The Cold War

RIVALRY, MISTRUST, AND ACCORD

The breakdown of the grand alliance and the emergence of superpower rivalry in Europe and

Asia (1943–1949)

The breakdown of the grand alliance

● Step 1: The wartime conferences

○ Tehran Conference, March 1943 (Attended by Stalin, Franklin, Roosevelt)

■ Germany

● Allies did not agree with what to do with Germany after their

defeat.

● Resulted in no agreement made on the future of Germany.

● They only confirmed that they wanted unconditional surrender of

Germany.risis

● Roosevelt supported Operation Overlord

■ Poland

● Stalin secured his western border by gaining Polish territory and

ensuring that Poland was pro-Soviet.

● This is because Poland had been the launching pad of invasions of

Russia.
 ● Agreed that the USSR was to keep these Polish territories.

○ Poland was not going to be independent.

○ Ensured future hostility between Germany and Poland.

■ Eastern Europe

● The Americas and Britain agreed to Soviet annexation of the Baltic

States, parts of Finland, and Romania in Eastern Europe.

● Went against the Atlantic Charter agreement (which focused on

the future of occupied territories to return to self rule) between

the US and Britain.

■ Japan

● The US and UK pressed USSR to go to war with Japan.

○ Wanted Stalin to open Soviet second front in Asia.

● Stalin was not convinced until war with Germany was won.

■ The United Nations

● US wanted a replacement of the League of Nations. USSR and

Britain approved this.

● This new League would again settle international dispute through

collective security.

■ Summary

● Unconditional surrender of Germany.

● Different opinions about the future of Germany.

● Debate over Polish borders.

 ● USSR gets Baltic states.

● UN conceived.

● A weak postwar Germany was needed.

○ Yalta Conference, February 1945

■ Germany

● Germany would be disarmed, demilitarised, denazified, and

divided.

● This temporary division would be to the US, USSR, Britain, and

France.

● Stalin demanded reparations and it was agreed that Germany

would pay $20 billion, 50% to the USSR.

■ Poland

● Border between Poland and USSR drawn at Curzon Line.

● Poland gains German Territory east of the Oder-Neisse Line.

 ●

● Stalin agree to let Poland have a more democratic government

(including free elections). But Britain and USSR disagreed with who

should govern, the London Poles (pre-war government that fled to

England) or the Lublin Committee (communist-dominated).

■ Eastern Europe

● Stalin agreed that the countries of Eastern Europe would be able to

decide who governed them in free elections.

■ Japan

● Stalin promised to enter the war with Japan as soon as the war in

Europe was won.

● Soviets demanded the South Sakhai and the Kuril Islands in return

form Japan as a reward, which US and Britain accepted.

■ The United Nations

 ● USSR would join the UN.

● Allies agreed on 5 permanent Security Council members, each with

the power of veto.

● Stalin demanded individual seats for all 16 Soviet Republics, only 3

agreed by Britain and US (Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus).

■ Summary

● Germany would be divided.

● UN conceived.

● Soviet to join the war in the Pacific against Japan.

● Free elections in all European countries (including East Europe).

○ Developments between Yalta and Potsdam

■ Roosevelt died and was replaced by Truman, who was to adopt a “get

tough” policy towards the Soviets.

■ Germany surrendered unconditionally on 7 May 1945.

■ Winston Churchill’s Conservative Party lost the July 1945 elections, the PM

role succeeded by Labour Party’s Clement Attlee.

■ Soviet Red Army occupied western territories as deep inside Germany

after the war in Europe.

■ A day after Potsdam began, the US successfully tested its first atomic bomb

in 17 July 1945.

○ Potsdam Conference, July 1945

■ The state of the war

 ● Germany surrendered unconditionally in May 1945

● Americans planned to invade Japanese mainland

■ Germany

● Allies could not agree how to disarm, demilitarise, denazify, and

divide Germany (as stated at Yalta).

● Finally it is decide to be done in each country’s way in their own

respective zones of occupation.

● USSR to receive 25% of their reparation bill from West Germany.

East Germany to give food in exchange.

■ Poland

● New US President Truman disagreed with agreements over Poland

and challenged the decision of the new western frontier between

Poland and Germany (the Oder-Neisse line).

● Truman also wanted an entirely new Polish government, feeling

like it wasn’t free and democratic enough.

 ● Stalin offered to include more London Poles within the

predominantly Lublin-led government, which did not appease the

US.

■ Eastern Europe

● Truman is also unhappy over the Percentages Agreement made

bilaterally between Stalin and Churchill, which established how

much influence each of them would have over the Eastern

European countries in terms of percentages.

● Truman challenged the agreement because it gave USSR more than

Romania and Bulgaria. But the Soviets were in fact in control of

Eastern Europe, the Red Army was literally on their territories, so it

was difficult for the West to force changes.

● Truman didn’t want Eastern Europe to be a Soviet sphere of

influence, but failed without threatening the Red Army.

■ Japan

● The first atomic bomb used in war dropped on Hiroshima in 6

August 1945 and Nagasaki 3 days later.

● Japan agreed to unconditional surrender on 2 September.

■ The United Nations

 ● The UN became a reality, created in San Francisco in 1945, where

50 nations signed the charter.

● The Big Five included the USA, USSR, France, Britain, and

Nationalist China. USSR was the only communist.

■ Summary

● Immediate and practical control of defeated Germany.

● Establishment of the United Nations.

● Key Developments, 1946-47

○ Salami Tactics

■ Soviets supervised organization of governments in the Eastern European

states, establishing abroad alliance of anti-fascists.

■ Each of the parties were “sliced off” one after the other.

■ Communist “core” was left.

■ Baggage Train leaders returned to Eastern Europe, considered trustworthy

because spent much of the war in Moscow

■ Prior to the 1947 ‘free elections’ promised by Stalin at Yalta, there was a

campaign of murder, censorship, and intimidation

■ Roughly 50,000 people were deported prior to the event

○ Case Study: Poland

■ Before elections there was murder, censorship and intimidation.

■ During the elections, the Polish Peasant Party had 246 candidates

disqualified, 149 arrested, and 18 murdered.

 ■ One million votes were taken off the official register.

○ Soviet Pressure on Iran

■ USSR left 30000 troops in the North despite agreeing that both British and

Soviet troops would be withdrawn from Iran after the war at the Yalta

Conference.

■ This encouraged a communist uprising

■ UN forced USSR to pull out troops from Iran.

○ Instability in Greece and Turkey

■ There were anti-imperialist, nationalist, and pro-communist rebellions in

Greece and Turkey believed to be supported and Directed by the USSR.

■ Churchill felt betrayed at Stalin’s apparent disregard for the Percentages

Agreement, as Greece and Turkey was supposed to have limited Soviet

influence.

○ Communist Parties in Italy and France

■ Communist parties in Italy and France increased in membership.

■ US and Britain believed they were being directed by Moscow.

■ The West feared that these countries could be weak-links in anti-

communist western Europe.

● Step 2: George Kennan’s The Long Telegram, 1946

○ Kennan argued that

■ USSR’s view of the world was a traditional one of insecurity.

■ Soviets want to advance Muscovite Stalinist ideology (not just Marxism).

 ■ Soviet regime is cruel and repressive and sees the outside world as nothing

but evil. This view sustains the internal Stalinist system.

■ USSR was fanatically hostile to the West (but not suicidal)

○ Summary

■ Coexistence with the Soviet Union is impossible.

■ The Soviets are neither schematic nor adventuristic. They are weaker than

the US and their success depends on the power of the Western World.

They are not successful. Soviet propaganda is negative and destructive.

■ Yet the Soviets have the potential to challenge the United States due to

their vast amount of resources, technology, and espionage links/cells

around the world.

■ To deal with Russia, we we must educate the public about Russia. We also

have to understand that world communism is horrible and we should resist

in. We must push for our ideologies to the world.

■ The US should formulate its foreign policy to Soviet actions in Europe.

■ Essentially, the US thinks that the Soviets are horrible and that they should

do whatever they can to not only resist them but fight them.

● Step 3: Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech, 1946

○ Talks about how the UK has to be able to work with the US.

○ Denounces the Soviet Sphere of influence in Eastern Europe which he named “The

Iron Curtain.”
 ○ Churchill encourages the formation of a western alliance to fight back the

influence of the Soviets in Europe.

○ “I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of

war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. “

○ “We must not let it happen again.”

● USSR response

○ Withdrew from IMF

○ Initiated a new five year economic plan of self strengthening

○ Increased intensity of anti-Western propaganda

Confrontation and containment

● Step 4: The Truman Doctrine (1947)

○ The Truman Doctrine is the belief that the United States had the obligation to

“support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed

minorities or by outside pressures,” put forward by US President Harry S. Truman.

○ This was a response to Greece, where communist guerrillas continue to resist the

restoration of the monarchy by the British government.

○ The British government could no longer offer financial assistance towards the

Greek government and army, as it was already 3000 million pounds in debt

○ The British were unable to maintain troops in Greece and since the US did not

want a potential communist take over, and in the name of preserving democracy,

US aid and military advisors were sent to Greece.

 ○ This radically changed the US foreign policy of isolation into the beginning of the

American policy of “containment” of communism.

○ USSR saw this as the determination of US to assert its own sphere of influence,

and did not recognise their legitimacy

● Step 5: The Marshall Plan

○ The Plan

■ US Secretary of State believed that Western Europe needed immediate

economic help from the US. This resulted in the Marshall Plan, which was

the economic extension of the Truman Doctrine.

■ It argued that the US “should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the

return of normal economic health in the world.” And despite clear attack

against communism, it also argued that “our policy is not directed against

any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and

chaos.”

■ The Plan was to give immediate economic help to Europe, which entails

allowing the US to investigate financial records of applicant countries. The

latter was used to keep the USSR out of the plan.

■ The stated aims were to:

● Revive European economies so that political and social stability

should ensue.

● Safeguard the future of the US economy.

 ■ To avoid it being coercion, the US made it clear that “the initiative should

come from Europe.”

■ Essentially, the US bribed Europe to not be influenced by communism and

have good relations with the US in the form of a debt. (The US: “We’ve

loaned you money, now listen.”

○ Soviet Reaction

■ The USSR rejected (as the US intended them to) with the request for

recipients’ financial records.

■ The USSR saw this as American dollar imperialism, i.e. they felt that the US

was establishing a European Empire through economic domination and

dependence that will ultimately give them political control.

■ Soviet Foreign Minister Andrej Vyshinsky argued that the US was obviously

using money as “an instrument of political pressure” and that the Marshall

Plan was was a clear breach of the principle expressed by the UN General

Assembly stating that “relief supplies to other countries should, at no time,

be used as a political weapon.” He also argued that the plan was “an

attempt to split Europe into two camps.”

○ Soviet Response

■ The USSR responded to the Marshall Plan with the Molotov Plan; bilateral

trade agreements aimed to tie economies of Eastern Europe to USSR

 ■ Resulted in the council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON),

where East European countries unite for economic development control

under the USSR.

■ It is a centralised agency that linked Eastern bloc countries to Moscow.

● Cominform and the “two camps” doctrine

○ Cominform (Communist Information Bureau)

■ Created as an instrument to increase Stalin’s control over communist

parties of other countries.

■ Comprised of the USSR, Yugoslavia, France, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria,

Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.

■ West was worried this would actively spread Communism in West’s own

sphere of influence

○ “Two camps” doctrine

■ The divide of Europe in post-war international relations became the

foundation of Soviet foreign policy.

■ Americans had organised an anti-Soviet bloc of countries economically

dependent upon them (i.e. from the Marshall Plan), and the USSR

responded with the “new democracies” in Eastern Europe.

■ USA & West Europe vs. USSR & East Europe

● Step 6: Red Army Occupation of Eastern Europe, 1945-1947

○ The USSR controlled Eastern Europe by creating a satellite empire, in which the

countries kept their separate identities but were tied to follow Moscow using the

following methods:

■ Soviet military power

■ Salami tactics

■ State police and security/spy networks

■ COMECON

○ By the end of 1948, the satellite states were economically and militarily under

Soviet control, which the West saw this occupation of Eastern Europe as a clear

breach of Yalta and Potsdam and evidence of Soviet expansionist policies in

practice.

● George Kennan’s The X article

○ Argued that the US policy towards the USSR had to be of a long term containment

of Soviet expansion and that the US should start seeing the USSR as a political rival.

● Step 7: The Czechoslovakian Coup, February 1948

○ Stalin was afraid of Czechoslovakia turning to the West, as they are interested in

the Marshall Plan and the West felt bad about abandoning them after the Munich

Agreement, so Stalin made the country more communist.

○ He organised for pressure to be put on the Czechoslovak government. 12 non-

communist members were forced to resign. The Czech Communist party

demanded a formation of a communist-led government, which the Czech

 President Edvard Beneš agreed on due to pressure from Moscow. 2 weeks later,

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk was found dead.

○ Truman called these events a coup.

○ The Marshall Plan had not been passed by congress, but Truman used these

events to push the bill through. Essentially, the Czech Coup was responsible for

the implementation of the Marshall Plan.

● Step 8: The Berlin Crisis of 1948

○ Post-war Germany

■ Germany was to be divided temporarily into four zones of occupation.

■ Temporary because Germany’s future was yet to be arranged.

■ But by 1949, Germany had become permanently divided into two separate

states.

○ Reasons for failed German unification by the post-war powers

■ Germany’s key strategic position and differing aims of the main powers.

● Germany was in the centre of Europe and had potential economic

strength.

● The USSR saw a united Germany as a threat to its security and was

utilising them for reparations.

● France also feared a united Germany and was not keen on rapid

post-war recovery.

● The US and Britain wanted rapid economic recovery of Germany to

contain the spread of communism.

■ The increasing lack of trust between the East and West as the Cold War

developed.

● Mutual suspicions between the USSR and the Western powers

became to harden.

● Both were also concerned of threat of a powerful Germany if they

were to join the other side.

● Afraid to lose Germany to the communists, Secretary of State

James F. Byrnes promised the rebuilding of Germany, no economic

division, and allowance of democratic government in the Speech of

Hope.

■ The specific disputes between the post-war powers within Germany itself.

● Germany had a food shortage, which was supposed to be handled

by the USSR.

● Britain and the US responded to not enough food delivery to West

Germany and their increasing secretiveness about what they were

taking from the Soviet Zone by stopping supplies to East Germany.

● Coal from West Germany was also mostly taken by the US to assist

economic reconstruction of West Europe and left the USSR almost

nothing.

● The US and British side was then merged into what was called

Bizonia.
 ● Evidence suggests too that Stalin was planning to include the

reunified Germany under Moscow’s sphere of influence. This was

to be done by controlling East Germany with the Red Army and

increasing popularity for the German Communist Party (KPD) in the

West. This was, however, unsuccessful.

● The West too was planning about consolidating their occupation

zones and establishing provisional German government within

them.

● The London Conference of Ministers saw a clash between the

Western powers and USSR, showing the unlikeliness of agreement

about Germany’s future.

● The Western sector set a new currency as the old one had lost its

value, to which Stalin saw a an establishment of a new Germany in

the west. He responded with the Berlin Blockade.

● Basically, each side was selfish.

■ The Berlin Blockade, 1948

● The only way to send stuff to West Berlin (which was on East

Germany) from West Germany was the road, the railway, and the

air.

● Stalin called for blockade of the roads, railways, and waterways

linking West Berlin to West Germany. Supply of electricity from

East to West was also cut.

● So the West supplied West Berlin through the air. And by 1949 it

was clear that Stalin was failing and he ended the blockade in May.

● Results of the Berlin Blockade

○ Division of Germany.

■ The failure of the blockade meant the push for

German division.

■ The West established the Federal Republic of

Germany (FRG).

■ The Soviets established the German Democracy

Republic (GDR).

■ To the West, a divided Germany protected by the

USA was preferable to a neutral united Germany.

■ Europe now clearly divided economically and

politically.

○ Continuation of four-power control in Berlin.

■ The division of Germany meant division of Berlin

continues.

○ Formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO).

■ The Berlin airlift emphasised a need for US defence

commitment to Europe, so NATO was created.

 ■ It’s a military assistance programme to help build

Europe’s armed forces.

● Europe at the end of 1949

○ Clearly divided politically, economically, and militarily.

○ Germany was not to be reunited.

○ The US abandoned isolationism and was involved economically (Marshall Plan)

and militarily (NATO) in Europe.

○ Central European borders not formalised as no treaty had been signed with

Germany.

○ Western countries developed a sense of unity from Soviet threat.

● International relations beyond Europe

○ It was now clear that the fight was between Communism and Capitalism.

○ The US’ policy of containment will lead the US to resisting communism anywhere

(i.e. Korea and Vietnam).

○ The UN could not effectively work to resolve conflict because both the US and

USSR had the power to veto.

Explaining the breakdown of the Grand Alliance

● Role of ideology

○ The Cold War was caused by the conflict between the competing ideologies of

communism and capitalism.

○ I.e. the incompatibility of both ideologies to work together and the threat brough

by each ideology to the other ended the Grand Alliance.

 ○ The US saw the actions of the USSR as plans to spread communism worldwide:

■ Salami tactics → spread communism in Eastern Europe

■ Cominform → promote worldwide communist revolution.

■ Communist parties in France and Italy → encouraged and funded by the

Soviets.

■ Soviet activity in Iran → Stalin wanted to influence outside of East Europe.

○ The USSR was actions of the US as plans to encircle the USSR and overthrow its

communist government:

■ Marshall plan → dollar imperialism of Europe and lure East Europe towards

them.

■ US economic power → establish free trade across the globe and keep

markets favourable to US interests (world economic domination).

■ New German currency → attempt to spread US influence.

● Role of Great Power rivalry

○ The Cold War was caused by the fact that both the USSR and the US had emerged

as superpowers after WW2 and by default would have a rivalry.

○ There was a power vacuum created by the decline of smaller states, which meant

that the USSR and US would want to expand their sphere of influence, and the

existence of the other nation with the same goal acts as a barrier from said goal.

● Role of economic interests

○ The Cold War was caused by the fact that the US and USSR had different economic

interests.
 ■ The US wanted to establish an open market by setting up the Bretton

Woods system (included International Money Fund and the World Bank),

which the USSR helped create. But its emphasis on free-market capitalism

resulted in USSR withdrawal.

● The USSR saw this as the US setting up economic spheres of

influence based on its capitalist aims and American interests (dollar

imperialism).

■ The US pushed for the Marshall plan, which was responde with COMECON.

Both of these had contrasting ideological motives behind them.

■ The US wanted German economic recovery to create a market for

American goods, but the USSR wanted Germany to be economically weak

to ensure that they won’t threaten the Soviet Union.

● This led to the creation of the new currency in West Germany (US),

which led to the Berlin Blockade (USSR).

● Role of USSR and US action

○ USSR was responsible

■ Argument: The actions of the USSR undermined US action to keep the

Grand Alliance going.

● The US did not intend to interfere with European relations after

WW2 but the actions of the USSR made this impossible.

● The US did not expect to remain in occupation of Germany.

 ● The US expected the USSR to remain a part of the Bretton Woods,

believing that the mutual benefits would overcome political

mistrust.

● Despite USSR withdrawal from Bretton Woods, the US still believed

that the continuation of the alliance would be possible.

■ USSR actions:

● Stalin did not keep his agreements and was aggressive and

expansionist.

● The Soviets also exploited the Wartime Agreements to remain in

Iran.

● The West saw the weak Berlin Blockade as a possibility to plan to

attack West Germany.

● The Cominform was made to control all European communist

parties, which could be seen as the spread of Soviet-style

communism.

● Stalin was constantly suspicious of the US, showing that he had no

plans to make peace with them, and promoted hostility to the

West.

○ US was responsible

■ Argument: The USSR had good reasons for his actions and the overreaction

of the US to these actions along with its pursuit of economic interests was

what caused the breakdown of the Grand Alliance.

 ● The Soviet Union was weak from WW2, which resulted in the need

to create a buffer zone to deter any future attacks in the

establishment of Soviet-style governments in the Eastern states

and Poland.

● They even established a broad-based coalition in these countries.

● The USSR also did not supply weapons to Greek Communists and

abided by the Percentages Agreement, which saw Greece as an

area of British influence.

● USSR actions in setting up more Stalinist-style governments in

Eastern Europe and creating the Berlin Blockade are effects (not

actions) of the Cold War that stemmed from US actions.

■ US Actions:

● The US wanted to make it clear to the Soviets that they are more

powerful militarily by dropping and atom bomb.

● The US was constantly imposing their values upon others and

advancing their own interests.

● Soviet anxiety and insecurity was disregarded by the US, not

realising that they were not spreading communism, but defending

the USSR.

● Communism is seen as a threat and the US blames everything

communist on the USSR.

● The US interfered with the Marshall Plan.

 ● The US made a new currency in Berlin to “show off” to the Soviets

and East Germany and establish and anti-Soviet state.

● The US made NATO against the security of the Soviet Union.

● Role of fear and suspicion

○ US Fear

■ Afraid of communism and its expansion towards the rest of the world. This

is further exacerbated by the Berlin Blockade (Soviet intention to expand

aggressively).

■ Believed Soviet foreign policy to pursue worldwide world revolution. This

is further exacerbated by the establishment of the Comintern (Soviet

desire to spread revolution).

■ Created the need for the policy of containment.

■ Red Scare increased fear of USSR actions.

■ Introduced Marshall plan to stop further spread of communism.

■ Detonation of the first Soviet atom bomb increased US fear, resulting in a

nuclear arms race and establishment of NATO.

■ Saw China’s turn to communism and North Korea’s invasion of South Korea

as Soviet power expansion into Asia.

○ USSR Fear

■ Saw the US’ actions as aggressive and trying to undermine the USSR.

■ Afraid the US was trying to pursue dollar imperialism, winning over the

European states with economic aid.

 ■ The US was stronger economically after WW2 compared to the USSR who

was economically weakened.

■ The USSR saw the US actions (Marshall Plan, new West Germany currency,

NATO, etc) as aggressive.

■ Afraid that the US was deliberately undermining the USSR and using its

nuclear superiority and economic strength to ensure its supremacy.

■ Stalin had a suspicious nature and paranoia and fear dicaaded many of his

actions.

● Interpretations of the Cold War

○ Orthodox

■ The USSR was responsible for the Cold War.

■ They were expansionist and plotted to spread communism throughout the

world.

■ The US was only acting out of defence.

○ Revisionist

■ The US was responsible for the Cold War.

■ US actions were driven by the push for capitalism.

■ The policy of containment was to ensure that capitalism would strive.

■ Argued that Soviet action was not very relevant to US foreign policy.

○ Post-Revisionist

■ Neither the US nor the USSR can be held fully responsible for the Cold War.
 ■ Both nations wanted to push their ideologies globally within circumstances

beyond their power.

■ It was also a matter of misperception as they both overestimated the

strength and threat of the other, resulting in a never ending cycle of action

and reaction.

● European and Soviet perspectives

○ European role

■ Europe was economically devastated and was anxious of Soviet

expansionism.

■ Heightened the US perception of Soviet threat (e.g. Churchill's Iron Curtain

Speech)

■ Acted as guiding motives for US foreign policy.

○ Soviet perspective

■ The US was trying to “colonise” Europe (with dollar imperialism).

■ Actions were an attempt to find security.

■ Actions were an attempt to rebuild after WW2.

■ Actions were an attempt to help other communist nations.

■ Believed that the triumph of socialism was unavoidable and so the USSR

should aid communist groups around the world.

■ Feared renewed German and Japanese aggression and aggression from the

Capitalist world.
The US, USSR and China—superpower relations (1947–1979)

● Containment

○ USA and containment in Asia

■ Korea (Success)

● Communism kept north of the 38th parallel.

● Although they attempted to go further than containment with the

rollback policy.

■ Japan (Success)

● Despite wanting a weak and pacifist Japan, the spread of the Cold

War in Asia (China turning communist), made the US in need of a

military and economically capable Japan to resist communism.

● The US made Japan so great that communism had no chance of

striving.

■ Taiwan (Success)

● When North Korea attacked South Korea, the US needed to ensure

more Communist-free zones. So Truman sent the Seventh fleet to

keep peace between Chinese nationalists (i.e. Taiwan) and

Communist China.

● The US then recognised Taiwan as the only official Chinese state

and gave them economic and military aid to resist communism.

■ Vietnam (Fail)

● How the US became involved

 ○ The US saw Vietnam as akey domino in the spread of

Communism.

○ The US funded the war but didn’t directly interfere.

○ The France was the defeated and the Geneva Accords were

made.

○ The US did not sign the Geneva Accords and acted against

it, strengthening South Vietnam and creating SEATO

(protecting supposedly neutral Laos and Cambodia).

○ The US promoted Ngo Dinh Diem as leader of South

Vietnam and sent him financial and military aid.

○ The US wanted reform but Diem was ruthless and crushed

their opposition. Diem turned out to be a dictator and the

US became concerned about Diem.

○ Diem did not want elections in fear of a Communist

Vietnam.

○ North Vietnam Communists, Vietcong, formed military

units with political aims called the NLF.

● How Kennedy widened the conflict

○ JFK expanded means of fighting communists by increasing

amount of military advisors, counter insurgency, and socio-

political reform. But this failed as it alienated local peasant

 population and resulted in mass discontent, rallies, hunger

strikes, and self immolation.

○ Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president after

Kennedy and by that time, there was no longer a stable

government in South Vietnam. He continued the war and

increased US commitment, using the Gulf of Tonkin Incident

as justification.

○ Gulf of Tonkin Incident: American naval destroyer fired on

by North VIetnamese patrol boats.

○ Once Gulf of Tonkin resolution passed, the US stepped up

activity in Vietnam, including bombing North Vietnam,

sending 100k forces to South Vietnam, and even bombing

the South to allow for an attack of the North.

● The Great Society and the “credibility gap”

○ Johnson wanted to fight the war at home, i.e. against

poverty and social injustice.

○ He called his programme the “Great Society” to increase

civil rights, healthcare, education, and environment, and

decrease poverty.

○ The credibility gap was the gap between what the Johnson

administration told the congress and what was actually

happening in Vietnam.
 ● The Tet Offensive p83

● Nixon’s “peace with honour”

● Paris peace talks

● Historian view

■ Conclusions on the US policy of containment in Asia

○ USSR Containment in 1945-80

■ Soviet control in Eastern Europe

● By 1949, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania, and

Poland were on the eastern side of the iron curtain, meaning it had

tight Soviet control including:

○ One-party rule dependent on the USSR

○ Nationalization of private enterprise

○ Soviet-style five-year plans

○ Economic integration with Soviet Union

● These were backed up by:

○ Social and ideological controls (cominform, secret police)

○ Censorship of al media

○ Suppression of religious freedom

○ Military presence of Soviet troops

○ Political purges

■ Yugoslavia
 ● Establishment of Yugoslav Communism was not due to Soviet

influence. Yugoslav Leader TIto was not interested in being tight to

Moscow and wanted free trade with the West and the Soviets. So

Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from Cominform in 1948 and cut off

economic aid.

● Tito still survived because of his popularity due to his resistance

against the Nazis in WW2, independent government (from the

Soviet Union), and receiving military and economic aid from the

USA.

● Failure to get rid of Tito, Stalin ensured leaders, such as Hungarian

Laszlo Rajk, were demoted, tried, and either imprisoned or

executed.

■ East Germany (1953)

● East Germany faced a crisis due to the mass exodus of East

Germans to the West through Berlin.

● Deputy Soviet Minister suggested to get rid of the GDR by selling it

to the West.

● A softer, conciliatory approach of collectivization and socialization,

but it was too late.

● On 16-17 June, workers in Berlin and other areas in East Germany

revolted.
 ● It was quickly suppressed by Red Army troops. However, the

revolts remain embarrassing for the USSR.

● USSR continued concentrating on building up the GDR as a separate

state.

■ Soviet control under Khrushchev

● Khrushchev and de-Stalinization

○ Whilst for a time de-Stalinization strengthened

Khrushchev’s position at home, it weakened his authority

over Communism elsewhere.

○ For instance, whilst Khrushchev got rid of Stalin’s weapons

of terror, he used more force to keep control of Hungary.

● Khrushchev and TIto

○ Khrushchev claimed Stalin had made a major error

concerning Tito and Yugoslavia, arguing that had Stalin

understood Tito and Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia would have

never left the East European bloc.

○ Khrushchev restored Soviet-Yugoslav relations, but TIto

continued its non-aligned status.

● Khrushchev and Poland

○ Other satellite states saw Yugoslav-Soviet relations as a sign

for Khrushchev to accept them to finding their own way

with regard to Communism.

 ○ Protests began in Poznan in June 1956 and quickly spread.

○ Shock of protest led to, without Khrushchev’s approval, the

reinstatement of Gomulka, who had been imprisoned

under Stalin.

○ Gomulka said that he had no intention of taking Poland

outside of the Warsaw Pact, which calmed Khrushchev and

made him agree to let Gomulka stay in power.

○ It was the first time the Soviet Union had compromised with

another Communist State on its choice of leader.

○ Gomulka became a trusted ally of Khrushchev later on.

■ Poland (1980s)

■ Stalin’s structural legacy

● Peaceful co-existence

○ Eisenhower and Dulles

■ Roll-back

■ Brinkmanship

■ The New Look

○ Khrushchev and co-existence

○ Other factors leading to change in international relations

○ East-West relations in the 1950s

 ■ Geneva Su,,ot

■ East-West tension after 1955

○ Technology race

○ Events of 1958-60 on East-West relations

○ Berlin Crisis

○ Cuban Missile Crisis

● Sino-Soviet relations

○ Stalin and Mao (1945-53)

■ Stalin believed Mao’s ideology of using peasants as a basis for revolution a

false interpretation of Marxism, which should instead feature workers

leading an urban-based class war.

■ Stalin also failed to give support to the CCP due to his fear for Mao as a

Communist rival, aversion towards the spread of the Cold War in Asia,

advocacy for the GMD (because they would recognize Soviet claims to the

disputed borders along Manchuria and Xinjiang), and underestimation of

the CCP.

■ Mao became convinced that Stalin wanted a divided and weak China to

ensure Soviet dominance in Asia (e.g. Stalin refused China permission to

carry out revolution and encouraged collaboration with GMD).

■ Mao saw Stalin’s policies as rooted in self-interest rather than the true

revolutionary doctrine.

■ Mao also believed that Stalin saw him as another Tito.

○ Sino-Soviet Treaty of Alliance

■ Despite Stalin-Mao tensions, the Soviet Union became enthusiastic about

the CCP after its victory.

■ Thus the Sino-Soviet Treaty alliance was created to “develop and

consolidate economic and cultural ties between China and the Soviet

Union.”

■ However, China was offended by the “unfriendly” treatment they

received, saying that accomodation given to the Chinese was poor.

■ Khrushchev even said later that “(the treaty) was an insult to the Chinese

people,” as it showed that the USSR was going in the ways of the French,

English, and Americans of exploiting China.

■ It is believed that the Soviet Union wanted to exploit the treaty through

giving Soviet aid to China, who would have to repay with interest.

■ Nevertheless, the Soviet Union helped build China further, developing 200

construction projects, prioritizing Soviet scientific technology, and giving

Soviet military assistance.

○ The USSR, the PRC, and the Korean War (1950-53)

■ When American forces came close to the Chinese border in the Korean

War, Stalin encouraged the PRC to send troops to Korea and gave material

assistance to one million Chinese troops.

■ However, the Soviets demand that China pay the entire $1.35 billion for all

weapons and materials the USSR had supplied the “volunteers.”

 ■ “The cost of Stalin’s ‘trust’ was high” (Immanuel Hsu).

○ Sino-Soviet relations after Stalin (1953-56)

■ Historian Michael Lynch stated that the USSR and China had something of

a “honeymoon period,” wherein soon after Stalin’s death, a truce was

signed during the Korean War, which alleviated some of the tension.

■ The new Soviet leaders were also willing to supply further loans and

technology to China and attempted to make their treaties more equal and

facilitate easier credit for the PRC.

○ Mao, Khrushchev, and the split (1956-64)

■ Several issues undermined the potential for easing tension between the

PRC and the USSR:

● Secret Speech by Khrushchev, which attacked Stalin’s “crimes,”

including his cult of personality, to which Mao saw as an attack of

his own leadership.

● The crushing of the Hungarian Uprising and Soviet problems in East

Germany and Poland, to which Mao saw as failures by the USSR to

contain reactionary forces.

● Khrushchev’s doctrine of peaceful co-existence (global revolution

can be achieved without armed struggle), which Mao saw as

ideological heresy.

■ Conference of Communist Parties (1957)

 ● Mao believed that the USSR was initiating détente with the West

to further isolate China.

● Mao called on the USSR to abandon revisionism, stating that

international revolution could not be supported by working along

class enemies (i.e. Western Capitalists).

■ Khrushchev’s visit to Beijing (1958)

● Khrushchev went to Beijing to ease growing tensions.

● This failed as Mao went out of his way to make Khrushchev

uncomfortable.

● The talks were unproductive.

● Deng Xiaoping attacked Soviet policy, stating that they betrayed

the international Communist movement, they were guilty of

viewing themselves as the only true Marxist-Leninists, and that

they had sent spies posing as technical advisers to China.

■ Taiwan (1958)

● With growing tensions in Taiwan, Mao ordered a build up of troop

manoeuvres in the region, giving the impression that the PRC was

going to have a full-scale attack on Taiwan.

● Mao did not launch an attack, being unprepared, also without

Soviet aid.

● Khrushchev said that he was not prepared to fight the US.

 ● Khrushchev accused Mao’s regime of being Trotskyist in pursuing

international revolution at any cost, showing a lack of

understanding of political reality and his tendency towards

fanaticism.

○ Sino-Soviet relations and the Great Leap Forward

■ The failure of the Great Leap Forward reached the Soviet Union, who

denounced both it and Mao.

■ This made Mao infuriated and determined to strike back at the USSR.

■ The PRC would now back any Communist nation that dissented Moscow’s

lead.

■ When the USSR withdrew aid to Albania due to its Stalinist ways in 1961,

the PRC saw it as an attack on their own system as well.

■ The PRC offered to replace Soviet money and give technical assistance to

Albania.

○ Sino-Indian War (1962)

■ A Sino-Indian war broke out when the borders of Tibet was disputed.

■ Mao demanded renegotiation of the borders, to which India refused.

■ The war began between the Chinese PLA and the Indian military.

■ The Soviets were officially neutral but gave MIG fighters to India.

○ Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

■ Mao attacked Khrushchev’s handling of the CMC.

 ■ Mao used this as an opportunity expose to the Communist world, the

USSR’s lack of commitment to the revolutionary cause.

■ Mao believed the idea of existing peacefully with the non-Communist

states went against everything their ideology dictated and that the USSR

was betraying the revolution and tolerating Capitalist powers.

○ Sino-Soviet relations and the Cultural Revolution (1966-76)

■ Whilst Khrushchev left office in 1964, there remains to be no reconciliation

between the USSR and the PRC.

■ Soviets denounced Mao’s Cultural Revolution as total fanaticism and

criticised Mao for creating a state of anarchy.

■ The Soviets took the opportunity to attack the PRC and accuse them of

trading illegally with the apartheid regime in South Africa, receiving

assistance from West Germany on nuke research, developing worldwide

opium trade, and sending supplies to US forces in Vietnam.

■ Mao responded to the “false” accusations by calling out on other

Communist countries to follow the Chinese model of Communism, not the

“revisionist” Soviet System.

○ China, USSR, and nuclear weapons

■ Unlike pragmatic USSR, Mao was not afraid of nuclear war.

■ Khrushchev wanted technical superiority as leverage to convince the US to

pursue co-existence, which Mao disagreed with.

 ■ The Test Ban Treaty of 1963 agreed, on part of the USSR and Western

nuclear powers, to stop atmosphering testing of atomic weapons.

● Mao saw the this as abandoning revolution and working with

imperialists.

○ Khrushchev responded by accusing China to want to

destroy both the Western powers and the USSR, leaving the

PRC as the number one power.

■ More arguments between the nuclear power evolved and essentially

circled around:

● China: if you are our friend, you should want to help us develop our

own nuclear programme.

● USSR: As you are our friend, you do not need your own nuclear

programme as we will look after you.

■ When China developed its own nuclear weapons, it both showed that the

PRC should be taken seriously as an international power and showed the

fact that it did not need Soviet support.

○ PRC and Leonid Brezhnev (1968-82)

■ Under the Soviet Leonid Brezhnev, the Brezhnev Doctrine stated to

maintain order in Eastern Europe and that satellite states must accept

Soviet leadership.

■ The doctrine is put to test when Czechoslovakia attempted independence,

to which Soviet tanks were sent to crush the period of liberalization.

 ■ Mao condemned the use of force against Czechoslovakia, as it showed that

the USSR was no longer behaving in a truly Socialist manner and he was

worried that Soviet military and the doctrine could be turned against

China.

○ Sino-Soviet border war (1969)

■ Hostility increased in violent clashes along their mutual borders of Xinjiang,

and the Amur and Ussuri rivers as both sides increased troops facing one

another.

■ The dispute turned into a proper war with dangers of it turning nuclear.

■ But it did not escalate to an all out nuclear war despite Mao preparing.

■ The war brought down both China and the USSR and historians view it as

the lowest point in Sino-Soviet relations due to:

● Serious border incidents threatened to turn into a full-scale war.

● Realigned missiles to face one another.

● Intensification of the rivalry to be the leading Communist nation.

○ PRC, USSR, and Indochina

■ The Vietnam War

● Strategically interested in Indochina, China, whilst not directly

involved, gave support for Ho Chi MInh.

● There became a Sino-Soviet struggle to win over the Vietcong to

their side. China accused the USSR of being in league with the USA
 and the PRC refused the using of Chinese airports for Soviet airlifts

to Vietnam.

● Eventually, the USSR won the contest by keeping up a steady supply

of aid and arms throughout the war.

■ Cambodia and Vietnam

● Losing influence on Vietnam, China sought after Cambodia. Pol Pot

was in many ways considered Maoist, but the brutality of Pol Pot’s

regime exceeded that of Mao’s.

● VIetnam singed a military alliance with the USSR and following

clashes on their borders, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to overthrow

Pol Pot, as well as expelling the Chinese people in Vietnam.

● China defended Pol Pot’s appeal to the UN, by claiming Vietnamese

invasion to be Soviet expansionism.

● China then invaded Vietnam to draw out Vietnamese and Soviet

forces out of Cambodia. But the Soviets increased their backing for

Vietnam instead. Vietnam and the USSR also presented their

intervention to the UN to be based on humanitarian grounds.

● China was not victorious but the PLA claimed success. In fact, the

PLA suffered and this became a major setback for PRC propaganda.

○ Sino-Soviet rapprochement (1982-2000)

■ Key reasons for rapprochement

● Mao’s death in 1976

 ● Overthrow of anti-Soviet Chinese Gang of Four

● New PRC leader Deng Xiaoping more tolerant in relation to the

USSR and the West.

● Brezhnev’s death in 1982.

■ Key issues dividing the PRC and the USSR in the 1980s

● Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

● Soviet troops on the border with China

● Soviet support for Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia

■ Gorbachev and Deng

● With Gorbachev assuming Soviet leadership in 1985, improving

relations with China became a primary objective.

● Trade agreements were drawn up and procedures for full

diplomatic relations were restored.

● PRC and USSR signed a cultural exchange agreement in 1989.

● However, whilst Gorbachev initiated far-reaching reforms in the

USSR, dismantling Stalin’s structural legacy, Deng only brought

about some economic reform but only under the CCP.

● A couple of days before Gorbachev was to arrive in Beijing, pro-

democracy hunger strikes occurred in Tiananmen Square (1989).

The demonstrants saw Gorbachev as a hero of reform.

 ● Salience of Chinese ideology shown when deng refused to

compromise and a martial law was declared where troops were

sent to disperse the crowd and opened fire.

■ Fall of the Soviet Union

● Gorbachev’s reforms brought his downfall, which showed CHina

that their hardline stance against the pro-democracy movement

had been the right one.

● The collapse of the Soviet Union meant the ending of their

Communist monopoly and the PRC no longer had a Communist

competition.

● However, the PRC did not seize the international revolutionary

initiative, rather enhancing China’s position as a major world player

and continued its economic modernization.

● Sino-American relations

○ Increasing tension (1950s)

■ Tibet (1950)

● US condemned the PRC for what is believed to be expansion,

horrific bloodshed, and cultural genocide of the Tibetans.

■ Korean War (1950-53)

● US believed that NK invasion of SK was directed by Mao and Stalin.

● Mao was only persuaded to agree to invasion, not involved in the

initial attack.
 ● Mao condemned American action. US justified by claiming that NK

were aggressors. Mao retaliated with claiming that SK were initial

aggressors.

● Zhou Enlai asserted that the US were imperialist invaders.

● When the UN troops under the US crossed the 38th parallel, the

PRC launched its attack.

● After the war, the US pledged to defend Taiwan and Mao became

less scared of the US military.

● Hostility between US and PRC became more prominent.

● PRC weakened by the war both in loss of life and economic cost.

But it strengthened the position of the CCP because it drove them

to want to be more independent (bc having to repay USSR).

■ Taiwan (1954 & 1958)

● Taiwan became a key territory in US containment policy.

● PRC did not attempt to take Taiwan earlier because it was well

defended (PRC not confident that it had air power/landing craft

necessary), US navy now present, and US pledged to protect it.

● Mao tested American commitment to Taiwan by bombing Quemoy

and Matsu. Eisenhower responded strongly, even suggesting the

use of nuclear weapon.

● US responded forcefully to show strength and because they were

confident USSR won’t support PRC.

 ● After bombing Quemoy and Matsu again, the US prepared for war

with the PRC.

● US believed PRC was expansionist. This is linked to the domino

effect theory. So US started containment in China.

○ Trade embargo

○ Denied entry to UN

○ Economic and military aid to Taiwan

○ Aid programme for Taiwan

○ Containment bloc (SEATO)

○ Bilateral defence treaties with Asian countries seen as

under threat from the PRC

○ Sino-American Cold War (1960s)

■ Taiwan

● Persistence to unify Taiwan with the mainland were partially due

to the belief that any improvement in Sino-American relations

could only be possible in the PRC’s view.

■ Vietnam

● PRC condemns American involvement in VIetnam as imperialism

and cited Taiwan as another key example of American

expansionism in Asia.

■ Decolonization
 ● PRC supported decolonization to replace the USSR as the world

leader of international revolution and to end Western imperialism.

● Zhou asserted that the US was the key danger to world peace at

the Bandung Conference (held in response to SEATO).

● Later, US policy towards China outlined as:

○ US doesn’t seek to overthrow PRC

○ US objects to PRC involvement in foreign affairs

(encouraging revolutionary forces worldwide by providing

training).

○ Despite being more violent in word than action, the PRC

should not be underestimated.

■ Chinese Cultural Revolution

● The US viewed the Cultural Revolution similarly to the USSR, i.e. as

a demonstration of our of control fanaticism. This was seen as a

danger to the region and a threat that could tip the “dominoes.”

● The PRC increased attacks on the US during the Cultural Revolution.

They feared an American attack aimed to change the regime. With

both the Americans and the Soviets, the PRC was incredibly

nervous.

○ Sino-American détente (1970s)

■ American reasons for détente

 ● Situations in VIetnam led the US to believe that containment was

no longer possible there. US wanted PRC assistance in exit strategy.

● To put pressure on Soviet-American attempts at détente.

● Nixon wanted to “make history.”

● Public support in the US for more constructive strategies following

the Vietnam War.

● PRC developed ICBM (Intercontinental ballistic missile) capability,

so the US saw not having contact as more dangerous.

● US hoped to reduce commitments in Asia but still retaining bases

in the Pacific.

■ Chinese reasons for détente

● To reduce tensions with the US (as China saw the USSR as its main

rival).

● To gain concession on key foreign policy issues (e.g. UN

membership, Taiwan, US withdrawal from Vietnam and Indochina,

etc).

● Worried about a resurgent Japan and wanted its power limited.

● Saw détente as temporary and said that it would remain vigilant

against US imperialism and aggression.

● To play off enemies.

● Moderation of its stance against the West could improve PRC’s

standing in the developing world.

■ Benefits for US

● Vietnam

○ US wanted détente with PRc to help them get out of

Vietnam, but it didn’t help directly.

○ It was more of a leverage to negotiate with the USSR and

North Vietnam.

● Wider context

○ Détente did result in pressure on the USSR to maintain

détente with US. But US was unwilling to “play the China

card” in relations with the USSR.

○ It also relieved US commitments to mainland Asia and made

up for the US government’s loss of face over its changed

policy as regards the PRC’s seat at the UN.

■ Benefits for China

● UN membership

○ PRC had power of veto to block resolutions (e.g. preventing

admission of Bangladesh to the UN in 1971).

○ Increased PRC prestige and influence, ability to present

views on the world stage, and ability to publicly support its

allies and denounce its enemies.

● Taiwan
 ○ In 1972, Nixon declared: “The ultimate relationship

between Taiwan and the mainland is not a matter for the

US to decide.”

○ This possibility of reunification became a main reason for

détente.

○ Whilst this did not happen due to Reagan committed to

protect Taiwan, things remained diplomatic. China did not

want to provoke the US at a time when relations with the

USSR remained tense.

● Japan

○ With improved relations with the US, Japan and China also

had improved relations.

○ A friendship treaty was drawn on 1978, developing

economic ties over the next few years.

○ Within 5 years of the friendship treaty, China had become

second to the US as trading partner with Japan.

○ This allowed the PRC to further pressure the USSR.

○ The Cold War

■ China emerged as a significant factor in the development of the Cold War

wherein their influence growth because of their nuclear power status,

their increasingly hostile relationship with the USSR, and their growing

rapprochement with the US.

 ■ This shift made the Cold War more tripolar (US, USSR, PRC) than bipolar

(US, USSR).

○ Tiananmen Square

■ Sino-American relations improved following Mao’s death, the removal of

anti-American gang of four, and Deng’s modernization initiatives.

■ The Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in Beijing were violently

crushed by the Chinese government. This was denounced by Westerners

(incl. People of the US). However, it didn’t make a difference to Chinese

international relations, including one with the US.

■ Whilst getting worldwide condemnation, the Tiananmen Square incident

did not result in isolation or economic sanctions. The US did not want to

damage its trade links with the PRC.

○ The end of the Cold War

■ The new Russian government withdrew its forces from the pacific in early

1990s. The US did not renew the lease on its naval base in the Philippines

too.

■ At the end of the war, China was left as the leader of the communist

nations. But then Communism was in crisis, with the collapse of

Communist regimes all over Eastern Europe.

■ But instead of concentrating on ideological concerns, the new Chinese

leadership focused on establishing economic growth and power.

 ■ Trade links boomed and the US and China became important economic

partners.

● Détente

○ Reasons for détente

■ USSR

● Needed better relations with US because its economy is stagnating.

They dealt with economic problems and improve standard of living

by improving ability to produce consumer goods, which needs

Western technology.

● Had a deteriorating relationship with China. Became crucial for

USSR to isolate China from the west by seeking for itself an

improved relationship with the west.

■ US

● To follow the more realistic foreign policy, which takes into account

the changing international situation (shift between bipolar power

balance between USSR and US, to multipolar balance shared

among US, USSR, Western Europe, Japan, and China).

● To get the USSR and China to put pressure on North Vietnam to end

the war.

● To deepen US’ global role through negotiation, not confrontation.

● To free up resources that could be used to help the economy.

○ Reasons for PRC-USA rapprochement

 ■ For PRC to prevent international isolation and cause concern in USSR.

■ For US to advance realpolitik (a system of politics or principles based on

practical rather than moral or ideological considerations), to restore

international politics, to move away from obsession with Vietnam, and to

give leverage to negotiating powers with USSR.

○ Reasons for improved East-West relations

■ Pressure for détente from Europe after political instability including the

Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and student strikes in France.

■ New German chancellor believed Europe would benefit from a reduction

of tension and greater links between East and West.

■ USSR also saw an impetus for improved European relations, which is to

accept the new borders of Europe, to win Western acceptance of the

division of Germany, and formalize existing territorial situations in East

Europe.

○ Successes of détente

■ USA-USSR: SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), 1972

● ABM Treaty: ABMs (Anti Ballistic Missiles) only allowed at 2 sites,

with each containing no more than 100.

● Interim Treaty: Limited ICBMs (Inter-Continental BMs) and SLBMs

(Submarine Launched BMs).

 ● Basic Principles Agreement: Rules for conduct of nuclear war and

development of weapons. Committed both to prevent conflict and

promote peaceful co-existence.

● Criticised for not going for enough, not mentioning MIRVs (Multiple

Independently Targeted Reentry Vehicles)

■ USA-USSR: SALT II, 1979

● Limited number of strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and and

banned the testing and development of new ICBMs, heavy mobile

ICBMs, and rapid reload system.

● Extensive and complicated. By the time it was signed, Americans

criticised it for not accomplishing much and giving advantages to

the Soviets.

■ East & West Germany-USSR

● Moscow Treaty (1970): Recognized border between East and West

Germany. Accepted post-WW2 border in the East with Poland.

● Final Quadripartite Protocol (1972): Confirmed that the West had

legal access to routes to the city, showing greater security in West

Berlin.

● Basic Treaty (1972): Accepted existence of two Germanys. West

recognized the East and agreed to increase trade links between

them.

■ US-China
 ● Improvements include the PRC replacing Taiwan in the UN, the lift

of trade and travel restrictions between the two countries, sporting

events between the two countries, and Nixon visiting China (the

first US president to do so).

■ Triangular Diplomacy

● Deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations → Sino-American détente

and US bargaining power leverage to USSR.

● Put picture

■ Helsinki Agreement

● Basket 1: Security. Followed Ostpolitik negotiations with the Soviet

Union and recognized that Europe’s frontiers could not be altered

by force. East and West Germany recognized by both sides.

● Basket 2: Cooperation. Called for closer ties and collaboration in

economic, scientific, and cultural fields.

● Basket 3: Human rights. Agreed to respect human rights and

individual freedom (e.g. thought, conscience, religion, travel).

○ Détente between USA and USSR under pressure

■ Political factors that undermined détente

● US felt that the arms agreement benefited the USSR.

● Actions in the Middle East and Africa seemed to indicate that the

USSR was continuing to expand its influence.

○ Yom Kippur War

 ○ Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola

○ Ethiopia vs. Somalia

● There was disillusionment over the USSR’s attitude towards Basket

3 of the Helsinki Agreement.

■ Economic factors that undermined détente

● US economy started to recover in the late 1970s giving the US less

incentive to pursue détente.

● USSR economy however, declined and restrictions in US-Soviet

trade were placed.

○ Reasons for the collapse of détente

■ US saw Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was seen as final proof of

the Soviet’s real intention of spreading their influence beyond their

border, and therefore is a serious threat to world peace.

○ Historiography of détente

■ Arguments for success

● Reduced tension and threat of nuclear war (Kissinger).

● Necessary to deal with international situation and manage

competition (Bowker and Williams).

● Not intended to end arms race, reform USSR, or prevent Soviet-

American rivalry, but to turn a dangerous situation to a predictable

system (Gaddis).

■ Arguments for failure (Right wing historians)

 ● Failed because it helped the USSR going

● Weak policy that allowed USSR to strengthen itself and gain

Western technology at the expense of American interest.

○ Second Cold War

■ Reagan was elected on anti-Communist feeling and the belief that the US

had to reassert power. Reagan also believed that détente was a failure.

■ So he put tough anti-Soviet policies:

● Increased defence spending.

● Developed new nuclear weapons.

● New research program (Strategic Defense Initiative) for setting up

space-based laser system to intercept and strike Soviet missiles.

● Announced Reagan Doctrine: assisted anti-Communist insurgents

and governments.

● Deployed Intermediate Range Missiles in Western Europe to

counter the Soviet SS-20s.

● Restricted trade with Soviet Union.

● Called the Soviets an “evil empire” and “the focus of evil in the

modern world.”

■ Ageing and infirm leaders in the USSR also prevented any kind of initiative

or strong leadership.

■ Soviets also shot down a Korean airliner that had flown into Soviet

airspace, claiming it was a CIA spy plane.

 ■ But Sino-American relationship was to change with Gorbachev.

Confrontation and reconciliation; reasons for the end of the Cold War (1980– 1991)

● Ideological challenges and dissent (218)

○ Impact of Gorbachev

■ Gorbachev did not want the Soviet Union to remain authoritarian and

economically focused on producing military hardware rather than housing,

transport, food, consumer goods, and healthcare.

■ He introduced perestroika (restructuring), which aimed to restructure the

economy, and glasnost (openness), which was the principle that every area

of the regime should be open to public scrutiny.

■ Through perestroika and glasnost, Gorbachev aimed to make the Soviet

system more productive and responsive.

■ This must involve a reduction in military spending, so Gorbachev decided

to abandon the arms race and attempt a negotiated reduction in arms with

the USA. Not just for economic reasons, Gorbachev also wanted arms

control.

■ Chernobyl heightened Gorbachev’s awareness of nuclear power and

showed that even without war and without nuclear missiles, nuclear

power could destroy humankind.

■ Gorbachev was prepared to discuss the elimination of all intermediate-

range missiles in Europe as suggested by Reagan. This resulted in Reagan

and Gorbachev meeting in the following summits:

 ● Geneva (Nov 85): No progress but agreed that nuclear war cannot

be won and must not be fought.

● Reykjavik (Oct 86): Achieved no agreements because of

disagreement over SDI, but declared an intellectual breakthrough

in Soviet-American relations because it covered the most extensive

arms control proposal in history.

● Washington (Dec 87): Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty

signed, agreeing to abolish weapons.

● Moscow (May 88): Disagreement over SDI but arms reductions

negotiations continued. Reagan no longer believed in the “evil

empire.”

○ Impact of Reagan

■ Several historians argued that it was Reagan’s approach in the early 1980s

that was crucial for pushing the USSR to arms negotiations, not Gorbachev.

This is called the Reagan victory school.

■ However critics argued that the Reagan military build-up foreclosed Soviet

military options while pushing the Soviet economy to the breaking point.

■ This Reagan victory school view is critical for the détente approach to

Soviet-American relations. Explain p 214

■ Other historians claimed that Reagan played an important role but

believed that his role was more on eliminating nuclear weapons, and less

towards the USSR.

 ■ Reagan’s character and willingness to engage with Gorbachev was also

important.

○ Events of 1989

■ May: Fence between Hungary and non-Communist Austria dismantled.

■ June: Solidarity won a majority in free elections.

■ September: East Germans escaped through “holidays” in Hungary and

Czechoslovakia. They also escaped to West Germany through Austria.

■ October: Gorbachev visits East Germany and makes it clear that he will not

use the Red Army to put down demonstrations in East Germany.

■ November: East Germany government eases travel restrictions. East

Germans march to Berlin Wall and force guards to let them through. Berlin

Wall dismantled.

■ December: Romanian Communist Ceausescu overthrown and executed.

Bulgaria experiences huge demonstrations against Communist

government.

■ March 1990: Latvia declares independence from USSR and Baltic states

follow.

○ End of the USSR

■ Abroad, Gorbachev’s policies brought him admiration but failure to bring

about improvement in the country’s economy decreased Gorbachev’s

popularity within the USSR.

 ■ Events in eastern Europe brought calls for independence from the Soviet

Union and thus by 1991, the Soviet empire disintegrated.

■ The breakup of the USSR intensified hostility against Gorbachev and there

was an attempted Communist coup.

■ The Communist coup was defeated by Yeltsin, the new president after

Gorbachev has lost authority.

■ The Commonwealth of Independent States was established and the USSR

formally ceased to exist.

○ Role of ideological challenge and people power in ending the Cold War

■ The continued deterioration of living standards.

■ The growing disillusion with the Communist Party.

■ Implications of Gorbachev’s reforms.

● Economic problems

○ Role of Soviet economy

■ Brezhnev left Gorbachev with both the political and economic policies in

crisis.

■ Whilst the USSR achieved parity with the USA under Brezhnev, but this was

achieved at a high price.

■ Maintaining the empire was also costly. E.g. cuba $4 bil, Vietnam $6 bil,

and members of Warsaw pact $3 bil.

■ During Brezhnev’s era, the USSR experienced stagnation and decline due

to a lack of spending in the domestic economy.

 ■ Gorbachev inherited a seriously troubled economy so it is argued that he

was forced to take the actions that he did in both internal reform and

negotiations with the west.

■ This contradicts the Reagan victory school by saying that containment and

détente played a role in ending the Cold War rather than prolonging it.

○ Impact of Gorbachev’s reforms

■ His reforms resulted in the collapse of the USSR.

■ Whilst not aiming to do so, the reform that aimed to revive the Soviet

economy, aimed too to modify the Soviet system, which now encouraged

private ownership.

■ There was no effective system in the USSR to cope with this market

economy.

■ At the same time, encouraging openness and discussion allowed criticisms

of the old Soviet system, showing its obvious failing to compete with

Capitalism.

■ With the the faults of the Soviet Union laid bare, it was hard to defend the

legitimacy of the existing system.

○ Impact of the collapse of the USSR and end of the Cold War

■ The US believed that they were the winners and international politics

became uni-polar (US now the only capable country to have military

alliance around the world).

 ■ Capitalism seem to have triumphed, with Communism only in a few states.

But even in those states (e.g. China and Vietnam), economic control

change allowed free-market forces to have an impact.

■ Cuba had an economic crisis because of the decrease in Soviet economic

aid and US trade embargo.

■ Africa who was formerly supported by the USSR also suffered

economically.

■ Conflict continued in other states that had been the focus of superpower

conflict (e.g. Afghanistan).

■ 9/11 led to a new focus on US foreign policy: war on terror.

● Arms race

○ Development of the nuclear arms race

■ Historians argue that Truman’s decision to use the A-bomb to end war in

the Pacific was the first act of the Cold War and the trigger for the nuclear

arms race between the USSR and the US.

■ The USSR soon followed by developing their own A-bomb (1949) and the

arms race began.

■ The US then stepped up and developed the hydrogen bomb (1952), which

was 1000x more powerful than those dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

And a year later, the USSR followed.

■ The 1950s also saw the development of ICBMs.

 ■ THe US government were concerned about the USSR moving ahead and

the “missile gap,” especially with the launch of sputnik. While U-2 flights

over the USSR relieved this fear, the US remain building up ICBMs to

pressure the USSR.

■ In 1968, the USSr developed ABMs while the US developed MIRVs.

○ Developed strategies for using nuclear weapons

■ Eisenhower and massive retaliation

● Despite devastating consequences, the US must fight with every

weapon at its disposal if attacked.

● Nuclear weapons must now be treated as in fact having become

conventional.

● Criticised for trying to go throat the threat of an all out nuclear war

to ensure that no such conflict would take place.

■ McNamara and counterforce

● Destroy the enemy’s military forces but not cities, thus no civilian

populations.

● Problematic because:

○ Early stage of missiles does not guarantee successfully

hitting target accurately.

○ Many military facilities are near cities.

○ Could not be ensured that the USSR would follow the same

policy.
 ● USSR criticized it as it implied that the US would make pre-emptive

strikes.

● Public opinion in the US also not favourable, arguing that the policy

seems to make nuclear war more likely, not less.

○ Impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis → mutually assured destruction (MAD)

■ The aim was now to target cities with the objective of causing the

maximum number of casualties possible.

■ This was under the belief that if no one could survive a nuclear war, then

there would not be one = mutually assured destruction (MAD).

■ The existence of nuclear weapons meant thtat there could enver be a total

war between the superpowers.

■ Both countries had to accept MAD. So they continued building up their

nuclear weapons. But now need agreements to manage them:

● Test Ban Treaty (1963): Stopped nuclear weapon testing in the

atmosphere.

● Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968): Required nations

possessing nuclear weapons not to pass on relevant

information/technology to non-nuclear countries.

● Strategic Arms Limitation Interim Agreement (1972): Restricted

number of land and sea based ballistic missiles.

● Eisenhower’s idea of open skies: Allowed satellite reconnaissance

to minimize the possibility of a surprise attack.

 ● Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (1972): Banned defences against long

range missiles (to ensure MAD).

■ The fact that nuclear weapons cannot be used helped the Cold War to go

on for so long.

● Gaddis argued that the arms race “exchanged destruction for

duration.”

○ Impact of Reagan and Gorbachev

■ Reagan stepped up the arms race with the biggest arms build up the US

has ever had.

● This included the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), which aimed to

set up a space-based missile system that could intercept and

destroy missiles before they reached the US.

● This was criticised because it would undermine assured destruction

and give the US a first-strike capability, thus destabilizing the

international situation.

● The Soviets knew they they could not compete with this and

because of this, historians believed that the threat of the SDI led to

the success of arms talks between Gorbachev and Reagan.

■ Gorbachev argued that security must be gained politically, not militarily.

● Argued that negotiation and cooperation were as important as the

build up the military.

 ● He put up the idea of reasonable sufficiency, wherein the USSR

should have only enough weapons to defend itself, not to launch a

pre-emptive strike or fight a penetrative war.

● This change in Soviet mindset, along with good Gorbachev-Reagan

relations helped lead to the end of the arms race.

○ Role of conventional weapons

■ Since nuclear weapons were only to be used as a last resort, both sides

needed to keep large conventional forces, which could be seen used in the

Korean and Vietnam War.

○ Space race

■ Following the success of the USSR in the space race, Khrushchev claimed

that everything “develop better and faster under Communism.”

■ But the space race was also part of a race for military superiority as space

technology was linked to weapon technology.

■ The launch of first satellite Sputnik caused hysteria in the US because not

only did the Soviets beat the US in the space race, it proved that they could

launch BMs that could reach the US and it could also be used as

surveillance of the US.

LEADERS AND NATIONS

Impact of leaders on the course and development of the Cold War

● Stalin

● Truman

Impact of Cold War tensions on Nations

● Cuba

○ Nature and direction of Cuba’s revolution

■ Five revolutionary laws:

● Return power to the people

● GIve land rights for those holding smaller plots

● Allow workers to have a 30% share of profits

● Allow sugar plantation workers to have 55% share of profits

● End corruption

■ Context of the cold war

● US saw it as Communist

● Encouraged Castro to turn to the USSR

● USSR sees it as a way to expand sphere influence to Americas

● Castro then claimed he was socialist/marxist

● Failure of bay of pigs increased nationalist sentiment in Cuba

○ Cuba’s economy

■ Castro believed in the Soviet command economy.

 ■ But despite investments from the Soviet Union, production fluctuated with

poor harvests.

■ Cuba developed huge debts to the USSR.

■ As Cold War tensions decreased, Soviet interest in supporting Cuba

declined.

■ By the end of the Cold War, USSR agreements with Cuba ended, supplies

cut, and economic support ceased.

■ This resulted in the collapse of the Cuban economy, with a 35% fall in GDP

and other shortages.

○ Nature of Castro’s government

■ Emphasis on unity against outside threats due to hostility and threat of US

intervention, arguing that they were threatened by imperialist forces.

○ Cuban Foreign Policy

■ Main Policy

● Give Cuban support to groups struggling against imperialism.

■ Latin America

● Export Cuban revolution across Latin America.

■ Africa

● Encourage decolonization of movements in Africa

● Germany

○ Division of Germany (1945-49)

■ West focused on self sufficiency.

 ■ USSR used East Germany as extra reparations.

■ West became the Federal Republic of Germany.

■ East became the German Democratic Republic.

○ Constitution of the FRG

■ Set up as liberal democracy.

■ Prevented Nazi-style government to emerge.

■ Committed West Germany to the protection of human rights

■ Committed to reunification.

○ Economy of the FRG

■ Marshall aid helped.

■ Korean War → demand for German steel and manufactured goods

■ Germany not allowed military force → concentrate spendings on

rebuilding the country

■ Stability + growing economy = East Germans escape to the West

○ West German politics ups to 1969

■ Reunification was seen to be a priority.

■ But disagreements between US and USSR halted it.

■ Stalin wants to split Germany from the West and keep Germany under

Soviet influence.

■ West Germany became an independent state.

○ West German foreign policy

 ■ Armed security police created to maintain internal security and defend

Western Europe.

■ Warsaw Pact confirmed the division of Europe and Germany, and

increased hostility between the two Germanys.

■ Ostpolitik introduced as a form of détente.

■ USSR deployed nuclear missiles in Europe, which made West Germany to

do the same.

COLD WAR CRISES

Korean War 1950

● Cause

○ US Foreign Policy

■ Korean nationalists revolted and the US and USSR decided to take

responsibility. Dividing the country into two (North and South).

■ Initially the plan was that each division would have provisional

governments with international supervision that would lead the two back

together for independence.

■ However, separate administrators emerged on each side (Kim Il Sung and

Syngman Rhee).

■ Division continued in 1947, with the creation of the ROK and the DPRK.

■ Soviets left North Korea in 1948 and the US left South Korea in 1949.

○ Role of Kim Il Sung

 ■ Civil war was assumed to happen regardless of superpower involvement.

■ However, superpower involvement was necessary as neither side could

unify the country on its own.

■ So Kim Il Sung persuaded Stalin, who originally had no interest to back his

attack on the South.

■ Despite Stalin’s support for Kim being essential, the motivation for war was

from Kim Il Sung, not Stalin.

○ Role of Stalin

■ Seeing the Communists winning the Chinese Civil War, the USSR getting

the atomic bomb, and the West facing economic difficulties, saw Stalin

having more hope for world revolution.

■ Also seeing that the US made Japan anti-communist, the USSR became

motivated to gain Korean influence to secure Soviet Position in northeast

Asia.

■ Historian JLG also saw Stalin’s opportunism as another factor.

■ The USSR essentially agreed to help North Korea but argued that if they

wanted real help, they should ask China. However, Stalin’s support

remained essential to enable the invasion.

○ Role of Mao

■ Mao gave his approval to Kim because Kim seemed to believe Stalin was

more enthusiastic and that Mao was planning an invasion of Taiwan.

■ Mao offered troops but Kim said it was not necessary.

 ■ Mao paid little attention to the actual preparation.

■ When the attack on the South came, Mao was also surprised.

● Impact

○ Korea: Lost human life, lost property, unification impossible, no longer a local issue

but a superpower issue

○ China: Reputation increased, resources diverted, made them not rely on USSR

○ USSR: Showed that the USSR was part of a more intense and broader Cold War

○ Southeast Asia: Became involved in the Cold War, nationalist movements struggle,

forced to be increasingly dependent on USSR/China, Vietnam became directly

involved.

● Significance

○ Setting the pattern of proxy wars that was to be used throughout the Cold War.

○ Showed how the US was prepared to use force to follow through its policy of

containment.

Berlin Crisis 1948-1949

● Cause

○ Rivalry and mistrust between the USSR and the West

○ Agreement that Germany should be divided temporarily into four zones of

occupation in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences.

○ USSR and the West had differing aims for Germany.

 ○ Berlin was within the Soviet occupation zone, meaning that the Western forces

and the West Germans in Berlin relied on receiving supplies delivered through

Soviet controlled East Germany.

○ Introduction of the Deutschmark in West Berlin, which undermined East Berlin.

● Impact

○ Permanent division of Germany into two

○ Setting up of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

○ Continuation of Berlin as a divided city within the Soviet zone

○ Continuation of four-power control in Berlin

○ Containment of communism

● Significance

○ Illustrated the policy of containment in action

○ Showed that by 1948, the West was not prepared for further Soviet expansion

○ Showed that Stalin was not prepared to escalate the conflict and risk war

○ Brought about the final stage in the division of Europe economically, politically,

and militarily

○ Remained a source of tension between the superpowers

Berlin Crisis 1958-61

The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

● Cause

○ Pro-USA Cuban government overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959

○ USA considered Cuba as part of its sphere of influence, thus any government in

Cuba should reflect and protect US interests

○ US companies controlled sugar, financial, railway, electricity, and telegraph

industries

○ USA established naval base at Guantanamo Bay, and Platt Amendment states that

US would be able to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence

○ Castro’s revolutionary reforms involved nationalisation of US economic interests,

thus the US tried to moderate his reforms by refusing economic assistance unless

he followed guidelines set by the IMF. The OAS refused financial aid for economic

development

○ Cuba sought aid from the USSR which offered economic aid in 1960

○ US responded by placing embargo on most exports and organised invasion force

○ Bay of Pigs invasion (1960) : plan to overthrow Castro’s government. Trained

refugees for an invasion, which ended in the capture of 1214 of 1400 invaders,

that were released in return for $53 million worth of food and machines paid by

the US. Fault in the CIA which underestimated popular support for Castro and

flawed invasion plans (lack of air cover and ammunition)

○ Revived fears of US imperialism

○ Castro declared as Marxist-Leninist and created defensive alliance with USSR

○ In 1962, Khrushchev placed IRBMs to protect and preserve revolutionary Cuba,

and by association, Soviet hegemony and spread of Communism, especially as the

US had missiles placed in Turkey

 ○ Kennedy found this intolerable as it increased Soviets’ first strike capability, as it

had a far earlier warning time

○ Kennedy believed Khrushchev’s actions were part of a plan to put pressure on the

US to leave Berlin

○ Kennedy rejected plea for immediate air strike and an invasion, and opted for a

naval blockade, establishing a quarantine to prevent delivery of nuclear warheads,

but the Soviets ignored. However on 24 October, six Soviet ships turned back

○ On October 26, Khrushchev sent a telegram saying the missiles would be removed

if the US pledged not to invade Cuba

○ US U-2 plane shot down over Cuba without authorisation from USSR

○ US removed missiles in secret

○ October 28, agreement between Khrushchev and Kennedy to remove missiles

with assurance US would not invade Cuba - Turkey not mentioned

● Impact

○ US: increase in Kennedy’s personal prestige, realised fragility of own security and

focused on building military strength

○ USSR: Humiliation for Khrushchev and contributed to his fall from power

○ Cuba: Independent foreign policy, however continued to rely on economic aid and

arms from USSR

○ China: Saw USSR reluctance to challenge US as proof that it was no longer a

revolutionary state, relations began to deteriorate

○ Global: Understood danger of nuclear war, signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty of 1968