Chapter 29 Discussion

What were the most significant events of the Cold War and how they set the tone for future events.

Mine. (The Answer is Enormous. Enjoy! )

The Cold War was between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, although many other countries became involved indirectly. Although it is known as the Cold War, a true war was never fought. The Cold War was a battle of ideologies and geographics. Tensions arose almost immediately after World War 2. In February 1946, Stalin, along with his foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, publicly spoke of Western democracies as evil. A month later, Winston Churchill spoke about his famous "Iron Curtain," the line that divided a free and democratic West from a totalitarian East. This led to the policy of containment, not of democracy, but the containment of Communism, or just Soviet influence at all. This was intensified when Harry Truman, President of the United States, proclaimed the "Truman Doctrine" in 1947. Now, the advocation of a free world against communism was almost a necessity. In June of the same year, the Marshall Plan was enacted for European relief. The Soviet Union did not participate, seeing the plan as a U.S. attempt for global expansion. With the Berlin Blockade in 1948, the Soviets tried to rid the Western powers from the city, which was actually in territory the Soviets had control over. It failed. This increased the tensions of the Cold War even more. Afterwards, Germany was split in two. West Germany was now the German Federal Republic, and East Germany was bow the German Democratic Republic. Berlin was still divided. In April 1949, NATO was formed. Also in 1949, the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries formed the COMECON, which was further solidified by the Warsaw Pact of 1955. Now, there were two alliance systems in the world. After Israel gained independence, the U.S. strongly became its ally. Of course, the Soviet Union did not. The Korean War was started in June of 1950 after North Korea invaded South Korea. It fell under the containment policy, in the eyes of the U.S. anyways. Tension started to die off after this and the death of Stalin in 1953. Khrushchev was not as harsh as Stalin, and had more lax policies. However, after the Soviet Union shot down a U.S. spy plane (in Soviet territory), the tension Along with that, communist influence in the world was now becoming split between China and the Soviets. With the mass immigration out of East Germany, mainly Berlin, becoming an embarassment to the new government and the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. A year later, the Cuban Missile Crisis came into play. After Khrushchev backed down, the Soviets lost major influence. In 1964, Khrushchev was forced to resign. His successors were Alexei Kosygin and Leonid Brezhnev, but Brezhnev emerged as the major player. In 1968, he proclaimed what became known as the "Brezhnev Doctrine," which was the Truman Doctrine for communism. This was shown when Alexander Dubcek was replaced in Czechoslovakia due to his liberal communism. When Richard Nixon took office, the U.S. began a period of detente with the Soviet Union. They even joined in the signing of the Helsinki Accords of 1975, which promoted human rights. In 1979, Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan. In response, the U.S. enforced grain embargoes on the Soviet Union, boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, and sent third party aid to Afghan rebels. The Soviets lost, and it weakened their reputation even more. The Cold War also led to decolonization as well, do to revolts. Due to the SEATO treaty of 1954, the U.S. became involved in Vietnam. The War lasted over a decade. It was due to the U.S. feeling that the North Vietnamese were a puppet government of the Soviet Union, and due to containment, they must be stopped. When Mkhail S. Gorbachev eventually succeeded Brezhnev. This marked the fall of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev had more open policies, including decentralizing economic ministries. He allowed ideas to be spread, given the term glasnost. Glasnost was a major part of the end of the Soviet Union, because now people could criticize the government. The minor eastern european countries started to rid themselves of communism. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. In December 1991, the Soviet Union was no more. In summation, the containment policy was the biggest factor in causing events of the Cold War, and glasnost is what ended it.

What was the Marshall Plan? Why did the Soviet Union view it negatively?

I'll take this.

The Marshall Plan was the U.S. Program named after Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, of providing economic aid to Europe after World War II. The Soviet Union viewed it negatively because they were communist and they wanted the spread of it. Thus, the Marshall Plan would cut off all leads to the spread since it was made for mutual benefit. In general, the Soviet Union just wanted control so they walked away from the Plan.

Question: What does perestrokia mean and what did it do?

i got this one!

perestrokia literally means restructuring. its was the policy of economic and governmental reform instituted by Gorbachev in the Soviet Union during the mid-1980s. it is often argued to be the cause of the revolutions of 1989 and the end of the cold war. Perestroika allowed more independent actions from the various ministries and introduced some market-like reforms. it allowed the soviet people more freedom than ever before. but, although Gorbachev's attempts at Perestroika ultimately failed, he drastically changed the perceptions of the outside world towards his country.

why was the cuban missile crisis a major point of the cold war? what were the concerns?

Mine!

The cuban missile crisis caused great fear because missiles were planted by the Soviet Union in Cuba towards America, which was another Cold War move. Cuba became allies with the Soviet Union when Fidel Castro overthrew Flugencio Batista, a friend of the US. When the missles were discovered, a week of american blockades and halted shipments caused a real threat of nuclear war until the Soviets backed down. The soviets began realizing they were not as strong as the american powers. It was a major point of the Cold War because if war had broke out, Europe was threatened directly, and this was the last major time that that happened during the Cold War because of the nuclear test ban treaty that came the following year.

What were the major events during the Brezhenev Era and what were there significances?

mine!

One of the main events in the Brezhenev Era was the invasion of Czechoslovakia. In 1968, the Czech. government began to try a more liberal communism (the "Prague Spring"). That summer, all those under the Warsaw pact sent troops in to replace the leaders. Brezhenev then established the "Brezhenev Doctrine," which gave the Soviet Union the right to interfere in the domestic politics of all other communist countries. This event demonstrated the Soviet Union's power and what would happen to other countries if they attempted liberalization.
During Nixon's presidency, the Soviet Union and the US began a policy of detente ("easing of strained relations"). However, the Soviet still increased its military. During this period they still were active around the world, financing Cuban military intervention, funding the Sandinista forces, and aiding in Vietnam.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, wanting to establish a puppet government. The United States responded by refusing to ratify the Second Strategic Arms Limitation, embargoing grain shipments to the Soviets, boycotting the 1980 Olympic games, and aiding the Afghan rebels. This was very significant because it weakened the Soviets for the next 10 years.
Several events that occured in Poland in 1980 also were very significant. The Solidarity union resulted from the Gdansk strikes. In 1981, Poland held secret elections with real choices. This was the 1st time any European communist state had done so.

What role did Ghandi play in India's de-colonization?

I'll take this one.

Gandhi played the key role during de-colonization in India. In 1915 he distinguished himself as a leader of Indian nationalism by his insistence on religious toleration. His successful social movements inspired the change which eventually collapsed the British Colonial Empire. With his nonviolence characteristic, he began agitating the British authorities and eventually got arrested multiple times and began having protest. In 1942, Gandhi asked British to leave India during WWII. Finally in 1947, the British Labor government, being tired of the agitation and uncertainty of their ability to keep India under control, they decided to leave. With Gandhi’s use of passive resistance and nonviolence he became a model for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement.

Question: Briefly describe the Three Crises of 1956. Also what was the significance of this? The outcome?

dibs
The Three Crisises was the attack by France, Britian, and Israel on Egypt. This caused the opening of the Suez Canal to all, and the outcome was the withdrawl of France, Britian, and Israrel from Egypt.

question: What effect did the fall of the Soviet Union have on Eastern Europe?

Mine.
all the supports to other communist governments throughout eastern Europe from the Soviet union stopped, giving countries once controled by communism a better chance of over throwing their government now that they no longer had funding and it closed the Marxism era in eastern Europe.

what were the pros and cons of Khrushchev's rule in the Soviet union?

I got this!

Pros: In the mid-1950s, he launched his 'Virgin Lands' campaign to encourage farming on previously uncultivated land in the Kazakh Republic. He invested in the Soviet space programme, resulting in the 1957 flight of Sputnik I, the first spacecraft to orbit the earth.

Cons: The shooting down of an American U2 spy-plane over the Soviet Union in 1960, the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Despite this, Khrushchev also attempted to pursue a policy of co-existence with the West. This change in doctrine, together with Khrushchev's rejection of Stalinism, led to a split with Communist China in 1960. Khrushchev was not prepared to loosen the grip of the Soviet Union on its satellite states in Eastern Europe and, in 1956, an uprising in Hungary against Communist rule was brutally suppressed.

Question: What were the effects of Vietnam joining into the Cold War?

Meeee!

Some of the effects of Vietnam entering the Cold War were that; Vietnam took attention off of America and set it on Europe, and the United States' reputation suffered because of it. Also, Europeans began doubting the American government's wisdom and our commitment to the Western part of Europe. In fact, many younger Europeans in the past colonial world began to notice the US as an anxious and aggressive power rather than a protector of liberty. As a whole, Vietnam entering the war just made us look a bit like idiots, and actually very bad.

Why did the Soviet Union finally collapse in the late twentieth century? What were some events in past history that gave us clues to this?

MINE!

As Gorbachev started to reform the soviet union in the Communist party established a coup to get rid of Gorbachev and establish an Authoritarian government. Finally, on December 22, 1991 the Soviet Union was officially dissolved by Ukraine and Belarus during a secret meeting.

Question:
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis effect the American and European economies and lifestyles?

MINE

America, under Kennedy, blockaded Cuba. This halted shipments of new missiles and demanded the removal of the existing ones. The Soviets backed down, making non-European communist regimes skeptical of the Soviet commitment to their security and survival .The People’s Republic of China also increased its influence in communist circles, making Soviet leaders want to increase their strength so they could be the strongest once again.


How did Gorbachev affect the Soviet Union and in turn the rest of the world?