 1964, Khrushchev was dismissed as the leader of the Soviet Union. What was the significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis? 1. Because the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, it was clear that any future misunderstanding between the Soviet Union and the USA had to be avoided. For this reason a telephone hotline was set up between the Kremlin in Moscow and the White House in Washington. 2. In 1963, the USSR, the USA and Great Britain signed a Test Ban Treaty. This was an agreement to ban the testing of nuclear weapons in outer-space, underwater or in the atmosphere. 3. The 1967 the Outer Space Treaty was signed by the superpowers; this was an agreement not to use Space for military purposes, specifically not to put nuclear weapons into orbit. 4. A year later, in 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed. This was signed by America, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and 40 other nations. It was an agreement that only America, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and China would have nuclear weapons. 5. Although there was clearly still tension between the superpowers, because of the Cuban Missile Crisis America and the Soviet Union did make a real effort to cooperate and work towards a more peaceful relationship. 18

What was the Prague Spring of 1968? In 1968 Alexander Dubcek was elected as First Secretary of the Czech Communist party, which made him the head of the Czech government. Because Dubcek was a Communist, his rise to the top was approved of by the Soviet government which trusted him to make the government of Czechoslovakia more effective and less unpopular while remaining loyal to the Soviet Union. However Dubcek believed in an idea which he called Socialism with a human face. He believed that citizens should be able to enjoy life and express their views, even if these views were critical of the Communist party. Dubcek s reforms began in April so they became known as The Prague Spring. (Prague was the capital of Czechoslovakia.) 1. Workers were given a greater say in the running of their factories. 2. Czech people were given greater freedom to travel abroad. 3. Living standards were to be raised. 4. Censorship was relaxed and criticism of the government was allowed 5. The idea of having multi-party elections was discussed but only as something that might happen in the future. Although Dubcek s reforms were very popular with his people, and he assured the Soviet Union that Czechoslovakia would remain loyal and within the Warsaw Pact, the new leader of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev, was not happy. He feared that if Czechoslovakia was allowed to become less oppressive, it would encourage the other Warsaw Pact countries to challenge the Soviet model of communism. 19

What did the USSR do to gain control of Czechoslovakia in 1968? 1. On 21st August 1968, 500,000 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and Dubcek was removed from office. Dubcek knew that resistance to such a show of force would be futile and he didn t want the same kind of loss of life that had occurred when the Hungarian Rising had been crushed in 1956. He urged the Czech army to obey Brezhnev s order to remain in its barracks and told his people not to resist. In all, less than 100 people were killed. 2. Dubcek was arrested, sent to Moscow and ordered to reverse his reforms. A year later, he was dismissed and replaced by Gustav Husak, a hardliner loyal to Brezhnev. 3. The invading troops were shocked that they were greeted with hostility by the Czech people; they had been told and had genuinely believed that they had been invited in to restore law and order by the Czech government. Consequences of the Prague Spring 1. Many countries criticised the Soviet Union but no action was taken; the United Nations was even unable to condemn the invasion because the USSR vetoed the draft resolution. 2. A new Soviet policy was announced - the Brezhnev Doctrine. This was a statement that in future the USSR would intervene in any country where socialism was under threat because the actions of any individual communist country affected all communist countries. Brezhnev said: Whenever something in a Eastern Bloc country makes it turn towards capitalism, the rest of the Eastern Bloc must make it turn back to communism. The Soviet newspaper Pravda summed it up in September 1968 : Every communist party is responsible not only for its own people, but also to the entire communist movement. 20

What was Detente? Detente was an attempt in the early 1970s, by both sides, to get along. During this period, the superpowers actively sought to reduce tensions and thus reduce the chances of a major nuclear conflict which would destroy the world. This was a genuine attempt to have a more cooperative and stable relationship. Why did the USA and the USSR want to reduce tensions at this time? By the late 1960 the Soviet Union and America had enough long-distance nuclear weapons to completely destroy their rivals. The result of this firepower, should it be unleashed, would be Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). Neither country s leaders wanted to risk a war which would lead to their own destruction. The USSR economy wasn t doing so well economically and it was finding it difficult to afford the cost of building up its nuclear weapons. America had many social problems including inequality between rich and poor and black and white. Peaceful civil rights protests were being replaced by rioting on a massive scale and all of this was very unsettling. Money needed to be spent on internal problems not nuclear weapons. America was also caught up in a war in Vietnam, which was very unpopular in the USA and was making the USA unpopular with the rest of the world. It was important therefore for the American president, Richard Nixon, to calm things down and form better relationships with communist countries so that the rest of the world didn t see the USA as the bad guys. What agreements were made during Detente? 1972: Strategic Arms Limitations Talks Agreement (SALT 1) was an agreement by both sides to limited their nuclear weapons. SALT 1 was more important symbolically than practically. If one side really did want to go to war, a piece of paper wasn t going to stop war from happening. However SALT 1 did show the world that the USA and the Soviet wanted to reach agreement and move away from the tension and rhetoric of the Cold War. Shortly after signing the agreement, Nixon visited Brezhnev in Moscow and in 1973 Brezhnev visited Nixon in Washington. Negotiations began for SALT 2 which it was hoped would have greater practical importance. 21

1975: The Helsinki Accord In 1973, 33 nations from NATO and the Warsaw Pact met to build on the spirit of cooperation and in 1975. an announcement was made that agreement had been reached in three areas, which the conference organisers described as baskets. The three baskets were: 1. European Borders - Borders are inviolable and cannot be altered by force. This was important because it was the first time that both sides accepted the boundaries between East and West Germany. 2. International Cooperation - We will continue to work for closer relationships between Western and Soviet controlled countries. This will include trade agreements, technology exchanges and a joint Space mission. This agreement was followed up later in the year with the creation of a joint USA-Soviet Space mission. 3. Human Rights - We will respect human rights and individual freedoms such as free speech, religion and free movement across Europe. This sounded good but there were no enforcement procedures so the human rights promises were not always respected by communist countries. The Helsinki Accord was the highpoint of detente. It seemed to mark the beginning of a new approach to international relations. SALT 2 1979: SALT 2 was signed by President Carter and President Brezhnev. It was never ratified by Congress because the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, shattered Detente. 22

The Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 23

Background Afghanistan was NOT part of the USSR but it was surrounded by states which were. Its location meant that the Soviet government regarded it as an important neighbour; it acted as a buffer between Iran (which, after a revolution was led by a Muslim fundamentalist). Many of the southern states within the USSR had majority Muslim populations and the Soviet Union was scared that Iran s type of Muslim fundamentalism would spread into the Soviet States. Because Afghanistan was next door to Iran, Brezhnev was determined to keep a pro-soviet government in charge, rather than allow Afghanistan follow Iran s example. This was why the Soviet government was delighted when there was a pro- Communist Revolution (called the Kabal Revolution) in Afghanistan in April 1978. The new Afghan President, Taraki, became an official ally of the USSR and all seemed well. However in September 1979, Taraki was overthrown by Hafi zullah Amin, the head of the Afghan Army. Amin was not at all popular among Muslim fundamentalists but Brezhnev tried to work with him. However when he discovered that Amin was talking to the USA about a possible alliance, he decided that it was time to act. On December 24 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan and installed a Communist leader, Babrak Karmal. Brezhnev claimed that he had been invited in by Amin to deal with extremists terrorists but this was not true. Brezhnev had presumed that the invasion of Afghanistan wouldn t be a big deal internationally; he thought that the USA might complain but, as in the case of the Prague Spring, do nothing. He was wrong. By invading Afghanistan, Brezhnev had fatally wounded Detente. 24 How did Soviet invasion of Afghanistan affect the relationship between the superpowers? US President Jimmy Carter didn t understand that the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan to protect its interests in the neighbouring Soviet states. He believed that the invasion of Afghanistan was the start of a move by the USSR to gain influence in the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

The Carter Doctrine President Carter announced that America would do whatever was necessary, including the use of military force, to prevent outside powers (the USSR) from gaining control of the Gulf region. This was known as The Carter Doctrine. What else did Carter do? The consequences of the invasion? 1. He formed an alliance with China and Israel to support Afghan rebels; this support mainly involved the CIA providing weapons and money to the Mujahadeen, the Islamist organisation fighting against Soviet control of Afghanistan. 2. He imposed economic sanctions which effectively undid what had been achieved in the Helsinki Agreements. 3. He withdrew US support of the SALT 2 agreement. 4. He also organised a boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games which were held in Moscow. 60 nations supported the US led boycott. Essentially, nearly all the gains of the Detente period were lost and the invasion saw the start of what was called The Second Cold War. The Boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow Carter s decision to boycott the Moscow Olympics was a stroke of genius. The Olympics were a global event which the Soviet Union was hoping to use to promote the virtues of communism to the huge television audience. Telling athletes that they shouldn t compete in the event that they had been training for for so long long was not an easy thing to do and some athletes ignored their governments and went anyway. Despite this, enough of the top athletes stayed away that the result of many events became meaningless. Medals were devalued because it was known that the people who should have won them hadn t been competing. The Soviet government were furious and the relationship between the superpowers was brought to a new low. Four years later the Soviet Union and 15 other countries boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics but it didn t have quite the same impact. 25

An interesting theory to consider Some historians believe that the Americans deliberately over-reacted to the Soviet invasion. The theory is that the Americans were looking for a way of getting out of Detente but they didn t want to look like the bad guys to the rest of the world. Reacting as they did to the Soviet invasion gave them what they wanted; Detente was dead but it was the Soviet Union which was blamed because of its aggressive actions in invading a neighbour. A new president with a clear agenda Another consequence of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was that anti-communist feelings increased in America. Ronald Reagan was elected as president in 1980. Reagan had always been hostile to the Soviet Union and Communism. His campaign focussed on the ideas that Carter had been weak and it was time for America to once again step up and become the leader of the free world in standing up to the spread of communism. He won the election by a landslide. The invasion of Afghanistan had helped bring about the election of a president who believed that Communism was evil and should be actively opposed. This seemed to many to act as a guarantee that the Cold War would never end and might even escalate into a nuclear armageddon. How did the election of Ronald Reagan as US President in 1981 change the relationship between the superpowers? 1. Ronald Reagan was a hard-line anti-communist who referred to the USSR as an evil empire in March 1983. 2. If the invasion had wounded detente, and Carter s actions had killed it, Reagan was the one who finally buried it! Reagan believed that the USA had been wrong to try to coexist peacefully with the USSR. As a committed Christian, he said communism was evil and America should invest in new and improved nuclear weapons to defend freedom and destroy communism. 3. He announced what became known as The Reagan Doctrine ; the USA would not only support anti-communist governments, it would support anti-communist groups trying to overthrow communist governments. For this reason he gave support to rebel groups not just in Afghanistan but also in El Salvador and Nicaragua. 4. During his time as president, America spent more money than ever (13% more in 1982 and another 8% more in 1983 and 1984) developing new weapons such as Trident submarines and the Stealth bomber, not to mentino SDI (the so-called Star Wars plan). 26

What was the significance of the Star Wars (SDI) programme? Many people dismissed Ronald Reagan as a rather unintelligent former Hollywood actor but he was not as stupid as they thought. He understood that the Soviet economy was struggling. The more money America spent developing new weapons, the more difficult life would be become for the leaders of the Soviet Union. They would have to choose between spending money keeping up with America or spending money on improving the Soviet economy and the lives of the people. If the government became really unpopular, then the people might finally overthrow their communist leaders. So, in 1983, Reagan announced the start of a new military initiative - the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which became known as Star Wars (not the movie!). The idea was that America would use lasers in space to shoot down any Soviet missiles before they reached the US. Reagan spoke of SDI as if it was a reality; what he didn t admit was that the new system was years away from being ready. However, the USSR didn t know this; it had fallen behind in the space race in 1969 when the USA put men on the moon. It could neither afford, nor did it have the computer technology, to compete in this new phase of the arms race. Why was SDI so important? SDi was an important turning point in the Cold War. The Soviet leaders knew that they would have to invest huge sums of money to develop its own Star Wars system and that even if that money was spent, there was no guarantee they would be able to do it. The USA had made major advances in computer technology and was way away of the Soviet Union in this regard. Essentially, the Soviet Union couldn t afford SDI and possibly wouldn t be able to develop it, even if it could. This was bound to affect how the relationship between America and the USSR. If SDI became a reality, East and West would no longer be equal militarily. A new way of thinking would be needed. 27

Meanwhile in the Soviet Union... 1. In the Soviet Union, the attempt to keep pace in the arms race even before SDI was announced had led to a fall in the living standards of the people. 2. Soviet farming methods (collectivisation) were inefficient; there wasn t enough food for the people so millions of tonnes of grain had to be imported from America and other countries. 3. Brezhnev had died in 1982 and there had been no one strong leader since his death; this lack of strong leadership led to stagnation and a lack of planning. As a result of this, the Communist government was becoming more and more corrupt and unpopular amongst the people. 4. The Soviet people wanted the same high living standards and human rights as people in the democratic West. 5. The war in Afghanistan was a disaster which was continuing to cost a fortune; it had led to the loss of 15,000 Soviet soldiers lives and it was clear that it was unwinnable. 6. The USSR was still having to use military force to keep East European countries under communist governments; events in Poland reached crisis point in 1981 when, in the face of a rising against communism, the Soviet Union was forced to give its support to a Polish general, Jaruzelzki, who imposed martial law on Poland, much to the disgust of the rest of the world. What was the new thinking introduced by President Gorbachev? A new president came to power in 1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev. He had a clear understanding all of the problems and he had a plan. He intended to to save communism by making it better; he would do this by introducing two important new concepts: Perestroika; this involved introducing economic reforms to make the Soviet economy more efficient by making it less centrally controlled. However, corruption was too great and this aspect of his new thinking wasn t effective. Glasnost; this involved more openness; censorship of the press was relaxed, people were told the truth about the atrocities committed by Stalin s government and thousands of political prisoners were released. Gorbachev believed these reforms would make communist rule more popular but was he right? If control of the people was relaxed and they were given choice for the first time, would they choose communism or capitalism? 28

What did Reagan make of Gorbachev? Reagan recognised that Gorbachev was a new kind of leader of the Soviet Union. Here was a leader who was clear about not wanting to expand communism and wanting to make the Soviet Union a less oppressive place, where the people could express themselves. At the same time the Second Cold War was very expensive and had not been popular with many of America s allies and trading partner. Would it be possible to end the Cold War by working WITH the Soviet Union rather than against it? Reagan saw that this was a real opportunity to end the Cold War without going soft on communism or weakening the USA. How did the relationship between the superpowers change between 1985 and 1989? The new thinking in action 1985: Gorbachev and Reagan met several times - for example at the Geneva Summit in 1985 and Reykjavik Summit in 1986. At these conventions discussions were held about reducing the amount of nuclear weapons both sides had. The sticking point was SDI. Although Reagan and Gorbachev both wanted to reduce weapons, Reagan refused to stop the SDI. 1987: By the time they met at the Washington Summit Gorbachev had accepted that Reagan was not going to drop SDI. He therefore agreed to a disarmament treaty with no strings attached. This treaty was called the Intermediate- Range-Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty; it was a hugely important agreement as both the USA and the USSR were agreeing to remove existing medium-range nuclear missiles from Europe within 3 years; this went much further than SALT 1. 1988: Moscow Summit i) Gorbachev announced the immediate reduction of the weapons stockpile and the number of troops in the Soviet armed forces. ii) Gorbachev announced the complete withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan ii) Gorbachev told the United Nations that the Brezhnev Doctrine was no longer Soviet policy; the countries of Eastern Europe now had a choice - the USSR wasn t going to try to control them any more. Gorbachev: I can assure the President of the United States that I will never start a hot war against the USA. We are at the beginning of a long road to a lasting, peaceful era President Bush: We can realise a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship to one of enduring co-operation 29

Why had this genuine thaw in the Cold War happened? 1. Reagan could see that Gorbachev genuinely wanted to introduce reforms to make the USSR a less evil empire. He could also see that Gorbachev was popular both with the Soviet people and Americans and Europeans generally; he didn t want the USA to seem like a brutal bully standing in the way of progress. 2. Both sides were desperate to cut the expense of the armed race; nuclear weapons were hugely expensive and the USSR in particular needed to be spending its money of social reforms to improve the standard of living. 3. An improved relationship would lead to more trade deals between two of the world s biggest economies, which would benefit both sides. The context to fall of the Berlin Wall After Gorbachev had announced that the Brezhnev Doctrine was no longer Soviet policy, the Eastern European satellite countries began to break away from Soviet control: Hungary opened its frontier with Austria in May 1989 Free elections were held in Poland in June and non-communist movement Solidarity became the new government in June 1989 Many East Germans wear beginning to escape to the West by crossing into Hungary and then into Austria. How much longer could the Berlin Wall survive? When did the Berlin Wall fall? 1. The East German government was very slow to accept glasnost but its hand was forced by the opening of the border between Hungary and Austria. 2. On the 9th November the East German government finally announced that East Germans would be allowed to cross the border into West Berlin. It was forced to do this because Gorbachev refused to help the East German government put down protests and demonstrations. 3. Spontaneously thousands of East Berliners flooded the checkpoints in the wall demanding entry to West Berlin. 4. The border guards let them pass and after that the wall itself was pulled down. 30

Why was the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 so important? With the Berlin Wall gone, it could only be a matter of time before Germany itself was reunited. It happened in 1990; the FRG (West Germany) and GDR (East Germany) were no more - Germany was one nation again. Berlin and its wall had been massively symbolic during the Cold War and its fall had the same significance. There was no longer a physical barrier between the East and the West so the people would be free to choose. Unless the Eastern European governments introduced democracy, the people could vote with their feet and simply leave. The communist experiment was over. What happened to the Warsaw Pact? The Warsaw Pact had been created to defend communist governments; it no longer had any muscle because Gorbachev said that the Soviet Union would no longer fight to save communist governments. The Warsaw Pact was formally dissolved in July 1991. When and why did Cold War end? 1. Many leaders Communist politicians in Russia itself were appalled by the events which had been the result of Gorbachev s policies of perestroika and glasnost. 2. Not only were the Eastern bloc countries turning their back on communism, the other nationalities within the Soviet Union were beginning to demand independence from Russian control. It looked like the Soviet Union itself was about the break up. 3. On 19 August a group of senior Communists - the Gang of Eight - tried to get rid of Gorbachev. 4. Gorbachev was out of the country at the time but the newly elected President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, rallied the people and the army and the coup failed in just 3 days. 5. Gorbachev remained President of the USSR until 25 December 1991 when he announced that all of the individual Soviet republics within the USSR 31