The US, USSR, and even China often used a variety of strategies to gain influence in the Third World...
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Transcript of The US, USSR, and even China often used a variety of strategies to gain influence in the Third World...
THE COLD WAR DIVIDES THE WORLD
Cold War Strategies The US, USSR, and even China often
used a variety of strategies to gain influence in the Third World
They would back wars of revolution, liberation, or counterrevolution
The US and the USSR both established intelligence agencies – the CIA and the KGB
The US gave military aid, built schools, set up programs to combat poverty, and sent volunteer workers to many developing nations
Association of Nonaligned Nations
In 1955, Indonesia hosted many leaders from Asia and Africa at the Bandung Conference
They met to form what they called a “third force” of independent countries, or nonaligned nations
Some nations, like India and Indonesia, managed to remain neutral throughout the Cold War
Confrontations in Cuba In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by
an unpopular dictator, Fulgencio Batista, who had US support
Cuban resent led to a popular revolution, led by Fidel Castro, which overthrew Batista in January 1959
At first, many praised Castro for bringing about many social reforms, however Castro soon revealed himself to be a harsh dictator He suspended elections, jailed or
executed his opponents, and tightly controlled the press
Confrontations in Cuba When Castro took over, he
nationalized the Cuban economy, which included taking over US-owned sugar mils and refineries
In response, President Eisenhower ordered an embargo on all trade with Cuba
Castro then turned to the Soviets for economic and military aid
In 1960, the CIA began to train anti-Castro Cuban exiles
In April 1961, they invaded Cuba, landing at the Bay of Pigs Without proper US military support, the
exiles failed in their invasion and Castro easily defeated the forces, humiliating the United States
Cuban Missile Crisis The failure at the Bay of Pigs convinced
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that the US would not resist Soviet expansion in Latin America
July 1962 Khrushchev secretly began to build 42 missile sites around Cuba
In October, US spy planes discovered these sites, setting off an international crisis
President JFK demanded the removal of the missiles and announced a blockade of Cuba to prevent the further arrival of more missiles
Eventually, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles if the US agreed to never invade Cuba and to remove missiles from Turkey
Civil War in Nicaragua The US supported the anti-communist
dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza and his family in Nicaragua from 1933-1979
In 1979, communist rebels, known as the Sandinistas, overthrew the Somoza reign
Originally, the US and the USSR supported the Sandinistas’ leader Daniel Ortega, but he quickly began to support Marxist rebels in El Salvador
In response, the US gave its support to the anti-communist rebels known as the Contras
The civil war raged on for over a decade, greatly crippling Nicaragua’s economy
Conflicts in Iran Following WWII, Iran’s leader,
Pahlavi, embraced western governments and wealthy western oil companies
This clashed with the traditional Islamic beliefs and customs of many of the people
Iranian nationalists united under Prime Minister Muhammed Mossadeq and forced the shah to flee
With US support, the shah was restored following fear of Iran turning to the Soviet Union for support
Conflicts in Iran The shah continued to
westernize Iran throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including weakening the power of the ayatollahs, or Islamic religious leaders
Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, while living in exile, began to encourage revolution in Iran
The shah fled Iran in 1979 and Khomeini returned to establish an Islamic state and to export Iran’s militant form of Islam
Khomeini’s Anti-US Policies
In 1979, young Islamic revolutionaries seized the US embassy in Tehran, taking more than 60 people hostage and demanding that the shah face a trial for his actions
They remained prisoners for 444 days before being released in 1981
Khomeini encouraged Muslim radicals to overthrow their secular governments, however this policy heightened tensions between Iran and Iraq where Saddam Hussein governed in a secular state
Face-off in Afghanistan For several years following WWII,
Afghanistan had maintained its independence from both the US and the USSR
However, in the 1950s, the Soviet Union began to increase its influence
In the late 1970s, a Muslim revolt threatened to topple the communist regime, so the Soviets invaded
The Soviets expected to quickly invade, prop up the communist government, and leave but they got stuck
Supplied by American weapons, the mujahideen, were able to hold off the Soviet forces
Face-off in Afghanistan President Jimmy Carter warned
the Soviets against any attempt to gain control of the Persian Gulf
To protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States stopped shipments of grain to the Soviet Union and boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics
In 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew all of the Soviet troops from Afghanistan