World History B Unit 9 – Flashcards
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superpower
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nations with economic resources and military might to dominate the globe
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Cold War
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a state of hostility and tension between nations aligned with the U.S., and the Soviet Union; no armed conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union
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Truman Doctrine
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limiting communism to areas already under Soviets
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containment
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limiting communism to areas already under Soviets
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Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart- How did tensions grow among the Allies?
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By 1945, they were crumbling. Different ideologies, distrust led to the Cold War. At postwar discussion the Allies forged a united front. At Yalta Conference, Churchill and Roosevelt accepted Stalin's demands of Eastern Europe. They agreed to Allied occupation of Germany and reparations. Despite the agreements tensions deepened as the war ended.
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Wartime Alliance Breaks Apart- How did the Cold War begin?
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At first focus of Cold War was Eastern Europe. Stalin wanted to spread communism in Eastern Europe, and anted to create buffer zone of friendly governments as defence against Germany. Red Army (communists) pushed Germans out. U.S. didn't talk over peace terms for Italy and Japan (occupied by U.S. and Britain). So Soviets would determined fate of Eastern European lands. Churchill and Roosevelt against Stalin, made him promise 'free elections' in Eastern Europe. Stalin ignored it. Most Eastern European countries had existing Communist parties. Backed by Red Army, the Communist parties all over destroyed opposition. 1948, pro-Soviet communist governments were in place throughout Eastern Europe.
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How did Soviet aggression grow?
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In Greece, Stalin backed communist rebels who were fighting to overturn a right-wing monarchy supported by Britain. 1947, Britain couldn't afford to defend Greece. Stalin was menacing Turkey and vital shipping lane through Dardanelles.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- What was the Iron Curtain?
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1946, Churchill spoke of how Soviets were stealing off countries in Eastern Europe that its armies occupied during the war. In West, 'iron curtain' became symbol of fear of communism. Described division of Europe into 'eastern' and 'western' blocks. East = Soviet-dominated, communism. West = western democracies led by U.S.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- What was the Truman Doctrine?
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President Truman saw communism as evil force threatening countries around world. To deal with growing communism in Greece and Turkey, on March 12, 1947, Truman outlined new policy to congress. Known as Truman Doctrine it was rooted in containment. Stalin saw containment as 'encirclement' by capitalist world that wanted to isolate Soviet Union. Truman Doctrine made clear that Americans would resist Soviet expansion. Truman sent military and economic aid and advisers to Greece and Turkey.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- How did the Marshall Plan aid Europe?
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Hunger and poverty made western Europe perfect for communist seeds to grow. To strengthen democratic governments, U.S. offered massive aid package called Marshall Plan. Marshall Plan = U.S. funnelled food and economic assistance to Europe; billions of dollars in American aid helped to rebuild Europe. Truman offered aid to Soviets and their satellites. Stalin forbade Eastern European countries to accept American aid, and promised Soviets would help.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- How was Germany divided?
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Germany became another focus of tensions between Soviets and U.S. Soviets took reparations for massive losses by dismantling and moving factories and resources from occupation zone to Soviet Union. Soviets feared danger of restored Germany. Western powers took some reparations, but wanted a stable democratic Germany. Democracies united their zones of occupation and encouraged Germans to rebuild industries with Marshall Plan aid. Soviets were furious at this move and strengthened hold of eastern Germany. Germany became divided. West Germany = democratic in which people write a constitution and regain self-government. East Germany = Soviets installed dictatorship tied to Moscow.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- What was the Berlin Airlift?
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Stalin's resentment at Western moves to rebuild Germany triggered a crisis at Berlin. Despite Berlin being in Soviet zone, former German capital was occupied by four Allies. June 1948, Stalin tried to force Allies out of Berlin by sealing off highway and railroad to Western sectors of city. Western powers responded to blockade by mounting a round-the-clock airlift. For over a year, cargo planes supplied West Berliners with food and fuel. Their success forced Soviets to end blockade. Although West had won victory in Cold War, hostility grew between the two.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- What were the new alliances?
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1949, U.S., Canada, and ten other countries formed military alliance called NATO; members pledged to help one another if any one of them were attacked. 1955, Soviet Union responded by forming its own military alliance- Warsaw Pact had Soviet Union and seven satellites in Eastern Europe. Unlike NATO, Warsaw Pact was invoked by Soviets to keep its satellites in order.
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Soviet Aggression Grows- What was the propaganda war?
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U.S. spoke of defending capitalism and democracy against communism and totalitarianism. Soviet Union claimed moral high ground in the struggle against western imperialism. But, both sides sought world power.
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What were the two opposing sides in Europe?
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As cold war deepened, U.S. and Soviets faced off against each other. For over 40 years, Cold War loomed over Europe. U.S. and Soviets avoided direct confrontation but sometimes Europe was brought to brink of war.
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Two Opposing Sides in Europe- What was the Berlin Wall?
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Berlin = key focus of Cold War tensions. City divided into democratic West Berlin and communist East Berlin. 1950s, West Berlin = showcase for West German prosperity. Unhappy communism, many low-paid East Germany fled into Wester Berlin. To stop this, East German government built a wall in 1961 that separated West from East. Berlin wall = massive barrier topped with barbed wire and patrolled by guards, the wall showed that workers far from enjoying a communist paradise, had to be forcibly kept from fleeing
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Two Opposing Sides in Europe- What were the revolts in Eastern Europe?
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Soviet Union had over 30 divisions of troops stationed across the region. 1953, about 50,000 workers confronted Soviet army in streets of German capital. Uprising spread to other East German cities, but couldn't withstand Soviet tanks. 1956, Poland had riots and strikes. Polish government made some reforms, but dissatisfaction remained. 1956, Imre Nagy, communist reformer, gained power in Hungary. Ended one-party rule, ejected Soviet troops, and withdrew from Warsaw Pact. In response, Soviet Union invaded Hungary, ended reforms, and killed Nagy. 1968, Czechoslovakian leader, Alexander Dubcek introduced freedom of expression and limited democracy. This movement of freedom = Prague Spring. Soviet leaders feared democracy would threaten communist power and Soviet domination. Soviets responded with force, sending Warsaw Pact troops to oust Dubcek and end the reforms.
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What was the Nuclear Arms Race?
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Most frightening aspect of Cold War. First, U.S. was only nuclear power. By 1949, Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb. 1953, both sides had developed far more destructive military technology- the hydrogen bomb.
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The Nuclear Arms Race- What was the Balance of Terror?
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U.S. and Soviet Union spent vast sums to develop new, more deadly nuclear and conventional weapons. Invested more to improve 'delivery systems'- the bombers, missiles, and submarines to launch the weapons. Critics argued the arms race would be destruction on both sides, but it continued. 1960s, possibility of nuclear war led to mutually assured destruction (MAD) = if one side launched attack, the other side would retaliate and both sides destroyed. Even though MAD discouraged nuclear war, fear of such conflict haunted world. The balance of power, became the balance of terror.
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The Nuclear Arms Race- What were the disarmament talks?
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To reduce threat of nuclear war, both sides talked of disarmament. Mutual distrust slowed progressed, power reached some agreements. 1963, agreed to Nuclear Test Ban Treaty = banned testing of nuclear weapons in atmosphere. 1969, U.S. and Soviet Union began Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) to limit number of nuclear weapons held by each side. 1972 and 1979, both sides signed agreements. 1991, U.S. and Russia negotiated Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was renewed recently. START agreements led to removal of most nuclear weapons.
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The Nuclear Arms Race- What was the era of détente?
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During 1970s, American and Soviet leaders promoted era of détente or relaxation of tensions. Détente brought new agreements to reduce nuclear stockpiles as both sides turned to diplomacy. Era of détente ended in 1979 when soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
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The Nuclear Arms Race- How was the spread of nuclear weapons limited?
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Late 1960s, Britain, France, and China developed their own nuclear weapons. Many world leaders = eager to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. 1968, dozens of nations signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The agreed not to develop nuclear weapons and cooperate in peaceful use of nuclear energy.
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What was the Cold War around the world?
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By end of World War II, Soviets helped communist forces in China, Korea, and elsewhere. U.S. took action to stop spread of communism.
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The Cold War Around the World- What was the establishment of alliances and bases?
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To stop spread of communism, U.S. sought regional alliances with friendly powers. In Europe, it backed NATO. In Asia, U.S. promoted regional alliance- Southeast-Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). SEATO has U.S., Britain, France, Australia, Pakistan, Thailand, New Zealand, and Philippines. U.S. formed military alliances with individual nations, such as Japan and South Korea. These agreements included right to set up American military bases. As result, American bases circled globe. Soviet Union formed its own alliances. In addition to Warsaw Pact, Soviet Union formed alliances with newly independent nations in Africa and Asia. But Soviet Union had few bases overseas.
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The Cold War Around the World- What were some hotspots in the Cold War?
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Because of global reaches, local conflicts played into Cold War. Often U.S. supported one side and Soviets the other. Through these struggles the superpowers fought indirectly. Political shifts added to tensions. Communist forces won control of mainland China in 1949, U.S. feared tide of communism would sweep around world. European colonies in Africa and Asia battled for independence. Liberation leaders and guerrillas frequently sought help from one or the other Cold War power. Sometimes, Cold War had shooting wars, especially in Asia. Korea and Vietnam were torn by brutal conflicts. Superpowers provided weapons, training, and aid to Asia, Africa or Latin America.
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The Cold War Around the World- What was the connection between the U.S. and Latin America?
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U.S. was worried about communism in Western Hemisphere. Seeing movements in Latin America as communist threats, it backed right-wing, anti-communist dictators, and helped topple elected socialist leaders. 1962, Cuba became chief focus of U.S.
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The Cold War Around the World- What was the communist revolution in Cuba?
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1950s, Fidel Castro organised armed rebellion against corrupt dictator who ruled Cuba. 1959, Castro led his tiny guerrilla army to victory and set about transforming the country into a communist state. Castro nationalised foreign-owned businesses. Put most land under government control and distributed the rest to peasant farmers. While Castro imposed harsh authoritarian rule, he did improve conditions for poor. Castro's revolution angered many Cubans, and critics were jailed or killed. Hundreds of Cubans left to U.S. U.S. attempted to bring down communist regime. 1961, John F. Kennedy backed plan by anti-Castro exiles to invade Cuba and lead uprising. Poorly planned plot was disaster. Invasion force landed at Bay of Pigs but was crushed. News of plots helped Castro rally Cuban popular opinion against foreign interference. The invasion hurt U.S. reputation.
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The Cold War Around the World- What was the Cuban missile crisis?
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1962, U.S. imposed trade embargo on Cuba. Castro, seeking closer ties with Soviet Union, let Soviets build nuclear missile bases in Cuba. Threat of Soviet nuclear bases in its backyard outraged U.S. October 1962, Kennedy imposed naval blockade of Cuba. Kennedy demanded Soviet Union remove its nuclear missiles. Finally, soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev backed down, but won pledge from Kennedy not to invade Cuba.
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What was the Soviet Union during the Cold War?
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Victories in World War II brought few rewards to Soviet people. Stalin was still ruthless. Filled labor camps with 'enemies of the state' and seemed ready to launch new purges when he died in 1953.
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The Soviet Union During the Cold War- What was Soviet Communism?
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Soviet Union government controlled most aspects of public life. Communists valued obedience, discipline, and economic security. Sought to spread communist ideology, or value systems and beliefs around the globe. Soviet Union aimed to spread command economy around world. Government planners in Moscow had little knowledge of local conditions. Government owned most property. Collectivised agriculture remained unproductive that Soviet Union often imported grain. Russia's command economy couldn't match free-market economies.
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The Soviet Union During the Cold War- Who were Stalin's successors?
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Stalin died in 1953. Nikita Khrushchev emerged as New Soviet leader. 1956, he shocked top Communist Party members when he denounced Stalin's abuse of power. Khrushchev maintained Communist Party's tight control, but closed prison camps and eased censorship. Called for peaceful coexistence with West. Khrushchev's successor, Leonid Brezhnev, held power from mid-1960s until he died in 1982. Und Brezhnev, dissidents, people who critiqued government, were imprisoned.
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The Soviet Union During the Cold War- How did the dissidents resist?
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Despite risk of harsh punishment, dissidents still existed. Andrei Sakharov, physicist, spoke against human rights abuses. He was exiled to remote Soviet city. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote letter criticising Stalin. He was sent to prison camp, then released. He wrote fictional works that drew on his experiences in Soviet prison camps. His works were banned in Soviet Union and in 1947 was deported to West Germany. Despite government's actions, Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn inspired others to resist communist repression and demand greater freedom.
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What was the U.S. in the Cold War?
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Democratic, capitalist countries, led by U.S. gave citizens freedom to make economic and political choices. Nations valued freedom and prosperity. Held economic freedom and free market principles helped improve human condition.
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The United States in the Cold War- What are free markets?
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Communist countries had command economies, capitalist countries had market economies. U.S. economy is market economy, but has a mixed economy because governments have economic roles.
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The United States in the Cold War- What was the cold war at home?
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Early in Cold War, fierce anti-communists in U.S. warned soviet agents were operating within the country. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) led a campaign to identify supposed communist sympathisers. Early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy charged many innocent citizens with harbouring communist sympathies. Senate condemned McCarthy but he had already destroyed careers of thousands of Americans. Fear of nuclear was affected Americans. Some families built fallout shelters, where they could hide in event of nuclear bomb. Schools had air-raid drills. These measures wouldn't protect children, it reflected widespread fear of nuclear war.
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What was the postwar prosperity in the United States?
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American economic system flourished. American businesses expanded into markets around globe. Dollar was world's strongest currency. Foreigners flocked to invest in American industry and by U.S. bonds. America's wealth was a model for other democracies and challenge to the stagnant economies of the communist world.
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Postwar Prosperity in the U.S.- What was America in a central role?
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During Cold War, U.S. was a global political leader. Headquarters of League of Nations was new in NYC. U.S. = leading economic role. America had emerged untouched from destruction of World War II. Nations needing American aid helped U.S. achieve postwar boom. Long postwar peace among democratic nations helped to spread this boom worldwide.
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Postwar Prosperity in the U.S.- What was the economic boom?
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1945, U.S. produced 50% of world's manufactured goods. Factories shifted from making war stuff to peaceful stuff. With Cold War, government military spending increased, creating many jobs. 1950s and 1960s, American economy was booming. Growing population demanded homes, cars, refrigerators, etc. Overseas, American business invested in Europe's recovery. American cultural influence spread around the world. America's postwar economic strength impacted social systems in the U.S. People went from cities to suburbs (suburbanisation). Americans moved to Sunbelt. Jobs in Sunbelt (SOUTH) were more plentiful than in North.
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Postwar Prosperity in the U.S.- What was the wider role for government?
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In postwar, government's role in economy grew. Under Truman, Congress made generous benefits that helped veterans attend college or buy homes. Truman programs expanded FDR's New Deal. President Dwight Eisenhower tried to reduce government's role. He approved government funding for interstate highway system.
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Postwar Prosperity in the U.S.- What was the relation between the United States and the global economy?
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U.S. profited from growing global economy. Interdependence- mutual dependence of countries on goods, resources, and knowledge from other parts of world- brought issues. 1970s, political crisis in Middle East led to global oil shortage. Oil crisis brought recessions- fairly mild. Competition from nations in Asia led to challenges for U.S. 1980S, U.S. lost manufacturing jobs to Asia and Latin America. American corporations moved operations overseas to take advantage of low wages. U.S. remained rich and magnet for immigrants. Newcomers came mostly from Latin America and Asia. 1980s, Americans called for stricter laws to halt illegal immigration.
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How did the U.S. respond to new challenges?
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The 1950s seemed a peaceful time within the United States. Yet changes were underway that would reshape American society. Among the most far-reaching was the Civil Rights Movement, which sought to ensure the promise of equal opportunity for all Americans.
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- What was the Civil Rights Movement?
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Although African Americans had won freedom nearly a century before, many states, especially in the South, denied them equality. Segregation, or forced separation, was legal in education and housing. African Americans also faced discrimination, or unequal treatment and barriers, in jobs and voting. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s renewed earlier efforts to end racial injustice. In 1954, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. It declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional. President Eisenhower and his successors used federal power to uphold the order to desegregate public schools.
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- Who was Martin Luther King, Jr.?
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By 1956, a gifted preacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had emerged as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by Gandhi's campaign of civil disobedience in India, King organized boycotts and led peaceful marches to end segregation in the United States. Many Americans of all races joined the Civil Rights Movement. Their courage in the face of sometimes brutal attacks stirred the nation's conscience. In 1963, at a huge civil rights rally, King made a stirring speech. "I have a dream," he proclaimed, "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- What were the progress and problems?
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In time, Congress responded. It outlawed segregation in public accommodations, protected the rights of black voters, and required equal access to housing and jobs. Despite these victories, racial prejudice survived, and African Americans faced many economic obstacles. Poverty and unemployment plagued African American communities in urban areas. Still, the Civil Rights Movement provided wider opportunities. Many African Americans won elected offices or gained top jobs in business and the military.
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- What other groups demanded equality?
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The Civil Rights Movement inspired other groups, such as Native Americans and Latinos, to campaign for equality. Women, too, renewed their efforts to gain equal rights. New civil rights laws banned discrimination based on gender as well as race in hiring and promotion. More women won political office, and some made progress into high positions in business.
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- What was the great society?
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During the 1960s, the government further expanded social programs to help the poor and disadvantaged. President Lyndon Johnson created a program that he called the Great Society. It funded Medicare, which ensured health care for the elderly, job training and low-cost housing for the poor, and support for education. Many Americans came to rely on these programs in the next decades.
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The U.S. Responds to New Challenges- What was the conservative response?
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In the 1980s, conservatives challenged costly social programs and the growth of government. President Ronald Reagan called for cutbacks in government spending on social programs. Congress ended some welfare programs, reduced government regulation of the economy, and cut taxes. At the same time, military spending increased. Government spending and tax cuts greatly increased the national deficit, the gap between what a government spends and what it takes in through taxes and other sources. As the deficit grew, conservatives crusaded for deeper cuts in social and economic programs. Debate raged about how far to cut spending on programs ranging from education and welfare to environmental protection.
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What was the rebuilding of Western Europe?
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The impact ofâand recovery fromâWorld War II on the political and economic systems of Europe was profound. With Marshall Plan aid from the United States, Western European countries recovered from World War II. They rebuilt industries, farms, and transportation networks destroyed during the war. In the 1950s, economies in Western Europe boomed. Standards of living rose dramatically, and people began to enjoy comforts unheard of in earlier times.
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Rebuilding Western Europe- What was West Germany's economic miracle?
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The early postwar years were a desperate time for Germany. People were starving amid a landscape of destruction. The Cold War left Germany divided. West Germany was a member of the Western alliance. East Germany lay in the Soviet orbit. Over the next decades, differences between the two Germanys widened. Early on, the United States rushed aid to West Germany in order to strengthen it against the communist tide sweeping Eastern Europe. From 1949 to 1963, a strong-minded chancellor, Konrad Adenauer (AD eh now er), led West Germans as they rebuilt cities, factories, and trade. Despite high taxes to pay for the recovery, West Germany created a booming industrial economy. This "economic miracle" raised European fears of a German revival. But West German leaders worked closely with France and the United States in NATO and other international organizations. While West Germany remained a capitalist country, some later chancellors belonged to the Socialist party. They expanded the welfare state. Under this political system, a government keeps most features of a capitalist economy but takes much responsibility for the social and economic needs of its people. In the welfare state, a government provides national health care, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, and support for qualified students to attend college.
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Rebuilding Western Europe- What was the reunion of Germany?
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The postwar decades brought no economic miracle to East Germany. Under communist rule, its economy stagnated. The Soviet Union exploited East German workers and industry for its own benefit. Still, unemployment was low, and East German workers had some basic benefits such as health care and free education. By 1989, communism was declining in the Soviet Union. Without Soviet power to back them, East Germany's communist leaders were forced out of office. The Berlin Wall was torn down, and in 1990, Germany was reunited. While Germans welcomed unity, the change brought new challenges. Prosperous West Germans had to pay higher taxes to finance the rebuilding of the east. At the same time, East Germans faced a difficult transition to a market economy.
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Rebuilding Western Europe- How did Britain recover?
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World War II left Britain physically battered and economically drained. After the war, Britain could no longer afford its overseas colonies, which demanded independence. Britain gave up global leadership to its close ally, the United States. The war also impacted the British political system. After the war, British voters elected a Labour Party government, which began building a welfare state. The government nationalized industries and expanded social welfare benefits. It built housing for the poor and opened new state-funded universities. A national health service extended free or low-cost medical care to all citizens. To pay for these benefits, taxes rose tremendously. By 1979, Britain and the rest of Europe faced economic hard times. Britain's Conservative party, led by Margaret Thatcher, won power and set out to roll back the welfare state. Thatcher privatized government-run industries, curbed the power of labor unions, reduced the size of the government bureaucracy, and cut back welfare services.
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Rebuilding Western Europe- How did other Western nations achieve prosperity?
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Other nations in Western Europe, including France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, rebuilt after the war, helped by Marshall Plan aid. Like Britain, these Europeans powers had to give up their overseas colonial empires. France faced bloody conflicts in Vietnam and Algeria, which it tried to hold on to in the face of nationalist demands for independence. The Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark created extensive socialist welfare programs. By the 1990s, rising costs revived debate about how much people were willing to pay for the welfare state. Yet many peoples saw these social programs as essential to a democratic society. Postwar Italy faced many challenges, including a multiparty political system that led to frequent changes of government. Corruption and financial scandals shook the government. Despite these problems, Italy made impressive economic gains.
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Rebuilding Western Europe- What was the building of the European Union?
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Europe's postwar recovery was helped by economic cooperation. In 1952, six nationsâWest Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Italyâset up the European Coal and Steel Community. It eased barriers to trade in coal and steel, which spurred economic growth. Later, these nations formed the European Community to expand free trade. Over time, it ended tariffs, or taxes on imports, and allowed workers and capital to move freely across national borders. In 1993, the European Community was renamed the European Union (EU). Since then, it has expanded to include 28 nations, including Britain, Ireland, Denmark, and other European countries. The EU set up a common currency, the euro, which is used by 17 European nations. The EU became a powerful economic force and promoted regional trade and peace by replacing destructive competition with an amazing degree of cooperation.
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How was Japan transformed?
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In 1945, Japan, like Germany, lay in ruins. It had suffered perhaps the most devastating damage of any nation involved in World War II. Tens of thousands of Japanese were homeless and hungry.
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Japan is Transformed- How did occupation bring changes?
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The war had a deep impact on the political system of Japan. Under General Douglas MacArthur, the American military government set two main goals for the occupation of Japan: to destroy militarism and to ensure democratic government. Japan's armed forces were disbanded. War crime trials were held to punish those responsible for wartime atrocities. In 1946, Japan adopted a new constitution, which set up a parliamentary democracy. Although the Japanese emperor lost all political power, he remained the symbolic head of the nation. Japan renounced war and banned any military forces, except for its own defence. To build Japanese democracy, American occupying forces backed changes to the economic and social systems. They opened the education system to all people and emphasized legal equality for women. A land-reform program bought out large landowners and gave land to tenant farmers, erasing lingering traces of feudalism in Japan. Other reforms protected the rights of workers.
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Japan is Transformed- What was the relation between Japan and the Cold War?
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By 1950, Japan was on the road to recovery. At the same time, the Cold War was making the United States eager to end the occupation. As the Cold War erupted into armed conflict in nearby Korea, the United States and Japan signed a peace treaty, and in 1952, the occupation ended. Japan and the United States had close ties during the Cold War. The American military operated out of bases that they had set up in Japan, while Japan enjoyed the protection of the American "nuclear umbrella." The two nations were trading partners, and in time, competitors for global markets.
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Japan is Transformed- What was the Japanese economic miracle?
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Between 1950 and 1975, Japan produced its own economic miracle, even more spectacular than Germany's. It chalked up huge jumps in gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced by a nation in a particular year. Japan's success was built on producing goods for export. At first, it manufactured textiles. Later, it shifted to selling steel and machinery. By the 1970s, Japanese cars, cameras, and televisions found eager buyers on the world market. Soon, a wide range of Japanese electronic goods were competing with Western, and especially American, products. Japan's economic miracle was due in part to its new modern factories built after the war. Because Japan spent little on its military, it could invest more in its economy. It benefited from an educated and skilled workforce and imposed tariffs and regulations that limited imports and helped Japanese manufacturers at home. By the 1980s, Japan was seen as an economic superpower. Its vast trade network reached around the world and resulted in a trade surplus for Japan. By the 1980s, United States manufacturers were angered by what they saw as unfair competition, and the United States pushed Japan to open its economy to more imports. Japan's stunning economic growth ended in the 1990s. However, it continued as a major world economic power.
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What was the Chinese Communist victory?
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Soon afterward, the Communists conquered Tibet, claiming it was part of China. In 1959, as the Chinese cracked down, Tibet's revered religious leader, the Dalai Lama, was forced to flee to India.
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The Chinese Communist Victory- How did the Communists win?
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Mao's victory in China was due to several causes. Mao had won the support of China's huge peasant population. Peasants had long suffered from brutal landlords and crushing taxes. The Communists promised to redistribute land to peasants and end oppression by landlords. Many women backed the Communists, who rejected the old inequalities of Chinese society. Finally, Mao's army outfought Jiang's armies with guerrilla tactics they had perfected fighting the Japanese. Jiang and the Nationalists who ruled China had failed to end widespread economic hardship. Many Chinese resented corruption in Jiang's government and his reliance on support from Western powers that had long dominated China. Many educated Chinese were drawn to the Communists' vision of a new China free from foreign domination.
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The Chinese Communist Victory- What was the remaking of Chinese life?
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Once in power, the Communists set out to turn China from a backward peasant society into a modern industrial nation. Communist ideology guided the government's efforts to reshape the economy and society that China had inherited from the dynastic period. To build socialism, China nationalized all businesses and tried to increase coal and steel output and develop heavy industry. With help from the Soviet Union, the Chinese built hydroelectric plants, dams, and railroads. To boost agriculture, Mao at first distributed land to peasants. Before long, the government imposed collectivization, or the forced pooling of peasant land and labor to increase productivity. To increase literacy, reformers simplified Chinese characters, making it easier to learn to read and write. Schools were opened for young and old. The Communists sent health-care workers to remote rural areas. Although many had little training, they did help reduce disease and teach better hygiene. Under China's new constitution, women won equality under the law. Although Chinese woman made real progress, they did not enjoy full equality. Often paid less than men for the same work, women toiled in fields and factories while still maintaining the home.
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The Chinese Communist Victory- How did communism take a huge toll?
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Like Lenin in the Soviet Union, Mao Zedong built a one-party, Communist totalitarian state. Communist ideology replaced Confucian beliefs and traditional religions. Buddhists, Christians, and others faced persecution and death. The government attacked crime and corruption. It did away with the old landlord and business classes. In their place, peasant and workers were honored as the builders of the new China. These revolutionary changes came at an enormous human cost. Communist leaders committed politically motivated mass murder, as hundreds of thousands of landlords, middle class property owners, and others suffered persecution, torture, and death. Many more were sent to forced labor camps, where they died under brutal conditions.
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The Chinese Communist Victory- How did the Great Leap Forward fail?
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From 1958 to 1960, Mao pursued a policy known as the Great Leap Forward, which was designed to increase farm and industrial output. To make agriculture more efficient, he created communes. The communes were composed of several villages, thousands of acres of land, and up to 25,000 people. Rural communes set up "backyard" industries to produce steel and other products. The Great Leap Forward was a disastrous failure. Backyard industries turned out useless goods. The commune system slowed food output. Bad weather added to the problems and led to a terrible famine. Between 1959 and 1961, as many as 55 million Chinese are thought to have starved to death.
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The Chinese Communist Victory- What was the Cultural Revolution?
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In 1966, Mao launched a new program known as the Cultural Revolution. Its goal was to purge China of "bourgeois" (non revolutionary) tendencies. He urged young Chinese to experience revolution firsthand, as his generation had. During the Cultural Revolution, bands of teenaged Red Guards, waving copies of the "Little Red Book," Quotations From Chairman Mao Tse-tung, attacked people they considered bourgeois. The accused were publicly humiliated, beaten, and sometimes murdered. Skilled workers and managers were forced out of their jobs and sent to work on rural farms or put into forced labor camps. Schools and factories closed. As the economy stalled and unrest rose, Mao finally had the army restore order.
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What was the relation between China and the Cold War?
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The Communist victory in China dominated the Cold War in the years after 1949. The United States had supported Jiang Jieshi in the civil war. After Jiang fled to Taiwan, the United States continued to support the Nationalist government there, providing military and economic aid as it faced shelling from the mainland. For decades, the United States refused to recognize the People's Republic of China, or, as many Americans called it, "Red China."
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China and the Cold War- What was the uneasy alliance with the Soviet Union?
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Despite a treaty of friendship between China and the Soviet Union, the two communist giants were uneasy allies. In fact, Chinese communism differed from Soviet communism. In the 1950s, Stalin sent economic and technical experts to help China modernize. But he and Mao disagreed on many issues, especially on Marxist ideology. A key difference was the role of the peasantry. Mao believed that peasants were the major force behind communist revolution, while Soviets trusted in a "revolutionary elite" of urban intellectuals and workers. By 1959, border clashes and disputes over ideology led the Soviets to withdraw all aid and advisors from China and end their alliance. Western powers welcomed the split, which eased fears of the global threat posed by communism.
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China and the Cold War- What was the relation between China and the U.S.?
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The rift between the United States and China deepened when they supported opposing sides in the Korean War. For years, the United States tried to isolate China, which it saw as an aggressive communist power seeking to expand across Asia. As the Cold War dragged on, however, the United States reassessed its policy towards China. There were strategic advantages to improving relations with China after its split with the Soviet Union. By "playing the China card," the United States might isolate the Soviets between NATO in the west and a hostile China in the east. In 1971, China won admission to the United Nations. A year later, American President Richard Nixon visited Mao in Beijing, opening the door to improved relations. Formal diplomatic relations finally came in 1979.
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China and the Cold War- Who were the nationalists in Taiwan?
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During the Cold War, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) exercised authoritarian rule over Taiwan, hoping one day to regain control of China. By the early 1990s, however, Taiwan had made the transition to democratic government. On the mainland, Mao and his successors saw Taiwan as a breakaway province and insisted that it must someday be reunited with China. Tensions between Taiwan and the mainland continued throughout the Cold War, but in recent years, trade and other links between the two have grown. Although few countries recognized Taiwan, it became an economic powerhouse in Asia and a center of computer technology.
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What were the Two Koreas?
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In 1950, the Cold War erupted into a "shooting war" in Korea, a peninsula on the northeastern edge of Asia. The Korean War pitted UN forces, largely from the Western democracies, against communist North Korea, which was supported by the Soviet Union and China. It was a key event of the Cold War.
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The Two Koreas- How was Korea divided?
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Korea was an independent kingdom until Japan annexed the country in 1910 and imposed a harsh regime. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Soviet and American forces agreed to divide Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel of latitude. American forces occupied the south, while the Soviets held the north. During the Cold War, Korea's divisionâlike Germany'sâseemed to become permanent. North Korea, ruled by the dictator Kim Il Sung, became a communist ally of the Soviet Union. In South Korea, the United States backed an authoritarianâbut noncommunistâleader, Syngman Rhee. Each leader wanted to reunite the countryâunder his own rule.
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The Two Koreas- How did the Korean War Begins?
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In June 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea and soon overran most of the peninsula. Backed by the UN, which condemned the invasion, the United States organized an international force to help South Korea. UN forces, mostly Americans and South Koreans under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, fell back in the face of the North Korean advance. They took up a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter, holding their ground against repeated North Korean attacks. MacArthur then landed troops at Inch'on, behind enemy lines, and drove the invaders back across the 38th parallel. He continued to push northward toward the Yalu River on the border of China.
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The Two Koreas- How did China respond?
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MacArthur's success alarmed China, which feared an American invasion. Mao Zedong sent Chinese troops to help the North Koreans. In tough winter fighting, the Chinese and North Koreans pushed the UN forces back across the 38th parallel. The Korean War then turned into a long, deadly stalemate.
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The Two Koreas- How did Korea remain divided?
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Fighting continued until 1953, when both sides signed an armistice to end the fighting. Almost two million North Korean and South Korean troops dug in on either side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), an area with no military forces, near the 38th parallel. American forces, too, remained in South Korea to guarantee the peace. The ceasefire has held for more than 60 years, but no peace treaty has ever been negotiated. After the war, the two Koreas slowly rebuilt their economies which were destroyed by the fighting and by the Japanese occupation. Korea itself remained a focus of Cold War rivalry. The United States funneled aid to South Korea, while the Soviets helped communist North Korea.
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The Two Koreas- How did South Korea prosper?
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For decades, a dictatorial government backed by the military ruled South Korea. By 1987, however, growing prosperity and fierce student protests forced the government to ease controls and hold direct elections. The country also faced new social pressures as more people moved to the cities, undermining traditional rural ways of life.
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The Two Koreas- How did North Korea isolate itself?
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Under Kim Il Sung, North Korea recovered from the war, but by the late 1960s, growth stalled. Kim emphasized self-reliance and kept North Korea isolated from much of the world. When its old partners, the Soviet Union and China, tried out economic reforms in the 1980s, North Korea clung to hardline communism and its command economy in which the government controlled economic decisions. In North Korea, a barrage of propaganda glorified Kim as the "Great Leader." Kim's successors, his son and grandson, continued to isolate the country and impose ruthless totalitarian control over all aspects of life. For years, North Koreans lived on the edge of starvation as the country suffered from food shortages, natural disasters, and economic mismanagement. North Korea, meanwhile, poured resources into developing nuclear weapons in spite of international condemnation.
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What was the road to war in Southeast Asia?
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Cold War tensions complicated the drive for freedom. The United States supported independence for colonial people in principle. But the West was anxious to stop the spread of communism. As a result, the United States helped anti-communist leaders win power, even if they had little popular support.
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The Road to War in Southeast Asia- How did the Long War Begin?
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In mainland Southeast Asia, an agonizing liberation struggle tore apart the region once known as French Indochina. It affected the emerging nations of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The 30-year conflict was a key event of the Cold War and had two major phases: the battle against the French from 1946 to 1954, and the Cold War conflict that involved the United States and lasted from 1955 to 1975. In 1946, the French set out to reestablish their authority over Indochina. In Vietnam, the French faced opposition forces led by Ho Chi Minh (hoh chee min). Ho, a nationalist and a communist, had waged warfare against Japanese occupying forces using guerrillas, or small groups of loosely organized soldiers making surprise raids. In 1954, Ho Chi Minh's guerilla forces decisively defeated French troops at the battle of Dien Bien Phu (dyen byen foo). The defeat forced France to end its efforts to reclaim Indochina. Cambodia, and Laos meanwhile, had won independence separately.
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The Road to War in Southeast Asia- How was Vietnam divided?
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By 1954, the struggle in Vietnam had become part of the Cold War. At an international conference that year, Western and communist powers agreed to a temporary division of Vietnam. Ho and the communists ruled North Vietnam. A fierce anti-communist government, led by Ngo Dinh Diem (ngoh dee EM) and supported by the United States, ruled South Vietnam. The agreement called for elections to be held to reunite Vietnam within a year. The elections never took place, however, largely because the Americans and Diem feared the communists might win. Although prodded by the United States, Diem refused to undertake needed reforms, and his increasingly dictatorial rule and corrupt government alienated many South Vietnamese. By 1959, South Vietnam was facing a growing challenge from both communist guerrillas and rising discontent with Diem.
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Why did the U.S. enter the Vietnam War?
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American officials believed in the domino theory, which held that a communist victory in South Vietnam would cause noncommunist governments across Southeast Asia to fall to communismâlike a row of dominoes. To prevent such a disaster, the United States stepped in to shore up the Diem government. However, there were limits to what American power could achieve in Vietnam. President John F. Kennedy realized that the United States alone could not prop up the unpopular Diem government in South Vietnam. In an interview, he noted: I don't think that unless a greater effort is made by the Government to win popular support that the war can be won out there.... We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisors, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the Communists. âPresident John F. Kennedy Diem was overthrown and killed in early November 1963 by South Vietnamese military leaders. After Diem's death, the United States became more deeply involved in Vietnam, working with the ruling generals against the growing threat from communist rebels.
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The U.S. Enters the War- What was the American involvement?
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In North Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh was determined to reunite the country under communist rule. He helped the Viet Cong, the communist rebels trying to defeat South Vietnam's government. At first, the United States sent only supplies and military advisers to South Vietnam. But as the Viet Cong won control of more areas, the United States was dragged into the fighting, turning a local struggle into a major Cold War conflict. In August 1964, the Maddox, an American warship in the Gulf of Tonkin, reported attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in retaliation for South Vietnamese commando raids nearby. Without mentioning the commando raids, President Lyndon Johnson used the attacks to win congressional approval for the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. It authorized the president to take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression. The United States soon began bombing targets in North Vietnam, although no war was ever declared. When air strikes failed to force Ho to abandon the war, the United States committed more and more troops to the conflict. By 1969, more than 500,000 American troops were serving in Vietnam. Meantime, the Soviet Union and China sent aidâbut no troopsâto help North Vietnam.
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The U.S. Enters the War- What was the guerrilla warfare?
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Like the French before them, American forces faced a guerrilla war. Many rebels in South Vietnam were local peasants who knew the countryside. They often found safe haven among villagers who resented the foreign troops and bombings that destroyed their homes and crops. American forces were hard put to tell whether villagers were rebels or innocent civilians. Supplies for the guerrillas came from North Vietnam, along a series of trails, known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. These trails wound through the rainforests of neighboring Laos and Cambodia. In an effort to stop the flow of supplies, the United States sent bombers and ground troops across the border into these nations, widening the war in Southeast Asia
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The U.S. Enters the War- What was the Tet Offensive?
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Even with massive American help, South Vietnam could not defeat the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese allies. In January 1968, communist forces launched the Tet Offensive, a series of attacks by the Viet Cong on cities across the south. North Vietnamese forces assaulted an American marine base. The attacks were unexpected because they took place during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. During bloody fighting, the communists lost many troops and were unable to hold any cities against the American counterattacks. Still, the Tet Offensive marked a turning point in American public opinion. Up to then, Americans believed that the war was winnable. Tet shook public confidence in the war and its leaders.
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How did the Vietnam War end?
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In the United States, the bombing of North Vietnam and increasing American casualties helped inflame anti-war opinion. Growing numbers of American troops were prisoners of war (POWs) or missing in action (MIAs). Many opponents called the Vietnam War a quagmire, or swamp, in which the United States was trapped without the possibility of victory.
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The Vietnam War Ends- How did American opposition to the war grow?
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As the United States committed more troops and poured vast sums into the war, the nation grew increasingly divided. At first, the majority of Americans backed the war effort to stop the spread of communism. By the mid-1960s, a growing number of Americans were calling for an end to the war. They questioned why the United States was sending its troops to fight in a local conflict in Southeast Asia. By 1967, the anti-war movement was spreading. Television news programs relayed vivid pictures of American casualties and the burning ruins of Vietnamese villages. On college campuses, students rallied against the war, especially as more young men faced the draft, or compulsory military service. Prominent leaders from all walks of life joined the protests in cities across the nation. Many Americans had mixed feelings. "I want to get out," said one woman, "but I don't want to give up."
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The Vietnam War Ends- What was the negotiated peace?
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Faced with mounting protests at home, President Johnson, who had greatly widened the war, decided not to run for a second term in 1968. His successor, President Richard Nixon, eventually arranged a cease-fire agreement in 1973. Under the agreement, the United States began to withdraw troops from South Vietnam. North Vietnam agreed it would not send any more troops to the south. The accord left South Vietnam to determine its own future.
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The Vietnam War Ends- How was Vietnam reunited?
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Two years after American troops withdrew, the North Vietnamese captured Saigon, capital of South Vietnam. In 1976, they renamed the city Ho Chi Minh City, in honor of their liberation leader. Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, became the capital of the reunited nation. The communist victors imposed harsh rule on the south. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese fled in small boats. Many of these "boat people" drowned. Survivors ended up in refugee camps in nearby countries. Eventually, some were accepted into the United States or other countries. Vietnam had to rebuild a land mangled by decades of war. Recovery was slow due partly to government inefficiency and partly to an American-led boycott of Vietnam. For years, the country was mired in poverty. By the 1990s, however, a new generation of Vietnamese leaders opened the door to investors by introducing free-market reforms. After the Cold War ended, the United States and Vietnam edged toward better relations.
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The Vietnam War Ends- What was the politically motivated mass murder in Cambodia?
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During the Vietnam War, fighting spilled over into neighboring Cambodia. The North Vietnamese sent supplies through Cambodia to guerrilla forces in South Vietnam. In 1969, the United States bombed those routes and then briefly invaded Cambodia. After the Americans left, Cambodian communist guerrillas, the Khmer Rouge (kuh MEHR roozh), gained ground and overthrew the government in 1975. Led by the brutal dictator Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge unleashed a reign of terror. To destroy all Western influences, they drove people from the cities and forced them to work in the fields. They slaughtered, starved, or worked to death more than one million Cambodians, about a third of the population. In 1979, Vietnam invaded and occupied Cambodia, ending the genocide. Pol Pot and his forces retreated to remote areas. In 1993, UN peacekeepers supervised elections. Despite guerrillas who still terrorized parts of the country, a new government began to rebuild Cambodia.
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How did the Soviet Union decline?
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DĂ©tente came to an abrupt end in 1979, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to ensure its influence in that neighboring nation. Like the Vietnam War in the United States, the Afghan War drained the Soviet economy and provoked a crisis at home.
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The Soviet Union Declines- What was the affect of the Soviets in Afghanistan?
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The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979 to support an Afghan communist government that had seized power a year earlier. The new government's efforts to introduce social reforms and redistribute land roused bitter resentment among the anti-communist, devoutly Muslim Afghan people. As insurgencies, or uprisings, threatened the government, the Soviet Union stepped in. For ten years, Soviet forces battled widely scattered groups of mujahedin (moo jah heh DEEN), or Muslim guerrilla fighters. Despite 100,000 troops, the Soviets controlled only the cities, not the countryside. When the Soviets turned to bombing rural areas, millions of Afghan refugees fled into neighboring Pakistan. The United States funneled weapons and other military supplies to help the insurgents battle Soviet troops. By the late 1980s, the Afghan War had become a quagmire for the Soviet Union. It was draining badly needed resources and costing many casualties. In 1989, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan to focus on troubling issues at home.
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The Soviet Union Declines- How did the command economy stagnate?
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The Soviet economy faced severe problems. Unlike the economies of Western Europe and the United States, which experienced booms during the Cold War, the communist economies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union stagnated. Central economic planning led to inefficiency and waste. In competition with free market economies of the West, the Soviet command economy began to collapse. It could not match the West in production of quality consumer goods. People saw little improvement in their lives and envied their western neighbors. The arms race put an additional strain on the Soviet economy. By the 1980s, both superpowers were spending massive sums on costly weapons systems. U.S. President Ronald Reagan began a massive military buildup, partly because he believed that the Soviet Union could not afford to spend as much on defense as the United States. When Reagan launched a new round of missile development, it was clear that the Soviet economy could not afford to match it.
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The Soviet Union Declines- How did Gorbachev tries reform?
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In 1985, an energetic new leader, Mikhail Gorbachev (GAWR buh chawf), came to power in the Soviet Union. In foreign policy, Gorbachev sought to end Cold War tensions. To ease tensions, Gorbachev renounced the Brezhnev Doctrine, which had asserted the Soviet Union had a right to intervene militarily in any Warsaw Pact nation. He signed arms control treaties with the United States and eventually pulled Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. At home, Gorbachev launched a two-pronged effort at reform. First, he called for glasnost, or openness. He ended censorship and encouraged people to talk openly about the country's problems. Second, he urged perestroika (pehr uh STROY kuh), or the restructuring of government and the economy. Gorbachev's reforms also included a lessening of restraints on emigration. Natan Sharansky, a Soviet scientist and human rights activist, had been imprisoned for ten years for treason. Long denied permission to emigrate, he was released in exchange for a Soviet spy in 1986 and settled in Israel. Streamlining government and reducing the size of the bureaucracy, he hoped, would boost efficiency and output. He backed some free-market ideas, including limited private enterprise. But he still wanted to keep the essence of communism. Corrupt or inefficient officials were dismissed. To produce more and higher-quality goods, factory managers, instead of central planners, were made responsible for decisions. To increase food supplies, farmers were allowed more land on which to grow food to sell on the free market.
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How did the Soviet Union Collapse?
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Gorbachev faced a host of problems. His policies brought rapid change that led to economic turmoil. Shortages grew worse, and prices soared. Factories that could not survive without government help closed, throwing thousands out of work. Old-line Communists and bureaucrats whose careers were at stake denounced the reforms. At the same time, other critics demanded even more changes.
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The Soviet Union Collapses- How did the Soviet Empire crumble?
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Glasnost encouraged unrest in the multinational Soviet empire. The Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which had been seized by the Soviet Union in 1940, broke away in 1990, declaring independence soon after. In Eastern Europe, countries from Poland to Bulgaria broke out of the Soviet orbit, beginning in 1989. Russia's postwar empire seemed to be collapsing. In mid-1991, Soviet hardliners tried to overthrow Gorbachev and restore the old order. Their attempted coup failed, but it further weakened Gorbachev. By year's end, as other Soviet republics declared independence, Gorbachev resigned.
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The Soviet Union Collapses- What was the end of the Soviet Union?
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In December 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially dissolved after almost 70 years. Its 15 republics became separate independent nations. Russia, the largest republic, had dominated the Soviet Union. After the breakup, Russia and its new president, Boris Yeltsin, faced a difficult future. They struggled to build a market economy and prevent violent conflict between pro-democracy and pro-communist groups. Like Russia, the other former Soviet republics like Ukraine and Kazakhstan faced hard times. They wanted to build stable governments and improve their standards of living. But ethnic violence and economic troubles proved obstacles. Some republics had stores of nuclear weapons, which they agreed to give up in exchange for aid and investment from the West.
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How was Eastern Europe transformed?
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During the Cold War, Eastern Europe lay in the Soviet orbit. Efforts to resist Soviet domination were met with harsh repression. Despite the Soviet threat, some nations in Eastern Europe slowly made reforms. After Mikhail Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would no longer intervene in Eastern Europe, a "democracy movement" swept the region, and the nations of Eastern Europe were remarkably transformed.
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Eastern Europe Transformed- How did Poland struggle toward democracy?
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Poland was the Soviet Union's most troublesome satellite. In 1956, protests had led to some reforms, but dissatisfaction with communism remained strong. The Roman Catholic Church, which often faced persecution, became a rallying symbol for Poles who opposed the communist regime. In 1980, economic hardships ignited strikes of shipyard workers. Led by Lech Walesa (lek vah WEN suh), they organized an independent labor union, called Solidarity. It soon claimed millions of members, who pressed for political change. Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the Polish government outlawed Solidarity and arrested its leaders, including Walesa. Still, unrest simmered. Walesa became a national hero and the Polish government eventually released him from prison. Pressure from the world community further strained Poland's communist government and helped hasten its collapse. Pope John Paul II visited Poland, met with Solidarity leaders, and criticized communist policies. The pope was the former Karol Wojtyla, archbishop of the Polish city of Cracow. In the late 1980s, Polandâlike the Soviet Unionâbegan to introduce radical economic reforms. It legalized Solidarity and in 1989 sponsored the first free elections in 50 years. Lech Walesa was soon elected president of Poland. The new government began a difficult but peaceful transition from socialism to a market economy. It helped mark the start of the collapse of Soviet domination and communism in Eastern Europe.
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Eastern Europe Transformed- What was the revolution and freedom?
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By 1989, the "democracy movement" in Eastern Europe was sweeping out old governments and ushering in new ones. People took to the streets, demanding reform. In the 1970s and 1980s, Hungary had quietly introduced some modest economic reforms. Later, in the spirit of glasnost, Hungarians began to criticize their government more openly. Under growing pressure, the communist government allowed other political parties and opened its border with Austria. That move allowed thousands of East Germans to escape into Hungary, and from there, to the West. Within a few months, Germans tore down the Berlin Wall, a move that would soon lead to the reunification of Germany. One by one, communist governments fell across Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia, VĂĄclav Havel (VAHTS lahv HAH vul), a dissident writer and human rights activist, was elected president. Most changes came peacefully, but when Nicolae Ceausescu (chow SHES koo), Romania's long time dictator, refused to step down, he was overthrown and executed. For the first time since 1945, Eastern European countries were free to settle their own affairs. They withdrew from the Warsaw Pact and requested that Soviet troops leave. By then, Soviet power itself was crumbling.
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Eastern Europe Transformed- What were the ethnic tensions in Eastern Europe?
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Centuries of migrations and conquest left most Eastern European nations with ethnically diverse populations. Most countries had a majority population with one or more ethnic minorities that asserted their own identities. Nationalism helped unite some countries such as Poland and Hungary, but it was also a divisive force. Faced with ethnic tensions, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 1991, however, ethnic conflict tore apart the Balkan nation of Yugoslavia.
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Eastern Europe Transformed- What was the breakup of Yugoslavia?
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During World War II, a skilled guerrilla leader, Josip Tito, had battled Germany occupying forces. Later, Tito set up a communist government in Yugoslavia, but he pursued a path independent of Moscow. He refused to join the Warsaw Pact and claimed to be neutral in the Cold War. After Tito's death and the fall of communism, a wave of nationalism tore Yugoslavia apart. The country consisted of six republics, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. In 1992, Slovenia and Croatia broke away after a bitter conflict with Serbia. That year, another conflict erupted in Bosnia, which declared independence. Most Bosnians were Muslims, but many Serbs and Croats lived there. Bosnian Serbs rejected independence, and with money and arms from Serbia, they seized much of Bosnia. In a brutal war, Serbs practiced "ethnic cleansing," forcibly removing other ethnic groups from the areas they controlled. Hundreds of thousands of Bosnians became refugees. Others were tortured or killed. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, came under a deadly siege by Bosnian Serb forces.
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Eastern Europe Transformed- How was peace restored?
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Bosnia became a test case for the role of the United States and the Western powers in the post Cold-War world. For three years, the UN tried unsuccessfully to bring about peace. In 1994, as Bosnian Serbs advanced, the United States and its NATO allies began air strikes against Serbian targets in Bosnia. In 1995, the United States helped broker a peace agreement, known as the Dayton Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia. NATO peacekeepers enforced the agreements in the troubled Balkan region, and the various new nations set out to recover from the brutal ethnic conflict.
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How did Communism decline around the world?
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The collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe affected other communist nations. Cuba, which had long depended on Soviet aid and support, faced severe difficulties. Its economy suffered, too, from sanctions imposed by the United States decades earlier. In 2006, Raul Castro, brother of the ailing leader, Fidel Castro, took over the Cuban government. He allowed some market reforms and sought investment from countries in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Despite some economic easing, Castro kept tight political control over the island nation.
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Communism Declines Around the World- How did other Communist Nations adopt market reforms?
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China began to introduce limited market reforms, such as allowing some private enterprise and foreign investment, in the early 1980s. The reforms brought increased prosperity for some Chinese. By the early 2000s, China's economy was booming, and its many new factories were turning out manufactured goods for a growing global market. In China, as in Cuba, economic change did not bring political reform. The Chinese Communist party kept its monopoly on power, and the government cracked down on any signs of discontent. China's government undertook no major political reforms. However, as the global economic crisis that began in 2008 led to factory closings, protests by unemployed workers increased. China's government responded with a $600 billion stimulus package to retrain workers and improve productivity.
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Communism Declines Around the World- What were the different paths for Vietnam and North Korea?
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Two other communist nations in Asia, Vietnam and North Korea, took different paths. Vietnam allowed some market reforms and won increased foreign investment. North Korea, however, clung to its old ideology, continuing its strict isolation from the world.
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What was the post-cold war world?
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When the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, Americans hoped for a more peaceful world. But as the sole superpower, the United States played a leading role in trying to resolve world conflicts. The United States led coalition forces in several missions around the world. The United States and its European allies were also eager to help the new nations of Eastern Europe to make the difficult transition to democracy and capitalism. They provided advice and loans, but also required far-reaching economic reforms.
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The Post-Cold War World- What was the move toward market economies?
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In the aftermath of the Cold War, the nations of Eastern Europeâas well as Russia and the former Soviet republicsâset out to build stable democratic governments and replace their old command economies with free-market economies. Although the experiences of each nation differed, all faced similar challenges. To attract badly needed foreign investment, governments had to push radical economic reforms. They privatized industries and stopped keeping prices for basic goods and services low. They ended many benefits from the old days such as free tuition at universities. At first, the changes brought hardships such as high unemployment, soaring prices, and crime. Consumer goods were more plentiful, but few people could afford them. A further stumbling block to progress was the global economic recession that started in 2008. Economic hard times brought a rise of anti-foreign sentiment along with anti-Semitic and anti-Roma (Gypsy) hate speech from extremist groups. Despite these challenges, the governments of Eastern Europe remained democratic.
