What is this about?
Historical context for the Cold War after WWII
- After WWII nationalist movements centered around self-determination in colonies revived
- The colonies’ desire for independence intertwined with the conflict between the US and USSR
Bringing the War to an End
- During WWII, the Big Three (US, Britain, USSR) came together to decide what a post-war world would look like
- Conferences took place but they failed to settle important issues between the world’s major powers, which set the stage for the conflict that would become the Cold War
The Tehran Conference
- Took place in November 1943
- Decided that USSR would focus on freeing Eastern Europe while Britain and US would focus on Western Europe
The Yalta Conference
- Took place in February 1945, when Allies knew they would win
- Roosevelt agreed to giving the USSR influence in Eastern Europe in exchange for the USSR’s participation in the war against Japan
- Roosevelt wanted to hold democratic elections in Eastern Europe, but Stalin wanted influence, so Roosevelt compromised because he knew the American public wouldn’t want to go to another war, this time against the Soviets over the fate of democracy in Eastern Europe
Shifting Balance of Power
- War destroyed countless factories, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure throughout Europe
- US developed atomic bombs during WWII, giving it a military edge, but the USSR was also able to built an atomic bomb in 1949
- This made the USSR the only country that could challenge the US’ political and military influence
Massive Destruction in Europe
- In general, East and Central Europe suffered much more damage than Western Europe
- Countries such as Great Britain and France, despite their losses, were able to
- maintain democracy and rule of law
- continue having strong educational systems
- be the home for innovative companies
- These advantages allowed Western Europe to become a global leader after the war
- Nevertheless the US still suffered the least and became the most powerful nation in the world after WWII
- US infrastructure, industrial capacity, and economy actually grew because of the war
- The prosperity of the US allowed it to provide financial aid to other European countries; this program was known as the Marshall Plan
Advances During the War
- Military research was often funded by governments
- Penicillin invented during this time, and saved the lives of thousands of civilians and soldiers
The Start of the Cold War
- Neither superpower wanted to go to full-scale war with each other, so they “settled” on a cold war
- In early 1950s both USSR and US developed a hydrogen bomb, which was much more powerful than atomic bombs
- Eisenhower in 1961 warned against allowing the military-industrial complex from gaining too much power
- military-industrial complex = relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it
- Basically as a country increases their military, that means more people’s jobs are dependent on military production, so if the country in the future wants to scale the military down, its going to have a tough time as it will threaten all those jogs
Breakdown of Empires
- After World War I, the Austro-Hungary Empire and the Ottoman Empire crumbled and restructured into multiple new countries
- After World War II, the foundation was was set for the dismantling of colonial empires
- Self-determination movements grew
- World War II had weakened Britain, France, and other colonial powers that they no longer had sufficient resources to assert their authority
- Cold War gave anti-colonial activists two sides to pick from and approach them to become an ally: US or USSR