America after World War II
The United States emerged from WWII as one of the two “Super Powers” in the world. And a massive increase in foreign trade insured that the U.S. would have a strong, growing economy.
While demanding voting rights and equality for minorities around the world, the United States was vulnerable to criticism because of the second-class status and denial of voting rights for African Americans in many parts of America. The Civil Rights movement within the U.S. was somewhat effective in solving this problem.
Soviet Control over Eastern Europe
Joseph Stalin made sure the Soviet Union controlled its client states in Eastern Europe. Stalin never allowed free elections in Eastern European countries. He said it didn’t matter how people voted – only who counted the votes mattered. He made sure that the ruling regimes stayed loyal to the Soviet Union.
The United States versus Communism
The United States actively opposed the spread of communism around the globe. The US believed that the communist ideology of the Soviet Union was both dangerous and undemocratic.
American foreign policy was partly based on the Domino Theory or Domino Effect. This held that if one country was allowed to succumb to communism, other countries around it would also fall to communist ideologies like a perfectly aligned row of dominoes. Like falling dominoes, once the first domino was toppled, the rest were sure to follow. So the US supported many non-communist, but corrupt, governments around the world such as the one in South Vietnam to prevent their replacement by communist regimes. This put the U.S. in the unenviable position of opposing democratic, popular movements in favor of autocratic and repressive dictatorships. This pillar of U.S. foreign policy continued until the 1980s, and was a part of the policy of Containment.
The American involvement in Vietnam began because of the Domino Theory. President Eisenhower sent American military supplies and provided economic support to the French in their attempt to recolonize Indo-China. Once Vietnam was split into a communist North and a “free” South, we continued to give money and military aid to South Vietnam. President Kennedy sent military advisors to help train the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and President Johnson committed American ground forces in an attempt to keep the South Vietnamese government from falling to the Communists. In spite of billions of dollars in aid and 70,000 American deaths (and over a million Vietnamese killed), the South was conquered by North Vietnam in 1975.
Communist China
Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward (1958 to 1962) was a program designed to bring China from a primarily agricultural economy into a socialist society through rapid industrialization and collectivization. While the program increased the percentage of the Chinese economy that was industrialized and the number of state-run agrarian collective farms, it also resulted in the death of up to 20 million people through coercion, state terror, and poor execution of projects.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NATO was a grouping of democratic European nations allied with the United States to protect member countries from Soviet attack. The defense of these countries was backed up by America’s nuclear arsenal. The corresponding grouping of communist nations was called the Warsaw Pact and was formed to create a similar alliance of communist states.
The Creation of the European Community
The formation of a European Union, or supra-national association of nations (aka the “Common Market” formed by the Treaty of Rome in 1957) was spurred by the economic growth and regional cooperation of the European Coal and Steel Community and other multi-national associations.
Eastern European revolts against communist rule
There were a series of revolts against communist rule in East Germany, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in the 1950s and 1960s. All of these revolts were crushed when the Soviet Union responded with military force. The Soviet Army sent in tanks and other military technology and actively attacked the demonstrators.
Germany, Japan, and Korea
The Soviets demanded an occupation zone in Japan at the end of World War II but the United States refused. In consequence, Japan was not divided up into occupation zones as Germany or Korea was and this fact alone allowed the Japanese economy to recover faster than Germany’s.
Germany was divided up into occupation zones by the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. The American, British, and French zones were combined into the West German Republic in 1949, but the Soviets refused to allow the addition of their occupation zone, which declared itself the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.
The Korean Peninsula was divided up into two occupation zones (similar to Germany). The northern, communist portion of the country went through economic stagnation and decline, while the southern, capitalist portion had an economic boom and rising standards of living, just as in Germany.
Effects of World War II
Two key effects of WWII were the emergence of two world super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the proliferation of independence movements in former Imperialist colonies/possessions in Africa and Asia.
These independence movements (in Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, Vietnam, etc.) often resulted in wars of liberation and extended periods of conflict.
The United Nations formed out of the ashes of World War II, with five core members now as its security council: China, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation (Originally the Soviet Union). All nations are intended to be equal, but some members have more power and influence than others.
An international criminal court was formed to try individuals for crimes against humanity when countries are unable or unwilling to do so.
The Allies developed responses to aid the victims of the Holocaust, punish those who were in charge of the genocide, and offer Jewish people throughout the world an opportunity to have their own homeland.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was chartered by the UN. It confers basic human rights on all people, including the right to life and the right not to be tortured.
The End of Soviet Dominance in Eastern Europe
Even before the end of the Soviet Union, the Eastern European countries began to break away from Soviet control. The election of Lech Walesa as president of Poland, and Vaclav Havel as president of Czechoslovakia, signaled the creation of new democracies and the end of Soviet dominance (in earlier decades the Soviet Army would have been sent in to crush these democratic movements).
Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of greater openness and the masses participation in government (Perestroika and Glasnost) led to unrest in Eastern Europe and at home; once he allowed some freedom, the people demanded more and more democratic principles that the communist party/government could not survive.
Once Soviet control was ended, the economies of Eastern European countries began the transition to free-market economies.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower in the world. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union, and was replaced by Boris Yeltsin as the President of Russia. The one-party state was no more. The old grouping broke apart into 15 separate republics, with very different cultures and ethnic groups in ascendance.
Miscellaneous
The Truman Doctrine was American foreign policy of the late 1940’s whose purpose was to counter Soviet expansion during the Cold War. The U.S. would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal communist forces. This policy was applied to Greece and Turkey, both of which were in danger of communist movements, and it was feared that the fall of either country to communism would lead to the fall of the Middle East to Soviet influence.
One of the key components of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies was reducing the size and scope of government in Great Britain. Britain had been eclipsed by the U.S. in World War II, and its leadership of the British Empire was diminished.
Various arms control agreements were successful in reducing tensions between East and West by limiting the number and type of nuclear weapons each country could have. Tension had been very high beginning in 1948 when the USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb and continued on into the 50s and even to the 80s.
High military spending by the Soviet Union in the 1980’s, hurt their economy and caused unrest at home. The Soviets simply could not compete with the United States’ expenditures on guns and butter during the Reagan era.
The space race eventually ended with Soviet and American cooperation. This was especially significant because the Cold War was still going on elsewhere.
According to that, answer these questions.
1. Which of the following events caused tensions to increase during the Cold War between 1948 and 1953?(1 point)
Responses
The U.S. invaded the Dominican Republic to stop it from becoming a communist state.
China and the United States supported opposing sides in the Vietnam War.
The USSR sent troops to preserve communist rule in Afghanistan.
The USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb.
2. Explain how the Cold War impacted north America and Europe. You might explain wars that were fought in the area, or how politics or culture shifted.
(6 points)
3. Explain the concept of a proxy war. After doing so, discuss American involvement in the Vietnam War. Was this a proxy war? Why or why not? (6 points)
4. List two events that, in your opinion, had the biggest impact on the growth of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
(6 points)
1. Which of the following events caused tensions to increase during the Cold War between 1948 and 1953?(1 point)
The correct response among the options given is:
The USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb.
This event in 1949 broke the U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons and heightened fears of nuclear proliferation and the potential for a nuclear war.
2. Explain how the Cold War impacted North America and Europe. You might explain wars that were fought in the area, or how politics or culture shifted. (6 points)
The Cold War had profound effects on North America and Europe. In North America, particularly in the United States, the Red Scare led to a fear of communist infiltration, resulting in McCarthyism, investigations into alleged subversive elements, and an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. The U.S. also increased its military spending and buildup, leading to the establishment of a permanent arms industry and the militarization of the economy.
In Europe, the Cold War solidified the division of the continent, exemplified by the Iron Curtain, with Western Europe under American influence and Eastern Europe under Soviet control. The Marshall Plan was implemented by the U.S. to rebuild and stabilize Western European economies and prevent the spread of communism. This economic assistance helped to revive post-war economies and establish closer ties between the U.S. and Western European nations.
Furthermore, the presence of American military bases, along with the formation of NATO, increased the U.S. influence in European defense and politics. Cultural exchanges and propaganda from both sides sought to promote their respective ideologies.
3. Explain the concept of a proxy war. After doing so, discuss American involvement in the Vietnam War. Was this a proxy war? Why or why not? (6 points)
A proxy war is a conflict where two opposing countries or powers support combatants that serve their interests instead of waging war directly against one another. Each side provides support to their proxy, which can include funding, weapons, and other resources, while the proxies do the actual fighting.
The Vietnam War was indeed a proxy war. It was part of the larger geopolitical struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War era. The United States supported the government of South Vietnam as a means of curbing the spread of Communism in Southeast Asia, in line with the Domino Theory. Conversely, the Soviet Union, along with China, provided support to North Vietnam. Both superpowers sought to extend their influence and promote their political ideologies without engaging in direct conflict with each other, making the Vietnam War one of the most significant proxy wars of the Cold War.
4. List two events that, in your opinion, had the biggest impact on the growth of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. (6 points)
- The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): This event brought the world to the brink of nuclear war after the discovery of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. The ensuing standoff was one of the highest points of tension during the Cold War, with both superpowers coming precariously close to a nuclear conflict.
- The Berlin Blockade and Airlift (1948–1949): The Soviet Union's blockade of all ground access to West Berlin was an attempt to gain control over the entire city. In response, the United States and its allies conducted a massive airlift to supply West Berlin with food and fuel. This event was one of the first major crises of the Cold War and set the stage for the later construction of the Berlin Wall, symbolizing the division of East and West.