8.2: The Cold War

Cooperation Despite Conflict: The United Nations

• After WWII the Allies wanted to create a new global organization that would replace the League of Nations

• Failures of the League of Nations
• Lacked support of all the world’s most powerful nations, most notably the US
• Lacked a mechanism to act quickly to stop small conflicts from escalating into large ones

• UN officially established in 1945

Rivalry in Economics and Politics

• UN couldn’t prevent the US vs USSR tensions from escalating

• Winston Churchill describes the split between Western and Eastern Europe as an Iron Curtain

Capitalism and Communism

• In capitalist countries (US, Western Europe), economic assets (like farms and factories) were owned privately

• In communist countries (USSR, Eastern Europe), economic assets were owned by the government
• System emphasized fairness and equality

Democracy and Authoritarianism

• US had a democracy (people elect their rulers); press was also free and independent

• In USSR, press was operated by government, only one party was allowed, and elections were not significant

Criticisms and Similarities

• US said USSR was restricting personal freedoms, such as the right to free speech and religion

• USSR pointed to the US’ discrimination against minorities, like African-Americans
• USSR big on equality: they stressed its importance on women’s equality

• In both, big economic decisions were made by certain groups
• In USSR, that group was the government; In US it was by corporate shareholders
• Both countries often acted out of fear of the other, which made the military a powerful force in each

Conflicts in International Affairs

• Cold War also consisted of battle for influence of countries and people around the world

The USSR and its Satellite Countries

• Soviets wanted to make Eastern European governments as much as the Soviet government

• The satellite countries included Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania

• Soviets made satellite states:
• develop five-year plans focused on developing industry and collective agriculture at the expense of consumer products
• outlaw all parties except for the Communist party

• USSR made these satellite states economically and politically dependent on the USSR
• Were forced to buy Soviet goods and export only to the USSR
• Essentially USSR exploited these satellite states

• Note that these satellite states were officially independent states

World Revolution

• World Revolution = belief that workers would overthrow capitalism in all countries

• Hence the USSR funded revolutions and uprisings between 1919 and 1923 in Germany, Bavaria, Hungary, northern Italy, and Bulgaria

• This interference made Western nations very uncomfortable and suspicious of the USSR

Containment

• Containment = policy that said communism needed to be prevented from spreading, or else it would spread to neighboring countries
• Created by US diplomat George Kennan around 1930-1940

Truman Doctrine

• Kennan’s reports influenced President Harry Truman

• In 1947 he outlined the Truman Doctrine

• Said US will do whatever it takes to stop the spread of communism

• The specifics of his speech were targeted to Greece and Turkey, where Communists were close to taking control of the government
• Truman pledged U.S. economic and military support to help the two countries resist this communist domination

The Marshall Plan

• US enacted Marshall Plan in June 1947

• Goal was to economically rebuild Europe which was devastated after WWII

• Offered $12 billion in aid to all European countries, including Germany
• Money would be used to modernize industry, reduce trade barriers, and rebuild Europe’s damaged infrastructure
• Plan worked and even increased economic output higher than it was before WWII

• Part of the reason why US enacted this plan was because they feared that communist revolutions could take place in the economically unstable nations

• USSR and its Eastern European satellites refused to participate in this plan, instead creating their own plan called Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON)
• It worked modestly but not as great as the Marshall Plan
• This was primarily because COMECON’s goals were much narrower compared to the Marshall Plan’s

The Space Race and the Arms Race

Space Race

• In 1957, USSR launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite

• US launched their satellite in 1958

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

• By the 1960’s, the nuclear arsenals of both the US and USSR became so powerful that they had reached a point of mutually assured destruction

• Meaning regardless of who started the war, both would be obliterated by the end of it
• Meaning no one had an incentive to start a nuclear war

• This balance of terror was able to keep peace

The Non-Aligned Movement

• Movement created by many new African and Asian states that wanted to stay out of the US-Soviet conflict

• Promoted decolonization and anti-imperialism; advocated for right of self-determination

• Sought to reduce tensions between US and USSR

• Supported economic development and cooperation among its members