1 2 KGB = abbreviation of Committee for State Security - an organization with a military hierarchy aimed at providing national defense, and the defense of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Command Economy - supply and price are regulated by the government rather than market forces (i.e. market economy). Government planners decide which goods and services are produced and how they are distributed.
In this bipolar world, countries were prompted to align themselves with one or the other of the superpower blocs (a Non-Aligned Movement would emerge later, during the 1960s).
NAM – founded by India and Yugolslavia - Members have, at various times, included: Yugoslavia, India, Ghana, Pakistan, Algeria, Libya, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Indonesia, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, post-1994 South Africa, Iran, Malaysia, ----It was founded in April 1955; as of 2007, it has 118 members to ensure "the national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries" in their "struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony
They represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations's members and comprise 55 percent of the world population, particularly countries considered to be developing or part of the third world
A proxy war is a war that results when two powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly.
3 4 June 1947 – USSR announces “Molotov Plan” – to economically revitilize eastern bloc nations
Stalin also sought to : • squash any political dissent – show trials, coerced confessions, executions •Forced anti-communists from Hungarian gov’t , and rigged elections to create a pro-Soviet gov’t
•US/UK saw the revival of Germany economy as a counter to Russia, and an alternative to provide in Western Europe. •1948 – united their zones – formed western germany (inc. western zone of Berlin) – integrate Germany into European economy •This angered Russians who wanted a weak Germany for security reasons
5 UN - 1945
6 •June 1947 – USSR cut off the flow of supplies by rail and truck from the western zones into Berlin. •Stalin’s aim – to force the western zones either to give up on their plans for west Germany or to abandon Berlin.
7 8 Truman was determined to maintain west berlin without violent confrontation
Ordered an airlift of food and medical supplies into Western Berlin.
US planes began flying from the western zones to west berlin about every 3 minutes 24/7 – delivering 13,000 tons of goods a day
B29s were sent to England as a message to USSR not to interfere with the airlift
321 days into blockade – Stalin called off the blockade (May 12, 1949)
That month – US, UK, France left West Germany and formed the Federal Republic of Germany
Stalin responded by turning East Germany into German Democratic Republic
Berlin transformed in US/Europeans eyes – from Hitlers capital – to symbol of the fight for freedom
9 The missile gap was the term used in the United States for the perceived disparity between the number and power of the weapons in the U.S.S.R. and U.S. during the Cold War.
The gap only existed in exaggerated estimates made by the Gaither Committee (a science advisory board to Ike) in 1957 and United States Air Force (USAF).
In the early 1960s, the CIA provided figures that clearly showed the US had a clear advantage.
The "gap" was known to be illusionary from the start, and was being used solely as a political tool, another example of policy by press release.
Policy by press release refers to the act of attempting to influence public policy through press releases intended to alarm the public into demanding action from their elected officials.
Perhaps the most common use of the term refers to an infamous period during the Eisenhower administration when "leaked" documents were a common way for the various branches of the US Military to attempt to garner funding for their pet projects.
Practically any idea, no matter how outlandish, could gain some traction by simply claiming that the Soviet Union was working on a similar device.
Several examples of leaked claims and faked photos of soviet bomber planes, missiles
10 This foreign policy statement by the NSA was not made public until several years later, but had a very strong impact in government circles and helped spur a sharp increase in military spending.
11 1)” …the Soviet Union, unlike previous aspirants to hegemony, is animated by a new fanatic faith, antithetical to our own, and seeks to impose its absolute authority over the rest of the world.”
2) “The issues that face us are momentous, involving the fulfillment or destruction not only of this Republic but of civilization itself. They are issues which will not await our deliberations. With conscience and resolution this Government and the people it represents must now take new and fateful decisions.”
3) “The system becomes God and submission to the will of God becomes submission to the will of the system”
4) There must be an “intensification of affirmative and timely measures and operations by covert means in the fields of economic warfare and political and psychological warfare with a view to fomenting and supporting unrest and revolt in selected strategic satellite countries.”
12 5) “We should take dynamic steps to reduce the power and influence of the Kremlin inside the Soviet Union and other areas under its control…In other words, it would be the current Soviet cold war technique used against the Soviet Union.” THUS, A FANATICAL, REPRESSIVE, TOTALITARIAN REGIME (AS DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT) SETS THE STANDARD FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY, AND WHICH A FREE SOCIETY MUST DO IN ORDER TO BE PRESERVED!!
6) “A large measure of sacrifice and discipline will be demanded of the American people. They will be asked to give up some of the benefits which they have come to associate with their freedoms.” THESE DEMANDS INCLUDE RAISED TAXES, LESS SOCIAL SERVICES PROVIDED BY THOSE TAXES BECAUSE MORE WILL BE GOING TOWARDS THE MILITARY, AND ACCEPTANCE OF A LOWER STANDARD OF LIVING.
13 It had serious implications for US citizens: 1)Constant fear (in schools, students had drills in which they hid under desks) 2) Politicians (mostly Republicans) were able to engage in “red baiting” – linking their political opponents (mostly Democrats and their policies) with Communism 3) Very close ties between corporations and government
14 7) Even if we were to win a military victory, that “would only partially and perhaps only temporarily affect the fundamental conflict.” There would be “the resurgence of totalitarian forces and the re-establishment of the Soviet system, or its equivalent…We have no choice but to demonstrate the superiority of the idea of freedom.” SO, IN SUMMARY, THE REPORT WAS ADVOCATING SECRETIVE ACTIVITY (ESPIONAGE), BUT NOT OPEN WARFARE.
8) As a result, the government and corporations began to be very cozy with one another. Also, since the enemy was decidely anti-capitalist, every measure that strengthened capitalism was a blow against the enemy, and conversely, anything that was able to be interpreted as “left” was seen as dangerous. This set the stage for the Red Scare of the 1950s. It also set the stage for the Taft Hartley Act (1947) which allowed states to outlaw a “closed shop.” Labor activity (i.e. strikes, boycotts) were increasingly seen as too “left,” and something the enemy would do. Many unions were purged of anyone accused of being a communist (in fact, some unions were led by American Communists – the difference being, now they were seen as too dangerous and attempting to overthrow the capitalist system). As a result, domestic dissent was silenced.
15 7) Even if we were to win a military victory, that “would only partially and perhaps only temporarily affect the fundamental conflict.” There would be “the resurgence of totalitarian forces and the re-establishment of the Soviet system, or its equivalent…We have no choice but to demonstrate the superiority of the idea of freedom.” SO, IN SUMMARY, THE REPORT WAS ADVOCATING SECRETIVE ACTIVITY (ESPIONAGE), BUT NOT OPEN WARFARE.
8) As a result, the government and corporations began to be very cozy with one another. Also, since the enemy was decidely anti-capitalist, every measure that strengthened capitalism was a blow against the enemy, and conversely, anything that was able to be interpreted as “left” was seen as dangerous. This set the stage for the Red Scare of the 1950s. It also set the stage for the Taft Hartley Act (1947) which allowed states to outlaw a “closed shop.” Labor activity (i.e. strikes, boycotts) were increasingly seen as too “left,” and something the enemy would do. Many unions were purged of anyone accused of being a communist (in fact, some unions were led by American Communists – the difference being, now they were seen as too dangerous and attempting to overthrow the capitalist system). As a result, domestic dissent was silenced.
16 After Stalin had died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union.
The new leadership declared an amnesty for: some serving prison sentences for criminal offences, relaxed the restrictions on private plots. De-Stalinization also spelled an end to the role of large-scale forced labor in the economy.
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality and Stalinist political system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
The process of freeing Gulag prisoners was started
Khrushchev shocked his listeners by denouncing Stalin's dictatorial rule and cult of personality
17 Even though Mao and his communist soldiers were our allies during WWII (and played a much more important role against Japan than did the Nationalists), and the Japanese were our mortal enemies during WWII – we used Hirohito and his soldiers to fight Mao in his Civil War against Chiang Kai Shek and the Nationalists.
18 speculated that if one land in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect.
The domino effect suggests that some change, small in itself, will cause a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in sequence…
The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify American intervention around the world.
19 was the world's first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite.
It was by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program.
The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1's success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space Race within the Cold War.
Sputnik Crisis – both sides believes they were technologically superior Khruschev had emphasized rocket advancement as parts of his De-Stalinationist reforms
In the U.S., the two Sputnik launches and the catastrophic failure of the US attempts (Vanguard) to launch into space, was an embarrassment within political, military and social circles
The Sputnik crisis spurred a whole chain of U.S. initiatives, from large to small, many of them initiated by the Department of Defense.
•Ike created NASA •Federal increase in spending on education for engineers, and scientific research •JFK used the technology/missile gap issue as a main part of his 1960 presidential platform
20 Due to the closure of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs;
West Berlin became an isolated enclave in a hostile land.
West Berliners demonstrated against the wall and strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond with anything other than denouncing the wall.
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