4 The spread of the Cold War Flashcards
spread of cold war
not limited to EU -> “warfare” extended to other regions -> some been developed to war -> many casualties
1. chinese civil war
2. korean war
3. vietnam war
4. cuban missile crisis
Chinese civil war year
1946-1949
Chinese Civil War
1946 -> full scale civil war broke out between communists + nationalists (Kuomintang) in China -> fighting since the 1920s
during WW2 -> US gov support nationalists -> weak due to corruption + inefficiency
communists stronger -> strong leaders Mao Zedong + Zhou Enlai + PLA (people’s liberation army) helped communists secure control over most of countryside
1949 -> nationalists under Chiang kai-shek defeated -> communists officially proclaim birth of People’s Republic of China in Beijing 1st oct -> Chiang and remaining forces fled to Taiwan
US gov worried about Communists’ takeover of China -> success important sign of communist expansion + they signed treaty of friendship between communist China + soviet union in 1950 -> sent aid to Nationalists in Taiwan (an american fleet was even sent)
-» tension between communist + capitalist spread from Europe to Asia
Korean War date
1950-53
Korean War background
WW2 end -> two opposing governments set up
NK -> communist -> kim il sung -> Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
SK -> US created anti-communist government by Rhee Syngman -> Republic of Korea
two zones governed under different political systems -> separated along 38th parallel
both wanted to unite Korea -> open hostility unavoidable
4 stages of the Korean War
- 25 June 1950 -> NK invade SK -> forces captured whole of SK except area around Pusan -> SK gov nearly collapsed
- 16 member states help (UN help) -> army formed to help South Korea -> main fighting done by Americans -> drove NKs out of SK by Nov 1950
- China intervened on the side of communist gov on North Korea in 1950 -> 200,000 soldiers sent + UN army forced to back to a line near 38th parallel
- war continued until July 1953 -> both sides unable to break through the other’s defence -> armistice signed -> restore original boundary between North + South Korea
results + significance of Korean War
around 4 million koreans died -> country still divided into communist NK with capital at Pyongyang + capitalist SK with capital at Seoul
1. showed determination of US protecting her interest in Asia
2. Korean War first direct “hot” conflict between East + West during Cold War period
3. made US adopt strong policy in Asia -> regarded China as dangerous giant who was to be isolated
Vietnam war date
1961-75
Vietnam War background
another battle broke out in 1961 -> part of international conflict between capitalism and communism
vietnam -> part of French colony Indochina -> included Laos + Cambodia WW2 -> Japan occupied -> Ho Chi Minh led guerrillas against Japanese
1945 -> Ho set up Democratic Republic of Vietnam to fight against French
1954 -> French driven out of Vietnam
WW2 end -> Geneva peace conference -> independent -> divided into 2 parts along 17th parallel:
1. NV communist country under Ho Chi Minh
2. anti communist in SV under Ng Dinh Diem -> dictator
French retreat -> civil war broke out
The Vietnam War
1959 -> communist guerrilla fighters (Viet Cong) -> start rebellion in SV with support of NV -> US determined to prevent Communist takeover -> began to help SV government -> fear the fall will spread communism in other Asian Countries (Domino theory)
SU + China -> supplying aid to Vietcong -> Vietnam War developed into military competition
The intervention by the US in the Vietnam War
US president Eisenhower afraid if SV turned communist -> other countries in East Asia will fall like dominoes to Communism -> sent US advisors + weapons to South Vietnam to keep her from the Communists
John F Kennedy + Lyndon B Johnson followed policy + continued with US involvement in war
1968 -> half a million Americans in Vietnam -> 30 billion dollars a year -> expenditures + casualties shocked Americans -> Anti-war movements gained in strength in US
US unable to defeat Viet Cong (guerrilla experts) -> gradually withdrew -> armstice signed in Paris between US + NV in 1973 -> but war continued -> SV defeated in 1975 -> vietnam reunited communist rule -> Laos + Cambodia also became communist
significance of Vietnam War
failure of US alarmed Americans-> killed over 45,000 -> people begin to support President Nixon’s policy of no direct intervention -> ease tensions between capitalist + communist
Cuban Missile Crisis year
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis background
early 1950s -> stalins successor Khrushchev declared policy of “peaceful coexistence” with west -> showed willingness to settle disputes through negotiations -> however cold war between East and West intensified with Cuban Missile Crisis
To Americans -> Cuba’s location was strategically important to country’s national security (near south of Florida) -> Cuban gov friendly to US for years
1959 -> Fidel Castro established communist gov + maintained close relationship with SU -> Kennedy saw this as threat -> supported move by Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro government -> attempt failed Castro even closer with SU
US set up intermediate range ballistic missiles in Turkey (country bordering the SU) -> SU leader Khrushchev wanted to take advantage to turn Cuba into Soviet nuclear missile base
The Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 -> US discovered SU was building nuclear missile sites in Cuba + shipping nuclear missiles to country -> saw as serious threat to US national security -> relations tense
attitudes of US and SU towards Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy dared not appear weak in Crisis
1. ordered national mobilisation
2. naval blockade of Cuba
3. demanded withdrawal of Soviet missiles
-> brink of nuclear war
results and significance of Cuban Missile Crisis
nuclear war did not happen -> critical moment Khrushchev backed down -> agree to remove missiles from Cuba + dismantle missile sites if US promised not to invade Cuba + remove own missiles from Turkey -> Kennedy accepted -> blockade of cuba lifted
- showed Khrushchev dared not start a war + wanted peaceful solution to crisis -> realised nuclear strength of his country was still inferior to that of the US -> nuclear war result in Soviet suffering -> fear of nuclear war help ease tensions between two countries + prevented outbreak of war at critical moment
- both sides realised pushing each other to the brink was too risky -> tensions grew closer
- 1963 “hot line” telephone link set up between Washington + Moscow
- nuclear arm control talks began -> Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed to stop further testing of nuclear weapons -> tension seemed to have reduced
