AP Euro: Unit 18.3-18.4 - The Cold War and a New Western World

European Society in the Cold War

The Collapse of World Empires

• British, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Belgian, Ottoman, Japanese, Italian, and US empires all collapse and colonies gain statehood

Africa

• Most areas controlled by the French were granted their independence shortly after the war ended.  

• France was completely destroyed and unable to maintain its presence.
• Algeria was a lone holdout, only because many French had emigrated and settled there.  It got its independence in 1962

• Change came a bit slower to other parts of Africa.  
• Many nations started their own African (for Black Africans) political parties, mostly led by European educated Africans.  Most of these movements were very non-violent. 
• Egypt's new political party was controlled by Europeans, so people overthrew the king and started a new system (1952)
• Kenya's Mau Mau movement was forced to use acts of terrorism to subvert the British (1959) 
• Most African nations gained their independence by the end of the 1960's.  
• Little had been done to prepare the Africans for self rule however.  

• Conditions varied widely.

South Africa

• South Africa was a bit of an interesting case.  

• Many white settlers had emigrated to South Africa and made up a legitimate percentage (though not even a majority) there. 

• The Europeans were reluctant to give up their privileged status, which resulted in Apartheid (separation of white and black groups).  

• Lasted until 1991!

Eastern Europe: Under Khrushchev’s Rule

• Denounces many of Stalin’s practices
• Allows satellite countries to determine their own path towards socialism IF they stay loyal to Soviet Union

• Poland allowed because it pledged allegiance to Warsaw Pact/Soviet Union (feared an armed invasion so it compromised)

• Yugoslavia and Albania had strong socialist parties prior to being annexed by Soviet Union

• Workers could manage themselves and local communes exercised limited political power

• Support for socialism outside of eastern Europe fell
• Emphasized production of consumer goods

French Revival

• Led by Charles de Gaulle (leader of French resistance and new French President)

• New constitution for France that enhanced the power of the president (dissolve parliament if he wants to)
• Pulled France out of NATO high command
• Allowed Algerian independence, “passed the buck” to America in Vietnam

• French successfully detonated their first nuclear weapon in 1960
• Nationalized many industries, prices of consumer goods rose 45%

Western Germany

• Cooperated with all demands of Western Powers because it wanted reconciliation (especially with France)
• Westerners worried about what the Korean War represented, so NATO allowed them to re-arm themselves (build an army)
• Became a member of NATO in 1955
• Weren’t satisfied with just the trials at Nuremberg, held its own trials for lesser Nazi officials
• Began making reparations payments to holocaust survivors and Israel
• Even started importing workers (workers from foreign nations, called guest workers) to help keep the German economic expansion going and share its success with other Europeans.

England

• England had major economic problems after the war.  Like France, many things in England were nationalized
• Social Security enacted 
• Medical Insurance guaranteed by state
• Socialized medicine system where health care providers worked for the state
• Extremely expensive for government  

Italy

• Marshall Plan had rebuilt much of Italy
• Experienced its own “Italian Miracle” economically 
• Weak coalition government
• Western Europe formed a new sense of unity in resistance to the Soviet Union and generally had pleasant relations.

American Society: Struggle for Civil Rights

• Brown vs Board of Education (1954)
• Emmett Till (1955)
• Montgomery Bus Boycott (55-56)
• March on Washington/”I Have a Dream” speech (1963)
• Assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X (1965)
• Race riots break out in Watts, CA (part of LA) and spread to cities across the nation.
• Led to an even greater division of the American population

European Society: Consumer Society

• Selling goods drives economy: More people buying goods = stronger economy
• # of automobiles rose from 5 million (1948) to 45 Million (1957)
• Installment Plan payments allowed lower class people to enjoy middle class comforts (nice tv, car, washing machine, refrigerator, etc)
• Reduction in work week from 60 hour to 40 hours per week. Paid sick leave and vacation time
• Mass tourism
• Created Welfare States:

• Make it possible for people to lead better and more meaningful lives
• Family allowances were government stipends to low income mothers to ensure that their children don’t suffer
• Free public education for all interested
• Eliminate poverty/homelessness
• Provide Medical Services for everyone

The Americanization of the World

• America was easily the most influential force shaping the world after WWII.

• New Pop culture in America (art warm up)
• New Pop culture in TV and movies

• American TV programming struggled to be popular until the late 50’s early 60’s
• Europe constituted 40% of Hollywood’s yearly revenue

• Europe bought older movies at a fraction of the cost, didn’t have to produce their own

• New Pop culture in Music

• American music: Beach Boys
• English Rock: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones

Cold War and the Growing Culture of Protest

Khrushchev Overthrown!

• After the removal of nuclear missiles from Cuba, Khrushchev was seen as weak.

• Removed from power in 1964

• Replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.

• Brezhnev Doctrine: The right of the Soviet Union to intervene if Socialism was threatened in another socialist state.
• Undid Khrushchev’s policy of allowing autonomy to Warsaw Pact nations who had recently installed communist govts.

• Nations in Eastern Europe (Poland, Albania), which had a degree of self governance when they set up their own pro-communist governments, were put more tightly under Russian control.
• There were a number of Warsaw Pact nations that resented this.

More Unrest in the Warsaw Pact

• In Poland, it led to a widespread workers strike that lasted over a year!

• Led to the use of Soviet troops during the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia where leader Alexander Dubcek initiated reforms to uncensor press and speech, lift travel bans, and relax secret police activities.  

• The Red Army invades Czech to crush it.  Brutally put down

• Total Repression in East Germany/Romania

Vietnam: A Different Kind of War

• Jungle terrain

• Can’t see enemies, bases, etc.
• Most armies not used to fighting in these conditions

Combatants

• Main Combatants

• US: 2.7 million troops
• ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) 1.4 million troops

• Our other allies

• South Korea 360k
• Australia 61k
• Philippines 10k
• New Zealand 4k
• Canada 30k (2.5 billion worth of material)

Combatants

• Main Combatants

• North Vietnam 1.5 million troops
• Viet Cong (communist sympathizers in the South) 600k troops

• Their other allies

• Russia 10k troops, but (at peak) was giving $2 mil in aid PER DAY (tanks, anti aircraft)
• China 170k (millions in materials)
• North Korea pilots/aircraft (200)
• Cuba (interrogation teams)

Ho Chi Minh Trail and Operation Rolling Thunder

• A supply route from North Vietnam to the Viet Cong (NLF) in South Vietnam was targeted by Rolling Thunder
• Guns, ammo, troops, orders, etc.
• Bombing operation in North Vietnam.  

• Target: Ho Chi Minh trail. 
• Objective: disrupt supply lines
• Starts in 1965, lasts for 3 years (supposed to be 8 weeks)

• Harder than we think because of foreign aid, anti-air missiles shoot down many American planes.
• Bombing campaign intensifies, uses new bombs (chemical)

Napalm

• Use of the substance napalm left lasting burn damage on civilians

Agent Orange

• Use of the chemical agent orange caused severe birth defects

Soldier Life

• The vietnamese troops were used to fighting in jungle terrain but the US and other foreign soldiers weren’t used to it

• Lots of wading through water
• Vicious, poisonous, venomous animals
• Malaria - drains you of body fluids, from mosquitos
• Traps from vietcong
• Extensive, underground networks with traps that couldn’t be destroyed with bombing

Ho Chi Minh Trail Moves West into Laos/Cambodia

• The north vietnamese and vietcong shift supply lines into Laos and Cambodia
• Unprepared for this type of war.
• We don’t know who is on our side and who isn’t.  
• Reality is that Viet Cong probably comes to villages and forces them to store goods.

• Then we come and punish them when we find them

• This hostile environment leads to brutality and poor decision making.

• Lots of Laos and Cambodian civilians were harmed

• Americans are mostly seen by the natives as oppressors, not liberators/defenders.

The War Doesn’t Make Sense to Many Soldiers

• Not like other wars, many don't have a clear idea of why they are there and don't agree with what they are doing.  
• Many have been drafted into service. 
• Morale of soldiers is very low.
• The US government puts on gaudy spectacles (USO shows) while a full blown war is ravaging the countryside.

• Brings american pop stars to perform for soldiers, etc.

Other Dangerous Distractions

• ½ of military population in Vietnam tried opium or heroin during their tour

• ⅕ of those who tried became addicted

American Involvement

• Kennedy wanted out of Vietnam.

• Ngo Diem’s regime (south vietnam) DOESN’T have the support of the people, and commits human rights violations, corruption, etc…...but it isn’t communist.

• Lyndon Johnson 

• Gulf of Tonkin Incident (president has unlimited powers to conduct war in vietnam)
• Greatly expands US involvement in the war

• Richard Nixon

• Expanded operation rolling thunder into Laos and Cambodia (in essence, declares war on them and DOESN'T inform the American public)
• When public support for the war dips, he starts to gradually move troops out
• Communist forces now know that they just need to wait until we leave. 

Casualties of War

• We drop more tons of bombs in our undeclared war in Laos and Cambodia than we do in all of WWII.
• Inhabitants of these regions STILL find live undetonated bombs today

Tet Offensive and America’s Government Lies to Its People

• "Tet" is the Vietnamese celebration of the new year.  It is the most important celebration of Vietnamese culture. Viet Cong/NVA launched an attack on Tet in 1968.

• NVA/VC briefly take several important cities, and slaughter those who inhabit them.

• Major turning point in the war bc the govt has been telling the US that we have been winning and there has been little resistance.  

• Public support of the war had been high, but the TO changes this because now it is clear that the government/media have been lying

• Attacks are everywhere in Vietnam which shows we don’t control any part of Vietnam!

Lies to its People (cont.)

• Soldiers are coming home and telling stories of what they have seen/done in Vietnam.
• At many universities/in large cities there are protests against the Vietnam War. 

• Public support of the war is very low among college students.  Many of them are on the front line of change 

• The counterculture movement also helped change the way that many Americans viewed the war, the government, life, etc.
• "Hippies" gave voice to the feeling that the government no longer represented the interests of the people, and advocated for peace/equality. 
• Rock and Roll Movement

Student Protests

• Students at the University of California at Berkeley protested the war on campus.  Due to the sheer number of students, Ronald Reagan (then governor) sent in the national guard to disperse them
• The anti-war protest violence reached a boiling point at Kent State University in Ohio.
• National Guard units sent to keep the peace shot tear gas into crowds, and when they failed to disperse, they opened fire.
• 13 students were shot. 4 died of their wounds.

American Withdrawal from Vietnam

• French President Charles De Gaulle actually called America “the greatest danger to world peace today”
• Due to the huge unpopularity of the war, the US began to slowly withdraw troops.  
• We will withdraw the last of our troops in 1973.
• By 1975, South Vietnam was invaded by the North and surrendered.

• Vietnam is unified under communism.

• People who had helped us in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam ask for asylum in the US for fear that the communist forces coming in would persecute them.

More Distrust in the Government

• Pentagon papers revealed that the US govt always planned to escalate the war in Vietnam.
• President Nixon impeachment hearings for Watergate scandal.

• Nixon ordered people to break into democratic party offices

• President Gerald Ford took over when Nixon “resigned” (left office to not be put on trial)

• His first move was to pardon Nixon (excuse him from any crimes that he committed so he couldn’t be tried in the courts)

More Woes for the US

• Gerald Ford lost the next election to Jimmy Carter; both presidents would deal with stagflation in the economy (rising inflation and high unemployment) 

• Ronald Reagan Elected

• A lot had to do with oil prices, US had become super dependent, and was currently under an embargo from Arab nations in the middle east (because of US support to Israel during 6 Day War) which quadrupled oil prices
• 53 Americans taken hostage by Ayatollah Khomeini.  

• Hostages spent 444 days in captivity.  
• America attempted a rescue operation (failed, called Eagle Claw) 8 Americans and 1 Iranian were killed.  

• Hostages finally released (with mediation from Algeria) as Ronald Reagan was sworn into office

The Reagan Revolution

• Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980.  (national debt = $920 Billion)
• Cut programs to help the poor (food stamps, welfare, free and reduced lunches in schools, etc.)
• Built up the largest peacetime army in history (tanks, planes, bombs, etc) and government spending goes through the roof.
• Instead of raising taxes to pay for this, he cuts taxes 

• Supply side economics: tax cuts are “for everyone” but the richest Americans get a greater cut than those on the bottom
• Tax cuts will allow the wealthiest to create jobs for the lower classes and create new revenue.
• It works for a little while, but has lasting repercussions.

• By 1988, the deficit has almost tripled and is at $2.6 Trillion

Student Protests In Europe and America

• Universities opened enrollment to many more students than ever before
• Many students became increasingly unhappy with the status quo: too many students, professors pay little attention to students, universities not providing education relevant to the realities of the modern age

• Outcry at many American universities too

• Student protest in Paris went bad, over 80 policemen and 500 students are injured
• German students protested Germany’s largest newspaper establishment, also ruthlessly broken up

A New Age for Feminism

• Feminists: women who want to exercise their political and social rights and speak publically for others to do the same
• Break from the rigid social roles thrust upon them to raise children and manage the home, can/SHOULD be seen as equal to men and can do the same work
• Betty Friedan wrote Feminine Mystique as a rallying cry for women (to escape the household duties thrust upon them) and it was an International Bestseller

• Used her fame to help found NOW (National Organization for Women) and advocate for a truly equal partnership with men

A Sexual Revolution

• Behavior slowly changing from the rigid social conventions (sense of morals and manners) long held by Europeans
• Sweden takes the lead in Europe

• Sex Education taught in schools 
• decriminalization of homosexuality

• Birth control Pill allows people to experiment sexually
• Study in Netherlands finds 74% of men and 86% of women have affairs
• Gay Rights movements in California spread to France, Italy, and Britain by 1970
• Pornography becomes mainstream (playboy, legal prostitution in Amsterdam and Berlin, etc)
• Divorce Rates rise dramatically

Margaret Thatcher

• Came to Power in England in 1979
• First Woman British Prime Minister!
• Promised to repeal much of the welfare state we saw costing Britain billions of Dollars
• Totally anti-communist and wanted to build Britain’s military back up to serve as a bit of a “world police officer” (kind of like America)
• Reforms caused some serious stagflation in England, and many programs (that I would consider necessary) like education received deep cuts

Growing Socialism in France

• The right wing policies of De Gaulle and a worsening of the French economy allowed the Socialist party of France to dominate the National Assembly and get leader Francois Mitterrand elected president.
• Froze prices and wages to prevent further inflation, imposed higher taxes on the rich, increased minimum wage, nationalized steel, space and electronics industries.
• Reforms somewhat unsuccessful, had to turn portions of government back to free enterprise

Eurocommunism in Italy

• Government mostly run by coalitions rather than a single powerful leader. (in 1978, former prime minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped and killed by terrorists)
• In the early 1980's, communists were even welcomed into the government.  

• Practiced Eurocommunism (communism without the Marxist ideology, revisionism, evolutionary socialism).  
• Won a number of local elections and had taken charge of the municipal governments of Rome and Naples for a time

• Italian Mafia spreads from southern to northern Italy

European Community

• In 1957, the European Economic Community was founded (France, Benelux, Italy, West Germany)
• Added Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, (1973)  Greece (1981), and finally Spain and Portugal (1986)
• Many members began to integrate their economies, leading to cooperative efforts in international and political affairs as well.  

• Led to an era of greatly improved relations between members of the community.

Detente

• Elements within the Soviet Union knew that things were starting to come apart.

• Falling behind the west.  Economy is coming apart

• After Cuban missile crisis, there is a feeling that we almost took the world to the brink, and it would be better to slowly ease the tensions between us. 
• Detente is an “easing of tensions” between the US and Soviet Union from about 1967 until 1979

• SALT Treaties (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) of 1971, 1977
• Causes a bit of a divide between China and Russia (which is Ironic, because our tensions with China are easing too! Tricky Dick has one more trick left to play)

China Under Mao

• Mao was convinced that only an atmosphere of constant revolutionary fervor could enable China to overcome the past and achieve the final stage of communism.
• Created the "Red Guards" in 1966.  

• RG's were urged to take to the streets and cleanse Chinese society of impure elements that were guilty of being capitalist.

• Set out to eliminate the "four olds" 

• Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, Old Habits

China Under Mao

• Red Guards ushered in the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution" destroying temples, foreign literature, jazz records, etc.
• Those accused of deviating from Mao's plan were humiliated at public meetings where they were forced to admit their crimes (or be beaten)
• Many other government officials don't share Mao's vision of permanent revolution.  
• When he died in 1976, a group of moderate reformers took power

Problems for the Soviet Union

• Despite losing the public support for the war in Vietnam, the US did taste victory in the space race.
• Soviets start to lag behind US
• First manned landing on the moon (1969) Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins

Problems for the Soviet Union

• Relationship between east and west German governments is almost civil (despite the wall built by Soviet Union)
• The more Brezhnev tightened his grip, more eastern nations chafed under Soviet Rule. 

• Solidarity Movement in Poland: Represents 10 of Poland’s 35 million ppl!
• Despite the Hungarian Rebellion of 1956 being violently crushed, Hungarians refused to submit 

• Janos Kadar (Hungary’s leader) legalized small private businesses (restaurants, retail stores, etc.) calling it “communism with a capitalist facelift”

• Improved Hungary’s relationship with western European countries.

More Problems for the Soviet Union

• Russia had viewed itself almost as a bigger brother to China.  Now, China had established itself as worthy of recognition
• Do countries that want support for communism turn to the Soviet Union or China now? This sours relations between the two nations
• China’ cultural revolution puts a more permanent split between the two

More Problems for the Soviet Union

• US - Stop Communism: Russia - Stop non-communist forms of government.
• Russians tried to support the communist government of Afghanistan, the US supports non-communist rebels (opposite of Vietnam for US)
• Rebels shoot down many Russian aircraft, mountains are their "jungle" with backing from US
• One of the contributing factors in S.U. downfall.
• Re-ignites some of the cold war tensions!