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The Consequences of WWII. Decolonization and Cold War. Consequences of WWII. Staggering casualties – over 20 million in the Soviet Union alone Decline of European power and the rise of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. as Superpowers=Cold War Decolonization
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The Consequences of WWII Decolonization and Cold War
Consequences of WWII • Staggering casualties – over 20 million in the Soviet Union alone • Decline of European power and the rise of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. as Superpowers=Cold War • Decolonization • Discrediting of “scientific racism” – the Holocaust revealed
Creation of the United Nations - 1945 • League of Nations never really worked. • Belief in need for international body • Had military power • Worked together to solve problems • Permanent council members who have veto powers – U.S., U.S.S.R., France, Great Britain and China • Currently 192 member nation-states
Origins of the Cold War • Yalta Conference 1945 • Division of Eastern & Western Europe • Division of Germany and Berlin • Stalinist elections: Poland (1945), Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia (1947-48)
Containment of Communism • Iron Curtain speech by Winston Churchill (1946) • Truman Doctrine (1947) • Marshall Plan (1947) • Berlin Airlift (1948-1949) • NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1949) • Warsaw Pact (1955)
Truman Doctrine • Triggered by the communist insurrections in Greece and Turkey • Promised U.S. aid to any nation fighting communism "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes."
Marshall Plan • Between 1947-51, U.S. provide $9.4B to rebuild after WWII • Stalin refused for all East to take part http://www.charleslipson.com/Images/Stalin-Marshall-Plan-cartoon.jpg
Berlin Airlift • 1948-1949 • Germany and Berlin were divided at Potsdam into four zone • 1948 – Three zones united in West Germany • Stalin blockaded West Berlin • 321 day airlift • Stalin withdrew blockade in 1949 • Result was two Germanys – East and West
1950s to early 1960s • Increasing tensions • 1949 Chinese Revolution • 1949 Soviets get atomic bomb • 1950-53 Korean War • 1950s - “Red Scare” - McCarthyism • 1957 Sputnik • 1960 U-2 incident – U.S. Spy plane shot down in USSR • 1961 Bay of Pigs • 1961 Berlin Wall was built • 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
Eastern European Revolts • 1953 Khrushchev succeeded Stalin • 1956 Poland strikers had a limited success • 1956 ambitious Hungarian revolt under Imre Nagy crushed by Soviet troops
The Berlin Wall • Built in 1961 • Built to stop the flow of refugees to the West • Most visible symbol of the Cold War • “Checkpoint Charlie”
The Korean War • 1950-53 • “Battle” of the Cold War • “limited war” • Former Japanese colony – then divided into North and South • USSR withdraws from UN Security Council • June 1950 Northern invasion along the Pusan Perimeter • U.N.-led counter-invasion – Inchon • Chinese invasion – Yalu River - MacArthur’s firing • Stalemate • 38th Parallel • DMZ – demilitarized zone – “the most dangerous place on earth”
South Korean troops inspect fence in 1975
Vietnam Conflict – Domino Theory • Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh • 1946-1954 France – France had always wanted Vietnam as a colony • 1959-1975 U.S. entered • Leaders – Ho Chi Minh in the North and Ngo Dinh Diem in the South • Johnson and Nixon war plans – US participation • Guerilla warfare • Expansion and Vietnamization – war ending in 1975 with US withdrawal
Cuban Revolution • 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batiste • Early support for Castro because he instituted national education and medical reforms • Nationalized large-scale landholdings, appealed to Soviets for aid • Castro also preached revolution to other Latin American nations
Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis • 1961-1962 • Bay of Pigs was planned by Eisenhower and carried out in 1961 by JFK • This damaged Kennedy politically and scared Castro into the arms of the Soviets • Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962. • The closest US and USSR came to nuclear war. • 13 day standoff
Latin America in the Cold War • Latin American countries were generally economically dependant on U.S., gross economic inequalities, authoritarian governments • 1960s – military dictators seized Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Other stayed ruled by junta. • True democracies are rare.
Latin America • 1950-1970s Marxist revolts throughout Latin America. • Generally crushed by right-wing governments, backed by U.S. • 1954 CIA intervened covertly in Guatemala • 1965 & 1983 U.S. directly intervened in the Dominican Republic and Grenada • 1970-80s - Nicaragua – Contras (US supplied) vs. Sandinistas (Marxist) – the largest conflict outside of Cuba – big mistake for U.S. • By the late 1980s the U.S. is criticized for overstepping its bounds in international affairs
Soviet-Afghanistan War • 1978-1990s • Client state toppled by internal rebellion in 1978 • Soviets sent in 5000 advisors • 1979-88 rebellion against Soviet control • Resistance was led by the mujahidin – Islamic freedom fighters backed by the U.S. • Soviets withdrew 1989, but the civil war lasted into the 1990s • Taliban (from the mujahidin) imposed a government in late 1990s
Society during the Cold War • Eastern bloc countries (2nd World): • low production and industry • Losing propaganda war with the West • Economic troubles after arms race of 80s • Western bloc countries (1st World): • Prosperous • But politically tumultuous • Non-aligned, non-industrialized nations (3rd World) • Society will begin to change by the 1970s & 80s
Social Movements during the Cold War • Peace Movement • European Anti-Nuclear Movement • Civil Rights Movements in the U.S. • Feminist Movements • Sexual Revolution • Gay Rights Movement • These movements grew out of the social and population changes as well as unhappiness with Vietnam
Gorbachev - Russia • Reforms of the 1980s • Soviet Union was weakened by Afghanistan • Chernobyl accident • Arms race • Glasnost and perestroika • He tried to work within Communist party until an attempted coup in 1991 • Gorbachev placed under house arrest but the Russian president Yeltsin led massive protests
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
1989 • Collapse of the Soviet Bloc • 1981-1989 – Poland’s Solidarity Party – Catholics and workers – Pope John Paul II • 1989 – Poland gained right to multiparty elections – Elected Lech Walesa and threw out the communists • Revolts in Hungary Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Albania, East Germany and Romania
Fall of the Berlin Wall • 1989 – Access was opened, main gate opened. • Triggered by flood of refugees flowing east and west through Hungary • Wall actually came down in 1990 • Germany began the reunification process
Break-up of the Soviet Union • 1991 USSR dissolved by December • Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all left the USSR in 1991 • Commonwealth of Independent States led by Yeltsin • 1992 – 17 more republics had left • Economic, religious and crime problems
Problems after the break-up • Economic dislocation • Resurgence of ethnic tension • Anti-Semitism • Limited experience with democracy • Shaky governments with widespread corruption and crime • The legacy of terror from the worst dictatorships left scars
Chechnya • With the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, a number of regions managed to break away and gain independence. • Late 1991 - Chechnya's drive for independence. • Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, refused Chechnya's declaration of independence, • Sent in troops instead, only to withdraw when confronted by armed Chechens. • 1994 Russia invades again. Massive casualties • 1999 10,000 Russian troops sent in • 2003 Separatist referendum – leaders killed • 2004 – School children killed in Chechen rebel bombing • 2005 March Separatist president killed
Yugoslavia • The former Yugoslavia broke apart in 1990 • Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina • 1991 Civil war between 3 main groups • Croats (Roman Catholic) • Serbs (Greek Orthodox) • Bosnians (Muslim)
1991-1995 • Serb President Slobodan Milsevic • Ethnic cleansing • Practiced against Bosnians and Croats • Over 200,000 civilians killed • Ended only with 1995 U.N. intervention