COLD WAR

Cold War World – 1980s

1980 Winter Olympics

Winter Miracle on Ice

U.S. Boycotts Moscow Olympics (1980)• After the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up an

unstable pro-Soviet government, the United States reacted quickly and sharply. – It suspended arms negotiations with the Soviets, – condemned the Russian action in the United Nations, – and threatened to boycott the Olympics to be held in Moscow in 1980.

• When the Soviets refused to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, President Carter finalized his decision to boycott the games.

• On March 21, 1980, he met with approximately 150 U.S. athletes and coaches to explain his decision. He told the crowd, "I understand how you feel," and recognized their intense disappointment. However, Carter defended his action, stating, "What we are doing is preserving the principles and the quality of the Olympics, not destroying it."

• Many of the athletes were devastated by the news. As one stated, "As citizens, it is an easy decision to make—support the president. As athletes, it is a difficult decision." Others declared that the president was politicizing the Olympics. Most of the athletes only reluctantly supported Carter's decision.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/carter-tells-us-athletes-of-olympic-boycott

Impact of U.S. Boycott• The U.S. decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic games had no

impact on Soviet policy in Afghanistan (Russian troops did not withdraw until nearly a decade later), but it did tarnish the prestige of the games in Moscow.

• It was not the first time that Cold War diplomacy insinuated itself into international sports. The Soviet Union had refused to play Chile in World Cup soccer in 1973 because of the overthrow and death of Chile's leftist president earlier that year. Even the playing field was not immune from Cold War tensions.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/carter-tells-us-athletes-of-olympic-boycott

1984 Summer Olympics

Soviet Boycotts Los Angeles Olympics (1984)

• Claiming that its athletes will not be safe from protests and possible physical attacks, the Soviet Union announces that it will not compete in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Despite the Soviet statement, it was obvious that the boycott was a response to the decision of the United States to boycott the 1980 games that were held in Moscow.

• Just months before the 1984 Olympic games were to begin in Los Angeles, the Soviet government issued a statement claiming, "It is known from the very first days of preparations for the present Olympics the American administration has sought to set course at using the Games for its political aims. Chauvinistic sentiments and anti-Soviet hysteria are being whipped up in this country."

• Russian officials went on to claim that protests against the Soviet athletes were likely to break out in Los Angeles and that they doubted whether American officials would try to contain such outbursts. The administration of President Ronald Reagan responded to these charges by declaring that the Soviet boycott was "a blatant political decision for which there was no real justification."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-announce-boycott-of-1984-olympics

Impact of Soviet Boycott (1984)• In the days following the Soviet announcement, 13 other communist

nations issued similar statements and refused to attend the games. • The Soviets, who had been stung by the U.S. refusal to attend the

1980 games in Moscow because of the Russian intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, were turning the tables by boycotting the 1984 games in America.

• The diplomatic impact of the action was quite small. The impact on the games themselves, however, was immense. Without competition from the Soviet Union, East Germany, and other communist nations, the United States swept to an Olympic record of 83 gold medals.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/soviets-announce-boycott-of-1984-olympics

BERLIN WALL

Berlin Wall Graffiti“Death Strip” (East Berlin)

In the last phase of the wall’s development, the "death strip" between fence and concrete wall gave

guards a clear shot at hundreds of would-be escapees from the East

• The Berlin Wall was used to keep people in communist East Berlin from leaving and going to West Berlin.

• Building of the wall started in August 1961

• The wall was 79 miles long & about 12 feet tall

• There were about 300 watchtowers

• 250 guard dogs roamed along the East side of Berlin Wall

• Guards were order to shoot at people who were trying to escape, BUT not to kill.

• About 100,000 attempted to escape, only about 5-10,000 made it across the wall. People leaving were usually very intelligent young people, thus their leaving was referred to as the Brain Drain.

• Somewhere in the range of 130-200 people actually died (of various causes).

• Painting the Western side of the wall began in the 1980’s.

• The Eastern side stayed white, painting was forbidden.

• Largest Canvas in the World• Mostly Anonymous work, with no restrictions.

• The wall started “crumbling” on the night of July 19, 1988 when East Germany agreed to allow Bruce Springsteen to perform.

• East Germany hoped allowing Springsteen in would quiet the masses of young people who were becoming restless with the government.

• The opposite occurred.

East Side-WhiteWest Side- Graffiti

Brandenberg Gate

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen SquareJune 4, 1989

• Six days after the death of Hu Yaobang, the deposed reform-minded leader of the Chinese Communist Party, some 100,000 students gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate Hu and voice their discontent with China's authoritative communist government.

• The next day, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen's Great Hall of the People, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng. The Chinese government refused such a meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms.

• Ignoring government warnings of violent suppression of any mass demonstration, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen on April 27. The students were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants, and by mid-May more than a million people filled the square, the site of communist leader's Mao Zedong's proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

• On May 20, the government formally declared martial law in Beijing, and troops and tanks were called in to disperse the dissidents. However, large numbers of students and citizens blocked the army's advance, and by May 23 government forces had pulled back to the outskirts of Beijing.

• On June 3, with negotiations to end the protests stalled and calls for democratic reforms escalating, the troops received orders from the Chinese government to reclaim Tiananmen at all costs.

• By the end of the next day, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared Tiananmen Square and Beijing's streets, killing hundreds of demonstrators and arresting thousands of protesters and other suspected dissidents.

• In the weeks after the government crackdown, an unknown number of dissidents were executed, and communist hard-liners took firm control of the country.

• The international community was outraged at the incident, and economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries sent China's economy into decline. However, by late 1990, international trade had resumed, thanks in part to China's release of several hundred imprisoned dissidents.

Most well known image of Tiananmen Square

On June 4, 1989, hundreds or thousands of people were killed when the Chinese army crushed a prodemocracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.

In mid-April, 1989, tens of thousands of Chinese students began convening in Tiananmen Square to mourn the passing of Hu Yoabang, former General Secretary of the Communist Party. The students, who demonstrated for more freedom of expression and democratic reform, saw Hu as a representation of change, according to PBS.

Demonstrations spread throughout the country; by June 2 government leaders decided to quell the protests, and troops began approaching the Square and firing on civilians.

When the army entered the Square the next day, troops first warned the remaining protesters to disperse, and they complied. But when individuals tried to reenter the area later in the morning the army starting firing, according to The New York TImes.

The day after the Tiananmen crackdown The New York Times reported that at least 300 people had died. “By ordering soldiers to fire on the unarmed crowds, the Chinese leadership has created an incident that almost surely will haunt the Government for years to come. It is believed here that after the bloodshed of this weekend, it will be incomparably more difficult to rule China.”

The Chinese government says that 241 people died and 7,000 were wounded over the next two days. PBS states that the Chinese Red Cross put the death toll at 2,600 at first.

After the Chinese had put down the major protests, a young man blocked the path of moving tanks on June 5. The image of the unknown “tank man” has come to symbolize the opposition, and his fate today is still unknown. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Although China has received international condemnation for its reaction to the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, the government maintains that it was putting down a potential uprising.

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-This-Day--Chinese-Troops-Overtake-Tiananmen-Square.html