APUSH! I've missed your cute faces!!!
The Cold War was such a complex time in history. So many countries were involved for numerous reasons. This week, pick one country and give me a detailed explanation of their role/experience during the Cold War. Be sure not to repeat a country!
Have fun!
Mrs. Demmel
United States was one of the two major participants in the Cold War. The Cold War spanned for more than two decades after World War II, and U.S. experienced instability at home as the citizens were in constant fear of the spread of communism inside the U.S. government. Several federal measures were taken to enforce anti-communistic sentiments in the country, and several individuals were and tried and persecuted for carrying "un-American" ideas, in other word, communist of fascist beliefs. Hostility toward the Soviet Union was high and U.S. was preparing for a nuclear war. Through the Truman Doctrine, U.S. also claimed to ward off communism from other free countries, especially in Europe; however, since the loss of China to communism, the claim was destroyed, and U.S. humiliated.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviet Union was the major enemy of the United States during the Cold War. For more than forty years, the Soviets struggled with the Americans for world power, resulting in strained tensions, numerous international conflicts, and the ever looming prospect of nuclear war. The Soviet Union’s ideology of communism, in which all property is held in common by the state, was radically different from America’s capitalism, in which money and property is held by private individuals and corporations. This is what separated the world into two sides: those who, according to America and its allies, protected freedom and democracy, and others who encouraged oppression and totalitarianism.
ReplyDeleteImmediately after World War II, the Soviet Union began to expand their borders across Eastern Europe, taking Poland and several other Eastern nations as well as East Germany. Western Europeans and the United States were afraid that the Soviets were going to continue to expand their influence further west, so they created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which pledged to protect each other in case of attack. The Soviets responded by forming the Warsaw Pact, a similar group of communist countries and allies. Both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. enlarged their armies and stockpiled nuclear weapons, each waiting for a military attack. World War III never did erupt, but the two countries fought each other on other grounds. Many proxy wars took place, such as the Korean War and civil wars in Africa and Asia, in which democratic forces, often supported by the CIA or other American agencies, fought communist forces. Both sides used espionage, sabotage, and psychological warfare. Several incidents did occur, however, that brought the world close to nuclear war; the Berlin Blockade, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the Cuban Missile Crisis are some examples. The Cold War finally ended when the Soviet Union collapsed economically in 1991.
Works Cited
DeleteFaragher, John M., Mari J. Buhle, Daniel Czitrom, and Susan H. Armitage. Out of Many: A History of the American People; AP Edition. Sixth ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.
GREECE
ReplyDeleteDuring World War 2 Greece was occupied by the Germans. In 1945 after hostilities ended a “Services Government” was formed. The government attempted to end the communist movement in Greece which was popularized by popular German resistant groups in Greece that were Communist. The Communist party in Greece called the KKE desired communism for Greece and when the government attacked leftist groups a bloody civil war broke out in Greece that lasted for three years. It ended in 1949 the same year that the US’s Marshall Plan started giving money to Greece. In 1952 the royalist Greek Rally Party came to power in the general election and was led by Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos. Under Papagos Greece joined NATO. Papago’s also worked on Greece economic recovery. After Papagos died Constantine Karamanlis took power. He attempted to ally Greece more closely with the west and eventually Greece was given associate status in the European Community (EC.) In 1967, a coup d’etat took place by the junta and brought Greece under military control. It was headed by Colonel Georgious Papadopoulos. The people were politically oppressed as no opposition to the Government was allowed and media and the legal system were strictly monitored and controlled. The west disapproved of the Junta which is evident by Greece being dismissed from the Council of Europe in 1969. Greece also believed western disapproval was behind the lack of western support when an almost certainly Junta backed coup took place in Cyprus in 1974 almost bringing turkey and Greece to war. Because of this Greece quit NATO until 1980. The junta relinquished control of Greece in 1974 and Constantine Karamanlis was invited back to Greece to become prime minister. In 1975 the Greece Republic was founded and a new constitution was put in place.
"Which Countries Were Involved?" Countries. Royal Air Force Museum. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
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ReplyDeleteCanada:
ReplyDeleteIt can be said that Canada was the root of western paranoia with communism. In 1945, a young man named Igor Gouzenko claimed that a Soviet Union spy ring had formed in Canada, and he had the proof. Thus, an anti-communist sentiment and a "fear" of communism arose in Canada as well as the United States. As far as choosing sides, Canada stuck along with the United States for military pacts, and joined forces with the American military when the Soviets built an atomic bomb in 1949. While Canada was not on the Security Council of the United Nations, it was a part of NATO. Canada is often compared to America's "little brother" in the Cold War.
Afghanistan, a country south of the former Soviet Union and west of the former People’s Republic of China, was intrinsically involved in the Cold War. In April of 1978, the Afghan president Mohammad Daud Khan was removed in a coup led by leftist guerilla leader Nur Mohammad Taraki. The coup brought a communist coalition consisting of the People’s (Khalq) Party and the Banner (Parcham) Party to power. The new government forged close ties with the Soviet Union and began imposing land and economic reforms. The leftist administration proved unpopular, however, and the opposition organized itself as the mujahedeen (meaning “those who fight jihad”). The Khalq and Parcham partnership also suffered from internal coups and dissent. Fearing that the pro-Soviet government would topple, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979. The mujahedeen insurgency continued in the rural parts of Afghanistan funded and armed by the United States and other Arab nations. Inept and defeated, Russian troops vacated Afghanistan on February 15, 1989 after nine years of fruitlessly fighting the mujahedeen.
ReplyDeleteCrippled without Soviet aid, the communist government in Afghanistan collapsed by 1992. Civil war ensued as the warlords who had previously been part of the mujahedeen grappled for power. The Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic organization, rose to power during the fighting. Under the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, a terrorist organisation was permitted to operate openly. After the attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York on September 11, 2001, the American government invaded Afghanistan to root out Al-Qaeda. Hoping to restore stability, the United States installed the government of Hamid Karzai. On April 5, Afghans went to the polls to elect a new president. Despite bombings carried out by the recently resurgent Taliban, the vote was carried out and the result is still being processed. Encouragingly, every major presidential candidate promised to accept a security agreement with the United States. The agreement would provide American logistical aid and troops to the Afghan government, but Karzai has refused to sign it. As a result, attacks led by the Taliban have steadily increased. In 2013, civilian casualties were up 14% (2,959 deaths and 5,656 injuries) according the the United Nations. Without an agreement, the American government is considering what it calls “option zero” where it would leave no troops in Afghanistan to keep the peace. This could be potentially disastrous as Afghan security forces still rely on the Americans for intelligence and joint missions against the Taliban. The Cold War destabilized Afghanistan as the country became a battleground for the United States and the Soviet Union. The effects of Soviet and American intervention are still prominent in the country today as it transitions to democracy and hopefully peace.
Works Cited
DeleteBerkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. "Afghanistan: Civil War, the Taliban, and American Intervention." Afghanistan: Civil War, the Taliban, and American Intervention. Georgetown University. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica. "Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 7 Apr. 2014.
Mahr, Krista, and Lynsey Addario. "Waiting For the Taliban." Time 14 Apr. 2014: 24-33. Web.
ESTONIA
ReplyDeleteLike many of the countries bordering East and West Europe, the Baltic nation of Estonia changed hands several times throughout the 20th Century. Since the 18th Century, Estonia had been a part of the Russian Empire. It gained its independence briefly in 1920 only to lose it with a Soviet, then German, occupation during WWII. The country returned to the Soviet Union during the end of the war, thus beginning the long history of deportation within the country. Soviets targeted primarily the educated and political classes, resulting in thousands being deported to Siberia. As one of the Soviet satellites, Estonia had a pro-Soviet government and had limited access to the Western world. The majority of the internal resistance to the Soviet Union was through non-violent means, such as maintaining the traditional Estonian culture despite Russification. There was also a guerrilla resistance group known as the Forest Brothers that opposed the Soviet forces.
Like the rest of the Soviet Union, Estonia suffered economically during the Cold War. Estonia was well sought-out for for its natural resources, which were appropriated by Moscow. Massive numbers of the country's high-skilled labor force had also been deported which crippled its individual economic growth. With the Gorbachev era and his policy of Perestroika, the Soviet restrictions on Estonia were loosened some and the country began to push for individualism in its government and economy.
Estonia is well known for its instigation of the dubbed "Singing Revolution", which revitalized the national music festival of Laulupidu and was used to protest the Soviets in a non-violent, covert way. The country also participated in the formation of the Baltic Way, a demonstration in 1989 made by the three Baltic States against their Soviet occupation.
On August 20, 1991, the Estonian parliament issued a declaration of independence which was officially recognized by the crumbling Soviet Union on September 6. Overall, Estonia suffered culturally and economically from its time with the Soviet Union. However, it also became famous for the non-violent means it used to achieve its independence and has come out relatively well as compared to the other two Baltic states.The lingering problems it faces from the Cold War are primarily centered around tensions between the Estonian and Russian populations within the country, but it otherwise prospers from very successful relations with the West and a well-developed technology base.
Denmark
ReplyDeleteDenmark did not play a major role in the Cold War but was still a valuable asset to the side of the U.S. Also, Denmark was one of the founders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which formed a formal allegiance between Canada, the U.S., and 10 other European countries that said "an attack on one would be considered an attack on all. Also, Denmark had a strategic location which allowed the NATO to render the Soviet Baltic Fleet ineffective if a war did occur, but could only do so with Denmark's assistance. Because she was a founder of NATO and could render an entire Soviet fleet useless, Denmark helped to prevent the Cold War
China
ReplyDeleteThere was also cold war tension going on in Asia as well as Europe. At the end of WWII, America secured Japan as a stabilizing force in Asia, particularly China. After years of civil war however, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government collapsed and was taken over by Mao Zedong and the Communists.
Since WWII, America had been sending aid to Kai-shek's government in an attempt to keep the Communists from power. News of China's "fall" to communism caused turmoil in America, and the Asia First wing of the Republican Party blamed the Truman administration for the "loss". The situation with China only worsened for Truman when the USSR and the newly established People's Republic of China (PRC) joined in a formal alliance in February 1950.
The spread of communism to China contributed to tensions in America during the Cold War, and showed the American's fear of Communism and the influence of the USSR on countries within Europe and Asia.
Turkey:
ReplyDeleteThe Turkish joined NATO in 1952, which gave the United States much closer access to the Solviet Union. An attack that could happen on the Solviets would be much easier with this close access to Russia. There were warheads sent to a location in Turkey just as warheads were sent to Cuba by the Russians.
Vietnam:
ReplyDeleteAfter the Vietnamese revolution succeeded in removing French imperialism from the area, the country divided into two mindsets. The north wanted to set up a communist government like in the USSR and China right above them. The nationalist south wanted to set up a democratic government with pressure from the U.S. The North was led by Ho Chi Minh and was determined to rid the country of Democratic influences. The U.S ended up intervening and helping the south Vietnamese. After a long unsuccessful war, the U.S left south Vietnam to their own devices and they were quickly overrun by the north.
Cuba
ReplyDeleteCuba had a big role in in the 60s and later in the Cold War. Fidel Castro took power at the end of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, defeating the previous President who was allied with the US. In addition, Castro formed ties with the Soviet Union, Americas 15 year enemy in their fight against the spread of communism. In 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba by the US was an utter failure. This caused higher tension between the US and Cuba, so the Soviet Union secretly sent ships to Cuba with weapons, including nuclear missiles. This led to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the US found out. They formed a naval blockade to stop the ships from making it to Cuba, and for nearly a month, tensions were extremely high. But, fortunately, the USSR finally backed down and redirected the ships away. To this day, US relations with Cuba are terrible.
Germany
ReplyDeleteGermany had a major evolvement in the Cold war. After the end of WW2 Germany lost and was split into 4 zones. Great Britain, France, United States, and the Soviet Union each controlled one of the 4 zones. Great Britain, France, and the United States decided to combine their zones and create a Capitalist West Germany. East Germany Controlled by the Soviet Union was a Communist state. The countries also split the capital city of Berlin into two sides as well. Germany was a major piece in the cold war because both sides the communist and capitalists were so close together separated by only a wall. This led to many disputes between countries like the Berlin Airlift. The berlin wall was a major symbol throughout the war as the separation between communist and capitalists. The wall was eventually torn down and began the end of the cold war.
United Kingdom
ReplyDeleteAfter WWII, the UK was also in the process of rebuilding as the Soviets were. The UK did not compare with America's technological success and did not prove to be an armed threat to the Soviets. However, their strengths lied in their secret service and espionage abilities. The British ability to infiltrate intelligence agencies led the Soviets to be wary of them. The UK was seen as untrustworthy and definitely still a threat to the security of the Soviets. Edgar Pestle, David Archwood, and Kim Philby are examples of British agents who were accurately suspected of espionage during the Cold War.
Korea
ReplyDeleteShortly after WW2 Korea was divided into two countries along the 38th parallel. North Korea was a communist country which was strongly influenced by the Soviet Union. South Korea was a democracy with a United States sponsored president. This division was only meant to be temporary, but shortly after, North Korea invaded South Korea and quickly captured the capitol, Seoul and most of the mainland. The U.S. responded with UN troops and naval forces with an invasion of Inchon, successfully taking back South Korea and pushing deep into North Korea. General MacArthur, commander of UN forces insured Truman of a quick victory in North Korea and a reuniting of the two countries to form a democratic Korea. However, MacArthur sorely underestimated the size of communist China's forces camped above the Yalu river and his army was destroyed by wave after wave of Chines soldiers. MacArthur was later fired and North Korea remained communist and South Korea remained a weak Democracy.
The 15-19 of August, 1953, is known in Iran for when the UK and US collaborated to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and his cabinet members. Mosaddegh was attempting to dissolve the remaining powers of Iran's Shah so that the country might have a full democracy and to nationalize Iran's oil industry. Britain felt a large proportion of their economic investments in Iranian would be threatened with its nationalization. In response, they played off the US' Cold War mindset fears and convinced Eisenhower to undertake in a joint coup d'eat with the UK. As a result of the coup, the Shah was instated as part of a full monarchy which would last until 1979 under US support. The coup was successful for protecting Britain's and placating America's paranoia. Unfortunately, this is the event infamous for leading to deterioration of Iranian-American relations.
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ReplyDeleteCzechoslovakia
ReplyDeleteAfter WWII ended, Czechoslovakia was placed in the Soviet sphere of influence due to the events of the Yalta conference. However, Czechoslovakia had long harbored a democratic government. To aid their ailing economy, Czech leaders wanted to accept the Marshall Plan. However, the Soviet Union refused, and the Czech economy continued to deteriorate. When the Truman Doctrine was announced, the Soviet Union began to fear the possibility of Czechoslovakia requesting aid from the U.S. In response, Soviet leaders organized a coup in Prague in 1948 in which many democratic politicians were arrested and replaced by communists, and the Czech president, Edvard Benes, was replaced with the leader of the Czech communist party, Klement Gottwald.
Hungary
ReplyDeleteFrom 1945, Hungary of much of Eastern Europe was placed under the oppressive control of the Soviet Union's sphere of influence. Any power of whatever nature was therefore stripped from Hungary, for Stalin would install thousands of troops and tanks throughout Hungary to only further impose his dominion. When Stalin died in 1953, the people of Hungary were hopeful of being liberated from Soviet rule. The new Russian leader, Nikita Kruschev, made an attempt to ease Hungary's tension toward the Russian government by belittling Stalin and all his policies, and also, by removing Rosiki, the hungarian leader put in place by Stalin, from power. The people of Hungary, however, were not satisfied and expected more from Kruschev. In 1956, Hungary thus went into a full out revolution taking after the streets to protest Soviet control and government. When the nation threatened to remove itself from the Warsaw Pact in October 31, 1956, the Soviet Union immediately responded to this threat by sending tanks into Budapest and acting on immense brutality, killing several civilians. These militaristic operations were executed Kadar who established a rivaling government in Eastern Hungary, which was supported by the Soviet Union. By November 14, order was restored, Kadar was put in charge, and Soviet rule was reimposed. America did not intervene at any point.
Poland: After World War II Poland's country was in severe economic depression. About 21% of their population had died during the Holocaust and the countries' infrastructure had been virtually destroyed. During the time of the Cold War the Soviet Union had taken political control of Poland, but its communist regime never really succeed in Poland. The Soviet's communist form of government suited the Polish people poorly, resulting in lack of food and insufficient living conditions. In 1956, a large strike broke out from the Polish against the Soviets, resulting in around 80 total deaths. By 1976 even more strikes had arose, proving the holes in the communists ideal government thought of by the Soviet Union. In 1980 a strike from the Polish lead by a man named Lech Walesa at a shipyard forced the communist government to concede to a free trade union in Poland. by 1989, at the end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union, communism made its way out of Poland for good.
ReplyDeleteYugoslavia
ReplyDeleteThough not a modern-day nation, the country of Yugolavia (located near Italy along the eastern Adriatic Sea) nonetheless played an important role in the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. At the beginning of the Cold War, it consisted of six republics and one self-governing region united as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the war, it criticized both NATO and the Soviet Union, choosing instead to build toward socialism. It was among the only communist countries, though, which chose to return to independence of the Soviets though it had initially sided with the Soviet Union. It then exploited this "unaligned" position to play the two superpowers against each other and generate economic growth in their own nation.
FRANCE
ReplyDeleteFrance was not necessarily one of the key players in the Cold War, but it was an important part of it. France started to become scared of the USA's dominance of the Atlantic alliance, so they became one of the founding members of NATO. They tested their first nuclear weapon in 1960. In order to deter an attack, they started to build up an arsenal. By the end of the Cold War, France had the fourth biggest nuclear arsenal in the world, next to the USA, USSR/Russia, and China.
France was unstable during the Cold War. After the removal of the Nazi government, France created a new constitution in 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the president at the time. However, the governments were weak, and eventually de Gaulle came to power again and drafted a new constitution. This version gave more power to the presidency. France let go of their colonies by 1962.
France adopted the role of unifier in Western Europe. Because of their good relations with West Germany, France was key to the bonding of the NATO countries in Europe.
SPAIN
ReplyDeleteDuring the Cold War Spain remained a neutral nation. They were not a member of NATO but did have good relations with the US. Spain had no motive to join the war they were not being attacked and none of their allies were being attacked. Also at the time Spain was under the dictatorship of General Franco who didn't allow Spain to join NATO
AUSTRALIA
ReplyDeleteSir Robert Menzies the Prime Minister championed the unsuccessful Anti-Communist Dissolution Bill of 1950; however, when the Korean War broke out, Menzies, who was Eurocentric in his world view, did not support Australia committing military forces to the conflict. Sir Percy Spender, the Minister for External Affairs, was of a very different persuasion. Spender saw that Australia’s vital security interests in Asia and her diplomatic relationship with the United States were directly affected by the situation in Korea. It was Spender who pushed for an Australian military commitment to both fight communist aggression in Korea and cement a firm alliance with the United States. Spender’s Korean War alliance with the United States would eventually evolve into the ANZUS treaty. Spender made the decision to commit Australian military forces to combat in Korea without consulting the Prime Minister who was overseas. Menzies, when presented with the fait accompli of Australian military action in Korea, adapted quickly to political realities and publicly proclaimed his support. There was very little political or community opposition to involvement in the Korean War within Australia. The Opposition Labor Party agreed that communist aggression in Korea needed to be answered with firm resolve, and in the wider community the overwhelming majority of people supported the war effort. Only a very small fragment of the Australian population, composed mostly of local communists, opposed the Australian commitment.
The Korean War marked a point at which Australia recognized that it was in Asia and not elsewhere that its vital security interests lay. The War was also the catalyst for the formalisation of Australia’s military alliance with the United States in the ANZUS treaty.
Italy
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the Second World War Italy was still a kingdom but the country had suffered, with forces allied to the West and Fascist units allied to Germany fighting on Italian soil since 1943. This had caused deep division.
The 1947 peace treaty had seen minor adjustments to the Italian/French border in the north west and the Italian/Yugoslav border in the north east.
The matter of whether Italy should be a republic or a kingdom was put to a referendum and the people decided on a republic, but doubt over some of the results caused further division. The republic came into being on 1 January 1948.
The 1948 General Election was heavily influenced by the United States who feared that the strong Italian Communist Party would win power. They spent large sums on propaganda in a successful effort to prevent this. This propaganda campaign brought the Christian Democrats to power – a position they held for over forty years.
The American Marshall Plan helped to put the Italian economy back on its feet and in the 1950s Italy joined NATO. Later it also joined the European Economic Community, which became the European Union.
The Socialist Party entered an alliance with the Christian Democrats in the 1960s. This period was known as the “lead years” and was marked by a series of terrorist bombings by both the left and the right. There was a chronic political instability as governments came and went with little clear success in putting a stop to the bombings. The terrorism reached a new height with the murder of Aldo Moro in 1978 by the Red Brigades but even this brutal killing was surpassed by the bombing of Bologna railway station in 1980.
The “lead years” are still surrounded in secrecy and particularly “the strategy of tension”. This appears to have been supported by right wing elements, the Italian Secret Service and various American intelligence agencies. The strategy was to de-rail any attempt to include the Italian Communist Party in any form of coalition.
The 1980s saw the Communists continue to increase their share of the vote at the expense of the Socialists who had decided on a pragmatic policy of more centrist politics. If the Soviet Union had not collapsed the possibility existed that the Italian Communist Party might well have become the largest political party in the land.
A post Cold War investigation into Italian political parties showed most were corrupt in some large measure except the communists. By then, however, the communists were unable to capitalise on the destruction of the traditional parties of the right and centre. They renamed themselves the Democratic Party of the Left and took over the role previously occupied by the Socialists as the main social democratic party in Italy.
Although the government of Italy through this period was often compared with a man trapped in a revolving door – the changes of government being so frequent that one only had to pause before the previous Prime Minister came back in - it was a period of great economic growth. This strength was coupled with a need to position the country firmly in the West and to this end, the Craxi government moved to support the US President Ronald Reagan in his attempts to station Pershing missiles in Europe.
CANADA was a founding member of NATO, the alliance of European and North American nations against the perceived threat of expansion by the Soviet Union. They were also cooperative with the United States in NORAD by establishing and maintaining the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line which monitored Soviet activities in the Arctic for the purpose of giving the US an early warning in the event of a Soviet Nuclear attack on the US.
ReplyDeleteAs for nuclear weapons, Canada did have a nuclear weapons program, but decided that it was not necessary and abandoned it. This makes Canada the first nation to practice voluntary nuclear disarmament..