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COLD WAR STUDY NOTES
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1 Definitions of the Cold War
A. Read various definitions of COLD WAR provided by GOOGLE. Ignore those irrelevant to the History 12 exam. Summarize the key points here.
COLD WAR DEFINITION NOTES WHO WHAT WHY WHERE WHEN Political aspects Economic aspects Social aspects B. IRON CURTAIN – Read the definition and respond.
What does the expression "iron curtain mean "literally"?
When did the phrase come into the English language?
What did Winston Churchill mean by iron curtain in his famous speech?
When did he make this speech? Where?
SUMMARY OF SPEECH ( watch and listen )OR( Listen and read along )
3 main ideas 3 quotes to prove ideas 1.
2.
3.
Why was this speech so important?
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3 Superpower Definitions / Key Phrases
The cold war was a competition between the Superpowers of the United States and the U.S.S.R. Read the paragraphs in the boxes and then do the activity.
SUPERPOWER -- |
A very powerful nation with the ability to change the course of events and project influence or power on a world-wide scale (used esp. with reference to the U.S. and the former USSR when these were perceived as the two most powerful nations in the world during the Cold War) |
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE
Definition: The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear weapons between the United States and Soviet Union and their respective allies during the Cold War. Other countries also developed nuclear weapons, though none engaged in warhead production on the same size as the two superpowers. |
SPACE RACE
Definition: The space race was a competition of space exploration between the United States and the Soviet Union which roughly lasted from 1957 to 1975. It involved efforts to explore outer space with artificial satellites, to send humans into space, and to land humans on the moon. The space race was considered an important part of the rivalry since each side sought to use its technological advantage to demonstrate the superiority of its ideology. |
SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
Definition: An area or region over which a state exerts some kind of indirect cultural, economic, military or political domination. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union believed that it had the right to exercise a sphere of influence over the countries of Eastern Europe in order to maintain its national security. |
ESPIONAGE
Definition: The act of obtaining information secretly. The term applies particularly to the act of collecting military, industrial, and/or political information about a rival nation for the benefit of another. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union undertook espionage operations against each other. |
To show that you understand the 4 concepts, place these events, people, places in the blank chart.
1945 Stalin knows of USA's Manhattan Project (to build atomic weapons before Truman informs him (Klaus Fuchs)
Apollo 11 – USA sends first humans to Moon -1969
Cambridge Spy Ring
China (until Sino-Soviet split)
China tests its first atomic bomb -1964
CIA
Discover 4 – USA launches first reconnaissance satellite -1959
Eastern Europe
France tests its first atomic bomb -1960
Japan
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
KGB
North Korea
North Vietnam
South Korea
Sputnik 1 – USSR launches world's first artificial satellite into orbit -1957
Sputnik 2 – USSR launches first living creature (dog) into orbit-1957
U2 Crisis-1960
United Kingdom tests its first atomic bomb - 1952
US drops two atomic bombs on Japan -1945
US planes take pictures of Cuba showing missile construction -1962
US tests first atomic bomb - 1945
US tests first hydrogen bomb - 1952
US tests ICBM -1959
USSR tests first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) -1957
USSR tests its first atomic bomb - 1949
USSR tests its first hydrogen bomb - 1955
Vostok 1 – USSR launches first human into orbit -1961
Western Europe
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE U.S. nuclear arms activities
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SPACE RACE U.S. space initiatives
........................................................................... U.S.S.R. space initiatives
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SPHERE OF INFLUENCE U.S.S.R. sphere of influence
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ESPIONAGE U.S.S.R. acts of espionage
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3 Superpower / Primary Sources from the British Government
Scan the facsimiles of real documents. Answer the following questions:
Source 1 (Effects of the explosion of a thermo-nuclear bomb)
Date of document?
Do you think the data would be verified as scientifically correct today?
YES or NO
Explain using a few quotes.
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Source 2 (TOP SECRET: Draft announcement)
This is a secret document. Why was the information kept secret?
DRAFT ANNOUNCEMENT
The United Kingdom will conduct a test series of nuclear explosions during 1957 in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. The explosions will take place far from any inhabited islands and the tests will be so arranged as to avoid danger to persons or property. The tests will be high air bursts which will not involve heavy fall out. All safety precautions will be taken in the light of our knowledge and of experience gained from the tests of other countries.
Who was the audience?
RE: safety issues: Do you think the scientific information in this document is accurate?
Were they naive about the effects of "fall-out" or lying? Explain
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Source 5 Mr. Khrushchev's Monstrous Bomb
Who wrote this document?
Who is the audience for this memo?
When?
Where?
List words that show emotional bias and a feeling of "us versus them"
Who are the "experts"?
3 Superpower / Primary Sources – PHOTOGRAPH of UN General Assembly
Scan the large photograph. Write one objective sentence describing what is taking place in the photo.
Describe 2 ways that cropping the photo was used for propaganda purposes to inflame readers.
1)
2)
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4 Soviet sphere of influence
To give you an overview, fill in the following chart, using resources provided
SOVIET SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
People / Nations |
Time Period |
Description of Event |
Significance |
Poland What happened and why? What was the Soviet response?
Hungary What happened and why? What was the Soviet response?
Yugoslavia Why was it different from the rest of the countries in the Soviet sphere of influence? |
Soviet Sphere of Influence Definition:
Warsaw Pact- What was the Warsaw Pact? How did it come into being?
COMECON- What was COMECON? What led the Soviets to create this organization?
Eastern European Uprisings |
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5 American policy of containment
To give you an overview, fill in the following chart, using resources provided
AMERICAN POLICY OF CONTAINMENT
Containment
There are many definitions of Containment – but all include the concept of enclosing a "hazardous" substance. Each of the following events/organizations were created by American policy to inhibit the long-term expansion of Soviet influence – to keep it "contained. Using these sitess, fill in the chart to explain how.
Time Period |
Description of Event/Goals |
How did it work? |
POLITICAL THEORY: Domino Theory- brief explanation
POLITICAL RESPONSE: Truman Doctrine- brief explanation
ECONOMIC RESPONSE: Marshall Plan- brief explanation
MILITARY RESPONSE: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)- brief explanation
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5 AMERICAN POLICY OF CONTAINMENT: " WITCHHUNT AND ANTI-COMMUNIST HYSTERIA"
McCarthyism is the term describing a period of intense anti-Communist suspicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. This period is also referred to as the Second Red Scare, and coincided with increased fears about Communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" later took on a more general meaning – "McCarthyism (unscrupulously accusing people of disloyalty"
5 McCarthy: primary source - Herb Block cartoon
The scary part, perhaps is...how long he got away with it. Below is a cartoon criticizing McCarthy. Identify the symbols and deeper meaning beneath the surface.
What is the arm with the torch?
What is it a symbol of?
The man is McCarthy. What word is written on his pants?
What is the fire he is trying to put out?
Can you see a parallel in modern day American politics?
What man today is doing the same thing?
We are no longer hysterical about communism. What is the subject of today's hysteria?
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5 McCarthy: primary source – (enter – the invention of television) - photograph from television
Part of the Hearings were actually televised.
This is considered a turning point in the hearings. Why?
Photographs don't lie? What do you think?
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6. Division of Germany - Primary source – "Complete dismemberment of Germany" – Yalta Conference Protocol
Scan the legal language of the Yalta protocol. What was decided about Nazi Germany?
Who was going to govern the country?
How was it divided?
6. Division of Germany - Primary source – photograph from US archives
What leaders attended and from what countries?
6. Division of Germany - secondary source – World book overview
Scan the page and find the answers to the following questions – comment briefly.
- What decision was made by the Allied Big Four in June 1945 regarding Germany and Berlin?
- What was agreed at Potsdam in July and August, 1945?
- With the outbreak of the Cold War, and the disagreement among the Allies, what were the consequences for Germany and Berlin?
- What was the Soviet response to Western Allies' efforts to rebuild the economy of their sectors?
- Why was it not successful?
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6. Division of Germany - BERLIN BLOCKADE – 3 primary source photographs
Find evidence of the poor daily life of Berliners found in the photos (clothes, furniture, buildings, emotions). List details here.
Why are all eyes skyward?
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6. Division of Germany - BERLIN WALL – The East German government made a decision (with Soviet consent) to stem the flow of refugees from East Germany into West Berlin.
Primary source photographs
How well built is the wall? evidence from photo?
Why did they use barbed wire?
What did the wall come to represent?
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7. Korean War primary source – Political facts versus human cost: notes and 2 primary source photographs
Below are the cold hard political "facts" describing the back-and-forth squabble of the Cold War. The Korean War was unfortunately, very "hot". Consider the photographs and find evidence to answer these questions.
What evidence is there in the photo that the refugees are desperate to leave?
What historical "facts" are evident in the photo of the dead soldier that would prove the opinion that the people hate the Communists?
photo: Max Desfor/Associated Press
audio interview: Max Desfor describes scence on bridge
Yangji, Korea, January 27, 1951. A pair of bound hands and a breathing hole in the snow reveal the presence of the body of a Korean civilian shot and left to die by retreating Communists during the Korean War
Political facts |
Soviet troops occupy North Korea (end of WWII) |
US troops occupy South Korea (end of WW II) |
Soviets withdraw troops, but continue to supply North Korea's large army (late 1948) |
US withdraws troops from South Korea (June 1949) |
North Korea invades South Korea (June 25th, 1950) |
Truman sends US troops to aid the South Koreans (June 27th, 1950) |
UN Security Council, at US request, votes to send UN troops to South Korea |
(USSR misses vote due to its boycott [non-attendance]; therefore, it cannot veto the decision) |
17 nations send troops to help South Korea |
UN forces drive North Koreans back to Chinese border |
China enters the war on the side of the North Koreans |
Peace talks begin despite bloody fighting between UN/South Koreans and North Korean/Chinese |
(July, 1951) |
Representatives of UN and Communists sign armistice (July 1953) |
Representatives of both sides meet in Geneva, but cannot agree to reunite the two Koreas (1954) |
For UN -- 1st time troops of a world organization fight an aggressor nation |
For US -- 1st "hot war" against the Communists |
Major turning point in Cold War -- US containment policy is extended to the Far East |
Introduced the possibility of LIMITED WARFARE (as opposed to ALL OUT WARFARE, including possibly |
Nuclear weapons) to the Cold War |
e.g.'s of Limited Warfare - not all existing weapons (e.g., nuclear) used |
- territory fought on was limited |
- avoid attacking targets that would trigger a wider response |
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Why was it so important to gather intelligence on the enemy?
What was so special about the information that U2 flights could provide?
Why were the Americans embarrassed by the U2?
What technology does the American government have now for gathering intelligence, that they did not exist then?
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9 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS - " The most serious crisis of the cold war comes to a peaceful end"
Skim the articles (audio)
Why was this " the most serious crisis of the cold war" ?
Why was the Bay of Pigs invasion failure an embarrassment for US?
What happened to Castro as a result?
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
The US discovered that the USSR had secretly installed missiles and missile bases in Cuba. What did they do?
What proof is there that neither the US nor the USSR were ready to use nuclear weapons?
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10 Suez Crisis 1945–1963 (more)
Describe the different perspectives/roles played by various countries. Fill in the chart with brief notes - to summarize.
What was the Suez crisis?
COUNTRY |
Role, reasoning, justification for involvement, impact, results |
Egypt |
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Britain |
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France |
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Israel |
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USA |
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USSR |
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11
Partition of Vietnam 1945–1963
The Second Indochina War, 1954-1975, grew out of the long conflict between France and Vietnam. In July 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule, France was forced to leave Vietnam. Communist forces under the direction of General Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the allied French troops at Dien Bien Phu, a remote mountain outpost in the northwest corner of Vietnam. This decisive battle convinced the French that they could no longer maintain their Indochinese colonies and Paris quickly sued for peace. As the two sides came together to discuss the terms of the peace in Geneva, Switzerland, international events were already shaping the future of Indochina. source
The Geneva Peace Accords signed by France and Viet Nam in the summer of 1954, reflected the strains of the international Cold War. Drawn up in the shadow of the Korean War, the Geneva agreement was an awkward peace for all sides. Because of outside pressures brought to bear by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, Vietnam's delegates to the Geneva conference agreed to the temporary partition of their nation at the seventeenth parallel. The Communist superpowers feared that a provocative peace would anger France and its powerful ally, the United States. Moscow and Peking did not want to risk another confrontation with the West so soon after Korea. Furthermore, the Communists believed they were better organized to take southern Vietnam by political action alone, a prediction that did not come to pass.
Why was Dien Bien Phu significant for both France and Vietnam?
11 Vietnam War
Primary source - quote from witness to the Vietnam War
I believe the U.S. had noble aims in Vietnam -- freedom and democracy. But because it aligned itself with a group of Vietnamese who carried heavy colonial baggage, and for the most part had already betrayed Vietnamese history -- that two-thousand year history -- it could not succeed. Similarly, Ho Chi Minh had all the righteous causes -- independence, unification and social justice -- but because none of the Western powers supported decolonialization, Ho and his revolutionaries had to ally themselves with Communism, a doctrine whose basic features -- class warfare, dictatorship of the proletariat, and utopia -- ran against the very grain of Vietnamese culture, a culture that had endured for thousands of years.
- Nguyen Ba Chung writer, poet and translator
Based on this quote, why do you think that the Americans lost the Vietnam War?
11 Vietnam War
GOOGLE. or skim various book indexes for the following Key events and people associated with the Vietnam War and fill in brief notes and definitions.
Counter culture and protest movement
Gulf of Tonkin and escalation
Ho Chi Minh
Johnson
My Lai
Nixon
Tet Offensive
Viet Cong, and guerrilla warfare
Vietnamization
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12 Soviet involvement in Afghanistan and US involvement in Vietnam 1963–1991
Was Afghanistan the Soviet Vietnam? Was Vietnam the American Afghanistan? During the Cold War, military conflicts in Vietnam and Afghanistan validated the crucial importance of war in global power dynamics. After approximately a decade of intense effort, military intervention proved too costly in human and material terms to be politically sustainable for the USA and USSR. In the end, both superpowers were thwarted in obtaining their original war goals and withdrew in disgrace. As a result, the parallelism between the US experience in Vietnam and the Soviet experience in Afghanistan is now a widely accepted truism. But is it so? Fill in this chart taking into consideration these variables: National security interest and reasons for involvement; internal civil war; soldier experiences; opposing forces; total causalities; types of warfare; opposition at home; impact on domestic reforms; disillusionment of returning soldiers; impact of religion; involvement of civilians, influence of the Cold War; difficulty in withdrawing.
Aljazeera Point of View versus New York Times
different |
Soviet involvement in Afghanistan |
similar |
US involvement in Vietnam |
different |
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13 Détente 1963 – 1991
Detente - A thaw in Cold War relations between the United States and Soviet Union from 1969-1975, highlighted by the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) treaty and the Helsinki Accords.
Using the CNN online glossary define these terms
- Helsinki Accords
- Hot line
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty
- Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (1972)
- SALT
- SALT II
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