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Chapter 4: the Cold War Chapter 4: The Cold War I. Introduction A. Explaining the origins of the Cold War B. The Cold War spreads and deepens C. The Cold War winds down D. The end of the Cold War E. Russia after the Cold War II. Explaining the origins of the Cold War A. Individual-level explanations 1. Anti-communism of Western leaders a. Churchill b. Truman 2. Perceptions and beliefs a. Stalin b. Mao B. Unit-level explanations 1. Communism versus capitalism a. Mistrust dates back to the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) b. Lenin argued that for revolution to occur workers had to be led by a communist party c. Revolution occurred in Russia first because it was the “weakest link in the chain“ of imperialism d. Once in power, Lenin imposed a dictatorship and governed according to the principle of democratic centralism e. Stalin also fostered totalitarianism to build “socialism in one country,” which he pursued by means of forced collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization f. Western mistrust was fueled by an aversion to communism g. Mutual suspicions led to the Soviet–Nazi Nonaggression Treaty h. The US and Soviet Union were thrown together by Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the US entry into the war in December 1941 1 i. Each side remained suspicious of the other’s political motives throughout the war j. On March 5 1946, Churchill coined the term “iron curtain” to describe the divide between East and West and argued that another war could be avoided only if Britain and the US acted to form a united front against the USSR 2. The Soviet Union: security and ideology a. Soviet actions in Europe, including refusal to demobilize occupying forces and agree to new boundaries eroded the belief that the USSR designed its policies to maximize power and thus that it was possible to bargain with its leaders (Yalta Axioms) b. Instead US leaders came to belief that Soviet policy was driven by ideology rather than power (Riga Axioms) c. George F. Kennan’s “Long Telegram” (1) Presented a very negative analysis of Soviet motives to leaders in Washington (2) Kennan argued that Soviet ideology warped the Soviet view of the US (3) “Efforts will be made . to disrupt national self- confidence, to hamstring measures of national defense, to increase social and industrial unrest, to stimulate all forms of disunity. Where individual governments stand in [the] path of Soviet purposes pressure will be brought for their removal from office. In foreign countries Communists will . work toward destruction of all forms of personal independence, economic, political, or moral.” d. Nikolai Novikov’s Telegram to Moscow (1) A mirror image of the Long Telegram (2) The Soviet ambassador to the US argued that the US sought to achieve global dominance by means of its military power (3) US policy specifically sought to limit Soviet influence in other countries and to inject American capital into foreign economies C. System-level explanations 1. Bipolarity and the breakdown of Soviet–American cooperation a. Neorealists focus on the bipolar distribution of military power as an explanation for the Cold War 2 b. World War II produced a bipolar world in which the US and the USSR were the only countries in a position to influence global politics significantly c. The former great powers—Britain, France, Germany, and Japan—were devastated by World War II (1) British, French, and Dutch empires were unravelling (2) France and Italy experienced government instability and powerful communist parties d. The only major security threat to each superpower was the other superpower, thereby creating a security dilemma 2. Spheres of influence and Eastern Europe a. Spheres of influence were implicit in postwar diplomacy b. Several summit meetings were held to overcome the differences among the major powers (1) Yalta Conference (February 1945) (a) Struck a bargain over representation in the proposed United Nations in which the USSR was given three seats in the General Assembly and the US could have the same number if it wished (b) Another agreement provided for veto power for the five permanent members of the Security Council (c) Four occupation zones were created in Germany (American, Soviet, British, and French), thus ratifying the division of Germany and ensuring the US remained involved in Europe (d) The most controversial agreement pledged free elections and a guarantee of basic freedoms in all liberated countries (2) Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945) (a) The Soviets presented a fait accompli at this conference when they announced they had already reached agreement with Poland’s communist government on that country’s new boundaries 3. The division of Germany a. Germany remained key to European security owing to its central geographic position, skilled population, and economic potential 3 b. In late 1945 and early 1946, Moscow refused to cooperate in administering Germany as a single economic unit, as agreed at Yalta c. The Western zones were unified in 1947 to ensure they would become economically self-sufficient and could contribute to Europe’s recovery d. In 1949, the Western zones became the Federal Republic of Germany and the Eastern zone became the German Democratic Republic D. Interpreting the beginning of the Cold War 1. Realists would argue the Cold War was caused by: a. The existence of power vacuums in Central Europe and East Asia b. The steps that the US and USSR each took to increase its security trapped both in a security dilemma c. Traditional Russian expansionism in search of warm water ports and defensible boundaries 2. Liberals would argue the Cold War was caused by: a. Soviet authoritarianism b. Efforts of Soviet leaders to solidify their authority at home by focusing attention on alleged threats from abroad c. Soviet human rights abuses and involvement in Eastern Europe alienated US public opinion d. The absence of Soviet–American interdependence made competition easier 3. Constructivists would focus on the contrasting identities of the superpowers that gave rise to conflicting interests 4. Marxists viewed the policies of the US and its allies as part of a transnational capitalist effort to spread capitalism globally, make non-Western countries economically dependent on Western states, and obtain new markets for exports III. The Cold War spreads and deepens A. Containment 1. A US foreign policy that sought to prevent the spread of communism by applying diplomatic and economic pressure on the USSR 2. Containment was first articulated in the Truman Doctrine (1947) 3. George Kennan outlined a policy of containment in an article 4 published in Foreign Affairs (The X Article) later that year 4. Thereafter, the US embarked on a global strategy to confront what it believed to be a Soviet policy of expansionism 5. Containment remained the basis of American policy for four decades a. The US established a global network of multilateral and bilateral alliances b. The US economic aid to fight poverty and despair, starting with the Marshall Plan in 1947 c. Western Germany was reintegrated into Europe and the West B. Militarizing the Cold War 1. NSC-68 a. National Security Council Report 68 marked a dramatic shift in American policy toward the Cold War b. NSC-68 stressed the USSR’s growing military capabilities and called for massive enlargement and improvement in American military capabilities to meet the Soviet threat c. NSC-68 advocated an active version of containment to encourage changes in Soviet domestic society d. It viewed the US and Soviet Union as engaged in a zero- sum conflict in which cooperation was impossible 2. The “loss of China” a. In 1949, communists under Mao Zedong took power in China, ending a long civil war b. China’s nationalists, the Kuomintang (KMT), led by Sun Yat-sen and then Chiang Kai-shek, cooperated with the communists between 1921 and 1927 c. The nationalists and communists were forced into an uneasy alliance following Japan’s 1937 invasion of China d. After World War II, civil war engulfed China again e. As Chiang’s armies weakened and the nationalists fled to Taiwan and Mao established the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949 f. This conflict reinforced Western fears that communism was inherently expansionist and would spread by military means 3. The Korean War 5 a. The Korean War began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950 b. In January 1950, US Secretary of Defense Dean Acheson declared that South Korea was outside the US defense perimeter in East Asia c. This may have suggested to the North that aggression would be left unanswered d. On learning of the attack, Truman dispatched US troops to South Korea e. Intervention was authorized by the United Nations f. US leaders believed the communists had invaded South Korea to probe America’s willingness to resist aggression and that the invasion was a prelude to possible Soviet military action in Europe g. American leaders believed that if they allowed one country to fall to communism, others would follow and that this must not be allowed to happen h. The Korean War lasted three years, enlarged by the intervention of 200,000 Chinese troops i. The war ended in a ceasefire in 1953, but a treaty ending the war has never been signed j. The impact of the Korean War (1) Propelled the US to militarize the containment doctrine (2) Transformed NATO from a political to a military alliance 4. McCarthyism at home a. The loss of China and the Korean War intensified a climate of fear and hysteria about alleged communist infiltration of American institutions b. The Red Menace (1) Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin and politicians like him exploited sensational allegations of espionage (2) They accused State Department Foreign Service officers and China specialists of “losing China” c.
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