1. Cold War (Origins + Cuba + Vietnam) Flashcards
How did Cuba change when Castro took over?
Fidel Castro was communist and so Cuba became communist when he took over from Batista in 1959. Castro also took control of/nationalised all US-owned companies when the USA stopped trading with Cuba.
Describe the Bay of Pigs invasion
At the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy sent 1,400 anti-Castro Cuban exiles armed and with CIA support to invade Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Castro. They were met with 20,000 Cuban troops and were all captured or killed within days. The incident was denied by Kennedy as he found it too embarrassing.
Explain why the Soviet Union became involved in Cuba
- Cuba asked for weapons to defend themselves against America in September 1961, following the Bay of Pigs
- Soviet Union publicly promises to provide Cuba with the weapons
- Castro set up trade agreements with Krushchev after USA stopped buying Cuban sugar. Krushchev agreed to buy 1 million tonnes of Cuban sugar and send Cuba oil, money and machinery
- Krushchev also wanted to put nuclear missile bases on Cuba, and this way he could make Kennedy remove the missile bases on Turkey
Explain why the USA was concerned about Soviet missiles in Cuba
The missiles on Cuba could destroy over half of America if launched, killing several million people. Both sides (USA+USSR) had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world and so if Cuba fired the missiles, the USA would have to fire back.
What were Kennedy’s options after missile sites were discovered on Cuba
- Launch a naval blockade meaning that no soviet ships were able to get through, however if a ship tried to break the blockade they would have to be destroyed and this could cause problems between the USSR and USA (option chosen)
- Destroy the missiles (would require launching an airstrike)
- Invade Cuba (could start a war)
- Use diplomacy e.g UN (could make him look weak)
What does MAD mean?
Mutually Assured Destruction
The principle of MAD is therefore one of the nuclear deterrence
Overall outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis
USSR
- Cuba is an ally + is safe
- Krushchev is forced to back down, humiliated
- Still not as many nuclear weapons as the USA
- 1964 Krushchev forced from power by his enemies in the USSR
USA
- Kennedy has an improved reputation
- Gets to leave the missiles on Turkey
- HOWEVER Cuba are still communist + trade restrictions against Cuba are still in place today
OVERALL DATES (CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS)
October 14th 1962 - American U2 spy plane takes pictures of a nuclear missile base being built in Cuba
October 22nd 1962 - Kennedy (naval) blockades Cuba
October 27th 1962 - U2 plane is shot down over Cuba
October 28th 1962 - Krushchev agrees to remove nuckear missile bases in Cuba if Kennedy does the same in Turkey (he doesn’t, bases are still removed), phone hotline was set up
1963 - Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed
Why did the USA-USSR alliance begin to break down and the Yalta and Potsdam conferences?
Yalta - Stalin wanted to move the border of Poland westwards into German territory- Roodevelt was unhappy but agreed since Stalin promised not to help communist rebels in Greece
Potsdam - Truman blocked Stalin’s demands for crippling reparations (fines) to be placed on Germany.
Truman refuses to allow the USSR to occupy Japan once it was defeated.
How did the USSR gain control of Eastern Europe by 1948?
Stalin created a buffer zone between east and west. He set up Cominform in 1947, an alliance of communist countries which restricted their contact with the West. He also set up Comecon to coordinate trade between the countries. He also held elections in other countries, however these were always rigged to ensure communists won.
How did the USA react to Soviet expansion?
- Truman was informed in 1947 that GB could no longer afford to keep troops in Greece and Turkey so he paid for the troops to be kept there and gave financial backing to the two countries. This was the beginning of the US policy of containment.
- Truman Doctrine
- Marshall Plan
What was the Truman Doctrine?
Truman announced this change of policy to the world in a speech in March 1947 - he made it clear that the USA was prepared to assist any country under the threat of communism.
Four reasons the USA became involve in Vietnam
•Containment
- Stopping communism from spreading
- Fear of communism in USA
•Domino Theory
- All surrounding countries could fall to communism, eventually leading to the USA
- So Ho Chi Minh would not get elected and the South would not turn communist
- Gulf of Tonkin
Why was President Diem’s government so unpopular?
- Was Catholic, gave his friends/family/Catholics places of power
- Did not hold elections
- Burned Buddhist shrines
- Quang Duc (73 year old Buddhist priest) burnt himself to death in protest against the attacks in Buddhist shrines (1963)
- USA supported Diem’s regime with around $1.6 billion in the 1950s
- Diem was assassinated in November 2nd 1963 (Kennedy allowed the assassination to happen)
- Military government was put in place
How was Vietnam organised and rules from 1954?
•Vietnam was a colony of the French until 1930. It was then divided into 2 separate countries by the 17th parallel
•North Vietnam after 1954
- Led by Ho Chi Minh
- Communist/Nationalist
- Capital city is Hanoi
- Supported NVA (North Vietnamese Army) / Vietcong
•South Vietnam after 1954
- led by Ngo Dinh Diem
- Capitalist
- Opposed Vietcong, supported by USA
- Capital city was Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City
