1. The Cold War

2. WWII – seeds of the Cold War
The Big Three of Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met several times throughout the war in order to present a united front against Nazi Germany. It was clear during these meetings that below the superficiality of defeating Hitler lay myriad differences that led to the Cold War.

3. 1941 – the Atlantic Charter – before the US was even in WWII, FDR and Churchill met aboard military ships in the North Atlantic and agreed to a broad set of political aims for Europe – similar to Wilson’s Fourteen Points. These political aims were put aside in favor of a military alliance when after Operation Barbarossa, Stalin joined FDR and Churchill.

4. Tehran 1943 – The Big Three met at Tehran.
US and UK agreed to open a massive second front against Germany in 1944 **west coast attack allowed the development of a west/east split in the continent**
USSR agreed to fight against Japan when Germany was defeated.
The question of a post-war Europe was broached – with Stalin wanting to keep the lands achieved from the Molotov-von Ribbentrop Pact and to dismantle Germany.

5. 1944 – despite the rebellion of the Pole against Germany, the USSR did not support their uprising – instead the USSR drove into Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.
Churchill flew to Moscow in alarm and devised a system of spheres of influence with the West controlling Greece, the USSR Bulgaria and Romania, and Yugoslavia and Hungary equally controlled by USSR and the West.
This did not have the backing of FDR and the US – who objected to the old imperialist tendencies of the UK and USSR.

6. Yalta
February 1945 – the Big Three met for the last time (as FDR was dying). The Allies had yet to cross the Rhine River into Germany but the USSR was only 100 miles from Berlin.
The war in the Pacific was continuing and the Manhattan Project had yet to be tested.
FDR needed Stalin in the Pacific and was suspect of Churchill’s desire to rebuild the British Empire after the war.
United Nations agreed upon.
Later critics of FDR blamed him for not pressing Stalin to give up control of eastern Europe at this time. Revisionist???

7. Potsdam – July 1945
In the suburb of Berlin the Big Three met for the last time – with a change of characters.
FDR – Harry S Truman
Churchill and the Conservatives lost the Parliamentary elections and Clement Atlee and Labour established a government.

8. Poland given German land in exchange for Polish land controlled by the USSR
Germany was to divided into occupation zones until a final solution was devised
Council of Foreign Ministers was created to write peace treaties for Germany’s allies (Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Finland (Japan and US 1951 – Japan and USSR 1956)

9. The Iron Curtain
In February 1946, Stalin and Molotov began to speak publicly about the western democracies as enemies of the USSR.
March 1946, Churchill was invited to speak in Fulton, Missouri when he warned the west of the growing soviet danger and coined the phrase “Iron Curtain”.

11. George F. Kennan – State Department Official in Moscow
Feb Kennan's Long Telegram words from Moscow embassy of U.S.
Soviet power was the product of a "monolithic" ideology.
Russian behavior determined by a "traditional and instinctive Russian sense of insecurity."
"we have here a political force committed fanatically to the belief that with US there can be no permanent modus vivendi."
spread of communism was the greatest danger to the free world, not Soviet army.
communism is a "malignant parasite which feeds only on diseased tissue."
"much depends on health and vigor of our own society." The greatest danger "is that we shall allow ourselves to become like those with whom we are coping."

12. =$13 billion dollars spent to rebuild Europe
The Marshall Plan
1947 – Secretary of State George Marshall implemented a plan to rebuild Europe.
=$13 billion dollars spent to rebuild Europe
Communist nations offered the money – but rejected it.
This was done for humanitarian reasons AND as a way to keep people from being disillusioned and turning to communism.

19. The Truman Doctrine- Containment
After WWII – few had the desire for a war with the USSR. Many hoped the newly developed United Nations – and the US possession of the atomic bomb would ensure peace and US dominance.
President Truman turned US foreign policy to that of one which worked to stop any spread of Communism.
Stalin and the USSR were quickly capitalizing on the disillusionment of post-war Europe in order to spread communism.

20. GREECE – 1947 Britain had been supporting the royalist government in a civil war between royalists and communists. By 1947, Britain informed Truman that it had no money to continue to support the royalist. Truman persuaded Congress to support the anti-communists. Similar action was taken in Turkey.
Truman pledged US support for “free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”

21. Determined never to allow the USSR to again be invaded – Stalin insured that the nations on the western border to the USSR were communist.
1947 – Warsaw – Communist Information Bureau (Cominform)– revised Comintern
1948 – communists expelled democratic members of the Czech government – murdering some. Communists in the Czech coalition murdered Jan Masaryk – son of the founder of Czechoslovakia Thomas Masaryk – forced President Edvard Benes to resign – and brought Czechoslovakia under Soviet control

22. Yugoslavia
Communist partisans under the control of Josip “Broz” Tito had helped defeat the Nazis.
In control of Yugoslavia after the war, Tito removed Yugoslavia from the sphere of Soviet influence – but remained communist.
Stalin feared that even if Eastern European nations has communist governments, they may opt out of Soviet domination if given the chance.

23. Divisions of Germany
It had been decided before the war ended that Germany would be dismembered – the question was – how?
Immediately after V-E Day – Germany and Austria (and their capitals) were divided by the French, British, Americans, and Soviets.
Stalin began to destroy German industry in the Soviet zone – as a way to make sure Germany would not rise up.
The US and the west did not follow – they wanted a weak Germany – but not one so ruined that they would have to support it for years.

25. The West wanted a self –sufficient Germany – which was the last thing Stalin wanted. The Western Zone were developing economically in a way that seemed to threaten his control of the Soviet Zone. This was especially evident in the Western Zone of Berlin.
Berlin Blockade – in an attempt to get the Western powers to leave Berlin – in February 1948, the Soviets closed all roads to Berlin. The West responded with an airlift that lasted until May 1949 when the Soviets reopened the roads.
The Western Zone became the German Federal Republic and the Soviet Zone became the German Democratic Republic.

29. The Berlin Wall
1961 – Nikita Khrushchev said that too many people were leaving the communist nations through the city of Berlin.
He had a wall erected along the dividing line between the western and eastern zones of Berlin.
Over the years, hundreds were killed trying to cross into the west.
In 1989 – the Soviets allowed the wall to be dismantled

34. NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
By 1955 – Europe was divided into military alliances:
NATO: Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, West Germany, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey
WARSAW PACT: USSR, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria
COMECON – Council of Mutual Assistance integrated communist economies
NEUTRAL: Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia, Albania

36. Nikita Khrushchev
When Stalin died in 1953, he was replaced by Nikita Khrushchev
Khrushchev retained authoritarianism – but removed much of the Stalinist terror – he allowed the publication of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich which portrayed the cruelty of the gulags – however – when Boris Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 – he was not allowed to leave the country.
Internal exile remained and freedom of movement was missing

38. Khrushchev pushed the Soviet race into space – SPUTNIK 1957
1956 – Khrushchev's secret speech at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party – he denounced Stalin and his crimes – slowly Stalinists were removed from power.

39. The Cold War as a Series of Crises
The question of return of refugees. The USSR demanded that after the war – all DPs – displaced people – be forced to return to their place of origin. Few refugees wished to return to governments now under Soviet control.
The Jewish refugee question was one of tremendous debate:
Zionism
Chaim Weizmann
Theodor Herzl
Arthur Balfour – Balfour Declaration

40. Since 1919 – the British ran the Palestine Mandate
Growing numbers of Zionists moved into the region in the days after 1919 and established the YISHUV – determined to force the British out in favor of an independent Israel
However, the Palestinian Arabs in the region saw the British and newly immigrated Yishuv members as outsiders – and they demanded the British leave and allow Arab nationalism.
1947 – the UN split the region into Arab and Jewish areas – the US backed Israel and the USSR associated itself with Arab nationalism

41. 1956 – Suez Canal Crisis
Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser – seized power and established a dictatorship with himself as the proponent of Arab nationalism. He rejected control by European or American powers – but did accept aid from the USSR.
Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal – taking power from the British and French businesses that ran it.
1956 – Egypt declared war on Israel – Britain and France used this as an excuse to attack Egypt and take the canal to “separate Egypt and Israel” – it did not work.
The US refused to accept British and French involvement in Egypt.

43. Nasser

44. 1956 – the Polish Communist Party refused to accept the prime minister picked by the USSR – they selected Wladyslaw Gomulka who ended collectivization and opened relations with the Catholic Church – but still worked with the USSR
October 1956 – Budapest, Hungary – Hungarian Communist leader Imre Nagy called for greater independence from the USSR similar to that of Tito in Yugoslavia – Soviet troops invaded – Nagy was executed

45. Nagy

46. Prague Spring
In the spring of 1968, the Czech government of Communist ALEXANDER DUBCEK – began to liberalize communism in Czechoslovakia- Soviet troops were sent in and installed a new government
LEONID BREZHNEV became Soviet leader in 1964 – replacing Khrushchev who had been weaken by the Cuban Missile Crisis.
BREZHNEV DOCTRINE – The USSR had the right to interfere with other governments in order to preserve their communist governments.

47. Dubcek

48. Brezhnev

49. Soviets in Prague

51. A Thaw in the Cold War (but not in Africa, Asia, and Latin America)
Under the control of Brezhnev, the USSR returned to more repressive measures than had been under Khrushchev – Stalin-lite – internal exile, psychiatric hospitals, etc.
Brezhnev, however, was willing to meet and sign agreements with Richard Nixon to limit nuclear weapons – SALT – Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
This thaw was known as DÉTENTE
1975 – HELSINKI ACCORDS – signed by Gerald Ford and other world leaders, the existing borders and governments in Eastern Europe were recognized as legitimate.

52. Look Out! The Iron Curtain is Rusting!!!!
The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan helped to set the USSR on the road to ruin.
Afghanistan became the USSR’s Vietnam
1980 – the US and many Western nations boycotted the Summer Olympics in Moscow – the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles were boycotted by the Soviets and many of their allies.

53. For Hundreds of Years, the Poles Caused Problems for Russian Leaders
1978, the cardinal of Krakow, Poland was elected the Roman Catholic pope.
Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II
He became a symbol of struggle against Communism – a symbol he fostered and secretly acted upon.

54. Solidarity- Solidarnosc
1980 – the Polish government raised meat prices (COMMAND ECONOMY) which was the spark that ignited protests across Poland.
14 August 1980 – the workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland went on strike and seized the shipyard.
The workers organized their own, non-government run, union – Solidarity and elected Lech Walesa as leader.
31 August 1980 – the strike ended after the Polish government promised the right of workers to organize their own union.
September 1980 – the head of the Polish Communist Party was replaced – the Polish courts recognized the right of Solidarity to exist – a Mass was broadcast on the radio for the first time since 1950.

56. 1981 – General Wojciech Jaruzelski became head of the Polish Communist Party and imposed martial law at the urging of the Soviets.
Walesa and union leaders were arrested. This kept Soviet troops out of Poland

57. The Evil Empire
1983 – many on the left were shocked when Ronald Reagan seemed to abandon détente and called the USSR an “Evil Empire”
Reagan’s promotion of STAR WARS technology and the implementation of Patriot missiles in Europe led to mass demonstrations and the fear of the Cold War going hot – HOWEVER!!!

58. 1982 – the end of Soviet television and radio broadcasts and the playing of somber music signified that something strategic had happened in Moscow. It turned out to be the death of Leonid Brezhnev.

59. 1984 – the end of Soviet television and radio broadcasts and the playing of somber music signified that something strategic had happened in Moscow. It turned out to be the death of Yuri Andropov – Brezhnev’s successor.

60. 1985 – the end of Soviet television and radio broadcasts and the playing of somber music signified that something strategic had happened in Moscow. It turned out to be the death of Konstantin Chernenko – Andropov’s successor.

61. The Man Who Killed the USSR by Trying to Save It
Mikhail Gorbachev
Gorbachev was faced with chaos in Afghanistan, a failing economy, satellite countries that demanded more autonomy, and a renewed American arms race that was bankrupting the Soviet government.

62. PERESTROIKA – Gorbachev shocked people in the USSR and around the world when he stated that the Soviet government, Communist Party, economy, etc were too bureaucratic and top heavy. He pushed through restructuring programs known as perestroika. He believed in the soviet system and believed it could be saved from itself.
GLASNOST – because he believed in the soviet system, Gorbachev saw no reason why people should not be able to criticize it, discuss it openly, etc. He called for greater openness in the USSR. Censorship was relaxed, political dissidents were released from prisons, the 1988 Communist Party Congress saw real debate for the first time – open elections were held in the USSR.

63. Given a choice, people wanted OUT – oops!!!
Gorbachev was shocked how when given openness, people in communist nations opted not to reform but to abandon communism.
1988 – martial law in Poland had been relaxed and Solidarity leaders released from prison. Jaruzelski faced strikes from unions other than Solidarity. Political reforms were attempted and in 1989 open elections were held. Solidarity won a vast number of seats in the Polish parliament and a Solidarity prime minister was named – By By Communism!!!

64. The Ghost of Nagy Rises From the Grave
1989 – Hungary opened its border with Austria – thousands of eastern Europeans made their way to Hungary – across the border to Austria and freedom.
May 1989 – Janos Kadar – removed as Hungarian Communist Party president.
The body of Imre Nagy was re-interred after an honorary burial
October 1989 – open elections

65. The Dissolution of East Germany
The fall of 1989 – popular demonstrations rose up in East Germany – Gorbachev told the East German government that the USSR would not send troops to help support the demonstrations
The East German government resigned and was replaced by younger Communists – who resigned as well
November 1989 – the Berlin wall was opened and East Germany was no more.
West German chancellor Helmut Kohl announced full unification with the east.

66. The Velvet Revolution
1989 – the Czechoslovakian Communist government fell and in open elections the CIVIC FORUM led by Vaclav Havel won.
Havel was president and the hero of 1968 – Alexander Dubcek became chairman of parliament

67. Ceausescu – Bang, bang, You’re Dead!
In Romania, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu refused to give up power.
The Romanian government brought miners and workers from the countryside into Bucharest to attack the pro-democracy demonstrators.
Ceausescu and his wife were captured and shot.

68. Back in the USSR!?
1990- Gorbachev proposed to the central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party that it abandon its monopoly on power – rejecting Leninism
Internal divisions:
1. old soviets who wanted to retain the power of the Communist Party and Soviet Army
2. those who wanted fast reform – led by Boris Yeltsin
3. Soviet republics who wanted independence – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia. Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) Initial moves toward independence were met by Soviet troops – but by 1991 the republics had left the USSR

69. August 1991 Coup
August 1991 – Gorbachev was on vacation when conservative elements moved to oust and arrest Gorbachev.
In Moscow, the independent Russian Parliament – led by Boris Yeltsin, challenged the plotters and asked the world to support democracy in Russia.
Gorbachev was rescued but was so weakened – he left office in December when the USSR came to an end.
Commonwealth of Independent States

70. Yeltsin to Putin Boris Yeltsin was the first president of Russia
Yeltsin faced myriad economic problems as he attempted to bring Russia in line with the modern western economies.
He faced massive opposition from old Communists in the Russian parliament.
September 1993 Yeltsin suspended Parliament. Parliament leaders attempted to raise popular demonstrations against Yeltsin.
Yeltsin and the military attacked Parliament
1993 – voters approved a new constitution that consolidated more power in the presidency.

71. Vladimir Putin
Yeltsin was unable to solve the massive economic problems faced by Russia.
“The oligarchs” assumed tremendous wealth and power.
Weakened economy placed Russia in debt and ruined pensioners
CHECHNYA – Islamic separatists
Alcoholism
Yeltsin resigned in favor of Vladimir Putin

72. European Economic Unity
World War II destroyed Europe politically, socially and economically. It took many nations decades to come back from the destruction of the war.
1952 – France and West Germany decide to join an organization to rebuild their coal and steel businesses – The Coal and Steel Community
The idea of uniting markets in order to build up economies was a popular one
The Treaties of Rome – France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg created the European Economic Community or COMMON MARKET

73. Over the years, other nations joined – such as the United Kingdom.
Eventually, the organization took on a political aim and was reorganized as the EUROPEAN UNION – headed in Brussels, Belgium.
Most of the EU members now use a united currency known as the EURO.