The Cold War

1
The Cold War

• A Great Power Confrontation

2
What is the Cold War?

• Called the Cold War because it did not involve
  direct armed conflict.
• Waged by means of diplomatic maneuvering,
  economic pressure, selective aid, intimidation,
  propaganda, assassination, low-intensity military
  operations and full-scale proxy wars.
• Featured the largest arms race (both conventional
  and nuclear) in history.
• Lead to widespread global fears of a potential
  nuclear war.

3
Cold War Facts (continued)

• Believed by many to have started at the end of
  U.S. and Soviet alliance after World War II.
• Many cite the fall of the Berlin wall on November
  9, 1989 as the symbolic end of the Cold War.

4
Notable conflicts

• The Korean War
• The Hungarian Revolution
• Bay of Pigs Invasion Cuban Missile Crisis
• The Prague Spring
• The Vietnam War
• Soviet-Afghan War
• Civil Wars in Angola, El Salvador and Nicaragua

5
Strategic Conflict

• Strategy of technology
• Involved covert conflict through acts of
  espionage.
• Killing of intelligence personnel was the extent
  of violence between Soviet Union and U.S.

6
Origins Two visions of the world

• The U.S. hoped to reshape the postwar world
• opening world's markets to capitalist trade.
• a rebuilt capitalist Europe that could again
  serve as a hub in world affairs.
• Vision equally of national self-interest.
• World War II resulted in enormous destruction in
  Eurasia.
• The only major industrial power in the world to
  emerge intact was the US.

7
Two visions of the world (continued)

• In post-World War II, the U.S. stood to gain more
  than any other country from opening the world to
  free trade.
• Rapidly rebuilt the economies of Europe and Asia.
• Established a global market for its exports, and
  it would have unrestricted access to vital raw
  materials.
• Soviet Union strove to avoid U.S. aims as the
  breakdown of the wartime alliance went forward.

8
Two visions of the world (continued)

• U.S. created new international agencies the
  World Bank and International Monetary Fund to
  ensure an open, capitalist, international
  economy.
• The Soviet Union wished to overthrow capitalism
  and did everything to sabotage capitalist plans.
• The withdrawal of the United States to advance a
  different vision of the postwar world conflicted
  with Soviet interests.
• motivated their determination to shape postwar
  Europe.

9
McCarthyism

• Named after Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy
  this was a period of intense anti-communism which
  lasted from 1948 to about 1956.
• The government of the United States prosecuted
  the leadership of the Communist Party USA as well
  as other individuals suspected of being
  communists.

10
1953-1962 New leadership

• Eisenhower entered office in 1953
• committed to the national investment to counter
  the spread of Soviet influence.
• Truman to the Eisenhower presidency transition
  was conservative-moderate in character.
• Change in the Soviet Union was more immense.
• Joseph Stalin died in 1953.
• Former right-hand man Nikita Khrushchev named
  First Secretary of the Communist Party.

11
1953-1962 New leadership (continued)

• Khrushchev was later named premier of the Soviet
  Union in 1958.
• Was able to ease restrictions, freeing some
  dissidents and initiating economic policies that
  emphasized commercial goods rather than just coal
  and steel production.

12
Nuclear Concerns

• Many of the Cold War concerns based on the
  development of nuclear weapons
• Questioned as to if they were being mass produced
  and whether wars could really be deterred by
  their mere existence.
• Not certain whether smaller regional wars could
  result in large nuclear warfare.
• The potential for nuclear warfare raised more
  tension than actual fighting.

13
Cuban Missile Crisis

• In May 1962 Khrushchev conceived the idea of
  placing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in
  Cuba.
• Intended to counter an emerging lead of the
  United States in developing and deploying
  strategic missiles.
• Also wanted to protect communist Cuba from
  another U.S.-sponsored invasion, i.e. the Bay of
  Pigs in1961.

14
Cuban Missile Crisis (continued)

• President John Kennedy cited Soviet involvement
  and ordered for the removal and dismantling of
  all weopons.
• Came to an agreement with Khrushchev. Weapons
  were dismantled and sent back to Russia with U.S.
  assurances to not invade Cuba.

15
Détente

• General reduction in the tension between the
  Soviet Union and the United States and a
  weakening of the Cold War, occurring from the
  late 1960s until the start of the 1980s.
• Leonid Brezhnev and the rest of the Soviet
  leadership felt that the economic burden of the
  nuclear arms race was unsustainable.
• The American economy was also in financial
  trouble as the Vietnam War drained government
  finances at the same time as Lyndon Johnson, and
  to a lesser extent Richard Nixon, sought to
  expand the government welfare state.

16
The Second Cold War

• Period between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
  in 1979 and the rise of Mikhail Gorbachev as
  Soviet leader in 1985
• Characterized by a marked "freeze" in relations
  between the superpowers after the demise of the
  Détente period of the 1970s.
• Resulted in the re-intensification of the
  U.S./Soviet relationship.

17
The Second Cold War (continued)

• The neoconservatives fought against both the
  Nixon-era policies and Democratic Party attitude
  toward the Soviet Union.
• Backed Ronald Reagan and the conservative
  Republicans, who promised to confront charges of
  Soviet expansionism.

18
The Fall of Communism/End of Cold War

• Mikhail Gorbachev elected Soviet Communist Party
  chief in 1985, marking the rise of a new
  generation of leadership.
• Young reform-oriented technocrats, who had begun
  their careers under reformist leader Nikita
  Khrushchev, rapidly consolidated power, providing
  new momentum for political and economic
  liberalization.
• Started movement for cultivating warmer relations
  and trade with the West.

19
The Fall of Communism/End of Cold War (continued)

• President Reagan warned Soviet leaders that U.S.
  would make arms race a severe financial burden on
  Russia.
• NATO military expenditures resulted in massive
  economic disruption and the effective bankruptcy
  of the Soviet economy.
• The pace of military technology advancement left
  Soviets incapable of keeping up and still
  maintaining a healthy economy