The Cold War around the World Chapter 33 Section Four

Three Worlds After WWII the world separated politically into three worlds –First World- the U.S. and its allies –Second World- the Soviet Union and its allies –Third World- developing nations that were often independent and not aligned with either superpower.

The Third World Nations 3rd world nations were found in Latin America, Asia, and Africa All suffered from terrible poverty and political instability as well as ethnic conflicts and a lack of technology and education. Third World nations were seeking out a political and economic system to build their society around. Soviet style Communism and U.S. style free market democracy were the two choices available

Competition for the Third World The U.S., Soviet Union, and China all wanted to gain control over 3rd World nations. These nations used many methods to gain control in developing nations. –sponsored wars of revolution –Used spy agencies to conduct covert activities ranging from spying to assassination –The U.S. provided military aid, built schools, set up programs to combat poverty, sent volunteer workers to help developing nations –The Soviet Union sent military and technical assistance mainly to India and Egypt

Nonaligned nations Not all third world nations wanted to align with a superpower India wanted to remain neutral in the Cold War Indonesia in SE Asia also wanted to remain neutral Indonesia hosted the leaders of Asian and African countries in the Bandung Conference- they met to form a “Third Force” of non-aligned nations

Latin America U.S. involvement in Latin America began long before WWII-American business leaders backed oppressive leaders who protected American interests in Latin America After WWII nationalistic feelings and communism inspired revolutionary movements throughout Latin America The U.S. provided military support and economic assistance to anti-communist dictators.

Cuba Throughout the 1950’s US support maintained an unpopular dictator- Fulgencio Batista- in Cuba. A popular revolution in Cuba led by Fidel Castro, a young lawyer, overthrew Batista in January 1959.

Castro in Cuba At first Castro brought reforms to Cuba, improved the economy, literacy, health care and conditions for women. Castro was a harsh dictator. He suspended elections, jailed or executed all opponents,and had tight government control over the media. When Castro nationalized the Cuban economy he took over U.S. owned sugar mills and refineries. In response Eisenhower ordered an embargo on all trade with Cuba As relations with the U.S. fell apart Castro turned to the Soviet Union for economic and Military aid.

The Bay of Pigs The CIA planned an invasion of Cuba and trained anti-Castro Cuban exiles to carry out the invasion. April the Anti-Castro CIA trained Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba and were promptly destroyed by Castro’s forces. The new President of the U.S., John F. Kennedy approved the invasion but would not allow U.S. planes to support the mission.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Because of the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev believed that the U.S. would not resist Soviet expansion into Latin America July Kruschev secretly began to build 42 missile sites in Cuba Oct An American spy plane discovered the missile sites in Cuba Kennedy declared that the missiles were close enough to the U.S. mainland that they were a threat to the U.S. Kennedy demanded that the Soviets remove the missiles Kennedy also announced a blockade Cuba to prevent the Soviets from installing any more missiles U.S. troops assembled in Florida ready to invade Cuba

End of the Cuban Missile Crisis People around the world were afraid that WWIII was about to begin and nuclear weapons would be used. Kruschev agreed to remove the missiles in return for a U.S. promise not to invade Cuba Castro was left completely dependent on Soviet support In exchange for that support Castro backed Communist revolution in Latin America and Africa. 36,000 Cubans fought in Angola in the 1970’s When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 the aid for Cuba stopped dealing a crippling blow to the Cuban economy.

Civil War in Nicaragua The U.S. funded Nicaraguan dictator Anastosia Somoza and his family since Communist Sandinista rebels toppled the Samoza government Both the U.S. and USSR gave aid to the Sandinistas at first Then the Sandinistas gave aid to the the communist (Socialist) rebels in El Salvador The U.S. withdrew aid for the Sandinistas and gave their support to Nicaragua’s’s anti-communist rebel forces called the Contras. The Civil War in Nicaragua lasted 10 years In 1990 President Daniel Ortega agreed to hold free elections and was defeated by Violeta Chamorro In 1997 Chamoro was replaced by Jose Lacayo

Iran Wealth from the oil industry fueled conflict between traditional Islamic values and modern western values. After WWII Iran’s leader Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi embraced Western Governments and wealthy western oil companies. Iranian nationalists resented the Shah’s western alliances and united under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Mossaddeq. They seized and nationalized a British owned oil company in 1953 and forced the Shah to leave Iran The U.S. worried that Mossaddeq would turn to the Soviets for support so they had him arrested and restored the Shah to power.

The Shah of Iran The Shah proceeded to Westernize his country By the end of the 1950’s Iran’s capital, Tehran was a westernized, modern, wealthy city BUT millions of Iranians lived in extreme poverty The Shah’s secret police brutally punished anybody who opposed him. The Shah limited the role of Islamic legal and academic scholars Iran’s conservative Muslim religious leaders called Ayatollahs were strongly opposed to the Shah and his westernization of Iranian Society. The Ayatollahs wanted Iran to become an Islamic Republic ruled by Islamic law

The Ayatollah Khomeini The leader of the religious opposition to the Shah was Ayatollah Khomeini The Ayatollah Khomeini was living in exile but would send tape-recorded messages back to Iran urging the people to go on strike Late violence erupted in every major city in Iran January the Shah fled the country Khomeini returned to Iran and established an Islamic state Islamic law became the legal code for the country

Iran Hostage Crisis Khomeini ruled by strict Islamic law but hated of the U.S. was the driving force of his politics. In 1979 the former Shah of Iran was allowed to come to the U.S. for medical treatment The Ayatollah then allowed a group of Islamic revolutionaries to seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take more than 60 Americans hostage The revolutionaries demanded the return of the Shah to Iran so he could stand trial Most of the hostages remained prisoners for 444 days until they were released on Jan

Iran/Iraq war Khomeini encouraged Muslim Fundamentalists in other countries to overthrow their secular governments This religious fervor led to tension between the Iranians who were Shia Muslims and the Iraquis who were Sunni Muslim. The leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was a military leader who ruled Iraq as a secular state. War broke out between Iran and Iraq in 1980 and lasted for 8 years. The U.S. secretly sold weapons to Iran in an effort to get the hostages released.

Afghanistan For several years after WWII Afghanistan was able to remain independent and stay out of the Cold War conflict between the U.S. and The Soviet Union 1950’s Soviet influence in Afghanistan began to increase. Late 1970’s a Muslim revolt threatened to topple Afghanistan’s communist government The Soviet’s invaded Afghanistan in December The Soviets thought they would go in, prop up the communist Afghan government and get out quickly. The Soviets were fighting in Afghanistan until 1989.

Why Afghanistan? The Soviets were in Afghanistan for 10 years for several reasons. –1. Determined Afghan rebels called mujahideen outmaneuvered and overpowered the Soviet military –2. Soviet helicopter attacks secured the cites but the mujahideen held firm in mountain strongholds. –3. The mujahideen were supplied with American weapons. –4. The U.S. considered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a threat to our Middle Eastern Oil supply

American response to Afghanistan President Jimmy Carter warned the Soviets that any attempt to control the Persian Gulf would be repelled by any means necessary The Soviets never made a move on the Persian Gulf The US limited its response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to an embargo on grain shipped to the Soviet Union and a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow

End to Afghanistan 1980’s- A new Soviet regime led by Mikhail Gorbachev realized that Afghanistan wasn’t worth the cost in lives and money and began to withdraw troops. By February 1989 the last Soviet troops were out of Afghanistan