The Cold War

Chapter 28

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Notes:  Confrontation of the Superpowers

Spielvogel Chapter 28

  • Confrontation of the Superpowers
    • Only two great powers left
      • Europe basically destroyed itself – only the U.S. and the USSR remain powerful – centuries of western European domination over
      • Europe becomes like its colonies – a less powerful entity
        • leads to resentment of U.S.
        • Brits. choose to feel more like family
          • still resentment – “There are three problems with Americans – they’re overpaid, oversexed, and over here.”
        • France reworks Nazi posters as anti-U.S. posters
    • Beliefs of the Two Powers
      • U.S. believes only it can stop Soviet influences in void left by Nazi power – keep desperate people from embracing communism
        • take democracy to the world
      • Soviets believe they must save world from U.S. Imperialism & capitalism (unfair world)
  • Developments
    • Truman Doctrine – 1947 -- Containment
    • The Marshall Plan – 1947
      • Sec. of State George Marshall declares $5.3B aid package to help rebuild Europe (eventually totaled $17B) – rebuild European prosperity and stability
      • Implication was – to get aid, don’t elect communists
    • Partition of Germany
      • East to Russia
      • West split between Britain, France, & U.S.
        • Immediately united for economic rebuilding
      • same division applies to Berlin (in East Germany)
      • 1948 – Berlin Airlift (response to blockade)
      • Soviets stop because world opinion against them & formation of NATO
        • Military alliance of Western European countries against Soviet Union (12-Belgium, Lux, Neth, Italy, Port, Den, Iceland Nor, Canada, Fr. G.B., U.S.)
        • An attack against one is attack against all
        • Meant to contain Soviet military aggression
      • May 1949 – Federal Republic of Germany (independent country) (West Germany) created
      • Soviets created German Democratic Republic (East Germany) Oct. 1949
      • West Germany
        • Unable to arm – German resources used for industry
        • Christian Democratic Party had ruled since the war – Konrad Adenauer
        • 1958 – West Germany leading industrial country in Europe – had not nationalized industry like England and France
          • Germany and Japan emerge with most modern industries and factories in the world due to U.S. assistance
        • 1960s – charted their own course – was encouraged – few controls
        • 1966 – became member of NATO
        • 1969 – Social Democrats win with Willy Brandt
          • Had fought the Nazis with the Norwegian Resistance
          • Helped calm fears of USSR about German resurgence
          • Worked treaties on borders – accepted East and West Germany – travel restrictions eased
    • Soviets have A-bomb by 1949 – H-bomb by 1952 (within a year of U.S.)
      • Arms race begins
        • brinkmanship/balance of terror – idea is everyone is so scared they won’t use superweapons
        • Soviets have conventional weapon superiority in Eastern Europe/Asia
        • Americans have conventional weapon superiority in Latin America
      • 1950-53 – Korean War
      • 1955 – the Warsaw Pact established to counter NATO – military alliance of USSR and satellite countries
      • 1957 – Soviets launch Sputnik – first space satellite
        • Space race begins
      • 1961 – Soviets build Berlin Wall to stop flood of refugees out of East Berlin
        • The wall becomes a symbol of the ideological division of Europe –built to keep people in rather than out
      • 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis
      • Vietnam War – 1963
        • U.S. had pledged to fight communism (Truman Doctrine)
        • Stepped in when France quit in 1954
      • Increased tensions lead to a period of détente (relaxation)
        • Limited Test Ban Treaty
        • Peaceful coexistence (late 1960s – late 1970s)
  • Decolonization
    • New colonial realities
      • colonialism/imperialism questioned by U.S. & Japan
      • not effective to revolt directly, so they increase their cost
        • economic, moral, and social
      • abandoning colonies often leads to the wrong people in charge
    • Most scramble to leave colonies, except France
      • India – Mahatma Gandhi
        • Civil Disobedience – later copied by others (notably Martin L. King, Jr.)
        • against the partition between India/Pakistan
      • Africa
        • Lack of knowledge & infrastructure -- intentional by the Europeans
          • Some countries governed by Western-educated black Africans
          • Many governments overthrown by terrorism and guerilla wars of independence – late 1950s – early 1970s – warlord control
        • Most African governments today are dictatorships – many brutal
          • most change their names to hide their true nature
      • The Middle East
        • Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq gain independence between the wars as a result of the collapse of the Ottoman and Persian empires
        • Syria, Lebanon, Jordan independent after WWII
          • Given up by France and Britain
        • Biggest issue – the creation of the state of Israel in 1948
          • Carved out of Palestine – supported by the U.S. and Britain (Balfour Declaration – 1917)
          • Immediate and continued resistance by Arab Muslins continue to this day
            • Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – terrorist group dedicated to eliminate Israel
    • France & colonies
      • France had colonies for sentimental reasons
        • less racist – i.e. willing to marry
        • wanted them to join France – called them “France overseas”
      • Algeria (Muslim)
        • resistance of French settlers (similar to Scotland & Ireland)
          • home to 1/8 of Europeans or 1 million Europeans
        • French government at home too politically divided – too many different parties to raise a coalition
        • Algerian resistance formed during WWII
        • France dive-bombs a demonstration
          • kills at least 6,000 people
          • common – same in Madagascar
        • Vietnam end – Battle of Tien Ben Phu
          • Algerians wonder if they can get independence too
          • form an army
        • unsuccessful army leads to terrorist tactics
          • mostly on teens in clubs
        • May 1958 – French settlers hold Algerian coup
          • spreads to Corsica
          • by June 1, paratroopers ready to attack defenseless Paris
          • a worried France makes de Gaulle their new leader
      • France
        • Third Republic gone with German occupation of 1940
          • Provisional government – 1945-46
        • Fourth Republic established 1946
          • Had faults of third Republic – weak executive – too many political parties for a majority in national assembly
          • Continuation of empire (imperialism) brings it down – Algerian war for independence 1958
        • Fifth Republic (1958-present)
          • 1958 – De Gaulle takes over – establishes 5th Republic
            • his condition for ruling – absolute power
            • writes France’s present constitution
          • Algeria (again)
            • de Gaulle goes to Algeria, speaks, convinces them to let France stay
            • works for 4 years
            • demonstration against France turns into a police riot/massacre – which De Gaulle keeps quiet
            • 1962 – 90% of all French vote for Algerian independence
            • 6,000 Arabs and thousands of French (who had never been to France) flee to France
          • De Gaulle constantly threatened with assassination
          • Increase in welfare (modern socialism/welfare state)
          • Rejects Nuclear arms pact of 1963 – wanted France to be a nuclear power
          • 1966 – pulled France out of NATO – headquarters moved from Paris to Brussels, Belgium
          • Revolutions of 1968
            • University students protest poor conditions outside Paris
            • Protest picked up by working class – 10M on strike – clash with police
            • Students see start of new French Rev. – ideological rhetoric not accepted – workers wanted better conditions only
            • De Gaulle’s popularity drops – resigns 1969 – dead within a year
  • Recovery and Renewal in Europe
    • The Soviet Union
      • Stalin
        • Stalin fears attack from western powers
        • Postwar 5-year plan emphasized heavy industry and military – achieves nuclear power in 1949
          • 1950 – USSR second only to U.S. in industrial production – done without Marshall Plan money – refused
        • USSR grew economically by forced trade with satellite nations
          • Satellite nations suffer while USSR improves
        • After announcing another planned purge, Stalin dies in 1953
      • Nikita Khrushchev
        • Power struggle ensues – Nikita Khrushchev gains power 1954
          • He had been Stalin’s henchman; now denounced Stalin as cruel
        • Relaxes some economic control to try to enhance productivity
        • Attempted to give more freedom to satellite countries – must stay within communist guidelines
          • Works in Poland
        • Hungary (1956)
          • Nationalist search for it’s own brand of economic policy – didn’t want Soviet communism
            • Declared itself an independent state
          • Soviet Red Army invades Budapest – rebellion brutally put down
            • A lesson for other satellite countries
            • West looks on – does nothing – can’t (Warsaw vs. NATO)
        • Khrushchev gone by 1964 – Failure of the Cuban Missile Crisis main catalyst – replaced by Leonid Brezhzev
    • Eastern Europe
      • Soviet sphere of influence – satellite countries
        • Countries behind the iron curtain
          • East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia
      • Non-Soviet Communism
        • Balkan peninsula
          • Albania
          • Yugoslavia – Marhal Tito (Joseph Broz) able to withstand Soviet pressure by pushing Slavic nationalism
      • Political unrest – remember it can lead to death – Comms. are totalitarians
        • Czechoslovakia (1968)
          • Alexander Dubcek – head of govt. – communist but wants more liberal policies – pulls out of Warsaw Pact (“communism with a human face”)
          • Called the “Prague Spring” – liberalizing movement grows – Brezhnev hesitates
          • Finally troops (200,000) sent in – movement crushed – fear Czech would leave Soviet Union
        • Soviets finding it more and more difficult to isolate themselves from a more prosperous western world
    • Western Europe
      • Great Britain
        • Churchill conservative govt. turned out after the war in favor of the Labour Party
        • Nationalized major industries (mines, steels, transportation, banks)
        • Welfare state (modern socialism)
          • Nationalized medicine – compulsory education – becomes welfare state – greater taxes to benefit the poor
        • Britain had outgrown itself – needed imports to feed and clothe itself – colonies were gone
          • Could not generate enough exports (outmoded industrial structure) to offset imports
          • By the late 1950s, Britain was no longer a first-rate world economic power – Replaced by Germany, Japan, U.S., USSR
        • Suez Crisis – 1956 shows England no longer a world military power
          • Gamal Nasser of Egypt nationalizes the canal
          • England threatens war – national interests threatened
          • U.S. forces her to back down
      • The move toward unity
        • Decade of the 1950s brought the beginnings of economic union among some western European nations
        • European nations begin to realize the wealth of the U.S. comes from great domestic markets without tariffs – try it themselves
          • 1948 – Benelux – the first – agree to reduce tariffs among themselves 1951 – European Coal and Steel
        • Community (ECSC) – Fr, W. Ger, Italy, Benelux – coal and steel industries administered as a unit
        • 1958 – European Economic Community (Common Market) – hope to eliminate international tariffs – same countries – free trade (like Zolverein) Britain refused to join – other countries are in & out – national preservation still high priority
          • 1960s – EEC becomes an important trading block – can compete on a world level
          • Biggest obstacles – nationalism and Charles de Gaulle
  • Europe’s New Society
    • The Welfare State (towards Socialism [evolutionary]) – growing sense that public/private should be separate (new idea)
      • Increase in power of the state over the lives of its people
        • state monopoly on violence (police) & communication (MA Bell)
      • Benefits
        • Better working conditions (vacations, workday, etc.)
        • Eliminate poverty, homelessness
        • Everyone gets medical service (universal health care), education, social security, unemployment compensation
        • Stability
      • Costs
        • Extremely high taxes
        • Wealthier end up paying for poor
        • Lack of boom periods, innovation
    • Women in Postwar Europe
      • Far more women in the workforce following WWII
        • Common to see married women working for first time since Middle Ages
        • Women still earning far less than men (50-60%)
        • By 1970s – girls thought in terms of jobs and careers – not just marriage and homemaking
          • Many had the responsibility for both
      • European birthrates decline rapidly after 1960
        • Birth control & abortion more common/accepted
        • Need for employment
      • The Feminist Movement – Women’s Liberation
        • Want absolute equality with men; social & political
        • Most women not exercising their right to vote in order to accomplish change
        • Simone de Beauvoir a leader for active feminism
          • Writes The Second Sex
          • Upper middle class – well educated
          • Helped women begin to liberate themselves from a male controlled society
    • Student Revolts – 1968
      • “hippie” movement in U.S.
        • part of countercultural movement
      • response to what they consider ill treatment – uncaring universities