The Cold War, 1945-1991
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Transcript of The Cold War, 1945-1991
The Cold War, 1945-1991
• The political, military and cultural rivalry between the U.S. and the S.U. which stopped short of outright war.
• Old money flooded into the Soviet Zone. Some restrictions were placed on links between Berlin and western zones, but the Soviet side was ready to supply food to all Berlin.
• • Yet every day 380
American planes flew into Berlin. It was simply a propaganda move intended to make the cold war worse.
• From a Russian history book.
• The Korean War 1950-1953
• U.N. “police action” led by U.S. army after communist forces crossed the 38th parallel.
The Space Race
• Sputnik I in 1957• Yuri Gargarin, first
man to orbit the earth in 1961.
French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, • French withdrawal in Indo-China left a political vacuum the U.S. government believed had to be filled by pro-western forces.
• Alexander Dubcek begins “liberalization” program by ending censorship and seeking trade with the West.
• Known as “The Prague Spring”
The Brezhnev Doctrine
• Leonid Brezhnev : “Whenever a
Communist country endangered socialism at home or in other Communist countries, the Soviet Union had the duty to intervene with military force…”
The End
Any questions?
-Mikhail Gorbachev- the last Soviet dictator
• Gorbachev came to power as the Afghanistan invasion was failing and a backlash against the unpopular war was building.
• President Reagan used the Afghan war as a reason to renew the build-up of American military capabilities
• Gorbachev’s attempts to match the U.S. strained the economy to the breaking point
Gorbachev said…
• “…everything is rotten, through and through.”
• He called for “new thinking…”
• His policies of Perestroika and Glasnost led to the collapse of the USSR.
• Perestroika meaning “re-structuring:”
• Reorganize the state economy and perm it citizens to participate in the decision-making process.
• Glasnost meaning “openness:”
• Permit uninhibited discussions of the nation’s problems.
• Gorbachev’s policies were embraced by Eastern Europeans who demanded their own economic independence and political freedom.
-Poland took the lead in 1989
• Lech Welesa and the Solidarity Labor Union• Hungary followed, then Bulgaria, Romania,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Albania• East Germany was more dramatic…
The Berlin Wall- symbol of the Cold War…
• November anti-government crowds crammed the streets
• On November 9, 1989 the Wall was breached, young people from both sides danced on it. Sledgehammers appeared to break through while East German soldiers stood by.
-The last gasps of the Soviet Union…• The biggest
blow to the “Union” –Russia declared its independence
• Boris Yeltsin was elected the first Russian President
• Fragmentation came quickly
• December 24, 1991, the USSR was officially dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev “retired.”
• The Cold War was over.
-Western Europe during the Cold War
• The democracies of western Europe relied on unity for their security against a possible Soviet attack…
• NATO became the military deterrent but real political union has been difficult to achieve.
• Steps toward economic integration however, have been significant.
-The European Coal and Steel Community
• The ECSC was the result of France and West Germany to insure peace and cooperation…
• In 1951, six nations, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg (Benelux) agreed to eliminate tariffs on coal, iron and steel.
-West Europe’s domestic agenda…Socialism
• after the war, a vast expansion of public welfare programs became typical for most governments with reforms intended to give all citizens housing, education and healthcare regardless of income
• The “welfare state” was pioneered in Scandinavia but soon emerged in almost every European country
• Two wars, in which central management of state economies became the norm, governments had experience in organizing people and resources.
-The “Common Market”
• The success of the ECSC led to the six nations agreement that all tariffs among them should be dropped…
• Economic progress was impressive and other nations asked for membership...
• In 1973, Britain, Ireland and Denmark• In 1981, Greece…• In 1986, Spain and Portugal
-Recovery and prosperity
• Home construction led the way- in order to replace the homes destroyed in WWII, governments funded massive programs…
• In Britain, several hundred thousand a year for 10 years…
• In Germany, 10,000,000 new dwellings between 1948-1958…
• This building boom helped spur overall economic expansion
Recovery and prosperity
• By the mid-1950’s, most countries had achieved industrial and agricultural levels exceeding the 1940’s…
• The expanding economies made jobs available for almost everyone and incomes soared upwards…
• By the 1960’s, West Europe had moved through postwar restoration to prosperity.
The European Union, 1991 The Maasstricht Treaty
• The EU grew out of the common market and today is second to the U.S. as a very important force in the world economy
• The common monetary unit, the Euro, competes favorably with the U.S. dollar
• The majority of EU members are also members of NATO, adding to its influence in world affairs.
• In 2004, ten new members joined the EU
• In 2007 Romania and Bulgaria and Turkey’s request for admission is under consideration.