LESSON 4
The Cold War
ESSENTIALQUESTION How do governments change?
The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States lasted for forty-five years and still influences our world today.
Cold War Beginnings
How did the United States try to stop the spread of communism without going to war?
The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as superpowers. The two disagreed, however, about what the world was to be like after the war. The United States favored a constitutional government in which power rested with the people. The Soviet Union favored a totalitarian government in which power rested with the Communist Party. As the war ended, the Soviet Union forced communist rule on Eastern Europe. The Americans and the Soviets competed for world leadership. Their rivalry lasted from 1945 to 1990 and was known as the Cold War.
A War of Ideas
The United States and the Soviet Union set aside their differences during World War II in order to defeat Germany and its allies. Near the end of the war, however, they began to disagree. The two nations disagreed about the changes that should occur during the postwar years. The United States supported the spread of democracy and free enterprise. (Free enterprise, you may recall, is a system in which businesses compete freely for profits with little government control.) The Soviet Union wanted to see the spread of communism. Communism is a form of society without social classes or private property. In theory, a Communist government was supposed to become less involved in the lives of citizens, or slowly fade away. In practice, however, the government controlled all aspects of life. This war of ideals became known as the Cold War. The United States and the Soviet Union tried to gain influence in the world by using all possible methods short of total war. The development of the atomic bomb meant a “hot war,” or war fought with military weapons, and real combat could be more deadly than ever before. Instead of war, however, the United States and the Soviet Union turned to other methods of competition. They competed with each other by trying to build up the largest supply of weapons. They also gave military and economic aid to weaker nations in an attempt to gain their support.
What to do with Germany?
within East Germany, also was to be divided among the four. The leaders also agreed to free elections in countries released from Nazi rule.
In April 1945, President Roosevelt died. Vice President Harry S. Truman became president. The next month, American, Soviet, and British leaders met at Potsdam, Germany. Stalin demanded that the Germans pay high reparations for the destruction they had caused in the Soviet Union, which Truman firmly opposed. Still Stalin did not hold free elections in Eastern Europe. Instead, the Soviets set up Communist governments there and kept troops in the region. Europe eventually split into two armed camps—Communist Eastern Europe and largely democratic Western Europe.
LESSON 4
The Cold War
ESSENTIALQUESTION How do governments change?
The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States lasted for forty-five years and still influences our world today.
Cold War Beginnings
How did the United States try to stop the spread of communism without going to war?
The United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as superpowers. The two disagreed, however, about what the world was to be like after the war. The United States favored a constitutional government in which power rested with the people. The Soviet Union favored a totalitarian government in which power rested with the Communist Party. As the war ended, the Soviet Union forced communist rule on Eastern Europe. The Americans and the Soviets competed for world leadership. Their rivalry lasted from 1945 to 1990 and was known as the Cold War.
A War of Ideas
weapons, and real combat could be more deadly than ever before. Instead of war, however, the United States and the Soviet Union turned to other methods of competition. They competed with each other by trying to build up the largest supply of weapons. They also gave military and economic aid to weaker nations in an attempt to gain their support.
What to do with Germany?
In February 1945, the “Big Three” Allied leaders—Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin—met at Yalta, a Soviet port on the Black Sea. Postwar control of Germany was the most difficult issue. The three leaders finally decided to split Germany into four occupational zones, or parts. The Soviet Union was to control eastern Germany, while the United States, Britain, and France were to hold zones in the western part. The capital of Berlin, located deep within East Germany, also was to be divided among the four. The leaders also agreed to free elections in countries released from Nazi rule.
In April 1945, President Roosevelt died. Vice President Harry S. Truman became president. The next month, American, Soviet, and British leaders met at Potsdam, Germany. Stalin demanded that the Germans pay high reparations for the destruction they had caused in the Soviet Union, which Truman firmly opposed. Still Stalin did not hold free elections in Eastern Europe. Instead, the Soviets set up Communist governments there and kept troops in the region. Europe eventually split into two armed camps—Communist Eastern Europe and largely democratic Western Europe.
LESSON 4
The Cold War
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How do governments change?
A Divided Germany
Meanwhile, the western Allies and the Soviet Union disagreed on Germany’s future. President Truman believed that a reunited, thriving Germany was important for Europe. Stalin, on the other hand, feared a strong Germany would attack the Soviet Union.
In 1948, the United States, Britain, and France decided to unite their zones to form a new West German republic and combine their sections of Berlin. In response, Soviet troops surrounded West Berlin and imposed a blockade that cut the city off from needed supplies. The West began a massive airlift of supplies that saved West Berlin. In May 1949, the Soviets ended the blockade. Germany, however, and the city of Berlin remained divided. By the end of 1949, West Germany was allied with the United States, and communist East Germany was tied to the Soviet Union.
New Military Alliances
Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO with Canada and ten Western European countries. Members of NATO had democratic, or freely elected, governments. In 1955, West Germany was allowed to form an army and became a NATO member. The Soviet Union responded by forming the Warsaw Pact—an alliance made up of countries with Communist governments in Eastern Europe. Cold War conflicts in Asia led to the creation of another anti-Communist alliance called the Southeast Treaty Organization (SEATO). This alliance included the United States, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand.
To block the spread of communism in the Middle East, nations set up the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). CENTO had six members—Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Great Britain, and the United States.
By the mid-1950s, the United States had entered into military alliances with 42 nations. It was a time when both superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had developed dangerous weapons called hydrogen bombs— bombs that were even more powerful than atomic bombs. Both countries also developed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are capable of being sent anywhere on Earth.
LESSON 4
The Cold War
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How do governments change?
The Berlin Wall
After Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev (nuh•KEE•tuh krush•CHAWF) led the Soviet Union. Khrushchev demanded in 1961 that the Western powers withdraw from Berlin. U.S. president John F. Kennedy rejected this demand.
The Soviets then built a concrete wall that separated Communist East Berlin from democratic West Berlin. People could not travel freely in and out of East Berlin. Guards on the wall shot anyone who tried to escape communist rule. For nearly 30 years, the Berlin Wall was an important symbol of the divisions of the Cold War.
The European Economic Community
By 1957, some Europeans believed unity might promote peace better than rival military alliances. That year, France, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy signed the Rome Treaty. This treaty created the European Economic Community (EEC).
Members of the EEC set up a free-trade area. They agreed not to place tariffs, or taxes, on imports of goods sold by member states. They would, however, tax the goods of non-EEC nations.
The Arms Race
and bombers.
The most dangerous Cold War dispute took place in Cuba, a communist island just 90 miles (144 km) south of Florida. In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista. At first, Castro promised free elections and many reforms. Castro did not follow through with his promises, however, and soon declared Cuba a Communist nation. He began accepting military aid from the Soviet Union.
In October 1962, President Kennedy learned that the Soviets had placed long-range missiles in Cuba. The president immediately ordered the navy to blockade Cuba until the Soviets removed the missiles. Kennedy also warned that the U.S. would launch a nuclear attack on the Soviets if they fired the missiles. This situation became known as the Cuban missile crisis.
As the two superpowers grew closer to a nuclear attack, the world held its breath for five days. Nikita Khrushchev ordered Soviet ships, many of which carried missiles, to continue on to Cuba. Shortly after President Kennedy’s announcement, however, a few Soviet ships did turn back. Finally, the United States and the Soviet Union reached an agreement and the remaining Soviet ships turned back.
The Soviets later removed all their missiles from Cuba. More importantly, a nuclear war had been avoided. The outcome of the Cuban missile crisis contributed to Khrushchev’s fall from power in 1964.
Behind the Iron Curtain
By the 1950s an Iron Curtain, the term for an invisible political line, divided Europe. On one side of the Iron Curtain stood democratic nations; on the other side stood Communist-run nations. In a 1946 speech, Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain, described the situation:
[A]n iron curtain has descended across. . . [Europe]. . . .all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, . . . The Communist parties . . . have been raised to preeminence [importance] and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control.
Between 1948 and Stalin’s death in 1953, party leaders in satellite nations followed the Soviet example. Their policies included:
Soviet-type five-year plans
Emphasis on heavy industry rather than consumer goods u An end to small private farms and the creation of large farming collectives
Elimination of all non-Communist parties
Use of secret police and military force to crush opposition to Communist ruleNikita Khrushchev, the son of a coal miner and the grandson of a serf, ended some of Stalin’s harsh policies when he took control of the Communist Party in 1953. In a 1956 speech to party leaders, he criticized Stalin’s “intolerance, his brutality, his abuse of power.” Khrushchev talked about the tens of millions of people killed under Stalin, including Communists who Stalin thought might be too powerful. Stalin wanted no one, not even loyal Communists, to challenge his personal power.
The Soviet army crushed the protests, but angry Communist officials blamed Khrushchev for the rebellion. They would eventually force Khrushchev to leave office in 1964. This did not happen, however, until after Khrushchev’s actions created unrest in other places such as Cuba. Even after Khrushchev left office, protests continued to break out, with another rebellion in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Space Race
In 1957 Khrushchev saw one of the biggest triumphs of his rule. That year Soviet scientists surprised and frightened Americans by launching the world’s first space satellite, Sputnik I. A nation that had nuclear bombs was now orbiting a space satellite. People throughout the world could see the satellite at night.
In 1961 the Soviet Union topped its Sputnik achievement by sending the spacecraft Vostok into orbit. Yuri Gagarin, the first human to travel into space, sat inside the small space capsule. The Soviets had thus succeeded in launching both the world’s first spacecraft and the first manned spacecraft.
These Soviet advancements in space exploration started the space race. The two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, now competed with one another to conquer outer space. United States President John F. Kennedy responded to the Soviet’s head start in the space race with a promise that the United States would land a human on the moon by the end of the 1960s.
In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon. The mission cost about $33 billion, but the nation was paid back with a wealth of new knowledge and technology.
The Cold War in Asia
How did the Cold War affect countries in Asia?
The Cold War also reached Asia. By the 1950s, communists ruled China and the northern parts of Korea and Vietnam. As a result, the United States applied its policy of containment to Asia.
Communism in China
While the United States reached for the moon, the People’s Republic of China reached for nuclear weapons. It tested its first nuclear bomb in 1967. The above-ground explosion, which formed a giant mushroom cloud, increased the chances of nuclear annihilation. (Annihilation means to completely destroy something.) Nations now had the power to destroy entire countries with radioactive explosions.
The People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949 when Chinese Nationalists fled from Chinese Communists to the island of Taiwan. (See map.) Communist leader Mao Zedong claimed victory after more than 20 years of civil war. (Mao Zedong had joined with Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek to battle the Japanese in the 1930s, but when World War II ended, the struggle between Chinese Communists and Nationalists resumed.)
Mao Zedong wanted to modernize the People’s Republic of China as quickly as possible. He also hoped to create his vision of a nation without social classes—a place where people owned everything in common. (Remember that communism opposes private property.) To achieve these goals, Mao Zedong declared that he had absolute power.
The Korean War
In 1950, with the backing of Joseph Stalin, who held power in the Soviet Union until 1953, North Korean troops invaded South Korea. President Harry S Truman convinced the United Nations to send troops. Americans made up most of the UN force.
Under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur, the UN troops battled the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel. Mao Zedong saw the advancing UN army as a threat to China and ordered hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers into Korea. The Chinese pushed the UN forces southward.
General MacArthur wanted to drop atomic bombs on Chinese bases, but Truman refused. When MacArthur objected, Truman fired him. He did not want to risk starting World War III by dropping atomic bombs in Korea.
Three years of fighting followed, but with no clear victory. In 1953, an armistice was signed. (An armistice, or truce, is an agreement that results in a pause in fighting.) Although at least 2.5 million people lost their lives in the war, the boundary line between North and South Korea was unchanged. It stayed at the 38th parallel, where it remains today. Technically, the war has never ended because no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea, though bankrupt, is still a trouble spot for several reasons: (1) its totalitarian government; (2) its past ties with terrorists, or people who use terror to achieve a goal; and (3) its knowledge of how to build nuclear weapons.
Japan's Dramatic Recovery
From 1945 to 1952, Allied military forces under General Douglas MacArthur occupied and ruled Japan. The
American-led government greatly reduced Japan's military. Japan also adopted a new democratic constitution and a bill of rights. The United States poured billions into Japan's economy and sparked an economic boom in Japan. The Japanese government and its business leaders worked closely together to plan the country's industrial growth. By the 1970s, Japan was a major economic power.
Determining Cause and Effect Why did Chinese Nationalists create a government on the island of Taiwan?
The Vietnam War
Vietnam also entered the Cold War as a divided nation. When the Japanese left Vietnam, a Vietnamese nationalist named Ho Chi Minh declared the country independent. However, the French wanted to regain control of Vietnam and the rest of Indochina.
When the French returned in 1946, Ho Chi Minh resisted. He led a force called the Vietminh to drive out the French. The United States feared Ho Chi Minh was a Communist and would spread communism throughout Asia. President Dwight D. Eisenhower described this potential thread using the domino theory. If Vietnam fell to the Communists, then other countries would fall—like a row of dominoes.
The United States helped the French to reclaim Vietnam, but the U.S. participation did not stop the fighting. In 1954, the French decided to make peace with the Vietminh. An agreement called the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel into Communist and non-Communist governments. Ho Chi Minh controlled North Vietnam. An American-backed government controlled South Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords required elections be held to unite North and South Vietnam. Fearing a Communist victory, South Vietnam refused to participate. As the conflict continued, Communist China and the Soviet Union poured weapons into North Vietnam. The United States, which believed in the policy of containment and the domino theory, sent money, weapons, and military advisers to South Vietnam. Small combat, or fighting, units arrived in the early 1960s. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson increased the number of troops. By 1969, about 500,000 American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam.
In 1975, North Vietnam launched a full-scale invasion of South Vietnam, which fell to North Vietnamese armies. North Vietnamese leaders reunited the nation and set up a Communist government, called the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It took 20 years for the United States and Vietnam to resume, or renew, official diplomatic relations. The two nations reopened talks and trade in 1995.
Determining Cause and Effect Why did Chinese Nationalists create a government on the island of Taiwan?
The Cold War Era
How did countries develop at home during the Cold War era?
After World War II, the Soviet Union rebuilt its heavy industry and boosted its military might. In Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe, governments copied the Soviet system. Some countries rebelled against controls.
Prosperous Western Europe
The Marshall Plan helped Europe rebuild quickly. West Germany developed economically, becoming the most prosperous nation in Western Europe.
France, led by war hero General Charles de Gaulle from 1959 to 1969, became a major manufacturer of aircraft, weapons, and cars. In Britain, older industries were slowly replaced with new service industries.
In 1957, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy founded the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC was seen as the first step in building a united Europe.
What Was Life Like in the United States?
During the 1950s, the United States had a prosperous economy. Advancing civil rights became a major cause during this time. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racial segregation (seh • grih • GAY • shuhn), or separation of the races, in public schools.
During the 1950s, the civil rights movement, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., used nonviolent marches to focus attention on discrimination. He called for no unfair treatment of African Americans in public places, housing, and voting.
President John F. Kennedy supported new civil rights laws. Following Kennedy's assassination, his successor, Lyndon Johnson, convinced Congress to pass a new Civil Rights Act and a Voting Rights Act. Johnson also introduced government programs known as the Great Society. These were designed to end poverty, improve education, and provide medical care to the poor and elderly.
In the 1960s, women sought equal rights in the workplace. More women had become lawyers, doctors, and government leaders. However, women still received lower pay than men. In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act. It outlawed paying women less than men for the same work.
