1. Chapter 17: Restructuring the Postwar
World
Chapter Objective
Analyze the conflicts between competing economic systems and
the restructuring of alliances from 1945 to the present.
SECTION 1 Cold War: Superpowers Face Off
Analyze the global competition between the United States
and the Soviet Union.
SECTION 2 Communists Take Power in China
Explain how the Communists took control of China.
SECTION 3 Wars in Korea and Vietnam
Describe the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
SECTION 4 The Cold War Divides the World
Describe how the Cold War affected nations.
SECTION 5 The Cold War Thaws
Trace the development of the Cold War.
Ch 18.4 Conflicts in the
Middle East
Describe the
formation of Israel and
the conflicts in the
Middle East.
2. The Buck Stops
Here
DESK SIGN
The sign "The Buck Stops Here" that was on President Truman's desk in his White House office was made in the
Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred M. Canfil, then United States Marshal for the Western District of
Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a
sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to President on October 2, 1945.
Approximately 2-1/2" x 13" in size and mounted on walnut base, the painted glass sign has the words "I'm From
Missouri" on the reverse side. It appeared at different times on his desk until late in his administration. The saying
"the buck stops here" derives from the slang expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility
on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or
counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it
was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter
came to be called, to the next player.* On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in
public statements. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said,
"You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game
is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' --
the decision has to be made." In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President
Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President--whoever he is--
has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his
job. The sign has been displayed at the Library since 1957.
3. Executive Order #9981
• Truman desegregated the military. Truman
became aware that the armed forces were still
segregated and had been all through WWII.
He simply said that that was not right and that
all of America’s fighting men were equal. He
made it so by signing this executive order.
4. Jackie Robinson
• Jackie Robinson (1919-1972), was the first black
person to play modern major league baseball.
Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and
played all 10 years of his major league career with
the Dodgers.
• Robinson started as a first baseman for the
Dodgers but gained his greatest fame playing
second base. Robinson was an outstanding hitter
and finished with a .311 lifetime batting average.
He was also a superior runner and base stealer. In
1947, Robinson was named Rookie of the Year. In
1949, he won the National League's Most Valuable
Player award, as well as the league's batting
championship with a .342 average.
• Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on Jan. 31,
1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He starred in four sports at
the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
In 1945, Robinson played with the Kansas City
Monarchs of the Negro American League. In 1946,
he played minor league baseball for the Montreal
Royals. In 1956, Robinson received the Spingarn
Medal. He was elected to the National Baseball
Hall of Fame in 1962. He died on Oct. 24, 1972.
Jackie Robinson, shown here sliding into home plate,
became the first African American player in modern
major league baseball. He joined the Brooklyn Dodgers
in 1947. Robinson gained fame for his hitting and his
daring base running.
5. Aftermath of
War
The appalling costs of the war began to emerge.
The world learned the full extent of the horrors of the Holocaust.
War crimes trials were held in Germany, Italy, and Japan.
People faced disturbing questions: What made the Nazi horrors
possible? Why had ordinary people collaborated with Hitler’s
“final solution”?
The Allies worked to strengthen
democracy in occupied Germany and Japan.
5
12. The Founding of
Israel
• The United Nations Special Commission
on Palestine (UNSCOP) recommended
that Palestine be divided into an Arab
state and a Jewish state. The commission
called for Jerusalem to be put under
international administration The UN
General Assembly adopted this plan on
Nov. 29, 1947 as UN Resolution (GA 181).
The plan for "partition with economic
union" divided the land into several
cantons. Both the Jewish state and the
Arab state had 3 cantons each that
touched each other south of Nazareth and
near Gaza. The borders of this plan are
shown in the map below. This jigsaw
puzzle would have been difficult to
implement for friendly populations, and
was impossible to implement given the
hostility between Arabs and Jews.
13. An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian Arab
pass each other in the street.
Many Israelis believe that the quote from the Bible below promises the land of
Israel to the Jewish people—the descendants of Abram, or Abraham. Palestinian
Arabs, who have lived in the region for centuries, also believe that the land is
theirs. The land that they call Palestine includes what is now Israel.
“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, ’To your
descendants I give this land . . .’”
—Genesis 15:18
Two Peoples Claim the Same Land
“Palestine is the homeland of the Arab
Palestinian people . . .”
—The Palestinian National Charter,
Article 1
14. A City Sacred to Many Jerusalem is dotted with many places that are sacred to
Muslims, Christians, and Jewish people. This photograph shows the Western Wall,
a Jewish holy place. In the background is the Dome of the Rock, an important
Islamic shrine.
How might Jerusalem’s sacred status make it harder to resolve competing Israeli
and Palestinian Arab claims to the city?
15. Creation of the State of Israel
• Jewish, Arab pressure drives British to hand Palestine over
to United Nations for the Balfour Resolution
• Partition Plan of 1947 divides Palestine into seven regions:
3 Jewish, 3 Arab, Jerusalem internationalized
• May 1948 Jews declare independence of State of Israel
• Arab states invade, Israel successfully defends itself
16. The Cold War and the Middle East
• In their global rivalry, each of the superpowers tried to line up
allies in the Middle East.
• Each superpower sold arms to its ally in the region.
• In the Arab-Israeli conflict, the United States helped Israel, while
the Soviet Union gave aid to the Arabs.
• During and after the Cold War, the development of weapons of
mass destruction in the Middle East became a global concern.
During the Cold War, both the United States and the
Soviet Union sought access to the oil and waterways of
the Middle East. Superpower rivalries had a far-reaching
impact on the region.
4
23. Arab-Israeli Issues…Still
Palestinians demanded the right to
return to lands they fled during the
Arab Israeli wars.
Many Israelis insisted on the survival
of Israeli settlements that had been
built on these occupied lands.
Palestinians demanded that part of
Jerusalem become the capital of a
future Palestinian nation.
Israeli conservatives insisted that
Jerusalem remain undivided as the
capital of Israel.
After years of fighting and negotiations, peace in Israel
remains an elusive goal. A number of specific issues
continue to divide the two sides.
4
24. Bob Daugherty/AP
Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin clasp hands on
the North Lawn of the White House after signing the Israel-Egypt
Peace Treaty, March 26, 1979.
Camp David Accords Turn into a Peace Treaty
25. In 1993 President Bill Clinton attempted to do for Israeli-Palestinian relations what
Carter had been able to do for Israeli-Egyptian relations. He brought Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin together with PLO leader Yasser Arafat. It was a time of great
promise as at last both sides of the conflict recognized the legitimacy of the other
party. Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli opponent in 1995.
Yasser Arafat died in 2004
Having led the PLO and
its Intifada for 50+ years.
26. Mahmoud Abbas, current
Pres. of PNA/PLO (on the
left) with President Barack
Obama in the Oval Office.
Fatah party is not
considered a terrorist
group, while Hezbollah
(Shi’ia Party of God) and
Hamas are.
Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv . He
was initially raised/educated in Jerusalem. But
between 1956 and 1958, and again in 1963-
67, his family lived in the United States
in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, a suburb
of Philadelphia, where he attended and
graduated from Cheltenham High School.
To this day, he speaks English with a definite
Philadelphia accent.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31. Executive Order 9981 is an executive order issued on July 26, 1948 by U.S.
President Harry S. Truman. It expanded on Executive Order 8802 by
establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services
for people of all races, religions, or national origins.
"In 1947, Randolph, along with colleague Grant Reynolds, renewed efforts
to end discrimination in the armed services, forming the Committee
Against Jim Crow in Military Service, later renamed the League for Non-
Violent Civil Disobedience. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman
abolished racial segregation in the armed forces through Executive Order
9981." Taken from.
The operative statement is:
It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be
equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed
services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This
policy shall be put into effect as rapidly
as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any
necessary changes without impairing
efficiency or morale.
The order also established a committee to investigate and
make recommendations to the civilian leadership of the
military to realize the policy. The Buck Stops Here!
The Buck Stops Here! sign
was on his Oval Office desk
32. A Widening Gulf Although Stalin and Truman were friendly at the Potsdam
Conference (above), this Soviet propaganda poster from 1949 shows that relations
between the two nations were becoming strained. The poster urges support “For a
stable peace! Against those who would ignite a new war.” The small caricatures of
Churchill and Uncle Sam in the lower corner indicate who “those” people are.
33.
34.
35. The Berlin Airlift After World War II,
Germany, and Berlin within it, was
divided into communist and
noncommunist zones. In the photo
below, children in West Berlin greet a
plane delivering supplies during the
Berlin Airlift.
36. Berlin Airlift
1948
• Russian dictator Joseph Stalin chose the night of June 23, 1948 to make
good his threat to cut overland supply lines to West Berlin. He wanted to
vent his frustration at refusal by the western allied powers to accept East
Berlin as the capital of a communist puppet regime and at introduction of
the Deutsche Mark in West Berlin. For nearly one year to come, the needs
of West Berlin would be supplied by
airlift on a scale never seen before.
• The U.S. played a central role in the airlift. Operation Vittles, a round-the-
clock airborne shuttle from U.S. airbases outside Frankfurt at Rhein Main
and nearby Wiesbaden, Germany, supplied food, fuel, and occasionally
candy to the beleaguered city and its children. Memories of the recent
World War gave way to a new, human partnership as the months wore on
and it became apparent the inconceivable would work.
37.
38. The Iron Curtain Divides Germany While the Berlin Wall divided the city of Berlin, a
much longer series of concrete walls, barbed wire, and watchtowers ran along the
border between East and West Germany, forming part of the Iron Curtain.
Why might East Germany have built a fortified border such as this?
West Germany’s “Economic Miracle”
Early in the Cold War, the United States rushed aid to its former enemy through the Marshall
Plan and other programs. It wanted to strengthen West Germany against communist Eastern
Europe. From 1949 to 1963, Konrad Adenauer was West Germany’s chancellor, or prime
minister. He guided the rebuilding of cities, factories, and trade. Because many of its old
factories had been destroyed, Germany built a modern and highly productive industrial base.
Despite high taxes to pay for the recovery, West Germans created a booming industrial
economy.
39. Preparing for a Nuclear Attack
“Duck and cover” air-raid drills were common during the Cold War, even though it is
doubtful that ducking and covering would offer much protection in an actual nuclear attack.
What does this photo suggest about Americans’ fears during the Cold War?
40.
41. Truman Doctrine
• U.S. President Harry S. Truman made the proclamation in an address to the U.S.
Congress on March 12, 1947 amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).
The doctrine was specifically aimed at assisting governments resisting
communism. Truman insisted that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid
that they needed, they would inevitably fall to communism with the result being a
domino effect of acceptance of communism throughout the region.
• Truman signed the act into law on May 22, 1947 which granted $400 million in
military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.
• The Truman Doctrine also contributed to America's first involvements in what is
now the nation of Vietnam. Truman attempted to aid France's bid to hold onto its
Vietnamese colonies. The United States supplied French forces with equipment
and military advisors in order to combat a young Ho Chi Minh and communist
revolutionaries. Truman's policy of containment was the first American
involvement in the Vietnam War.
• The Truman Doctrine stated that the United States would
support "free peoples who are resisting attempted
subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."
Specifically, the doctrine was a political response to Soviet
aggression in Europe, illustrated through the communist
movements in Iran, Turkey and Greece. As a result,
American foreign policy towards Russia shifted, as George
F. Kennan phrased it, to that of containment.
42. The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan, known officially
following its enactment as the European
Recovery Program (ERP), was the main plan
of the United States for the reconstruction of
Europe following World War II. The initiative
was named for United States Secretary of
State George Marshall.
Between 1948 and 1951, the United States
contributed more than $13 billion dollars
(nearly $100 billion at 2005 U.S. conversion
rates) of economic and technical assistance
toward the recovery of 16 European
countries which had joined in the
Organization for European Economic
Cooperation (OEEC, forerunner to today's
OECD) in response to Marshall's call for a
joint scheme for European reconstruction.
43.
44.
45. In a speech at Harvard University in June 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall
made the case for the Marshall Plan, a United States assistance program for Western
Europe. The plan was to rebuild Europe into Trading Partners and to make them
prosperous enough so that they would not fall to Communism! The total cost of the
Marshall Plan including American grants and loans to the world from 1945--53, came to
$44.3 billion.
“Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty,
desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the
world so as to permit the emergence of . . . conditions in which free institutions can exist.”
46. Wartime Destruction in Germany Berlin and other German cities suffered serious
wartime damage. In this photo, civilians walk through the rubble left by wartime
bombing in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1945.
What challenges would residents of a city face after such heavy destruction?
47.
48. This is the Iron Curtain
after WWII up to the
late 1980s.
Warsaw Pact countries
to the east of the Iron
Curtain are shaded red;
NATO members to the
west of it — blue.
Militarily neutral
countries − grey.
Yugoslavia, although
communist-run, was
independent of the
Eastern Bloc. Similarly,
communist Albania
broke with the Soviet
Union in the early
1960s, aligning itself
with the People's
Republic of China after
the Sino-Soviet split.
49. The United Nations
Under the UN Charter, each of the member nations had one vote in
the General Assembly. A smaller body, the Security Council, was
given greater power. Its five permanent members were the United
States, the Soviet Union (today Russia), Britain, France, and China.
The UN’s work would go far beyond peacekeeping. The
organization would take on many world problems.
5
World War II Allies set up an international organization to ensure
peace.
50. The United Nations
• The name "United Nations", coined by United States
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was first used in the
"Declaration by United Nations" of 1 January 1942, during the
Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations
pledged their Governments to continue fighting together
against the Axis Powers. States first established international
organizations to cooperate on specific matters. The
International Telecommunication Union was founded in 1865
as the International Telegraph Union, and the Universal Postal
Union was established in 1874. Both are now United Nations
specialized agencies.
• In 1899, the International Peace Conference was held in The
Hague to elaborate instruments for settling crises peacefully,
preventing wars and codifying rules of warfare. It adopted the
Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International
Disputes and established the Permanent Court of Arbitration,
which began work in 1902.
51. • The forerunner of the United Nations was the League of Nations, an
organization conceived in similar circumstances during the first World
War, and established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles "to
promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and
security." The International Labour Organization was also created
under the Treaty of Versailles as an affiliated agency of the League.
The League of Nations ceased its activities after failing to prevent
the Second World War.
• In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the
United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up
the United Nations Charter. Those delegates deliberated on the basis
of proposals worked out by the representatives of China, the Soviet
Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton
Oaks, United States in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed
on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland,
which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and
became one of the original 51 Member States.
• The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945,
when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet
Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of
other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October
each year.
52. From World War to Cold War
• What issues arose in the aftermath
of war?
• Why did the Allies organize the
United Nations?
• How did the breakup of the wartime
alliance lead to new conflicts?
5
53.
54.
55. The Iron Curtain
• Coined by Winston Churchill after the Soviets refuse
to surrender the lands they have “liberated” in
Europe.
• Most of the Warsaw Pact were behind the iron
curtain, and Yugoslavia, with Tito as its totalitarian
ruler.
56. North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), sometimes called North
Atlantic Alliance, Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an
international organization for defense collaboration established in 1949, in
support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on April 4,
1949.
• The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in
Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.
Consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of
them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense
recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the
Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert
with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use
of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic
area.
Belgium Iceland
Canada Portugal
Denmark United Kingdom
France Italy
Luxembourg Norway
United States Netherlands
Later:
Bulgaria (2004)
Czech Republic (1999)
Estonia (2004)
West Germany (1955)
Greece (1952)
Hungary (1999)
Latvia (2004)
Lithuania (2004)
Poland (1999)
Romania (2004)
Slovakia (2004)
Slovenia (2004)
Spain (1982)
Turkey (1952)
57. The Warsaw
Pact
Members
• Soviet Union
• Albania, later
withdrew.
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• East Germany
• Hungary
• Poland
• Czechoslovakia
The Warsaw Pact or Warsaw Treaty, officially named
the Treaty of friendship, co-operation and mutual
assistance, was a military alliance of the Eastern
European Eastern Bloc countries, who intended to
organize against the perceived threat from the NATO
alliance (which had been established in 1949). The
creation of the Warsaw Pact was prompted by the
integration of a "re-militarized" West Germany into
NATO via ratification of the Paris Agreements. The
Warsaw treaty was drafted by Nikita Khrushchev in
1955 and signed in Warsaw on May 14, 1955.
65. The Rosenbergs
Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg (1915-1953) and Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) were American
Communists who captured and maintained world attention after being tried, convicted, and
executed for spying for the Soviet Union. The accuracy of these charges remains
controversial, though decades later, Soviet communications decrypted by the VENONA
project became publicly available and appeared to indicate that at least Julius Rosenberg
was actively involved in espionage (although they provided no new evidence that he
performed the specific acts of espionage for which he was convicted).
The couple were the only two American civilians to be executed for conspiracy to commit
espionage during the Cold War. In imposing the death penalty, Judge Irving Kaufman noted
that he held them responsible not only for espionage but also for the deaths of the Korean
War:
To the very end, the couple denied all charges and insisted they were innocent, but they were
executed in New York's Sing Sing in 1953, despite protests in the United States and abroad.
The Rosenbergs were convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 of "conspiring to commit
espionage in wartime" and sentenced to death, despite the fact that the US was not at war
with the Soviet Union at the time of the alleged offenses
At the time, some Americans believed both Rosenbergs were innocent or received too harsh a
punishment, and a grass-roots campaign was started to try to stop the couple's execution.
Other Americans felt that the couple got what they deserved. Pope Pius XII appealed to
President Dwight D. Eisenhower to spare the couple, but he refused on February 11, 1953
and all other appeals were also unsuccessful.
The couple were executed by the electric chair on June 19, 1953.
66. McCarthyism
• Senator Joseph R. McCarthy was a little-known junior senator from Wisconsin until
February 1950 when he claimed to possess a list of 205 card-carrying Communists
employed in the U.S. Department of State. From that moment Senator McCarthy
became a tireless crusader against Communism in the early 1950s, a period that
has been commonly referred to as the "Red Scare." As chairman of the Senate
Permanent Investigation Subcommittee, Senator McCarthy conducted hearings on
communist subversion in America and investigated alleged communist infiltration
of the Armed Forces. His subsequent exile from politics coincided with a
conversion of his name into a modern English noun "McCarthyism," or adjective,
"McCarthy tactics," when describing similar witchhunts in recent American
history. [The American Heritage Dictionary gives the definition of McCarthyism
as: 1. The political practice of publicizing accusations of disloyalty or subversion
with insufficient regard to evidence, and 2. The use of methods of investigation
and accusation regarded as unfair, in order to suppress opposition.] Senator
McCarthy was censured by the U.S. Senate on December 2, 1954 and died May 2,
1957.
67. McCarthyism
• McCarthy also began receiving information from his
friend, J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI). William Sullivan, one of Hoover's
agents, later admitted that: "We were the ones who
made the McCarthy hearings possible. We fed McCarthy
all the material he was using."
This witch-hunt and anti-communist hysteria became
known as McCarthyism. Some left-wing artists and
intellectuals were unwilling to live in this type of society
left the US and many people became opposed McCarty’s
“Witch Hunt” for Commies and sensationalism in a “free
society.”
•
In October, 1953, McCarthy began investigating
communist infiltration into the military. Attempts were
made by McCarthy to discredit the Secretary of the
Army. The president, Dwight Eisenhower, was furious and
now realized that it was time to bring an end to
McCarthy's activities.
• The United States Army now passed information about McCarthy to
journalists who were known to be opposed to him. He was now without a
power base and the media lost interest in his claims of a communist
conspiracy.
• Joseph McCarthy died in the Bethesda Naval Hospital on 2nd May, 1957.
As the newspapers reported, McCarthy had drunk himself to death.
68. The Cold War
• Coined by Bernard Baruch as the alternative to a “hot”
or shooting war.
• The Cold War will shape American foreign policy and
military spending throughout the Baby-Boomers’
youth. Until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the
dissolution of the USSR, the Cold War was the
motivation for a strong defensive democracy.
• Now, we know the Bad guys are out to get us, we just
don’t know who they are now….
69. The Cold War
As the United States and the Soviet Union became
superpowers, they also became tense rivals in an
increasingly divided world.
The Cold War was a state of tension and hostility among
nations, without armed conflict between the major rivals.
At first, the focus of the Cold War was Eastern Europe,
where Stalin and the western powers had very different
goals.
5
70. Bond, James Bond
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953.
He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games.
He is portrayed as an SIS agent residing in London. From 1995 onwards, SIS would be officially
acknowledged as MI6. Bond holds the code number 007, except in the novel You Only Live
Twice. The "double-0" prefix indicates his discretionary license to kill in the performance of his
duties. Bond is famous for introducing himself as "Bond, James Bond" and for ordering his vodka
martinis "shaken, not stirred”; his usual and characteristic formal clothing is a dinner jacket.
71.
72. Sputnik—October 1958
• History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully
launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of
a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to
orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political,
military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik
launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the
U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.
• Immediately after the Sputnik I launch in October, the U.S. Defense
Department responded to the political furor by approving funding for
another U.S. satellite project. As a simultaneous alternative to Vanguard,
Wernher von Braun and his Army Redstone Arsenal team began work on
the Explorer project.
• Fear filled all American hearts when the Commies launched a successful
satellite to orbit the earth—we feared nukes raining from the skies…death
and destruction. Some built bomb shelters in their back yards. We
practiced Air Raid/Bomb drills at school.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77. 2 Chinas: Mao Zedong vs. Chiang Kai-Shek
• WHAT IF?
If China had been a united country and
combined the forces of the Peoples
Liberation Army with the Nationalist
Army instead of against each other, it
could well be that the Japanese forces
would have been forced to withdraw
early in the war. The self-seeking
leaders of the two armies, Chiang Kai-
shek of the Nationalists and Mao (Tse
Tung) Zedong of the Peoples Liberation
Army uselessly wasted time in
confrontation with each other instead
of concentrating on the common
enemy, Japan.
Chairman
Mao takes
over China
Chiang Kai-Shek loses and
Nationalists move to Taiwan
78. Assessment
How many Russian civilians died in World War II?
a) one million
b) 15 million
c) 100,000
d) 4 million
Which were the permanent members of the UN Security
Council?
a) United States, Soviet Union, France, Germany, and
Britain
b) United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and
China
c) United States, Italy, France, Germany, and China
d) United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and
Japan
5
79. Assessment
5
How many Russian civilians died in World War II?
a) one million
b) 15 million
c) 100,000
d) 4 million
Which were the permanent members of the UN Security
Council?
a) United States, Soviet Union, France, Germany, and
Britain
b) United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and
China
c) United States, Italy, France, Germany, and China
d) United States, Soviet Union, France, Britain, and
Japan
80.
81.
82. When is a war
not a war?
When it’s a
police action:
The Korean War
Korean War, conflict between Communist and
non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25,
1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II,
Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet
(North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of
occupation. In 1948 rival governments were
established: The Republic of Korea was proclaimed
in the South and the People's Democratic Republic
of Korea in the North. Relations between them
became increasingly strained, and on June 25,
1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea.
The United Nations quickly condemned the
invasion as an act of aggression, demanded the
withdrawal of North Korean troops from the South,
and called upon its members to aid South Korea.
On June 27, U.S. President Truman authorized the
use of American land, sea, and air forces in Korea;
a week later, the United Nations placed the forces
of 15 other member nations under U.S. command,
and Truman appointed Gen.
Douglas MacArthur supreme commander.
85. • After months of heavy fighting, the center of the conflict was returned to the
38th parallel, where it remained for the rest of the war. MacArthur, however,
wished to mount another invasion of North Korea. When MacArthur persisted
in publicly criticizing U.S. policy, Truman, on the recommendation of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff removed (Apr. 10, 1951) him from command and installed Gen.
Matthew B. Ridgway as commander in chief.
• The war's unpopularity played an important role in the presidential victory of
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had pledged to go to Korea to end the war.
Negotiations broke down four different times, but after much difficulty and
nuclear threats by Eisenhower, an armistice agreement was signed (July 27,
1953).
• Casualties in the war were heavy. U.S. losses were placed at over 54,000 dead
and 103,000 wounded, while Chinese and Korean casualties were each at least
10 times as high. Korean forces on both sides executed many alleged civilian
enemy sympathizers, especially in the early months of the war.
• No treaty was ever signed between North and South Korea.
• After three years of fighting, over 54,000 dead, the country was divided along
the 38th Parallel with a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
86. Anti-War
propaganda
M*A*S*H was set in South Korea, near Seoul,
during the Korean War. The series focused on the
group of doctors and nurses whose job was to heal
the wounded who arrived at this "Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital" by helicopter, ambulance or bus.
The hospital compound was isolated from the rest
of the world. One road ran through the camp; a
mountain blocked one perimeter and a minefield
the other. Here the wounded were patched up and
sent home--or back to the front. Here, too, the
loyal audience came to know and respond to an
exceptional ensemble cast of characters.
90. Kilroy was here is an American
popular culture expression, often
seen in graffiti. Its origins are
indistinct, but recognition of it and
the distinct doodle of "Kilroy"
peeking over a wall is almost
ubiquitous in the US.
There was one person who led or
participated in every combat,
training or occupation operation
during WWII and the Korean War.
This person could always be
depended on. GI's began to consider
him the "super GI." He was one who
always got there first or who was
always there when they left. I am, of
course, referring to Kilroy Was Here.
Somehow, this simple graffiti
captured the imagination of GI's
everywhere they went. The
scribbled cartoon face and words
showed up everywhere - worldwide.
Stories (some even true) abound.
A number of years ago the Philadelphia Inquirer responded
to a question about the Kilroy Was Here signs.
According to them, they were started by a Quincy MA
shipyard inspector named James F. Kilroy. He first chalked
the slogan on tank tops and cargo boxes to show they'd been
checked. Cargo went everywhere and GIs spread the slogan.
The Kilroy slogan soon became a special pal of scared
soldiers. To show that an area had been cleared GIs wrote
the slogan Kilroy was here.
James Kilroy
no relation to the original
92. A Divided Nation
Korea was an independent kingdom until Japan conquered it in the early twentieth
century. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Soviet and American forces agreed to divide
Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel of latitude. However, North Korea, ruled by the
dictator Kim Il Sung, became a communist ally of the Soviet Union. In South Korea, the
United States backed the dictatorial—but noncommunist—leader, Syngman Rhee.
93. Winter Battle Scene in Korea
U.S. soldiers rest after winning a battle for a snowy hill in Korea, February 1951.
Based on the photograph, what advantage did these soldiers gain by winning
control of this hill?
94. South Korea Recovers
After the war, South Korea slowly rebuilt its economy. By the mid-1960s,
South Korea’s economy had leapt ahead. After decades of dictatorship and
military rule, a prosperous middle class and fierce student protests pushed
the government to hold direct elections in 1987. These elections began a
successful transition to democracy. Despite the bloody Korean War, most
South Koreans during the Cold War years wanted to see their ancient
nation reunited, as did many North Koreans. All Koreans shared the same
history, language, and traditions. For many, this meant more than Cold War
differences.
North Korea Digs In
Under Kim Il Sung, the command economy
increased output for a time in North Korea.
However, in the late 1960s, economic growth
slowed. Kim’s emphasis on self-reliance kept
North Korea isolated and poor. The
government built a personality cult around
Kim, who was constantly glorified as the “Great
Leader” in propaganda. Even after its Soviet
and Chinese allies undertook economic
reforms in the 1980s, North Korea clung to
hard-line communism.
Kim Jong Il
Kim Il Sung
Kim Jong Un at left front, Kim Jong Il at right front
95. In February 2013, North Korea held its third
underground nuclear test. The act has been roundly
condemned by the international community, including
the United States, Russia, Japan and China. In the face
of further sanctions, analysts have stated that Kim's
continued focus on armament. Having disavowed his
country's armistice with South Korea and threatened
to fire his increasingly capable missiles toward the
United States, Kim has put the Korean peninsula and
Washington on a war footing. His behavior follows the
playbook of his predecessors, with one notable and
potentially dangerous departure that appears to have
him backed into a corner.
Kim Jong-un became the leader of North Korea in
2011, having inherited his position from his father
Kim Jong-il.
Kim with
former NBA
Star Dennis
Rodman
96. All of the following countries have strong economies and are
“Asian tigers” except
a) Singapore.
b) Taiwan.
c) North Korea.
d) South Korea.
Which of the following correctly describes the Korean War?
a) The United States backed the noncommunist north while the
Soviet Union backed the communist south.
b) The United States backed the communist north while the Soviet
Union backed the noncommunist south.
c) The United States backed the noncommunist south while the
Soviet Union backed the communist north.
d) The United States backed the communist south while the Soviet
Union backed the noncommunist north.
Assessment
3
97. Assessment
3
All of the following countries have strong economies and are
“Asian tigers” except
a) Singapore.
b) Taiwan.
c) North Korea.
d) South Korea.
Which of the following correctly describes the Korean War?
a) The United States backed the noncommunist north while the
Soviet Union backed the communist south.
b) The United States backed the communist north while the Soviet
Union backed the noncommunist south.
c) The United States backed the noncommunist south while the
Soviet Union backed the communist north.
d) The United States backed the communist south while the Soviet
Union backed the noncommunist north.
98. Trouble in French
Indochina
In 1945, an American intelligence team codenamed Deer parachuted into the
jungles of Asia to help a band of guerrillas fighting the Japanese. They found the
leader of these guerrillas, Nguyen Ai Quoc, seriously ill from malaria and dysentery.
“This man doesn’t have long for this world," exclaimed the team medic, but he
successfully nursed him back to health. The grateful leader agreed to provide
intelligence and rescue downed American pilots in return for ammunition and
weapons.
The team suggested that the United States continue to support Quoc after the war,
but the recommendation was considered to controversial since Quoc wanted his
nation’s freedom from our ally France. His request for help was ignored, although
the rebel leader pleaded with President Truman to support his movement for
independence from the French. The US decided that they didn’t like Quoc’s politics.
Nguyen Ai Quoc is known by another name: “He who enlightens”, or in
Vietnamese—Ho Chi Minh. Sixty thousand Americans died in the Vietnam War,
battling a former ally whose life we had once saved.
In the 1920s, Ho worked as a busboy in a hotel in Boston. By 1954, he was
president of an independent North Vietnam. By the 1960s, he America’s public
enemy #1.
99. Letter from Ho Chi Minh to President Harry S. Truman,
02/28/1946.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110. #34 Dwight D.
Eisenhower
Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in
Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and
worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War. He
pursued the moderate policies of "Modern Republicanism," pointing out as he left
office, "America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation
in the world."
Born: October 14, 1890; Denison, Texas...
Republican who served two terms. 1953-1961
Vice President: Richard M. Nixon
Eisenhower was the first president to work with three sessions of Congress controlled by
an opposing political party...
Dwight Eisenhower entered the White House intending to preside over a period of
national recovery from the tumult of the Roosevelt/Truman administrations. His
"hidden-hand" style of governing indicated to some an air of conformity and
aloofness, yet the general public held him in high esteem.
Confounding caricature, the military legend cut defense spending and warned against the
unchecked growth of a military-industrial complex...
Died: March 28, 1969.
111. Nikita Khrushchev (1894-
1971)
• Premier of Russia
• First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet
Union 1953-1964.
• Certainly the most colorful Soviet leader, Khrushchev
is best remembered for his dramatic, oftentimes
boorish gestures and "harebrained schemes"
designed to attain maximum propaganda effect, his
enthusiastic belief that Communism would triumph
over capitalism, and the fact that he was the only
Soviet leader ever to be removed peacefully from
office--a direct result of the post-Stalin thaw he had
instigated in 1956.
112. Khrushchev
• Khrushchev's enthusiasm for flashy gestures had not been liked by more
conservative elements from the very start; many Soviets were greatly embarrassed
by his antics, such as banging a shoe on the podium during a speech to the UN
General Assembly. There were elements in the Party who were actively looking for
an opportunity to oust him. Their opportunity came with the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• In yet another case of showmanship that he was unable to back up with deeds, in
1962 Khrushchev deployed nuclear missiles in newly Communist Cuba, within easy
striking distance of most major American population centers. Thanks to
intelligence received from Oleg Penkovsky, a Soviet double agent, the United
States was aware that the missiles were still only partially developed and did not
pose an immediate threat. President John Kennedy called Khrushchev's bluff, and
the latter was forced to remove the missiles from Cuba, with great loss of face
both at home and abroad. Khrushchev never regained his prestige after the
incident, and was quietly ousted two years later by opponents in the Politburo--
significantly, with no bloodshed. He spent the rest of his life in peaceful
retirement, and was the only Soviet leader not to be buried in the Kremlin wall
after his death.
113. Sergei Khrushchev
• PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Sergei Khrushchev will take the oath of U.S. citizenship on Monday,
July 12, 1999, at 2 p.m. in Bishop McVinney Auditorium, One Cathedral Square,
Providence.
• Khrushchev, whose father, Nikita, was the leader of the Soviet Union during the Cold
War, is a senior fellow at Brown's Watson Institute for International Studies. He and his
wife, Valentina Golenko, will be sworn in as citizens along with 250 other candidates by
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ronald Lagueux.
• To become citizens, Khrushchev and his wife passed a test of history, government, and
English writing skills on June 23 administered by the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service in Providence.
• Khrushchev, 64, decided to become a citizen after eight years at Brown University,
where he writes and teaches a senior seminar on relations among the post-Soviet
states.
• Khrushchev's fields of expertise are Soviet and Russian political and economic
development, Soviet history, international security, and computer science. He has
written numerous books, including Nikita Khrushchev: Creation of a Superpower and
Khrushchev on Khrushchev: An Inside Account of the Man and His Era, by His Son.
114. Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro ruled Cuba since 1959, when he overthrew the military dictatorship of
Fulgencio Batista. Castro established a dictatorship and made Cuba the first
Communist state in the Western Hemisphere. He became famous for his fiery, anti-
American speeches.
Castro was born on Aug. 13, 1926, in Biran, near Mayari, Cuba. His given and family
name was Fidel Castro Ruz. His father was a Spanish immigrant who owned a small
plantation. Castro graduated from the University of Havana in 1950 with a law
degree. Afterwards, Castro opened a law office in Havana. In 1952, he ran for
election to the Cuban House of Representatives. But troops led by Batista halted
the election and ended democracy in Cuba.
As a result of Batista's actions, Castro tried to start a revolution against the Batista
dictatorship. On July 26, 1953, Castro's forces attacked the Moncada army barracks
in the city of Santiago de Cuba. Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in
prison. Batista released him in 1955, however. Castro then formed the 26th of July
Movement, a group of revolutionaries named after the date of his first revolt. He
then went into exile in Mexico. Castro's forces landed in Cuba in December 1956.
Many rebels were killed, and Castro and other survivors fled to the Sierra Maestra,
a mountain range in southeast Cuba. People from the surrounding countryside
joined the rebellion. Batista fled from Cuba on Jan. 1, 1959, and Castro took
control of the government.
115. Communism in Cuba
In the late 1950s, Fidel Castro turned Cuba into a communist
state.
Castro:
• nationalized foreign-owned sugar plantations and other
businesses
• put most land under government control
• distributed land to peasants
Effects of communist rule:
Castro imposed harsh authoritarian rule.
Conditions for the poor improved, basic health care was provided
for all, the literacy rate increased, and equality for women was
promoted.
Critics were jailed or silenced and hundreds of thousands fled to
the United States.
When the Cold War ended, Soviet aid disappeared, and Cuba’s
economy collapsed.
116.
117.
118. INVASION at
Bay of Pigs
• Richard M. Nixon proposed it | Dwight D. Eisenhower planned it | Robert
F. Kennedy championed it | John F. Kennedy approved it | The CIA carried
it out | 1,197 invaders were captured | 200 of them had been soldiers in
Bautista's army (14 of those were wanted for murder in Cuba) | One CIA
soldier fired the first shot | A volunteer teacher was the first Cuban
casualty | 4 American pilots and over 100 Cuban invaders were killed in
battle | 1,400 Cuban invaders felt betrayed by their sponsor | One U.S.
senator lied to the United Nations | One U.S. president was embarrassed
in front of the world. April 17.
• Cuban exiles, trained, armed and funded by the CIA, invade Cuba at Bay of
Pigs (known in Cuba as Playa Girón). After three days of fighting the
invading force is defeated by the Cuban army.
119. • The plan included: 1) the creation of a responsible and unified Cuban opposition to
the Castro regime located outside of Cuba, 2) the development of a means for mass
communication to the Cuban people as part of a powerful propaganda offensive, 3)
the creation and development of a covert intelligence and action organization
within Cuba which would respond to the orders and directions of the exile
opposition, and 4) the development of a paramilitary force outside of Cuba for
future guerrilla action. These goals were to be achieved “in such a manner as to
avoid the appearance of U.S. intervention.”
• Invasion
• The counterrevolutionary forces, known as Brigade 2506, were assembled on the
west coast of Guatemala, where U.S. engineers refurbished the airport especially for
the mission. On April 14 six ships sailed from Nicaragua’s Puerto Cabezas, cheered
on by Nicaraguan president and U.S.-friendly dictator Luis Somoza., The Cuban
government knew an invasion was coming, but could not guess exactly when or
where the attack would take place. When teams of U.S. B-26 bombers began
attacking four Cuban airfields simultaneously on Saturday, April 15, the Cubans were
prepared. The few planes belonging to the Cuban Air Force were dispersed and
camouflaged, with some obsolete, unusable planes left out to fool the attackers and
draw the bombs. As part of the CIA cover story, the attacking B-26 planes were
disguised to look as if they were Cuban planes flown by defecting Cuban pilots. Prior
to the start of the operation, CIA operatives were sent to Cuba. Their job was to aid
the invading forces by blowing up key bridges and performing other acts of
terrorism that would make it appear that the people of Cuba were joining the
invasion. Shortly after the attack started,
• Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, at the United Nations, flatly rejected Cuba’s Minister
of Foreign Affairs Raúl Roa’s report of the attack to the assembly, saying that the
planes were from the Cuban Air Force and presenting a copy of the photograph
published in the newspapers. In the photo, the plane shown has an opaque nose,
whereas the model of the B-26 planes used by the Cubans had a Plexiglas nose.
Stevenson was extremely embarrassed a few hours later when the truth was
revealed and he learned that Kennedy had referred to him as “my official liar.”
120. • Without supplies or air cover, the invading forces fell. To them, the lack of air
cover was a direct betrayal. In the end, 200 rebel soldiers were killed, and
1,197 others were captured.
• The reality,” wrote Schlesinger, “was that Fidel Castro turned out to be a far more formidable foe
and in command of a far better organized regime than anyone had supposed. His patrols spotted
the invasion at almost the first possible moment. His planes reacted with speed and vigor. His police
eliminated any chance of sabotage or rebellion behind the lines. His soldiers stayed loyal and fought
hard. He himself never panicked; and, if faults were chargeable to him, they were his overestimate
of the strength of the invasion and undue caution in pressing the ground attack against the
beachhead. His performance was impressive.”
• The controversial inspector general’s report concluded that ignorance, incompetence, and
arrogance on the part of the CIA was responsible for the fiasco. It criticized nearly every aspect of
the CIA’s handling of the invasion: misinforming Kennedy administration officials, planning poorly,
using faulty intelligence and conducting an overt military operation beyond “agency responsibility
as well as agency capability.” The report added, “The agency reduced the exile leaders to the status
of puppets.”
• Aside from being at once a major victory for the Cuban Revolution and a major embarrassment
for Kennedy and the CIA, the attack at the Bay of Pigs set the stage for the major confrontation
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union: the missile crisis that brought the world to the brink of
nuclear war.
• In the meantime, perhaps as a result of the Bay of Pigs embarrassment, Kennedy’s obsession with
eliminating Castro grew. A plan code-named “Operation Mongoose” spurred by Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy, attempted to eliminate Castro by any means necessary.
Bay of Pigs concluded
121. Cuban Missile Crisis
• October 14. The Cuban Missile Crisis
begins when U.S. reconnaissance
aircraft photograph Soviet
construction of intermediate-range
missile sites in Cuba.
President Kennedy demands the
withdrawal of Soviet missiles and
imposes a naval blockade. Khrushchev
agrees on condition that Cuba receives
guarantee of non-aggression from the
U.S. and Jupiter missiles aimed at the
Soviet Union are removed from
Turkey.
122. • One of the most serious incidents of the Cold War—a period of intense rivalry between the
United States and the Soviet Union—was the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. Communists had
come to power in Cuba in 1959. In October 1962, the United States learned that the Soviet
Union had installed missiles in Cuba that could launch nuclear attacks on United States
cities. The crisis passed after Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev and U.S. President John F.
Kennedy agreed that the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba in return for the
removal of U.S. nuclear missiles from Turkey and Kennedy's promise that the United States
would not invade Cuba. Shown here is an aerial photograph of a missile launch site in San
Cristobal, Cuba.
123. Cuban Missile Crisis
• Cuban missile crisis occurred in October 1962 when the United States learned that
the Soviet Union had secretly installed missiles in Cuba, about 90 miles (140
kilometers) from Florida. The missiles could have been used to launch nuclear
attacks on American cities. The crisis was one of the most serious incidents of the
Cold War, a period of intense U.S.-Soviet rivalry that had begun after World War II
ended in 1945. Most experts believe that the missile crisis brought the United
States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war.
• The Soviet Union had placed the missiles in Cuba earlier in 1962, after Cuban leaders became convinced
that the United States was planning to attack Cuba. During the Cold War, Cuba was an ally of the Soviet
Union. President John F. Kennedy of the United States learned of the missiles' presence on October 16 and
demanded that the Soviet Union remove them. On October 22, he ordered a naval quarantine (blockade)
of Cuba to stop further shipment of arms.
• At first, the United States expected to invade Cuba to destroy the missiles. At one point, an invasion was
scheduled for October 29 or October 30. Nearly all of Kennedy's advisers agreed that a landing of U.S.
forces in Cuba would probably mean war—most likely nuclear war—with the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet Union offered to remove the missiles if the United States would promise not to
invade Cuba. It later said that it would not remove the missiles unless the United States
would dismantle its military bases in Turkey. Turkey was a U.S. ally that bordered the Soviet Union.
Kennedy agreed publicly to dismantle all U.S. missile bases in Turkey. However, to complete the deal, Kennedy
and Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev also made a private agreement in which Khrushchev promised to
remove all Soviet missiles in Cuba in exchange for Kennedy's promise that the United States would not
invade the island. On October 28, the two leaders completed the agreement, ending the crisis.
• The agreement between Kennedy and Khrushchev was kept secret because many Americans opposed
such a deal. Almost all Americans thus thought that Kennedy had forced the Soviet Union to remove the
missiles simply by threatening war. Some experts believe that, as a result, U.S. foreign policy used greater
toughness and more threats of force after the crisis.
124.
125. Cuban Missile Crisis
• In Cuba this event is known as the October Crisis of 1962, and in the former Soviet Union it was
known as the Caribbean Crisis.
• For nearly two weeks the U.S. and the Soviets stood on the brink of nuclear war, and only the
leadership of Kennedy and Khrushchev kept the crisis from escalating into a full nuclear war.
• For many of us the Cuban Missile Crisis seems like a legend from the past, yet it has continually
baffled historians with every new bit of information declassified and each new memoir or re-
examination published.
• We know that the Kennedy brothers were largely responsible for the positive outcome.
Not only were they able to resist the war lust and manipulations of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff (JCS), but they were able to maintain peace and not fire their weapons. This was
not easy.
• We also know that Khrushchev had similar problems with his war machine, and he also managed
to overcome them.
• We still can't seem to grasp that past U.S.-Cuba relations played a major part in the reasons for the
crisis.
• This website will not try to tell the whole story of the crisis. Instead it will point you to books and
websites that will tell that story better than I could, and will help us all to get a more complete
perspective on the crisis, its reasons, and the aftermath.
The closest the world ever came to its own
destruction was the event known to us as the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
126. • Castro seized property owned by Americans and other foreigners as well as
Cubans. In 1960, the Castro government took over United States oil refineries in
Cuba. The United States then stopped buying Cuban sugar. Castro responded by
taking over all United States businesses in Cuba.
• Castro has supported a number of revolutionary movements in South America,
Central America, and Africa. The Castro government has provided improved
education and health facilities for many Cubans. But the economy has often been
troubled.
• In the early 1960's, Cuba began depending heavily on the Soviet Union for
economic support. This support ended in 1991, when the Soviet Union was
dissolved. Castro vowed that Cuba would remain a Communist country. However,
in the early 1990's, Cuba undertook limited reforms that loosened state control
over parts of the country's economy.
• Castro has been closely assisted by his brother Raul. He has named Raul as his
successor.
127. Consider what might have turned out differently had Fidel taken up a career
in professional baseball rather than politics: no revolution overthrowing the
Batista regime, no establishment of a Soviet-aligned government in Cuba,
and thus no Bay of Pigs or Cuban Missile Crisis — watershed events in the
history of the Cold War. Would the results of this alternate scenario have
been a profound difference in the course of world events or merely a
historical footnote of minor global significance?
Even if one opts for the "historical footnote" interpretation, the Castro
legend is still appealing because of its unconventionality.
One of the quirkier historical "What if?"
scenarios involves the legend that Cuban
leader Fidel Castro was once given a tryout
(and rejected) by an American major
league baseball team (usually specified as
either the Washington Senators or the
New York Yankees).
URBAN LEGEND ?
128. Counterpoint
• There is a well-known baseball trivia question that makes its way around most
press boxes involving Fidel Castro as a 21 year-old pitching prospect for the
Pittsburgh Pirates. Seems two corpulent scouts, hired by the parent club, went to
Havana to watch the diminutive lefty break nasty curves and dip sinkers in and
around the aggressive Latin competition, but were somewhat lukewarm about his
speed. “The kid Castro has some command of breaking pitches (stop),” the report
told the front office the next morning via Western Union. “Has nothing on the fast
ball (stop) Double AA talent at best (stop).”
• The Pirates never did have the patience to develop short Cuban kids with little pop
on the cheese, so a dejected Fidel attended law school, went to prison, and
disappeared into the Cuban socialist underground. Those were the days when his
family and friends were subsisting on a steady diet of dung beetles and palm
leaves chased by rotten disease-ridden water, while the mob ran numbers for a
dictatorship backed by the muscle of Harry Truman’s United States.
• It was a short walk from the entrance of Forbes Field to the den of hate. And hate
turned into revolution on New Year’s Eve 1959, when the failed pitcher became
champion of the weak and an American thorn; followed closely by the CIA’s
spring invasion gone terribly wrong two years later. And when the Bay of Pigs
sent the slugs from Florida’s underbelly to the right people, Jack Kennedy paid
with his life in Dallas two years after that.
129. Raúl Castro
23rd President of Cuba
born 3 June 1931
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 February 2008
Acting: 31 July 2006 – 24 February 2008
• Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is the President of the
Cuban Council of State and the President (As
Premier) of the Council of Ministers of Cuba. The
younger brother of Fidel Castro, he is also
Second Secretary of the Political Bureau of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of
Cuba (PCC), and Commander in Chief (Maximum
General) of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, and
Air Force).
On 31 July 2006, Raúl Castro assumed the duties of President of the Council of State in a
temporary transfer of power due to Fidel Castro's illness. According to the Cuban Constitution
of 1976, Article 94, the First Vice President of the Council of State assumes presidential duties
upon the illness or death of the president.
Raúl Castro was elected President at the 24 February 2008 National Assembly as Fidel Castro
had announced his intention not to stand for President again on 19 February 2008.
130. • Since assuming the presidency in February 2008, Raúl Castro's government has
announced several economic reforms. In March 2008, the government removed
restrictions against the purchase of numerous products not available under
Fidel Castro's government including DVD-players, computers, rice cookers, and
microwaves. In an effort to boost food production, the government turned over
unused state-owned land to private farmers and cooperatives and moved much
of the decision-making process regarding land use from the national level to the
municipal level.
• In mid-2008, the government overhauled the salary structure of all state-run
companies so that harder-working employees could be rewarded with higher
wages. In addition, the government has removed restrictions against the use of
cell phones and is investigating loosening travel restrictions on Cubans.
• In March 2009, Raúl Castro dismissed some officials. In the article Purge Aims to
Halt Cuba's Economic Free Fall, Miami Herald suggested that the purpose was
to get rid of the people who may have stood in the way of economic reforms.
• On the other hand, Yoani Sánchez wrote "If the intention was to stimulate
progressive measures, no functionary in charge of a ministry could have slowed
them down. The intention, however, has been to delay the changes, to dull
them, to buy time in the game of politics, while we lose months and months of
time in our lives."
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136. The Soviet Union: Rise and Fall of a
Superpower
• What ideas guided Soviet political, economic, and
foreign policy?
• Why did the Soviet Union collapse?
• What problems have Russia and the other republics
faced since the fall of the Soviet Union?
4
137. Soviet Nuclear Missiles Every year on May 1, the Soviet Union
demonstrated its military strength, including nuclear weaponry, in a
parade through Moscow’s Red Square.
Why might the Soviet Union have wanted to show off its nuclear
might?
138.
139. Soviet Government and Economy
Khrushchev pursued a policy of
de-Stalinization and sought a
thaw in the Cold War.
Brezhnev suppressed dissidents,
people who spoke out against the
government.
The Soviet Union rebuilt its
shattered industries.
Citizens enjoyed benefits such as
low rent, cheap bread, free health
care, and day care for children.
Collectivized agriculture remained
unproductive.
The Soviet Union could not match
the free-market economies of the
West in producing consumer
goods.
People spent hours waiting on
line to buy food and other goods.
Because workers had lifetime job
security, they had little incentive
GOVERNMENT ECONOMY
4
140.
141.
142. Soviet Foreign Policy
Soviet-American
relations swung
back and forth
between
confrontation and
détente.
The Soviet Union
sought allies
among the
developing
nations.
The Soviets offered
military and
economic aid in
order to win and
keep allies.
Stalin and his
successors
asserted Soviet
control over
Eastern Europe.
Khrushchev set up
the Warsaw Pact to
suppress dissent
within Eastern
Europe.
UNITED STATES
DEVELOPING
WORLD
EASTERN
EUROPE
4
143. Collapse of the Soviet Union: Cause
and Effect
4
Low output of crops
and consumer goods
Cold War led to high
military spending
Ethnic and nationalist
movements
Denial of rights and
freedoms
War with Afghanistan
Food and fuel
shortages
Demonstrations in the
Baltic states
Gorbachev’s rise to
power
Soviet Union breaks
up into 15 republics
Russian republic
approves a new
constitution
Changeover to
market economy in
Russia
Cold War ends
War in Chechnya
Effects
Immediate
Causes
Long-Term
Causes
144. Problems in The Russian Republic
• The changeover to a market economy caused unemployment to soar
and prices to skyrocket.
• Criminals flourished, and gangs preyed on the new business class.
In Russian slang, protection is called krysha (literally the roof). ...
• In 1998, Russia defaulted, or failed to make payments, on much of
its foreign debt.
• The value of Russia’s currency collapsed. People lost their savings
and their jobs.
• Minorities within Russia sought greater autonomy or independence.
4
145. The Other Republics
• The new nations faced unrest, corruption, and political divisions.
• In some countries, authoritarian rulers gained power.
• Ethnic conflict erupted in republics with a mix of national groups.
• Other conflicts arose over border disputes.
• The new nations endured hard times as they switched to market
economies.
4
146. Assessment
4
Who pursued a policy of de-Stalinization?
a) Brezhnev
b) Khrushchev
c) Stalin
d) Yeltsin
Which of the following was not a cause of the collapse of
the Soviet Union?
a) war with Afghanistan
b) the end of the Cold War
c) Gorbachev’s rise to power
d) food and fuel shortages
147. Assessment
4
Who pursued a policy of de-Stalinization?
a) Brezhnev
b) Khrushchev
c) Stalin
d) Yeltsin
Which of the following was not a cause of the collapse of
the Soviet Union?
a) war with Afghanistan
b) the end of the Cold War
c) Gorbachev’s rise to power
d) food and fuel shortages
148. A New Era in Eastern Europe
• How did Eastern European nations oppose Soviet domination
and strive for democracy?
• What were the effects of the fall of communism?
• What were the causes and effects of civil war in Yugoslavia?
5
149. Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe
1945 After World War II, Soviet armies occupy much of
Eastern Europe.
1949 Most Eastern European countries are under
communist rule.
1956 Hungary withdraws from Warsaw Pact and ends one-
party rule; Soviet troops crush Hungarian uprising.
1968 Czechoslovakia introduces reforms; Soviets use force to
restore communist dictatorship.
1980 Polish government, under Soviet pressure, cracks
down on trade union movement and arrests its
leaders.
150. Poland Embraces Solidarity
Poland led the way in the new surge of resistance that shattered the Soviet satellite empire. In
1980, economic hardships ignited strikes by shipyard workers. Led by Lech Walesa , they
organized Solidarity, an independent labor union. It won millions of members and demanded
political as well as economic change.
Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the Polish government outlawed the union and arrested
its leaders, including Walesa. Still, unrest continued. Walesa became a national hero, and the
Polish government eventually released him from prison. 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.
153. The Crumbling Soviet Union
This cartoon shows Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
with an egg-shaped head sitting on a wall marked
with the national symbol of the Soviet Union.
The cartoon draws on the nursery rhyme
Humpty Dumpty.
What does it imply about Gorbachev’s future?
How does this cartoon communicate ideas without using any words?
Defending
Lithuania’s
Independence
What does the cartoon suggest about the state of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev?
154. Soviets Have Their Own “Vietnam” in Afghanistan
In 1979, the Soviet Union became involved in a long war in Afghanistan, an Islamic
country just south of the Soviet Union. A Soviet-supported Afghan government had tried
to modernize the nation. Its policies included social reforms and land redistribution that
would reduce the power of regional landlords. Afghan landlords—who commanded
armed men as warlords—and Muslim conservatives charged that both policies
threatened Islamic tradition. When these warlords took up arms against the government,
Soviet troops moved in.
Battling mujahedin or Muslim religious warriors, in the mountains of Afghanistan,
however, proved as difficult as fighting guerrillas in the jungles of Vietnam had been for
Americans. By the mid-1980s, the American government began to smuggle modern
weaponry to the mujahedin. The Soviets had years of heavy casualties, high costs, and
few successes. Like America’s Vietnam War, the struggle in Afghanistan provoked a crisis
in morale for the Soviets at home.
And now we are there and
the enemy has weapons supplied by US
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical
comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S.
Congressman Charlie Wilson (D-TX) who partnered with "bare
knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to
launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support
theAfghan mujahideen in their resistance to the Soviet
occupation of Afghanistan.
155. In 2000, Vladimir Putin was elected
president in Russia’s second free
election. Putin projected toughness and
competence, promising to end
corruption and build Russia into a strong
market economy. He also secured Russia
a consulting status with NATO.
Protesting Putin Demonstrators
gather in Moscow in 2004 to
protest Putin’s policies.
What point do you think the
protesters were making by
holding up photos likening Putin
to Adolf Hitler?
Dmitry
Medvedev
current
President of the
Russian
Federation. He
won the
presidential
election held
on 2 March
2008
However, Putin repeatedly came
under fire for increasing the power of
the central government at the
expense of people’s civil liberties. The
international community began to
question his policies, concerned that
he was becoming more autocratic
than democratic.
Medvedev & Putin
156. The dissolution of Czechoslovakia,
which took effect on 1
January 1993, was an event that
saw the self-determined
separation of the federal state
of Czechoslovakia. The Czech
Republic and Slovakia, entities
which had arisen in 1969 within
the framework of Czechoslovak
federalization, became immediate
subjects of the international law in
1993. It is sometimes known as
the Velvet Divorce, a reference to
the bloodless Velvet Revolution of
1989 that led to the end of the
rule of the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia and the formation
of a democratic government.
157.
158. Fall of Communist Governments
Eastern European countries withdrew from the Warsaw
Pact and requested that Soviet troops leave.
Eastern European nations set out to build stable governments and
free-market economies.
The many changes contributed to rising inflation, high
unemployment, and crime waves.
Consumer goods became more plentiful, but many people could
not afford them.
Former communists were sometimes returned to office when
people became disillusioned with reform.
In the 1990s, Eastern European nations looked to the West for aid.
Ethnic tension arose is some areas.
5
161. Civil War in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia consisted of a broad mixture
of ethnic and religious groups.
Tito had silenced nationalist and
religious unrest for decades. When he
died, nationalism tore Yugoslavia apart.
Communism fell.
Four of the six republics declared
independence.
Tens of thousands of Bosnian
Muslims were killed in a campaign of
ethnic cleansing by Slobodan
Miloševid.
The Balkan region remained unstable.
New nations needed massive aid to
rebuild.
Large numbers of refugees remained
in temporary shelter for years after
the war.
Ethnic feuds were hard to contain.
CAUSES EFFECTS
5
162. A boy dodging sniper fire to get water, Sarajevo, Bosnia, 1993
163. Ethnic, nationalist, and religious tensions tore Yugoslavia apart during the
1990s. Before 1991, Yugoslavia was multiethnic, or made up of several ethnic
groups. These groups included Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians, who
were Orthodox Christians; Croats and Slovenes, who were Roman Catholics;
and the mostly Muslim Bosniaks and Albanians. A majority of Yugoslavians—
including the Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, and Bosniaks—all spoke the same
language, Serbo-Croatian, but these groups had different religions. Albanians,
Slovenes, and Macedonians spoke minority languages.
Yugoslavia was made up of six republics, similar to states in the United States.
These were Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (often known as
Bosnia for short), Montenegro, and Macedonia. Each republic had a dominant
ethnic group but also was home to ethnic minorities. Serbs formed the
majority in Serbia but were an important ethnic minority in several of the
other republics. Serbs dominated Yugoslavia, which was held together and
controlled by its Communist Party.
164. Zlata Filipovic was 11 years old in
1992 when she began a diary about
her life in war-torn Sarajevo, the
capital of Bosnia. Here is an excerpt:
“Today a shell fell on the park in
front of my house, the park
where I used to play and sit with
my girlfriends. A lot of people
were hurt . . . AND NINA IS DEAD
. . . She was such a sweet, nice
little girl.”
—Zlata Filipovic, Zlata’s Diary
Bosnia is just one of the nations that
have faced ethnic, religious, or
national conflicts in recent decades.
165. Grozny in Ruins
Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, lay in ruins in 2000
after Russian troops won a battle for control of the city.
167. However, NATO air strikes eventually forced Yugoslavia to withdraw its
forces from Kosovo. UN and NATO forces restored peace. As Kosovo rebuilt,
tensions remained high between ethnic Albanians and Serbs living there.
Although Kosovo remained part of Serbia in theory, the region was under
UN control after 1999. The majority ethnic Albanians sought independence,
while ethnic Serbs wanted
The Fight for Kosovo
As Bosnia reached a tense peace, a crisis
broke out in the Serbian province of
Kosovo. Ethnic Albanians made up about 90
percent of Kosovo’s population. The rest of the
population was mostly Serbian.
In 1989, Serbian president Slobodan
Milosevic (an extreme Serbian nationalist, had
begun oppressing Kosovar Albanians.
Peaceful protests led to more repression. In the mid-1990s, a small
guerrilla army of ethnic Albanians began to respond with armed attacks
on Serbian targets. Milosevic, however, rejected international peace
efforts. In 1999, NATO launched air strikes against Serbia. Yugoslav forces
attempted ethnic cleansing of Albanian civilians.
169. Assessment
5
What happened when Hungary withdrew from the Warsaw
Pact?
a) The Soviet Union granted Hungary’s
independence.
b) Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian uprising.
c) Other Eastern European countries also withdrew.
d) Hungary was permitted to install a democratic
government.
Which of the following was not a former territory of
Yugoslavia?
a) Slovenia c) Bulgaria
b) Croatia d) Bosnia-Herzegovina
170. Assessment
5
What happened when Hungary withdrew from the Warsaw
Pact?
a) The Soviet Union granted Hungary’s
independence.
b) Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian uprising.
c) Other Eastern European countries also withdrew.
d) Hungary was permitted to install a democratic
government.
Which of the following was not a former territory of
Yugoslavia?
a) Slovenia c) Bulgaria
b) Croatia d) Bosnia-Herzegovina
174. Chapter 18: The Colonies Become
New Nations
Chapter Objective
Trace independence movements and political conflicts in Africa
and Asia as colonialism gave way after World War II.
SECTION 1 The Indian Subcontinent Achieves Freedom
Trace the struggles for freedom on the Indian subcontinent.
SECTION 2 Southeast Asian Nations Gain Independence
Trace the independence movements in the Philippines, Burma,
Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
SECTION 3 New Nations in Africa
Explain the independence movements and struggles in Ghana,
Kenya, Congo, and Angola.
SECTION 4 Conflicts in the Middle East
Describe the formation of Israel and the conflicts in the
Middle East.
SECTION 5 Central Asia Struggles
Summarize the struggles for independence in Central Asia.
