the cold war an overview of the causes, the major events and the consequences

THE COLD WARAN OVERVIEW OF THE CAUSES, THE MAJOR EVENTS

AND THE CONSEQUENCES

CAUSES

• BY THE END OF WWII, TWO SUPERPOWERS FACED EACH OTHER.

• BOTH THE ALLIED FORCES AND THE SOVIET UNION HAD GREAT MILITARY STRENGTH.

Source: http://www.fasttrackteaching.com/burns/Unit_11_Cold_War/Unit11_map_Cold_War_Europe_1.GIF

THE SOVIET UNION

• THE SOVIET UNION WAS FOUNDED IN 1922 AND LASTED UNTIL 1991.

•BY THE END OF WWII, IT CONTROLLED MOST OF EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EASTERN PORTION OF GERMANY.

• IT BECAME IDEOLOGICALLY OPPOSED TO THE UNITED STATES.

IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT

CAPITALISM COMMUNISM

WHY A ‘COLD WAR”?

• BOTH THE U.S. AND THE USSR HAD NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

• EACH SIDE FEARED THE CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR WAR.

• BOTH SIDES TRIED TO DESTABILIZE THE OTHER AND EXPAND THEIR SPHERE OF INFLUENCE.

Nuclear missile displayed on military parade in Moscow.Source: http://classroom.synonym.com/DM-Resize/photos.demandstudios.com/getty/article/198/74/2660982.jpg?w=600&h=600&keep_ratio=1

THE KOREAN WAR (1950 TO 1953)

KOREAN WAR

• IN 1945, KOREA WAS PARTITIONED.

• NORTH: SOVIET-BACKED COMMUNIST REGIME.

• SOUTH: US-BACKED CAPITALIST REGIME.

• IN 1949, THE US PULLED OUT OF SOUTH KOREA.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162283

• IN 1950, THE NORTH INVADED.

• A UN FORCE, MOSTLY US TROOPS CAME TO AID THE SOUTH.

• CHINA JOINED IN TO HELP NORTH KOREA.

• WITH NEITHER SIDE ABLE TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE, THE USSR PROPOSED AN ARMISTICE.

• 1953, BORDERS ALMOST THE SAME AS BEFORE WAR.

Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/s300000/s357227.jpg

NAMES GIVEN TO THE KOREAN WAR

• UNITED STATES: “THE FORGOTTEN WAR”

OR “THE UNKNOWN WAR”

• SOUTH KOREA:

“6-2-5 WAR” (THE DATE IT STARTED)

• NORTH KOREA:

“FATHERLAND LIBERATION WAR”

• CHINA:

“WAR TO RESIST US AGGRESSION AND AID IN KOREA”

US AND CUBA

• 1956 TO 1958: FIDEL CASTRO WAGES LEADS GUERILLA WARFARE AGAINST US-BACKED DICTATOR BATISTA.

• CASTRO CREATES COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT.

Fidel Castro and Che Guevara

Source: www.mirror.co.uk

BAY OF PIGS INVASION 1961

US-backed invasion by anti-Castro Cubans. It failed.

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

• USSR WANTED TO SEND MISSILES TO CUBA.

• TENSIONS ROSE. US BLOCKADE OF CUBA.

• SOVIETS FINALLY AGREE TO WITHDRAW WEAPONS.

VIETNAM WAR (1964 TO 1975)

• 1954: VIETNAM DIVIDED IN TWO AT 17º N AFTER FRENCH DEFEAT.

• USSR SUPPORTS COMMUNIST NORTH.

• US ARMS SOUTH.

Source: https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/Imperialism.ColdWarContainment/Vietnam_War.jpg

• FIRST US COMBAT TROOPS ARRIVE IN 1965.

• NORTH VIETNAMESE AND VIET CONG (REBELS IN SOUTH VIETNAM) FOUGHT GUERRILLA WARFARE.

• THIS TYPE OF WARFARE FAVOURED SURPRISE ATTACKS, SABOTAGE, HIT AND RUN TACTICS, ETC.

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Marine-raiders.jpg

North Vietnamese TunnelsSource:http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7D4Ux9E2k1A/T_5HnRkeVGI/AAAAAAAAaD8/4y72pa5Vsbw/cu-chi-tunnels-20%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800

BOMBING CAMPAIGNS STARTING IN 1965

GROWING ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

• IN 1973, PARIS PEACE ACCORDS WERE SIGNED.

• FIGHTING CONTINUED UNTIL 1975 WHEN THE NORTH TOOK THE CITY OF SAIGON IN SOUTH VIETNAM. Evacuation of CIA personnel on April

29th, 1975

WHY DID THE US GET INVOLVED IN THIS CONFLICT?

• THE U.S.A. WAS FOLLOWING A POLICY OF “CONTAINMENT”.

• THIS MEANT THAT THEY WISHED TO KEEP COMMUNISM FROM SPREADING; TO AVOID THE “DOMINO EFFECT”.

BEGINNING OF END FOR SOVIET UNION

• 1979 TO 1989: SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.

• SOVIETS WITHDRAW IN THE END.

• 1980S: USSR LESS INVOLVED IN SATELLITE COUNTRIES. Mujahideen fighters in 1987.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan

FALL OF SOVIET UNION

• 1985: STATE STARTS TO RESTRUCTURE POLITICS AND ECONOMY (“PERESTROIKA”)

• “GLASNOST”: OPENNESS TO OUTSIDE (FOREIGN) INFLUENCE, LESS CENSORSHIP.

• 1991: BORIS YELTSIN ELECTED PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA; END OF USSR

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Boris_Yeltsin_21_February_1989-1.jpg