History - Cold War

• 1926-27 First United Front in China

• 1933 Good Neighbour Policy

• 1937 Second United Front in China

• 1939 UK + France declare war on Germany

• 1941 Lend-Lease Act

• 1943 US + UK invade Italy, USSR towards Germany

• 1943 Casablanca Conference

• 1943 Cairo & Tehran Conferences

• 1943 Austria divided

• 1944 Percentages Agreement

• 1944-45 UN Establishment

• 1945 Yalta Conference

• 1945 Potsdam Conference

• 1945 Germany surrenders

• 1945 Germany divided into 4

• 1945 Soviets declared war on Japan, bombs dropped in Hiroshima & Nagasaki

• 1946 Long Telegram

• 1946 Cold War starts

• 1946 UK + US + French areas of Germany form Trizonia

• 1947 Truman Doctrine Established

• 1947 Marshall Plan

• 1948-49 Berlin Blockade

• 1948 Operation Vittles launched

• 1948 Treaty of Brussels

• 1949 FRG, Federal Republic of Germany created

• 1949 GDR, German Democratic Republic formed

• 1949 Comecon created

• 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

• 1949 USSR detonates first atomic bomb

• 1949 PRC, People’s Republic of China established by Communists

• 1949 Republic of China established by Nationalists in Taiwan

• 1950 Start of Korean War, North Korea invades South Korea

• 1953 Ceasefire on Korean War signed by N. Korea and China

• 1953 Stalin dies

• 1954 Nasser put in power in Egypt

• 1955 Austrian State Treaty, deoccupied by Soviets

• 1955 Warsaw Pact

• 1955 Bandung Conference, start of Non-Aligned Movement

• 1956 Khruschev put in power

• 1956 Khruchev’s secret speech

• 1956 Hungarian Uprising

• 1956 Nasser withdrew recognition of Nationalist China, losing US ally

• 1956 Egypt nationalized Suez Canal, Suez Crisis

• 1959 Castro put in power in Cuba

• 1960 Congo declared independant

• 1961 Belgrade Conference

• 1961 Berlin Crisis, Berlin Wall

• 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion

• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1964 Khruschev leaves power

• 1991 Cold War ends

US

• Franklin Roosevelt 1933-45

• Harry S. Truman 1945-53

• Eisenhower 1953-61

• Kennedy 1961-63

USSR

• Josef Stalin 1929-53

• Khrushchev 1953-64

UK

• Churchill 1940-45, 1951-55

Establishment of satellite states

• Countries almost fully controlled by USSR

• Used them to form defensive belt

• Used them to enlarge economic, militaristic, and industrial power

Expansion of Marxist-Leninist Ideology

• Cultural spread of communist ideals

• Idolization of Karl Marx, Lenin and Stalin

Wartime Conferences

• Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam

• WWII finalizations

Percentages Agreement

• Stalin + Churchill planed to divide zones of influence after WWII

Cominform

• Organization uniting communist European countries

• Response to Marshall Plan

Berlin Blockade

• Isolation of Berlin in attempt to expand sphere of influence in Germany

First atom bomb

• In charge of its detonation

• Change in nuclear scenery, led into arms race w/ US

Korean War

• First proxy war, allowed N. Korea to invade and China to reinforce army

Saw soviet security as main concern, aimed to recover empiric Russian territories

Post-war occupation of Eastern Europe alarmed US into establish its containment policies

Showed aggression through Berlin blockade which lead to start of the Cold War

Robust containment

• Willingness to use force and other means, to advance international goals while simultaneously protecting and strengthening domestic base

Rollback

• Roll back the advancement of communism, reclaim as many nations as possible for the Western capitalist system

Domino Theory

• Notion that communist takeover in Indochina would lead to other Asian nations following suit

• Believed that communist victory in one state would spark neighbours to rise up against pro-American governments, leading to more spread and victories

• By keeping domino upright, aka Vietnam, could prevent Laos, Cambodia, Thailand etc from communist takeovers

Brinkmanship

• One or both parties force interaction between them to the threshold of confrontation to gain advantageous negotiation position over the other

• Aggressive risk-taking policy choices that hold potential disaster

1950 Korean War resolution

• Promised to end war

• Called for ceasefire w/ UN and Korea

1956 Suez Crisis

• Warned UK and France about occupations and military action, suggested withdrawal

• Denied providing oil to UK, France and Israel during their invasions

• Threatened sanctions if forces weren’t withdrawn

• Called in UN for aid

1961 Berlin Crisis/Khrushchev Ultimatum

• Berlin had joint governance of Big Three

• Khrushchev suggested recognition of two german states and free Berlin which was denied

• Khrushchev delivered speed demanding end to four-power occupation of Berlin

  • Threatened to withdraw, turn East Berlin to East German government

  • Proposed peace treaty to UK, US and France, to recognize German states and establishment of Berlin as free city

• Eisenhower wanted to work w/ USSR, going against brinkmanship as he wasn’t willing to go to war over Berlin, leadership changed

• Aggressiveness

• CIA (covert operations)

• Intimidationtactics in negotiation

• Nuclear weaponry stockpiling

• Not content w/ containment, used roll back through covert operations and diplomatic intimidation

• Discouraged conventional warfare because of pricing

Korean Division, 1945-48

• Korea was occupied by Japan since 1910

• Potsdam Declaration declared its freedom after end of WWII

• During US Japan bombings, USSR invaded Korea through the North

• Truman claimed South Korea, dividing it through 38th parallel, to avoid USSR takeover

• USSR established military occupation in N. Korea, allowed People’s Committees giving autonomy to the Korean people

• Kim Il-Sung was communist nationalist leader, aimed to expel foreign influence from Korea

• US supported Syngman Rhee

• 1945, N. Korea suffered riots due to lack of food and materials

  • 1946, communists were blamed for this occurrence in S. Korea

• 1947 November, UN created Temporary Commission on Korea 

  • USSR denied

• 1948 September, People’s Republic of Korea established in North, USSR withdrew forces

Causes of N. Korean Invasion of S. Korea, 1950

• Kim Il-Sung wanted to unify peninsula as communist country

  • Needed support from USSR → Stalin agreed to invasion in early 1949

• Syngman Rhee wanted to unify country as well

  • Needed support from US for invasion and protection

    • US hesitant, wanting to avoid direct conflict

• April, US issued NSC 68, leading Stalin to fear US intervention in N. Korea’s invasion

  • NSC 68: document stating that US needed to maintain armed forces to prevent Soviet expansion

• 1946-49, US aided Japan with money to end its occupation

  • Hypocritical policies: offered millions for economic assistance to Japan but refused Rhee’s requests for arms

• 1950 April, Stalin authorized invasion of S. Korea

  • 25 June, N. Korean forces invaded

  • 27 June, N. Korean army controlled most of peninsula including capital

Consequence: US response and UN actions

• UN sent forces

  • Lead by General Macarthur, coordinated attack in port near Seoul

• North lost ground

  • October, UN forces recovered South and chase North up to borders with China, Yalu river

• Macarthur wanted to attack Chinese army as preventative measure, Truman went against

Consequence: Chinese Involvement

• October 1950, Kim begged Stalin for assistance

  • Stalin requested aid of Chinese forces

• When UN got close to Yalu river, Mao sent 300,000 soldiers, expelling UN forces back to the South

  • 1951, UN forces recovered and forced Chinese to retreat

    • N. Koreans and Chinese still has numerical advantage, with Mao providing unlimited ‘volunteers’

• Macarthur suggested used of atomic bombs, Truman let him go

• Battle lines established around 38th parallel

• UN and US called for ceasefire, pursuit of further Northern invasion would be too costly

  • 1951-53, both sides engaged in sporadic battles

    • Mainly about N. Korean soldiers and Chinese wanting to stay in South

• USSR had pilots involved secretly, theoretically had position of neutrality

  • Stalin did not want to end war however, unwilling to accept communist defeat therefore complicating armistice negotiations

    • Died in 1953, so plans to continue war were disconsidered

• US was now lead by Dwight Eisenhower

  • Promised to end war

  • July 1953, UN, N. Korea and China signed ceasefire, agreeing to divisions near pre-war borders

    • S. Korea did not sign

First proxy war of Cold War

Division of the Korean Peninsula

• Solidified the division of the Korean Peninsula into North Korea, aligned with the Soviet Union and China, and South Korea, backed by the United States and its allies

• Division entrenched the Cold War confrontation in East Asia and served as a symbol of the global struggle between communism and capitalism

Intensification of Cold War Tensions

• Marking the first direct military conflict between the superpowers and their allies since World War II

• Involvement of the United States and China, as well as the use of United Nations forces, demonstrated the global stakes of the Cold War and the willingness of both sides to engage in proxy conflicts

Containment Policy

• The Korean War reinforced the policy of containment, which aimed to prevent the spread of communism beyond its existing borders. The United States' intervention in Korea was motivated by its desire to stem the tide of communist expansionism and protect its allies in East Asia, setting a precedent for future U.S. interventionist policies during the Cold War. 

Nasser Government and Causes for Crisis

• Gamal Abder Nasser = egyptian nationalist, desired expulsion of British and Egyptian royal family

• Rose to colonel in Egyptian Army, w/ aid of General Muhammad Naguib overthrew King Farouk in 1952 July through bloodless coup

  • Naguib was expelled from power in 1954, Nasser put into power

• Nasser programme: Arab nationalism, ambitious social policies to modernize Egypt

  • Strong Anti-Israel stance: participated in 1948 lost war against Israel, saw eradication of Israeli state as component of Pan-Arabism

    • *Pan Arabism: unification of Arabic speaking countries into multi-beneficial community

  • Strong anti-colonialism: UK forces remained in Egypt after decolonisation, Nasser believed reason was the Suez Canal

  • Economical/social reforms made, Nasser viewed separation of religion from state as necessary component of reforms

• Introduced gender/income equality in education, limited amount of land ownership resisting country’s pattern of elitism

• Reserved right to nationalize businesses, owned 50% by 1962 of Egyptian businesses

• Nasser felt that for improved economy Nile River had to be controlled

  • 1955, funding offered by US and UK

    • *US Secretary of State Dulles saw opportunity to improve Egyptian Israeli relations

  • Offers accepted, showed Nasser value of region

• 1956 May, Nasser withdrew recognition of nationalist China, affront to US

  • Soviets were sending foreign minister for economic/military agreements in Egypt

  • 1955, Nasser made arms agreement with Czechoslovakia, Soviet satellite state

• Pro Soviet actions caused US withdrawal from funding

  • Solution to financial aspirations was Suez Canal

• 1956 July, Nasser nationalized Suez Canal

Initiation of hostilities and nuclear blackmail

• France and British were shareholders of canal, outraged when Nasser nationalized 

  • Demanded return, Nasser denied

  • UK and France enlisted aid of Israeli

• 1956 October, Israeli army invaded/occupied Sinai Peninsula

  • Plan to hold it until UK/French navy could come reoccupy

• UK/France/Israel thought they would get oil from US, denied by Eisenhower

  • Causes UK and France ships to leave, Israeli stays

  • UN issued withdrawal of foreign troops from Egypt

• US opposed any military action in region, suggested UK/France to do the same

• USSR focused on Hungarian revolution, saw opportunity to support Nasser

  • “Nucelar bluff”, notified aggressors that Soviet military retaliation would occur for actions taken in Egypt

• US supported Israel, USSR supported Nasser promising financial assistance

  • Eisenhower…

    • Sent Soviets warning against suggestions of nuclear war

    • Threatened sanctions to France, UK and Israel if forces weren’t withdrawn

    • Blocked International Monetary Fund for UK

    • Went to UN, called emergency session of General Assembly

• Nov 2, resolution for withdrawal of forces

  • Nov 4 1956, emergency force sent to stabilize situation until both sides withdrew

    • Created Blue Helmets, UN forces dispatched to preserve peace

• Nov 7, UK began withdrawal, French followed

  • Israel retreated in March under international pressure

Egypt = example of smaller state using Cold War rivalry to reach own objectives

• Crisis showed region’s importance, emergence of Non-Aligned Movement

Led shift in role of UN

• 1956, precedent for peacekeeping set with Blue Helmets from middle powers

  • *Middle powers: Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, India, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Yugoslavia

UK and France began recognizing loss of influence

• For UK meant closer ties with US

• For France meant closer ties to other continental states through Treaty of Rome and formation of European Common Market

  • *Treaty of Rome: economic integration and common market between Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands

USSR felt that nuclear ultimatum was reason for Anglo-French-Israeli withdrawals

• Impressed by Nasser, lack of British influence lead rushing of US and USSR into the region

Last time US took action against Israel

• Eisenhower doctrine created, stating assistance to Middle Eastern countries to prevent communism spread

  • Middle Eastern countries were not easily convinced, Nasser served as example that developing countries were not reliant on superpowers

Authoritarian states learned that supporting anti-communism covered sins in minds of US policymakers, leading American alliances with ruthless dictators in developing countries