Key Terms:
-detente
-dissident
-perestroika
________
1970-1979 = detente - a period of relative peace between the US and the USSR, where their relationship improved.
-why did the period of peace end?
1979 - USSR declares war on Afghanistan
-in retaliation, the USA (Pres. Carter)boycotted the 1980 Olympics and stopped exporting grain to the Soviet Union
1980 - Reagan became president, and started a negative campaign against the USSR
-called the USSR an "Evil Empire"
- built up the military
-restarted the arms race (Star Wars)
What happened to the Soviet Union?
1970's - BREZHNEV - supported communism
-Brezhnev Dovtrine - USSR supports any communist country that is threatened
-focused on heavy industry
-allowed some western ideas to come in, but still strict
-country faced food shortages, bad working conditions, poor economy
1980's - GORBACHEV - wanted radical reform
-perestroika (restructuring) - wanted to fix the economy
-also reformed the government:
-allowed non-communist political parties to exist
-created new parliament elected through voting
-created the positi0n of president, was elected (the ONLY President of USSR)
-the conservative leaders of the gov't and army didn't like his changes because it threatened their power and position
-1991 - they arrest Gorby and try to take over the government, but he's freed and put back in power
-Under his more relaxed policies, the other republics in the Soviet Union started to push for independence
-in Dec 1991, they are allowed to vote for independence....this marks the end of the soviet union
BEFORE: USSR
AFTER: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldavia, Latvia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Lithuania
1990's - YELTSIN - president of the Russian Republic
-introduced a free market economy (anyone can buy/sell/own)
-it causes chaos, and the economy gets worse
-results: corruption in gov't and a rise in organized crime
-uses force to keep Chechnya part of Russia (why? doesn't want to lose more power)
-opposes NATO
2000's - PUTIN - makes real changes
-emphasizes Russia's role in the international forun, joins NATO, WTO
-also tries to keep Chechnya in Russia
- reforms to improve the economy succeed, and the Russian economy goes up
-allowed a limited market economy
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Main Events of the Cold War
Major Cold War Events:
ARMS RACE – The Soviet Union and the USA were in a race to develop bigger and better weapons, starting with the atomic bomb.
- both countries had big piles of weapons that they didn’t use because the other side had just as many weapons and any attack would end in total destruction.
SPREAD OF COMMUNISM – all of Eastern Europe except Albania and Yugoslavia were under the control of soviet dominated communist governments.
-Albania was communist, but became independent, and didn’t allow the Soviets to control them.
-Yugoslavia was also communist, but the leader, Tito, refused to give in to Stalin.
THE KOREAN WAR – After WWII, the USSR and the USA divided Korea in two. The North part became communist, and the south was somewhat democratic. The North Koreans invaded the south, hoping to make one big communist Korea, so the US and the UN sent in forces to fight them back. Then the Chinese sent troops to help the North Koreans. Fighting continues from 1950 to 1953, when fighting stops, and both sides are back to their original positions. (see p. 727 in the textbook)
Eastern European Protests -
Poland – after protests, the Communist party tried to break away from the USSR, but backed down because they were afraid of being invaded. (1956)
Hungary – after revolts, Hungary was declared a free nation and tried to have free elections. The Soviets attacked and re-took control of the country
(1956)
Czechoslovakia – Novotny, a communist put in power by Stalin, was forced to resign after a rebellion in 1968. A new leader relaxed strict policies and promised eventual democracy, but the country was invaded by the USSR and the movement was crushed.
-Prague Spring – Czechoslovakia’s brief period of
democratic happiness
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS – After Castro took power in Cuba, he allied with the Soviet Union, JFK approved a plan to send Cuban exiles (people who fled from Cuba after Castro took over) into Cuba to start a revolt that would cause Castro to lose power. The invasion failed, and the exiles were killed or arrested when they landed. This was known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
After that, the USSR sent nuclear missiles to Cuba, where they were set up and aimed at the US. (This was a response to the fact that the US had missiles in Turkey aimed at the USSR).
In 1962, the USA set up a blockade (where they wouldn’t allow any ships, supplies, etc to get to Cuba) to keep a ship filled with Soviet missiles from reaching Cuba. The US and USSR worked to reach and agreement, and finally decided that the if the US promised not to invade Cuba, the USSR would remove its missiles from Cuba.
This is the closest the two countries came to nuclear conflict during the war.
VIETNAM WAR – began as a response to the “domino theory” that if one Asian country became communist, all of them would follow.
North Vietnam was communist, and South Vietnam had a ruler put in place & supported by the USA. When Ho Chi Minh’s forces and communist groups in S. Vietnam started trying to take over, the US sent troops to help fight Communism. Eventually, the US withdrew their troops, and all of Vietnam became communist.
ARMS RACE – The Soviet Union and the USA were in a race to develop bigger and better weapons, starting with the atomic bomb.
- both countries had big piles of weapons that they didn’t use because the other side had just as many weapons and any attack would end in total destruction.
SPREAD OF COMMUNISM – all of Eastern Europe except Albania and Yugoslavia were under the control of soviet dominated communist governments.
-Albania was communist, but became independent, and didn’t allow the Soviets to control them.
-Yugoslavia was also communist, but the leader, Tito, refused to give in to Stalin.
THE KOREAN WAR – After WWII, the USSR and the USA divided Korea in two. The North part became communist, and the south was somewhat democratic. The North Koreans invaded the south, hoping to make one big communist Korea, so the US and the UN sent in forces to fight them back. Then the Chinese sent troops to help the North Koreans. Fighting continues from 1950 to 1953, when fighting stops, and both sides are back to their original positions. (see p. 727 in the textbook)
Eastern European Protests -
Poland – after protests, the Communist party tried to break away from the USSR, but backed down because they were afraid of being invaded. (1956)
Hungary – after revolts, Hungary was declared a free nation and tried to have free elections. The Soviets attacked and re-took control of the country
(1956)
Czechoslovakia – Novotny, a communist put in power by Stalin, was forced to resign after a rebellion in 1968. A new leader relaxed strict policies and promised eventual democracy, but the country was invaded by the USSR and the movement was crushed.
-Prague Spring – Czechoslovakia’s brief period of
democratic happiness
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS – After Castro took power in Cuba, he allied with the Soviet Union, JFK approved a plan to send Cuban exiles (people who fled from Cuba after Castro took over) into Cuba to start a revolt that would cause Castro to lose power. The invasion failed, and the exiles were killed or arrested when they landed. This was known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
After that, the USSR sent nuclear missiles to Cuba, where they were set up and aimed at the US. (This was a response to the fact that the US had missiles in Turkey aimed at the USSR).
In 1962, the USA set up a blockade (where they wouldn’t allow any ships, supplies, etc to get to Cuba) to keep a ship filled with Soviet missiles from reaching Cuba. The US and USSR worked to reach and agreement, and finally decided that the if the US promised not to invade Cuba, the USSR would remove its missiles from Cuba.
This is the closest the two countries came to nuclear conflict during the war.
VIETNAM WAR – began as a response to the “domino theory” that if one Asian country became communist, all of them would follow.
North Vietnam was communist, and South Vietnam had a ruler put in place & supported by the USA. When Ho Chi Minh’s forces and communist groups in S. Vietnam started trying to take over, the US sent troops to help fight Communism. Eventually, the US withdrew their troops, and all of Vietnam became communist.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Cold War Begins (12-1)
The Beginning of the Cold War
-As the British, U.S., and Soviet armies marched on Germany, they liberated (freed) all of the areas they came across. As a result, the western nations were more heavily influenced by capitalism, while the eastern nations were under the control of the soviet army and influenced by communism.
-this was a problem because capitalism and communism don't get along - they're two totally different philosophies (in capitalism, everyone has the freedom to own or do what they want; in communism, the government controls everything).
-The Western countries (especially the US) feared that communism would spread to all of Europe and threaten the freedom of the world, and so they tried to halt the spread through 2 policies:
1) Truman Doctrine - designed by President Truman, it offered aid (money, supplies, etc, to any country threatened by Co0mmunism
2) Marshall Plan - a plan to aid the economic rebuilding of Europe - promised 13 billion in aid - the idea was that if countries aren't in economic crisis, they will be less likely to turn to communism.
- The soviets tried to create their own Marshall Plan, COMCON, which would provide aid to Eastern Europe, but it failed because the USSR was broke
??? How could the US afford to spend so much money? They profited a LOT from WWII because they sold supplies, weapons, and the like to the allies during the war. Also, remember that the US was the only "big" country in Europe not to suffer from mass destruction from bombings and battles, so they didn't have to spend their cash on rebuilding cities.
The Division of Germany
While the war was still going on, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta to discuss what would happen to Germany when it lost. They decided to split Germany into 4 pieces and put it under control of their countries and France. So after the war, Germany as divided into pieces controlled by 1)USA, 2)England, 3)France, and 4) USSR. The capital city, Berlin, was also divided into 4.
*USA, England, and France united their parts and combined them to create the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) - it was democratic and capitalist
* The Soviet part became the German Democratic Republic - a communist state....Berlin was located in this section of Germany
The problem? The German people didn't get to choose which side they were on, and many that were in the now communist East Germany tried to get into West Berlin.
-as a result, Khrushchev (the Russian leader after Stalin dies) decides to build a blockade around West Berlin to keep the East Germans out of the capitalist area. This is the Berlin Wall -it wasn't to keep the West B's in, but to keep the East B's from defecting (running away from communism)
The Spread of Communism and the Fear of Communism
1949 - China, under the control of Mao Zedong, becomes communist and allies with the USSR
-also in 1949, the USSR builds and detonates an atomic bomb, which scares the USA and other countries, because now communism is a threat.
The USA is fearful of the "Domino effect" - the idea that if one country becomes communist, then it will spread to another, and another, and another....
This is heightened when Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam become communist, and the US starts anti-communist efforts in South Korea and South Vietnam, as well as taking action against Cuba.
most of the countries of Eastern Europe become communist as well (except Yugoslavia) because of the direct Soviet influence during the liberation of WWII and the aftermath.
THE COLD WAR
is a nonviolent conflict between capitalist USA and communist USSR based on the fear of communism by the US and the perceived threat of one country to another.
The countries engage in a tense relationship where both are trying to get the better of another, by competing in a space race (trying to be the first to get into space), arms race (trying to get more and better weapons), and developing intricate spy systems to keep track of one another
next up..... 20-2: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
-As the British, U.S., and Soviet armies marched on Germany, they liberated (freed) all of the areas they came across. As a result, the western nations were more heavily influenced by capitalism, while the eastern nations were under the control of the soviet army and influenced by communism.
-this was a problem because capitalism and communism don't get along - they're two totally different philosophies (in capitalism, everyone has the freedom to own or do what they want; in communism, the government controls everything).
-The Western countries (especially the US) feared that communism would spread to all of Europe and threaten the freedom of the world, and so they tried to halt the spread through 2 policies:
1) Truman Doctrine - designed by President Truman, it offered aid (money, supplies, etc, to any country threatened by Co0mmunism
2) Marshall Plan - a plan to aid the economic rebuilding of Europe - promised 13 billion in aid - the idea was that if countries aren't in economic crisis, they will be less likely to turn to communism.
- The soviets tried to create their own Marshall Plan, COMCON, which would provide aid to Eastern Europe, but it failed because the USSR was broke
??? How could the US afford to spend so much money? They profited a LOT from WWII because they sold supplies, weapons, and the like to the allies during the war. Also, remember that the US was the only "big" country in Europe not to suffer from mass destruction from bombings and battles, so they didn't have to spend their cash on rebuilding cities.
The Division of Germany
While the war was still going on, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at Yalta to discuss what would happen to Germany when it lost. They decided to split Germany into 4 pieces and put it under control of their countries and France. So after the war, Germany as divided into pieces controlled by 1)USA, 2)England, 3)France, and 4) USSR. The capital city, Berlin, was also divided into 4.
*USA, England, and France united their parts and combined them to create the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) - it was democratic and capitalist
* The Soviet part became the German Democratic Republic - a communist state....Berlin was located in this section of Germany
The problem? The German people didn't get to choose which side they were on, and many that were in the now communist East Germany tried to get into West Berlin.
-as a result, Khrushchev (the Russian leader after Stalin dies) decides to build a blockade around West Berlin to keep the East Germans out of the capitalist area. This is the Berlin Wall -it wasn't to keep the West B's in, but to keep the East B's from defecting (running away from communism)
The Spread of Communism and the Fear of Communism
1949 - China, under the control of Mao Zedong, becomes communist and allies with the USSR
-also in 1949, the USSR builds and detonates an atomic bomb, which scares the USA and other countries, because now communism is a threat.
The USA is fearful of the "Domino effect" - the idea that if one country becomes communist, then it will spread to another, and another, and another....
This is heightened when Cuba, North Korea and Vietnam become communist, and the US starts anti-communist efforts in South Korea and South Vietnam, as well as taking action against Cuba.
most of the countries of Eastern Europe become communist as well (except Yugoslavia) because of the direct Soviet influence during the liberation of WWII and the aftermath.
THE COLD WAR
is a nonviolent conflict between capitalist USA and communist USSR based on the fear of communism by the US and the perceived threat of one country to another.
The countries engage in a tense relationship where both are trying to get the better of another, by competing in a space race (trying to be the first to get into space), arms race (trying to get more and better weapons), and developing intricate spy systems to keep track of one another
next up..... 20-2: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
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