4º ESO, Topic 6, Cold War (a)

8/7/2019 4 ESO, Topic 6, Cold War (a)

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The following topics are covered in this chapter: The Yalta and .Potsdam Conferences Rivalry in Europe 1..945-1. .949

7 . 1 The Yalta and PotsdamConferencesAfter studying this section you will know: the problems facing the victorious countries at the end of the war what was agreed, and not agreed, at Yalta and Potsdam the pol icies of the USSRin Europe:1945-49

The problems .

Ru ss ia w an te d t okeep Germany weak

a nd B r it ai n a n dAmer ic a d id n ot w a nt

to m ak e th e s am emistake as w as m ad e

I n t he T re at y o fVersail les

Even before the war had ended America, Britain and Russiawere meeting todecide the future of Europe.They had to try and solve the following problems.1.What to do about Germany.2.What to do about the count ries inEastern Europe that had been occupied.

Stalin wanted a barrier between him and Germany to ensure that Russiawasnever invaded again. Hewanted land from Poland and control over EasternEurope. Britain and the USAwere not keen on Eastern Europe falling undercommunist control.

3.How to make sure that peace would las t.

Yalta February 1945 ,

Fig. 7.1 Churchill. Roosevelt. Stalinat Yalta.


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fjhe causes of the Cold War1945-.l949

They managed toagree because theylef t so much vague,

e.g. what did 'a Sovietsphere ,ofInfluence'mean? What was

meant by 'freeelections',? This

vagueness would leadto ,disagr,eemenlts

later.

Yalta was the last time the 'BigThree' (Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin) wouldmeet. Roosevelt died later in the year,

Wbat was agreed Germany would be demilitarised and war criminals would be punished. Germany would be divided into four zones . These would be under the control

of Britain, France, Russiaand the USA.Berlin(which was inthe Russian zone)would also be divided into four,

Russiawould join the war against Japan, Countries in Eastern Europe would hold free elections for new governments, A new organisation called the United Niationls would replace the League

of Nations,

Wbat was not agreedThey did not agree over Stalin' s demand for Pol ish land, but they did agree onthe general point that Eastern Europe would be 'a Soviet sphere of inf luence ',

P,otsdam July-August 1945

had often mediatedbetween Stalin and

Roosevelt. Now therewas no'body able to

do this.

The situation had now changed. Truman had become USPresident (he was more ant i-communis t than

Roosevelt), Stalin and Truman were very suspicious of each other. During the conference, Churchill lost the general election in Britain and wasreplaced as Prime Minister by Clement Attlee,

Russian armies occupied all the Eastern European countries and Stalin hadalready set up a communist government inPoland,

Truman told Stalin about the American atom bomb. This made Stalin evenmore suspicious.

D,isagreements at:PotsdamThere was more disagreement than agreement at Potsdam. Because of the huge damage suffered by Russiain the war Stalinwanted to

punish and weaken Germany so i tcould never threaten war again. Healsowanted large reparat ions f rom Germany. Truman thought i twould be amistake to punish Germany too harshly: i twould be repeating the mistakesmade in 1919 inthe Treaty ofVersai lles .

Stalin wanted Eastern Europe to be communist and under his inf luence.Truman was very unhappy about thi s.

Agreeme.nts at PotsdamThe agreements were vague.: the 6 mil lion Germans in Eastern Europe should be reset tled inGermany for reparat ions , each of the All iescould take what they wanted from their

zone of Germany

USSR

Examiner's tip:iMa'kesure youcanex~plalnwhy Iless

progress was made at!Potsdam tihan

at Yalta.

Fig,.7,2 The IronCurtainby 1950. ,

Thecauses of the Cold War1945-1949 fjIThere was no final agreement over Eastern Europe.

Infact, there was littleto discuss. Russian troopscontrolled these countries and there was little Britainand America could do about this, The final divisionof Europe between east and west, betweencommunist and non-communist, was largelydecided by where the Russian and theAmerican/Br it ish armies met at the end of the war .Thiswas the I!astmeeting of the wartime allies. TheUSAand the USSRnow viewed each other with totalsuspicion. Eachfeared the other. Britain and Francewere badly weakened by the war and i twas clearthat the USAand USSRwould dominate worldaffairs in the near future.Winston Churchi ll summed up the situation inaspeech in 11946, 'From Stettin in the Balticto Triestein the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended acrossthe continent.'

1. Namethree problems that faced the victorious countries at the end of the war,2. Namethree things that were agreed at Yalta.3. Brief ly describe two ways inwhich the situat ion had changed at thet ime ofthe Potsdam meeting.4. Who coinedthe term 'the Iron Curtain'?'1I14)Jn4J U01SU!M ' 1 > ' -quioq WOll1U(!)!JawV a41~o i:lJI1MI1SUI1!ssn'!j~adOJn3Wi:l1S113aidrooo

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fjhecauses of the Cold War 1945-1949I

t ry and win inf luence with other count ri es spread propaganda against each otherHowever, t hey would never actua ll y go to war w ith each other.The Cold War was rea ll y caused by the fear and mis trus t between the twocountries. The USAfeared that Russiawanted to spread communism acrossEurope, and then the wor ld . Russia feared another invas ion f rom the west andthought Ameri ca wanted to dominate Europe and the wor ld . I n 1945 Russiawasmuch weaker than the USA.

The policies of the USSR and the USA 1945-1949 .G ! 1 DINHU',miDt t l i t i l 1 i J This sectionl ooks a t the act ions o fRussia and America.

I t I sd i ff icul t to dec idewho was causing the

increased tensionbetween them, andwho was react ing towha t the o ther wasdoing. The truth isthat both countries

were probably doing abHof both.Yugoslavia was

unique: a communistcount,ry not under thecontrol of the USSR.

In 1948 Stal inexpelled Yugoslav;la

from Cominfonnbecause Tl to was too

Independent.

For the Marshal l Plansee page 86.

Russia in Eastern EuropeElect ions were held in the Eastern European count ri es but they were r igged toensure communist victories. By 1948 most Eastern European countries hadcommunist governments that were really control led from Russia.There were, however, some exceptions which arediscussed below.YugoslaviaMarshal Tito had led the communist res is tance to German occupat ion ofYugoslavia. He was popular and powerful , and established Yugoslavia asanindependent communist state outside the control of Russia. In 1948 relationswith Stalin f inal ly broke down. Russiaeven moved troops to Yugoslavia's bordersand cut o ff t rade. T it o survi ved with the help of Ameri can economic a id .GreeceI n 1944 Greece set up a pro-Western government. This was opposed by Greekcommunist s. C iv il war broke out in 1944 and in 1946. Ameri ca stepped in andthe communist s were defeated in 1949.CominformI n 1947 Sta li n set up Cominform. This was in response to the Marshall Plan.I t i nc luded communist par ti es a ll over Europe and was des igned to make surethey all fol lowed the same ideological l ine asStalin.

America. i , D . EuropeAsfar asthe Ameri cans were concerned, S ta li n was p lann ing to take overEurope. This was probably not t rue. S ta li n was determined to hold on to EasternEu rope but hehad no p lans f or t he res t o f Europe.

Remember, wha t Ameri ca and Russi a feared the o ther was p lann ingwas j us t a s imp or ta nt a s wha t t he y wer e actualJy planning.

The Truman Doctrine 7947Truman dec ided that Ameri can inf luence in Europe had to be strengthened. In1947 hegave a speech in wh ich heannounced what became known as t heTruman Doctrine:'The Uni ted Sta teswould support (by economic or m il it ary a id) f ree peoples(meaning ant i-communists) who were resist ing armed minorit ies or outsidepressures (meaning the USSR).'

The Americaneongeess thought thatTruman was getting

too Involved InEuropean affairs and,at ftrst, op,posedthe

Marshall Plan.

Russia thoughtthe Marshall Plan was

ana t temp t byAmerica to gain

economic control ofEurope.

The first exampleof the Truman

Doctrine in practicewas American aid forthe non-communist

government In Greece.

Thecauses of the Cold War1945-1949 ~

Marshall AidThe Truman Doctr ine led to theMarshall Plan. General GeorgeMarshall, a member o f t heAmerican Government, believedcountries in Western Europe wereclose to economic col lapse. Trumanfeared that people l iv ing in thesecondi ti ons might turn tocommunism. He was also worriedthat a weak Western Europe wouldnot be ab le t o s tand up t o Russ ia .In June 1947 Marshall announcedthe p lan that was named after h im. B il li ons of dol la rs would beg ivento European count ri es to help them recover.

They woul d have t o agree t o buy Amer ican goods and t o al low Ameri caninvestment.

Marshal l asked the governments of Europe to get together to dec ide howmuch they wanted. EvenRuss iaenqu ired but was not happy with the termsof membership. Stalin then banned all Eastern European countriesfrom applying.

When Truman asked the Ameri can Congress for the $17 bil li on requi red,

Fig. 7.3 Churchill'S Iron Curtain.

it refused. However, t he p lan was saved in February 1948 when communist s took overcontrol in Czechoslovakia.

This pe rsuaded Congress o f t he t hrea t f rom communism and t hey vot ed t og ive money for the p lan.

Marshal l A id d id help European economies to recover. When the p lan ended in1952 industr ia l output was 35 per cent h igher than i t had been before the war.

Ameri can industry a lso benef it ed f rom the Marshal l P lan. Much of the moneywas spent buy ing mater ia ls and goods f rom America and thi s helped fue l thepost -war boom in t he US.

The Berlin blockade and airlift 1948-1949Causes of the blockadeAmerica , Bri ta in and Francewanted the ir zones in Germany to recovereconomica ll y and eventua ll y to be uni fi ed into a new West Germany. They hadinc luded the ir zones in the Marshal l P lanand economic recovery was underway . St ali n want ed Ge rmany t o rema in weak . Hed id not wan t a s trong Wes tGermany emerg ing that cou ld bea threat to Russiaand the communist b loc.In June 1948 a new currency, the Deutschmark, was int roduced into thewestern zones to help economic recovery. I t was then int roduced into thewestern sectors of Ber li n. This rea ll y annoyed Sta li n who accused the West o finterfering in EastGermany (remember Berlin was in EastGermany). Thefol lowing events then took p lace.


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I rile causes of tile Cold War1945-1949

Sa,iet Checkpoint+ Galow Airport* Tegel Airport* Ternpl ehof Airport F re nc h S e ct or B ri ti shSecl or Am erica n SeclorFig. 7.4 A dividedGermany.

question to answer -and there is no ' right '

answer. Theexaminers will be

loo ldng for how wel lyousupport your

arguments. Even ifyou have made upyour mind who was

largely to blame, youshould explain howthe other side alsocontr ibuted to the

o 300km

Blockade and airlift June 1948 Russiaclosed the roads, rai lways andwaterways that l inked the western sectors ofBerlin with West Germany. The blockade of Berlinhad s tar ted. I f suppl ie s coul d not be got t o t hepeople in Berlin, America, Bri tain and Francewould have to withdraw.

At temp ts t o b reak t he b lo ckade cou ld end i nwar- and t he Russ ianshad f ar mo re t roops on t heground.

The solut ion was to airli ft suppl ies to Berlin. Airli ftss tarted inJune 1948 and put the bal l back intoRussia'scourt : she would have to f ire the f irst shot.

The a ir li ft suppl ied Ber li n w ith 1.5 mil li on tonnesof suppl ies over 318 days.

InJu ly 1948 Ameri can B29 bombers were sent to bases in Bri ta in . TheRussianswere not sure i f they were carrying nuclear weapons.

On 12 May 1949 the Russians l if ted the b lockade.The consequences of the Berlin Crisis Relat ions between America and Russiawere worse than ever. Germany was d iv ided into the Federal Republi c o f Germany (West Germany)and the German Democrat ic Republic (East Germany).

Dur ing the cri si sWestern count ri es , i nc luding Ameri ca , formed the NorthAtlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).This was a mil it ary a ll iance. I f amember of the a ll iance was attacked the others would help them.

In 1955 the USSRresponded with i ts own all iance. With the communistcountries of Eastern Europe (not Yugoslavia) i t formed theWarsaw Pact.Europe was now div ided into two armed camps.

Who was to blame for the ColdWar? A t Yal ta Bri ta in and Ameri ca . d id agree that Eastern Europe should be a Sovie t' sphere of inf luence '. However, what thi s meant was lef t vague.

A t Yal ta i t was agreed that ' free ' e lect ions should be held in Eastern Europe.Russiamade sure these were rigged in favour of communists.

There isno evidence that S ta li n wanted control beyond Eastern Europe. Somehistorians bel ieve hejust wanted a 'safety barrier' between Russiaand WesternEurope. Russiahad been invaded twice in the las t 30 years .

The Marshal l P lanwas seen by Russiaas an Ameri can attempt to controlEurope.

Russiawas worried by the Ameri can atom bomb. America was genuinely worried that Russiawanted to spread communismacross Europe.

Ameri ca was worried by the large number of t roops the Russianshad inEastern Europe.

The most important point i s that each s ide mis trus ted the other . Theysuspected each other o f ambit ions of wor ld control t ha t nei ther had.


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The following topics are covered in this chapter: The KOfean Waf .1950-.1953 TheBerlin Wall :196.1 TheCuban Missile Cfisis .1962

If\.

8.1

The Vietnam Waf Attempts at detente 1953-8.1

Th'e Korean War1950-1953After studying this section you will know: the causes of the Korean War the main events of the war the resul ts of the war

The causes of the Korean WarGOelm

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U mi t o f N . K or ea n a dv an ce

aI

CHINA . .

a\Fig. 8.1 North and SouthKorea. Intervention InKorea was carried outwith UNsupport , but

i t was rea ll y anAmerican attempt atstopping communismfrom spreading.

The tension between communist and non-communist s ta tes was not l im ited to Europe and in1950 it l ed t o war in Korea .Korea was d iv ided into two sta tes: North Korea wascommunist and supported by Russia; South Koreahad an ant i-communis t d ic ta torship and wassupported by Ameri ca . The two Koreaswere d iv idedby the 38th parallel . Both Korean Presidents claimedt o be rule r o f t he whol e o f Ko rea.In 1950 North Korea invaded South Korea. TheUni ted Nat ions asked i ts members to help stop thewar. The USA immedia te ly sent t roops. They werefol lowed by t roops f rom 16 other count ri es .However, t he Ameri can army, led byGeneralMaCArthur, played the most important role andmade t he dec is ions. A t ot al o f 50 per cen t o f t hea rmy and 86 per cen t o f t he navy was p rovi ded byAmeri ca . MacArthur took orders f rom Truman, notf rom t he UN .

'Domino Theory'. Youwill come across it

again ,[nthls chapter.

Tension and detente 1950-1981 0America saw the invas ion by North Korea asanother example of the spread ofcommunism which had to be stopped. Ameri ca was worried about the'domino effect': i f one count ry fel l t o communism, thi s would t ri gger o thercount ri es to fal l. Another reason for Ameri ca 's concern was that in 1949 China(just north of Korea) had become communist .

Fig. 8.2Themain events of the w'ar . :' ,,'. ','; ::' , ""'~' .

1.The North Koreans made advances in South Korea.2 . September 1950: MacArthur landed at Inchon.3 . October 1950: the UN approved an Ameri can invas ion of North Korea and theunificat ion of Korea. Americans troops invaded North Koreathe same day.

4. MacArthur's forces advanced through North Korea towards the Korea-Chinaborder.

5 . November 1950: Chinese t roops poured into North Korea and droveMacArthur back.

6. MacAr thur asked Truman t o use t he a tomic bomb and wan ted t o in vadeChina. In Apr il 1951 MacArthur was sacked by Truman.7 .June 1951: a sta lemate had developed around the 38th paral le l.

8 . 1953: an arm is ti ce was s igned and Korea remained d iv ided a long the 38thparallel.

Results of the Korean War Ameri ca rea li sed that i t cou ld not take on China with i ts massive populat ion.From now on Ameri can pol icy was to contain the spread of communismrat he r t han t o t ry and def ea t i t .

American pol icy now changes to one of containing communism.

The Korean War showed how easy i t was for a reg iona l confl ic t t o suddenlyescalate and nearly cause a world war.

Russiaaccused the USAof using the UN for i ts own purposes.1. Name two ways in which South and North Korea differed.2. Howdid China playan important part inthe war?3. G ivethree resul ts o f the war.

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@ Tension and detente 1956-1981B~2The Berlin Wall 1961

After studying this section you wil l know: why Be.rlin was a cause of tension between East and West why the Russians bui lt the Be.r li n Wall

Be:rlin: a cause of tensi,onThe c it y o f Ber li n continued to cause tensions between Russiaand Ameri ca . Youwil l remember that cap ital is t West Ber li n was in the middle of communist EastGermany. There had already been one cri si s over Ber li n ( the Ber li n B lockade in1~48-1949). The Russiansfound i t d if fi cu lt t o accept thi s outpost o f cap ital ismin communist territory. During 1959-1961 Khrushchev made several demandsthat the Western powers leave Ber li n. They refused. InAugust 196', EastGerman soldiers put up a barbed-wi re barrier d iv id ing Eastand West Ber li n. Thiswas soon rep la ced by a wal l - t he Be rli n Wall . Nobody was a ll owed t o movebetween Eastand West Ber li n. This meant that famil ies were suddenly d iv ided. I teven stopped some people going to the ir p lace of work . .EastGerman soldiersguarded the wal l and shot anyone who t ried to cross to West Ber li n.

R,easons why th,e IRussians built the Berlin Wall They regarded Wes t Ber lin asa 'Usteniing post' f or Ameri ca r ight in themiddle of communist territory.

L iv ing standards in West Ber li n were much higher than in EastBerl in . Whi leEastBer li ners cou ld t rave l to West Ber li n they cou ld see how people werebetter off under capital ism.

Many of the most educated and highly ski ll ed people in EastBer li n weredefecting to West Ber li n. The Eastcou ld not a fford to losethese people, e .q .scientists, teachers and engineers.

Ber li n remained a source of tension between Eastand West. . I n 1963 Kennedyshowed his support f or the people of West Ber li n by v is it ing the c it y and makinghis famous 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech.1. Whywere East Berliners movinginto West Berlin?2. Givethree reasons why Khrushchev wanted the Western powers out of Berlin.

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B . 3Tension and detente 1950-1981 0

The, Cuban MissileCrisis 1962

Some historiansthink that the hosti leactions 'ofAmericasimply pushed Cuba

into the arms ofRussia. Theyclaim

'Castm had no choice.

After studying this section you will know: t he l ong~and short- te lm causes of t he c ris is the main ev:e.nts of theclis.;s the results of the clisis

To understand the Cuban Mli ss il eCri si s i t i snecessary to consider both the long-and short-term causes.

Longterm eausesThe Cuban Revolut ion and her worsening relat ions with Ameri ca were the long-term causes of the crisis.Ameri ca had become heavi ly involvedin the island of Cuba. I t supported thedictator Batista and had a naval base there . .American businessmen ownedmuch o f t he i ndus tr y i n Cuba and made huge p ro fit s.However, most Cubans l ived in poverty . Bat is ta 's rule had degenerated intorepression and gangsterism. In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew Bat is ta and set upwhat looked to the Ameri cans l ike a communist req lrne. Relat ions between Cubaand America grew gradually worse.

I

Cuban exi les ned to IMiami where they-lot ted the downfall of Castro.+Castro ,nll fb)nal ised a lot of the land in Cuba.,,Almerlca , refusedto.sel l arms to Cuba.+In 1:960 Russia began bu~ing Cuban sugar. This had previously been bought

by the USA.+IEisenhower ordered the CIAto start t rai lning t t ie Cut ian exi les for a future lavaslon_,~ o",f..;;C~u;;;;.b""a.,-- ~,t'Cuba started to.bu arms from Russila.,

America tried to stop Western countries selling 01 1 to Cuba.tAugust 1960:~astro nat ionalised hundreds of US comp.anies.

+October ~9:6D: the USA stop~d t rading with Cuba.,January 1961: tbe USA br,okeoff diplomatic relat ions with Cuba.


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@ Tension and detente 1950-J.981The Bay of Pigs

When Kennedy became President in 1961 there were a lready p lans for Cubanexi les to invade Cuba. .The invas ion took p lace in Apr il 1961. A total o f 1 ,400men landed a t t he Bayo f Pi gs .The whole affai r was a d isaster. The Cuban people d id not support t hem andthey were eas il ydefeated. Everyone knew Ameri ca was behind the invas ion andi t pushed Castro even more into the arms of Russia.These events show how relat ions between Cuba and America had deteriorateds ince Castro had come to power.

Short-term causesShort-term causes sparked off the crisis. Feeling more threatened than ever byAmerica, Castro turned to Russiafor support. Russia, meanwhi le, was feelingthreatened by USnuclear missi les in Europe and Turkey.

Russiastarted to instal l nuclear missi les in Cuba -just 100 miles away f rom the UScoast . The missi leswe re med ium- range - abl e t o reach most o f t hema jo r c it ie s in t he USA. On 16 Oct ober 1962 twoU-2 spy p lanes brought back photographs of themissile bases in Cuba.

Examiner'stip:Bereadyto arguewhyyouthink Khrushchevput missileson Cuba.Was he justified?

Why did Russiaput missi les on Cuba?1.As something to barga in w ith. Russiacou lddemand that America withdraw her missi lesfromTurkey, or demand that the Western powerswithdraw from Berlin.

2. Khrushchev knew Russiawas weaker thanAmeri ca and thought m issi les on Cuba wouldeven things up.

3. To defend Cuba against America.4 . To test the new President , Kennedy.

Main events of the crisisKennedy had several opt ions. What he decided was crucial because the worldwas close to nuclear war.Do nothing This would make America look weak and the missi les

could be used at anyt ime by Russia.Use anai r a ttack todestroy the bases

Russia might retal iate, and there was noguarantee allthe bases would be destroyed.

Invade CubaMake sureyou areable to explaintheadvantagesanddisadvantagesof eachof the options.

Blockade Cuba,stopping moremissiles arriving

This would get rid of Castro and the missi les, but mightleadto all -out war.Without using force, this would showthat the USAwould not tolerate the missi les, and wouldgive Russia a way out of the crisis.

Tension and detente 1950-1981 0Kennedy dec ided on opt ion 4. On 22 October 1962 heannounced: a naval b lo ckade of Cuba - Sov iet ship swou ld bes topped and sea rched t oprevent any more missi les reaching Cuba

a ll m issi les in Cuba should be removedKhrushchev now had t o dec ide what t o do.

24 October Russian ships approaching Cuba turned round, but workon the missile bases continued.

26 October Khrushchev offered to destroythe bases i fAmericapromised i t would not at tack Cuba, and i f the blockadewas lifted.

27 October Khrushchev demanded that American missiles in Turkeybe removed.

27 October Kennedy decided to accept Khrushchev's first offer.28 October Khrushchev agreed. Kennedy also secretly agreedto take

American missi les out of Turkey some t ime inthe future.

Results of the crisis

Examiner'stip:Youneedto beableto discuss whowonandwholost intheCubanMissile Crisis.Youmust havereasonsto supportyourviews.

The cri si s brought the wor ld c lose to nuc lear war. This had pos it iveconsequences because i t made Russiaand America realise how easily such a warcou ld beg in . This led to the fol lowing measures.1 . Both s ides were now more ready to set tl e the ir d if fe rences by tal king. The f irstevidence of this wa s when they set up a telephone hot line bet ween t hemt o make it easy f or t he two l eade rs t o cont ac t each o ther .

2 . I n 1963 t hey s igned a Nuc lear Tes t Ban T reat y wh ich l im it ed t es ts o fnuclear weapons.

3 . Cuba remained a communist count ry on Ameri ca 's doors tep. However, t henuc lear m issi les had gone and Cuba was no longer a threat to the USA.

4. President Kennedy's reputation wa s strengthened. Hehad shown he cou ldstand up to the Russians.

5.The resul ts for Khrushchev were mixed. Hecould c la im that he had helpedmaintain peace, and that American missi les in Turkey would be removed.However, some people in Russiadid not l ike the fact that he had caused thecri si s and had then backed down. In 1964 he was sacked.

The Cuban Missi le Crisis actually led to improved relat ions between Russiaand America.

1. Give two reasons whySoviet missiles were a threat to America.2. List the opt ions Kennedy had in react ing to the discovery of the missi les.3. Givetwo results of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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@ Tension and detente 1950-19818.4 The Vietnam War The Ameri cans cou ld not tel l who wereinnocent vil lagers and who wereVietcong. Many of the vil lagers

supported and hid the guerril las.In January 1968 the communistslaunched the Tet Offensive: theyattacked Saigon and hundreds of othertowns in South V ie tnam. They wereeventua ll y dri ven back, and in one senset he o ff ensive was a def ea t, bu t i t s en t amajor shock through the Americangovernment. The generals requestedmore t roops. When the news f il te redout in Ameri ca there was a publi coutcry. Johnson announced he wouldnot run f or t he p resi dency aga in and inMay 1968 peace tal ks began in Par is .

Aftel studying this section you wil l know. : whyAmerica got invo lved in Vietnam why America lost the war

Tension and detente 1950-1981 ( )

BOOBYTRAPSpunjitrap

....;~-

Fig. 8.5 Vietcong tunnel system. t JII

Reasons why America got involved in Vietnam6DIWW':(g)~--------------~----~

1 . I n 1954 t he F rench gave up t ry ing t o hol d on t othe ir empire in Indo-China. V ie tnam had beenpar t o f t hi s emp ire. I t was d iv ided in to two . No rt hVietnam was under the communist governmentof Ho Chi-Minh. South V ie tnam had agovernment that was f ri endly to the West. Therewas supposed t o be ane lect ion i n 1956 t ochoose a government for the whole of V ie tnam.However, the Americans were against the elect iontak ing p lace because they thought thecommunist s would w in . They were afraid that i fVietnam became communist , other states wouldfol low (the domino effec t, see page 90).

2.The Vietcong (communist guerri llas) fought tooverthrow the government o f South V ie tnam.They were helped by North V ie tnam, which sentsuppl ie s down t he HoCh i M inh Trail . I n 1955 t heAmeri cans started to support t he government o fthe South.In 1961 Kennedy increased thi s support bysending military advisers. Johnson had to f ightan e lect ion in 1964 to remain President andthought a tough pol icy towards the communist sin V ie tnam would go down wel l w ith the e lectors.

The tactics used by the AmericansThe Americans were f ight ing in a f o re ign count ry t hey d id not know o runderstand. They were easytargets. They fought a d if fe rent k ind of war to theVietcong. They depended on technology: bombers, gunships, heavi ly armouredt roops. The methods used by the Ameri cans - bombing v il lages, search-and-destroy missions, chemica ls l ike napalm - los t them the support o f theV ie tnamese v il lagers . I t g radual ly became clear that Ameri ca would not w in amilitary victory.

The Americans didnot adapt theirtac ti cs to theconditions in

South Vietnam.

Opposit ion to the war in AmericaAs t he war dragged on and the number of Ameri can casua lt ies grew, sod idoppos it ion t o t he wa r. A t f i rs t t hi s was l im it ed t o s tudent s who had beendrafted into the army. However, asmore and more parents received the newsthat the ir sonswere dead (by 1968 over 36,000 Ameri cans had been k il led) ,oppos it ion spread. Ameri cans cou ld see on the ir TVscreens what washappening.Nixon, t he new President , had promised to reduce the number of Ameri cansf ight ing in V ie tnam. In 1969, however, he ordered the bombing of Cambodia,where the Vietcong had establ ished some of their bases.The ant i-war protestsinAmer ica grew. Events l i ke the shoot ing of four demonst ra tors at Kent Sta teUniversity and the massacre of Vietnamese civil ians atMy Lai made matterswo rse . The sca le o f t he oppos it ion t o t he war made i t impossi ble f or N ixon t ocontinue American involvement.This was another

example of theDomino Theory.

Remember, this hadInfluenced Americanthinking over Korea.

Nixon began to pul l t roops out and started a pol icy ofVietnamisation (theSouth Vietnam army f ight ing the Vietcong by i tsel f). In 1973 a ceasefi re wasagreed, but the f ight ing continued. In 1975 North V ie tnam and the Vie tcong hadconquered South Vietnam and united the country under communism.

o 200km

Fig. 8.4 Vietcongstrategic advantages. 3 . In 1964 anAmerican destroyer was attacked by North V ie tnamese pat ro lboats . This persuaded Congress to support t he sending of more t roops toV ie tnam. In 1964 President Johnson sent 23,000. By1967 there were 500,000American troops in Vietnam.

Why America lost the warThe tactics used by the VietcongThe Vietcong used guerrilla tact ics. They rarely fought large battles. They l ivedoff t he land and disappeared among the ord inary people, wai ti ng to str ike whenthe t ime was r ight . They used booby t raps and ambushes. They knew thecount ryside and cou ld mel t away into i t.


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@ Tension and detente 1950-19811. Givethree reasons whyAmerican involvement in Vietnam increased.2. State two ways inwhichthe tact ics of the Americans dif fered from those ofthe Vietcong.3. Namethree reasons why American public opinion turned against the war.4. Explain the term 'Vietnamisation'.

Teflsion and detente 1950-1981 (J)

S dOOJ 1 U I D P


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Thefollowing tepics are ce,vered in thischapfer: Opposi tion to Soviet co.ntlol Poland and 'Solidarity ' 1.980-1.989 Gorbachev and the col lapse of communism

9.1 Opposition to SovietcontrolAfter studying this section you wil l know: what happened i n'Hungary in J.956 what t he consequences of the Hungarian uprising were the causes of opposit ion in Czechoslovakia in 1968 the results of the 'Prague Spring' the similar it ies and dif ferences between Hungary and Czechoslovakia

As you s aw in Chapt er 6 the USSR gained c ontr ol o ver most of the c ountr ies inE as te rn Europ e soon a fte r th e end o f th e S econd Wor ld War . T he se count ri esh ad communi st g ov ernments whic h we re t ig htl y c on tr oll ed f rom Moscow.Opponents to communism were dealt with harshly and eve n communists whod id not a gr ee comp le te ly w it h S ta li n w er e impr is on ed . The s ta nd ard o f l iv in g i nthe Eastern Bloc was much lower tha n in the West. Consume r go ods th at wereta ken for g ra nte d in Wes te rn Europ e wer e abs en t in t he E as t. I n 1956 oppos iti onto Sov ie t c on tr ol wa s oppos ed i n Hungary.Th e c au se s o f th is o ppos iti on we re a s f ol lows : Stalin died in 19 53. He had kept firm control over Eas ter n Eur ope and had

immedi ate ly s tamped on any s ig n o f oppos it io n. H is d ea th b rought a boutuncer ta in ty . .Would Russi a conti nue t o exert t he same bru ta l con trol ?

Stalin was succe eded by Khr ushchev . In 1956 Khrushch ev made a speechc ri ti cis in g th e way S ta li n h ad rule d Rus sia a nd con tr ol le d E as te rn Eu rope . Her eje cte d S ta lin 's b ru ta l m eth od s and s ai d t ha t Rus sia c ou ld li ve p ea ce fu ll y w it hth e Wes t. H e a ls o imp roved r el ati on s wi th t he in depend en t c ommunis t s ta teo fYugo sl av ia a nd a ssur ed Yugos la vs th at h e b eli ev ed in non -in te rf er en ce andn ati on al in depend en ce . T his le d p eople i n o th er c ount ri es i n E as te rn Europ e,such as Hungary , t o expec t great er i ndependence.

The collapse of communism 0In his speech of 1956 Khrushdlev gave a misleading impression. Hehad no intent ion of let t ing Eastern Europeancountries be independentof Soviet control.

In 1956 ther e we re demons tratio ns in Poland. Although Khr ushchev s ent inSov ie t tr oops , h e a ls o in tr oduc ed r ef orms wh ic h g av e t he Pol es mo re f re edom .To the people of Hunga ry this appe ared to be ano ther promising sign.

T he USAsent c on ti nuou s anti -c ommunis t p ro pagand a to E as te rn Europ e ( e. g.b y r ad io ). T his g av e p eople in Hungary t he imp re ss io n th at Amer ic a wou ldh elp th em i f t hey cha lle ng ed Sov ie t c on tr ol . T he T ruman Doc tr in e h adpromi sed to hel p peopl e f ight ing against communi sm.

The re w as much for Hunga ria ns t o oppos e. Mat ya s R akos i r ule d th e countr yw it h an i ro n f is t: t he s ec re t p oli ce te rr or is ed any oppon en ts , t he re wa s s tr ic tc en so rs hi p and no f re edom o f sp ee ch . The r eg im e was v ery unpopula r.

In 19 56 Rak osi was replaced by Erno Gero. In October a sta te funer al was heldf or Laszlo Rajik w ho had op posed Soviet r ule and ha d been e xecuted. Thefun er al g av e t he Hunga ria ns an oppor tu ni ty t o s how th ei r o ppos iti on to Sov ie tc on tr ol . T hous ands a tt en ded and d emon st ra tio ns and r io tin g foll ow ed .

for the TrumanDoctrinesee !page85.

Examiner's tip:Be ready to explainreasons inside andoutside Hungary fo r

the Hungarian revolt.

What ha'ppened in Hungary in 1956

Fig. 9.1 A wrecked statueof Stalin in Budapest.

1 . Th e d emons tr ato rs w an te d Imre Nagy to r ep la ceGero. On 24 Oct ob er Khrushchev agr eed t o th is .2. This d id not e nd t he d is tu rb an ce s. T hedemonstrators now demanded a fr ee pr ess, anend t o one -p ar ty r ule , th e w it hd rawa l o f Sov ie tf or ce s, a nd Hunga ry to l ea ve th e War saw Pac t.N agy agr eed t o th es e d emand s.

3. This was too much f or Khrush chev and on4 November he s ent in 200,000 Soviet troopsand 2,500 tanks.

4. The Hunga ria ns f ough t t he in vadi ng for ce s a ndNagy asked the UN and the Wes t for help. Theydid nothing.

5.Aft er two weeks o f f ie rc e f ig hti ng and th e d ea th so f th ou sand s o f Hungar ia ns th e Sov ie t f or ce scrushed the resistance.

6. Nagy was r ep la ced by a p ro -Sovie t g ov ernmen t .N agy was l ate r e xe cu te d in Rus sia .

The reacti:on of Khrushchev Khrus hchev was hap py to acc ept some ref orms in Hunga ry but he thought the

Hungar ians ' demands went too far . He would not let Hungar y lea ve theWar saw Pac t s in ce th is m ight l ea d t o o th er c ountr ie s w an tin g t o l ea ve . T hiswould destroy the protective barr ier tha t had be en built to defend the SovietUnion f rom an a tt ac k f rom th e Wes t.

He acted har shly to set an example to the othe r Easte rn European countries. Hewant ed to make sur e t hey d id not f oll ow Hungary' s e xamp le .


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e;) Thecollapse of communismResults of the Hungarian uprising

For the pol icy o f " '-containmentsee page 90.

1...Ahard-line communist government was established in Hungary.2. Many Hungarians los t fa ith inthe West. They reali sed the USAwas not

going to help them. Thiswas due to the USA'spolicy ofcontainmentof communism.

3..The UN,was discredited because it did nothing while Hungary wasbeing invaded.

Reasons for opposition in Cz,ech'oslovakia 1968The next major opposition to Soviet control in Eastern Europe camein Czechoslovakia.

The Prague S,pr,ing- the causes Czechoslovakia was a Stalini st s ta te . There was no freedom of speech, heavy

censorship and only the Communist Par ty was allowed to put up candidatesinelections. Unrest about all these issues was gradually growing.

The standard of l ivingfor most people was very poor and there were fewconsumer goods. Economic factors were probably more important than theywere inthe Hungarian uprising. The Czechs disliked the way their industrieswere controlled by Russiaand run for Russia's benefit .

In1968 Alexander Dubcek became the new leader. Hewas determined toraise living standards and to give people more freedom. Heintrod:ucedreforms which became known as 'social ism with a human face' . The spr ing of1'968 became known as the Prague Spring because of the following reforms:

1.government control of industry was reduced, giving more control tomanagers and workers

2. trades unions were given more freedom3. censorship of the press was abollished and freedom of expression was allowed4. criticlsinq the government was no I'onger a crime5. i twould be easier for Czechs to t ravel abroad

Dubcek was a communist and wanted to keep a reformed type of communism.Hewanted to keep Czechoslovakia inthe Warsaw Pact. Het ried to reassureBrezhnev (who had replaced Khrushchev as Soviet leader) that his reforms wereno threat to the Soviet Union..However, Brezhnev was not convinced. He couldnot accept Dubcek's reforms because he feared that: f reedom ofspeech would lead to chaos inCzechoslovakia the reforms were the first steps tc Czechoslovakia becoming a democracy Czechoslovakia would leave the Warsaw Pact and join the West - thi s was

dangerous because Czechoslovakia was the link between West Germany andRussia: itcould provide a route for American troops to Russia

ifhe allowed the reforms other Eastern Bloccountries mi.ght want similarreforms: this could !Ieadto the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe

Dubcek would form an all iance with the independent Yuqoslavia and withRomania, another communist country that resented Soviet control

Thecollapse of communism0Brezhnev ordered t roops and tanks to the Czechborder. Dubcek responded by invit ing the leaders ofYugoslavia and Romania to a meeting. On20 August 1968 the Russian forces, with forces fromEast Germany, Poland and Bulgaria, invadedCzechoslovakia.

Fig. 9.2 A Czechoslovakian cartoon from1968 commenting on the Soviet reaction to thePrague Spring.

The Czech Government decided not to res is t theinvading forces. Although there was some streetfighting the casualty figures of the Hungarian risingwere not repeated. In1969 Dubcek was removedfrom office. Thousands of Czechs were arrested.Czechoslovakia was once more under Soviet control.xaminer's tip:Ma'ke sure yOIl have

noted the similaritiesand the differencesbetween events in

Hungary al1d!Czechoslovak.la.

Results of 'the P:ragueSpriinlg1. The Brezhnev Doctrine. Brezhnev stated that Russiawas not prepared to allow

any country in Eastern Europe to abandon communism. I'fthey tried, Russiawould stop them.

2. Communists were disillusioned by the actions ofthe Soviet Union. Theybegan looking for a new type of communism.

3.A hard- line communist government was set up.

Comlparing Hungary ~956 with Czechoslovakia 1968SimillariliesThe similarities are clear: opposition to Soviet control reforms passed that the Soviet Union did not l ike the Russian army being used to suppress opposit ionFrom Russia's point of view the two events were very similar: they boththreatened the safety ofthe Soviet Union. However, the differences are just asimportant.Differences Hungary wanted to leave the Warsaw Pact; Czechoslovakia did not . Economic factors were more important in Czechoslovakia. The Hungarians put up much more res is tance to the Soviet invasion and

many more people were kil led. The Soviet reaction was lessextreme in Czechoslovakia. Dubcek was not

executed.


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e : > The collapse of communism1. Givefour reasons whyopposition to Soviet control appeared in Hungary.2. Write downfour main events of the Hungarianuprising inthe order inwhichthey happened.3. Givethree reasons why Brezhnevwas worried about events in Czechoslovakiain 1968.4. Givetwo ways in which events in Hungaryand Czechoslovakia were similar andtwo ways in which they were different.

',\,H?6unHU!~W,H1){~~JOWUO!PI!~J l~!AOS :lOU PIP l!!ltI!AOIS04:1~ZJ'Pl!d MI!SJeMa41 aMal 01 palUl!M All!6unH:saJu


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e : > Thecollapse of communismGorbachev and thecollapse of9.3 communIsmAfter studying this section you will know: why Gorbachev began to reform the Soviet Union what these reforms were how communi sm col lapsed i n Eastern Europe

Gorbachev was forcedto pass refo~ms

'because of the direeconomic state of

Russia. I t could notpayfor its expensive

foreign policy a.ndcould not give Its own

peopl'e a decentstandardi of ! l l l v i i ' n g .

Poland was not the only country to br eak away f rom commun ism in 1989. Tofind the reasons for these changes we need to look at what was happening inRu ss ia . I n 1985 Gorba ch ev b ec ame le ad er o f th e Soviet Union . He rea li sed t ha tr ef orms wer e b ad ly n eeded. Ru ss ia wa s f ac in g many p roblems and communi smwas making thi ngs worse . L iv in g s ta nd ards w er e poo r. Ther e was mu ch c orruption, with Communis t Par ty bosses living in luxury, Rus si an f armi ng wa s v ery in ef fi cie nt. R us sia w as h av in g t o impo rt g ra in . Russian industry was out of date and could not keep up with the West in new

areas such as computers . The Soviet Union was spending a huge pr oportion of its national income on

weapons b ec au se o f t h e Col d War . I n 1979 Rus si a h ad i nv ad ed A fghanis ta n.T hi s wa r w as cos ti ng $8 b il li on a y ea r.

Gorbachev"s r'eformsGorbachev p lanned to intr oduce'per estroika ( ( restruc turing the economy toma ke it more efficient) and 'glasnos t' (opennes s to new ideas and morefree speech).Reforms in, RUi ss ia Pol it ical p ri soners were rel eased. F arme rs w er e a ll owed to f arm for p riv at e p ro fi t. Manag er s i n i ndus tr y we re g iv en mor e f re edom .'Howeve r, t he re w as much oppos iti on t o t he se r ef orms and li vin g s ta nd ards f el l.R us si a w as i n d ang er o f f al li ng i nto chaos .Forei gn pol icy I n 1987 Gorba ch ev s ig ned a d is armament tr ea ty w it h Ame ric a. In 1988 he announced that the Brez hnev Doc trine was abandone d. Russ ia

would not i nt er fe re i n Easte rn Europe. Cuts in Sov ie t a rmed for ce s w er e announc ed . In 1989 Gorbache v withd rew tr oops fr om Af ghanista n .

Thecollapse of communism0By 1989 it was dear that the Soviet Union was not able and not prepared tohol d i ts emp ir e to ge th er , n or t o ma in ta in it s c on tr ol o ve r E as te rn Europ e.

N a 300 miles

t a 480 kmOctober 1989Large demonstrat ions in East Germany when Gorbachevvisits. Hetells East Germany to reform. butthe governmentorders itstroops to f ireon demonstrators. They refuse.

November 1989arsaw

POLANDc . . .. . . . . ~-::-. -~,!:-~.'.:.,

~ ' : ; : , t ~ ; : : } ~ ; ~ ~ : . f ~ _ ~SOVIET UNION

WESTGERMANYI i : . . , -

"_" . - " ,1 ': ; . : , . ~-~,_" . December 1989

J A revolut ion in Romaniaoverthrows thej communist government.Thecommunist leader.Ceausescu. is executed.

-May 1989Hungary opened itsborder with non-communist Austria.This meant people from East Germany could travel to theWest bythis route, which made theBerlin Wall a nonsense.ROMANIA

ITALY

December 1989Demonstrat ions inBulgaria force thecommunist government to resign. Freeelect ions areannounced inHungary.

'Fig.9..4 The col lapse of communist control inEastern Europe.Communism in Easte rn Eur ope had simply colla psed. I n 1 990 the two halves ofG ermany we re uni te d . . In 119911h e r epub li cs t ha t m ad e up t he USSRdec la re dt he ir i nd ep endenc e. T he Sov ie t Uni on was no more.

4º ESO, Topic 6, Cold War (a)

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Transcript of 4º ESO, Topic 6, Cold War (a)