cold war background year 10 2

7/28/2019 Cold War Background Year 10 2

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Anti communism and the

Vietnam War

Background - The Cold War


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Union of Soviet Vs United States

Socialist Republic of America

(U.S.S.R) (U.S.A)Communist State Vs Capitalist

Democracy

Opposing concepts

Working class Vs Capitalists

(Proletariat) (Big Business)


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How could the contrasting political

systems of these countries lead to

conflict? Government control Private ownership No profits to individual Individual profit

Benefit of all

No competition Competition Revolutionary Elected by popular vote

(Remove capitalist oppression)

Single Party Many parties

Little freedom Freedoms protected by Constitution (Bill of

Rights) e.g. speech, worship; assembly


4/11

Important background details:

USSR and USA allies during WWII

Fighting common enemy NAZI Germany

USSR suffered enormous loss of life in war 20000 000!

Fought alone for 2 years without support

Had been attacked in both wars by neighbourGermany (felt vulnerable to attack)

Europe was ruined by the war

USA virtually untouched, very wealthy

Meeting between victors, including USA andUSSR after war to work out the peace terms


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COLD WAR TENSIONS

Both USA and USSR had become Super Powers withtheir differing political systems making them verysuspicious of each other

USSR wanted a buffer zone between itself and

potentially hostile neighbours Created an Eastern Bloc of communist countries

including: Poland; Hungary; Yugoslavia; Czechoslovakia;Rumania; Albania; Bulgaria and East Germany

British PM Churchill called this bloc the Iron Curtain USA wanted to ensure DEMOCRACY was the dominantideology (political belief) of European countries in postwar


6/11

COLD WAR DEVELOPS

USA wanted to secure a market for its goods in Europe

RESENTMENT and SUSPICION!

US President, Truman met with USSR leader Stalin

This meeting decided on the future relations betweenthese two Super powers

Truman decided that Stalin, like Hitler, wanted todominate Europe

Stalin was an oppressive leader

The consequence was to become known as the COLDWAR tension between the EASTERN and WESTERNBlocs


7/11

ANTI - COMMUNISM

A pattern of MUTUAL SUSPICION, HOSTILERHETORIC (e.g. Imperialistic dogs USSR and RedMenace USA), and MILITARY BUILD UP followed

New nations like Vietnam were seeking independence

from their colonial rulers. China became communist in 1949

USA and other WESTERN bloc countries believed thiswas evidence of a world wide communist revolution

Communism was seen as a single movement with littledifference between communism in China and USSR(although one was a European country and the other

Asian!)


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The COLD WAR was vague and

confusing The US government used a very successful propaganda

campaign to convince the American people that theyneeded to be afraid of the communist threat as the vastmajority of Americans were not concerned.

Democracy and communism competed in new nationslike Vietnam for control

Truman promised to fight against communism whereverit was believed she could win

It was identified that this Truman Doctrine would meanUS would intervene wherever it was believed they couldwin and it would be expensive

The Korean War was the first time the Cold War becameheated.


9/11

PARANOIA & SUSPICION

Each side began stockpiling terrible weapons ofmass destruction...and these were real!

Fear of the spread of communism led toPARANOIA in USA and in Australia

American citizens were accused of un-American behaviour in a series of Senateenquiries.

This terrible period became known as

McCarthyism, because it was led by anobsessed anti-communist Senator EugeneMcCarthy. Have you seen Good Night andGood Luck?


10/11

REDS UNDER THE BEDS

The FBI was created to protect America against subversivesthose who would act against/ undermine the American way of life, athome.

Great suspicion of trade unions, intellectuals and the entertainmentindustry which were believed to be breeding grounds for anti-capitalist revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the American

capitalist system The loss of civil rights of Americans accused of communist

connections was likened to the Salem witch hunts by American play-write Arthur Miller in The Crucible.

In our region this fear of the spread of communism became knownas the Domino Theory, if one nation fell it was believed its

neighbours would inevitably fall like a row of dominoes. Australia fought with United Nations forces in the Korean War

against North Korea and her ally China to protect democratic SouthKorea against the threat of a communist invasion. (perhaps youhave seen M.A.S.H., it was set in the Korean War)


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AUSRALIAS RESPONSE

We needed to ensure we had a powerful ally in 1951signed ANZUS Treaty, a mutual guarantee between themember nations primarily against communism

In 1954 Australia signed S.E.A.T.O (South East Asian

Treaty Organisation) Pact, promising to initiatecollective action against internal or externalsubversion. Members: Australia; France; GreatBritain; New Zealand; Pakistan; The Philippines;Thailand and the United States.

These agreements gave Australia a sense ofsecuritybut it was to mean that we were to becomecommitted to a very bitter and controversial war inVietnam by 1964.

cold war background year 10 2

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