Cold War and Decolonization beyond 1900 Flashcards
What does OPEC stand for?
OPEC stands for the “Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.” OPEC was founded in 1960 and is predominantly made up of the states of the Middle East.
Oil has been a continual source of conflict in the Middle East. Many Middle Eastern states during the Cold War period were dictatorships, funded primarily from oil export revenues.
By 1962, how many Middle Eastern and North African states were controlled by the former colonial powers?
None
Driven by decolonization during the 1950s and 1960s, Egypt and North Africa had become independent. Independence was sometimes achieved peacefully (e.g. Jordan) and sometimes with a great degree of violence. France waged a protracted war in Algeria between 1954 to 1962.
Who was Colonel Gamal Nasser?
Nasser was an Egyptian leader who dominated Egypt upon its independence in the early 1950s. Dedicated to Arab Nationalism, Nasser took control of the Suez Canal and constructed the Aswan High Dam. Nasser also led Egypt in a series of conflicts with Israel.
What organization emerged to contest the establishment of the state of Israel?
The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, emerged to challenge the establishment of Israel as a Jewish state.
In 1948, the United Nations had established Israel with the goal of a joint Palestinian/Jewish state. The Palestinians rejected the United Nations’ plan and allied with several Arab states that launched attacks against Israel. Israel survived the onslaught, and the Palestinians were displaced.
In 1964, the PLO was established to provide some semblance of leadership to the Palestinians.
_____ was the first Arab state to recognize Israel.
Egypt
In a deal brokered by President Jimmy Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt’s Anwar Sadat in exchange for diplomatic recognition. During the 1980s, several other Arab states followed suit. Nevertheless, low-level conflict has continued to simmer in the region.
What religious figure came to power in Iran in 1979?
In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran after Shah Pahlavi was overthrown. Khomeini established a theocracy, strictly governed by the rules of Islam and opposed to the United States, whom Khomeini termed “The Great Satan.”
At the time of Khomeini’s takeover, the United States’ embassy in Tehran was seized, and Americans were held hostage from 1979 until 1981.
In 1990, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Army invaded Kuwait. How did the U.S. respond?
The Iraqi Army was the world’s fourth largest army. With the full support of the United Nations, the U.S. assembled 35 allies into a military force based in the Arabian Peninsula. After warning the Iraqis to withdraw, the U.S. led a massive ground war, dubbed Desert Storm, which destroyed the Iraqi military in less than 100 hours.
How did British and French decolonization in Sub-Saharan Africa differ from Belgian and Portuguese decolonization?
Although there were exceptions (e.g. Rhodesia and South Africa), British and French decolonization in Sub-Saharan Africa went relatively smoothly, with a well-planned decolonization movement aimed at minimizing conflict.
The Portuguese fought hard to maintain their colonies and were only removed after vicious, long-running conflicts. Belgian decolonization was poorly executed. After their withdrawal from Rwanda (1962) and the Congo (1960), the region descended into chaos along tribal lines that led to United Nations intervention.
How did Rhodesian and South African decolonization differ from the experience of other Sub-Saharan British colonies?
In both Rhodesia and South Africa, whites seized power and declared independence from Britain. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe once native control was established in 1980. In South Africa, a policy of extreme segregation known as apartheid kept the country separate along racial lines.
Who was the African National Congress’ most famous leader?
The African National Congress, a South African political party, was led by Nelson Mandela. Mandela opposed apartheid and was jailed for his beliefs from 1964 to 1990. Under intense diplomatic pressure, the South African government freed Mandela in 1990, and in 1994 apartheid ended followng Mandela’s election as South Africa’s president.
Which disease emerged in Africa in the 1980s and has continued to decimate the continent?
In the 1980s, HIV/AIDS emerged in Africa and has caused millions of deaths.
The United States granted independence to the _____ in 1946.
Philippines
The United States had seized the Philippines from Spain in 1898 and promised the country independence during the 1930s. The intervention of World War II and the Japanese occupation of the islands delayed the independence plan, but in 1946 the Philippines was granted independence.
Why did India and Pakistan split into two separate countries following Britain’s departure?
When the British left India in 1947, the former colony split along religious lines, with Pakistan being Muslim and India being Hindu.
Gandhi was assassinated in 1947 by a Hindu extremist who opposed his plan for peaceful coexistence between the two states. His successor, Jawaharlal Nehru, sought to emphasize secularism in India’s government.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have remained high since independence.
During the 1960s and 1970s, India was widely recognized as the leader of which group of nations?
India was widely recognized as the leader of the non-aligned nations, which were allied neither to the United States nor the Soviet Union. Non-alignment allowed India and nations such as Indonesia to chart an independent course that preserved good relations with both superpowers.
Which Southeast Asian colony did the French attempt to keep during the 1950s?
In the 1950s, France attempted to retain control of Vietnam, but were defeated by Vietnamese communists under Ho Chi Minh. Following the French defeat, the country was divided and the United States intervened on South Vietnam’s behalf in a long-running conflict that lasted until the 1970s. The country fell to the communists in 1975.
What nations were known as the “Little Tigers”?
South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore were known as the “Little Tigers,” capitalist countries with strong economies that developed in the 1960s and 1970s. The “Great Tiger” was Japan, which became one of the world’s leading economies after World War II.
What did Chairman Mao term his plan to rapidly improve China’s industrial capabilities?
Chairman Mao’s plan was the Great Leap Forward, which he announced in 1958. The Great Leap Forward was a disaster, leading to a famine that killed some 20 million Chinese and doing little to improve the country’s industrial capacity.
In 1966, Chairman Mao commenced the _____ _____ _____, which attempted to remake the Chinese society along pure Communist lines.
Proletarian Cultural Revolution
The Proletarian Cultural Revolution saw the jailing and execution of anyone deemed not to adhere to revolutionary Communist ideals. The only acceptable source of political behavior was Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.
Who followed Mao as China’s leader in 1976?
After Mao’s death in 1976, Mao’s widow and her allies seized control of the country but were defeated by Deng Xiaoping and his allies.
Deng was more moderate than Mao, placed less emphasis on Communism, and allowed for some limited economic reforms. Nevertheless, Deng was stridently opposed to increased political freedom and China remained under tight Communist control.
How did many observers view the large student protest in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989?
Coupled with events in Europe, it seemed as if worldwide Communism was on the decline. In China at least, rumors of Communism’s decline were greatly exaggerated and Communist forces crushed the protest.
The iconic image of the Tiananmen Square uprising is of a man standing alone, facing a long line of tanks rolling towards him.
Juan Peron emerged as the leader of what country in 1946?
In 1946, Peron took power in Argentina through the assistance of the Argentine military. Along with his charismatic wife Eva, Peron was popular among Argentina’s lower class.
Overthrown by the military in 1955, Peron fled to Spain but returned in 1973. After his death in 1974, the country was dominated by right-wing militants until 1983.
Who seized control of Chile in 1973?
With the assistance of the United States, Augusto Pinochet seized power in Chile in 1973, deposing the country’s democratically elected Marxist government. Pinochet was strongly right-wing and kept power through strong control of Chile’s military.
What political trend took place in Latin America during the 1980s?
During the 1980s, economic improvements and the end of the Cold War led to increased democratization in Latin America. Argentina had a free election in 1989, In Mexico, the PRI loosened power in 1988, eventually leading to free elections.
In July and August of 1945, representatives from the Soviet Union, the United States, and Great Britain divided Germany into zones of occupation at the _____ _____.
Potsdam Conference
The British, French, Americans, and Soviets each agreed to occupy roughly a quarter of Germany. In addition, the parties divided Berlin (which lay within the Soviet Zone) into four quarters, each assigned to one of the four powers.
In an agreement with the United States, Stalin and the Soviet Union were to allow free elections in the Eastern European countries they occupied at the end of World War II. What were the results of these elections?
The countries of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia all backed Soviet candidates, although the elections were not open and honest. The Soviets’ failure to allow open and honest elections strained relations with the United States.
What did Winston Churchill declare an “Iron Curtain” in 1946?
Churchill was referring to the Soviet Union’s domination of the countries of Eastern Europe.
The term Iron Curtain came to represent the ideological and economic divide between the countries of Western Europe and those countries of Eastern Europe under Communist control.
In early 1947, U.S. President Harry Truman announced that the United States would provide aid to _____, where pro-Western forces were involved in a civil war with Communist troops.
Greece
Truman announced the aid with the statement that “[t]he policy of the United States is to support free people who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outright pressure.” Truman’s support for non-Communist nations resisting Communist forces became known as the Truman Doctrine.
Beginning in 1948, U.S. foreign policy centered upon the doctrine of containment. What is containment?
Suggested by George Kennan in 1946, the U.S. foreign policy of containment centered on containing Communism to those countries where it existed and halting its further spread.
Containment led to the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to U.S. involvement in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
