Global spread of the Cold War, 1945-64

North Korean invasion of South Korea, 1950

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Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, Korea | Historical documents

Primary source: CIA's secret report

"OPINION ON LIKELIHOOD OF SOVIET OR CHINESE COMMUNIST ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE KOREAN WAR" (Dated on 9 June 1951)

The Korean War and its origins, 1945-53 | Original documents

Korea 1949-53 | Cold War Documentary

CNN Cold War dokumentary [45 min] (In the textbook pages 76 - 83.)

What were the consequences of the Korean War for the Cold War?

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1) The nuclear powers decided to keep wars limited without direct engage againts each other > the more limited 'hot' wars via 'client' states in the Developing world > the Cold War became a global phenomenon
2) However, the Korean War was used in the USA by Truman, his administration and the military as an opportunity to launch a new, much more aggressive Cold War policy. This policy was based on NSC-68 (Apr 1950) which stated that the US needed to maintain substantial armed forces so that it could prevent Soviet expansion ( < 'Containment')
> a) Truman got Congress to approve huge increases in the military budget after the beginning of the war
> b) According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan (Sept 1951), the US promised to end the occupation in 1952 and Japan guaranteed that the US military bases could remain
> c) After the Korean armistice in July 1953, President Eisenhower (1953-61) kept troops in South Korea and expanded the US defence perimeter in Pacific (vs Sect of State Acheson's Pasific Perimeter Speech in Jan 1950).
> d) Massive military and economic aid was given to Taiwan which was interpreteded to have decisive role in blocking expansion of Communist China; the USA also continued support for Taiwan as representative of the whole China in the United Nations > Within the US intervention in Korea, this led to a 20-year period of Sino-American hostility
3) > Korean War started in many ways the Cold War arms race (conventional and nuclear)
4) New security treaties were made in the Pasific ( > the ANZUS in 1951)
5) The worsened relations affected European situation > a decision to rearmament of West Germany and the beginning of the arrangements on its future NATO membership (> When this was actualized in 1955, the Soviet response was to establish the Warsaw Pact)
6) Good relations between the communists powers at the beginning but after Stalin's death the tensions between Mao's China and Khrushchev's Soviet Union heightened
7) North and South Korea remained divided and hostile towards one another (communist-nationalist 'Juche' ideology in Kim Il-Sung's Democratic People's Republic of Korea and a multi party system with market economy in the Republic of Korea)
8) The Korean War demonstrated the weakness of the UN system: either superpower had the ability to block resolutions againts its own national interests

Sources:
Mamaux, A., The Cold War: Superpower Tensions and Rivalries. Oxford University Press 2015.
Todd, A., The Cold War. Cambridge University Press 2011.

Power Points on Korean crisis and its impact

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How succesful was Truman as a leader?

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A link to the article

Assess the main successes and failures of Truman as a leader of the US foreign policy between 1945 and 1953.

The Berlin crises/ the Wall

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Kennedy in Berlin 1963

(7:47)

The Wall

CNN documentary (46 min)

The Hungarian uprising, 1956

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TASK 1
Read pages 88 - 93 on textbook and answer to the following questions. > A dropbox below.
1.1.
a) Compare the riots and uprisings in East Germany (in 1953), Poland and Hungary (both in 1956)
b) Compare the Soviet reactions to events in each case.
c) Consider reasons for different reactions by the Soviet Union.
1.2. How did Imre Nagy's role change during the uprising?
1.3. How fair it is to say that 'the USA betrayed the Hungarian opposition movement'?
1.4. 'The only revolutionary activity in the developed world was occurring in the Soviet sphere.' Analyse an irony of this statement.
1.5. How did Eisenhower's rollback differ from the policy of containment?
1.6. According to British journalist John Rettie, Khrushchev's secret speech in February 1956 'changed world history'*. How valid is this statement?

TASK 2
Read an extract from Khrushchev's secret 'de-stalinization' speech on page 94 and discuss with a pair about the questions below the document.

* John Rettie, The secret speech that changed world history. The Guardian, 26 Febr 2006.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/26/russia.theobserver

Berlin 1958 - 1961

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Work with your pair and leave your answers to the dropbox below.

TASK 1: Source analysis
Study the source below. With reference to its origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of the source for an historian studying Soviet policy on Germany/Berlin.

TASK 2: Essay writing
Using the source and your own knowledge, examine the Soviet and the Western interests in Berlin between 1958 and 1961.

SOURCE: The 'Berlin Ultimatum'
Extracts from a note delivered by the Soviet Foreign Ministry to the US Ambassador in Moscow in 27 November 1958. Notes with similar contents were sent also to the governments of the Great Britain and France through their embassies in Moscow.

'The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics addresses the Government of the United States of America as one of the signatory powers of the Potsdam Agreement [Aug 1945] on the urgent question of the status of Berlin.
-- The Potsdam Agreement contained important provisions where by Germany was to be regarded as a single economic entity, even during the occupation period. The Council of Foreign Ministers, established by a decision of the Potsdam Conference, was instructed to prepare a peace settlement for Germany.
-- The policy of the Western Powers, however, was increasingly influenced by forces obsessed with hatred for Socialist and Communist ideas but which concealed during the war their hostile designs against the Soviet Union. As a result, the course was set in the West toward the utmost aggravation of the ideological struggle headed by aggressive leaders, opponents of the peaceful coexistence of states. The signal for this was given to the United States and to other Western countries by W. Churchill in his notorious Fulton Speech ['Iron Curtain'] in March 1946.
-- The conflict between the two ideologies – a struggle of minds and convictions – in itself could not have been particularly detrimental to relations between states. The ideological struggle has never abated, and it will continue so long as there are different views on the structure of society.
-- But the matter did not end there. With every passing year the governments of the USA and Great Britain drifted farther and farther away from the principles underlying the Potsdam Agreement. The same road was followed by France --.
-- Moreover, they included West Germany in the North Atlantic bloc was created behind the back of the Soviet Union and, as everyone is aware, against it, and are now arming West Germany with atomic and rocket weapons. -- The Government of the FRG [= The Federal Republic of Germany], encouraged by the Western Powers, is systematically fanning the “cold war,” and its leaders have repeatedly stated that the FRG would pursue the policy “from a position of strength,” i.e., a policy of dictation to the other German state. Thus, the Government of the FRG does not want a peaceful unification of the German people, who are living in two states under different social systems, but is nurturing plans for abolishing the GDR and strengthening at the latter's expense its own militaristic state.
-- The Soviet Union, as well as other states interested in strengthening the peace in Europe, supports the proposals of the German Democratic Republic for the peaceful unification of Germany. The Government of the USSR regrets that none of the efforts made in this direction has as yet produced any positive results, since the governments of the United States and other NATO members, and, above all, the Government of the FRG, do not, in fact, display any concern either for the conclusion of a peace treaty or for the unification of Germany.
-- The USSR does not seek any conquests. All it wants is to put an end to the abnormal and dangerous situation that has developed in Berlin because of the continued occupation of its western sectors by the USA, Great Britain, and France.
-- Of course, the most correct and natural way to solve the problem would be for the western part of Berlin, now actually detached from the GDR, to be reunited with its eastern part and for Berlin to become a unified city within the state in whose territory it is situated.
However, the Soviet Government, taking into account the present unrealistic policy of the USA as well as of Great Britain and France with respect to the German Democratic Republic, cannot but foresee the difficulties the Western powers have in contributing to such a solution of the Berlin problem. At the same time, it is guided by the concern that the process of liquidating the occupation regime may not involve any painful break in the established way of life of the West Berlin population.
The Four Powers which shared in the administration of Berlin after the war could, as well as both of the German states, undertake to respect the status of West Berlin as a free city, just as was done, for instance, by the Four Powers with respect to the neutral status which was adopted by the Austrian Republic.
-- For its part, the Soviet Government would have no objection to the United Nations also sharing, in one way or other, in observing the free-city status of West Berlin.
-- The above-mentioned solution of the problem of West Berlin's status would be an important step toward normalizing the situation in Berlin, which, instead of being a hotbed of unrest and tension, could become a center for contacts and cooperation between both parts of Germany in the interest of her peaceful future and the unity of the German nation.
The establishment of free-city status for West Berlin would firmly ensure the development of West Berlin's economy, due to its contacts on all sides with the states of the East and the West, and would ensure a decent standard of living for the city's population. For its part, the Soviet Union states that it would contribute in every way toward the achievement of these ends, in particular by placing orders for industrial goods and amounts that would fully ensure the stability and prosperity of the free city's economy, and by regular deliveries on a commercial basis of the necessary quantities of new materials and food stuffs to West Berlin. Thus, by the liquidation of the occupation regime, not only would the more than two million people of West Berlin not be harmed but on the contrary they would have every opportunity to raise their living standard.
-- The Government of the Soviet Union would like to hope that the problem of normalizing the situation in Berlin, which life itself raises before our states as a natural necessity, will in any case be solved in accordance with considerations of statesmanship, the interests of peace between peoples, without the unnecessary nervous strain and intensification of a “cold war.”--'

Source:
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=3509

(Selections, bolding and issues on square brackets by J.A.)

THE STRUCTURE OF IB HISTORY ESSAY

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(A) Begin with an introduction to the research question!
* "The aim of the essay is to investigate..."
* "To what extent is it fair to say that...?"
* "It is important to study this (these) question(s) because..."
* Give an ARGUMENT on the question!
(B) Make analysis!
* Introduce evidence on the argument and discuss about the evidence
* Give different points of views; make interpretations
* "On the other hand,...", "However,...", "Moreover,..."
* Use KEY CONCEPTS of History!
(C) Introduce the conclusion(s) of your analysis!
* "As a conclusion..."
* Answer the question(s)
* Put things in the wider context; introduce effects in the long run (vs short run)

A SOURCE BASED PAIR WORK on Soviet doctrine of ´Peaceful Coexistence´

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B) 'The historical origins of the Soviet doctrine of Peaceful Coexistence' by Warren Lerner

TASK: Read the first page and create an inclusive and exact definition on the term 'Peaceful Coexistence'.

A) "On Peaceful Coexistence" by Nikita S. Khrushchev

Originally published in Foreign Affairs, October 1959.

TASK: Read from marking "II" at the end of the first page until the end of the next page.
> By using this extract as a source, create an inclusive and exact definition on the term "Peaceful Coexistence".

The Cuban Missile Crisis, Oct 1962

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JFK's phone call with his predecessor, General Eisenhower during the crisis (28 Oct 1962)

(4:30)
TASK 5:
Discuss with your pair:
a) What were the issues discussed between the Presidents?
b) Consider, how useful this discussion was for Kennedy.

4. Sergei Khrushchev: What was the Cuban Missile Crisis look like from the Soviet perspective?

TASK 4: Watch an interview with Sergei Khrushchev and answer to the question on the title ("What was the...")

S. Khrushchev (1935-2020) was the son of Nikita K. and Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University (USA). (Total duration 3:14)

3. The Cuban Missile Crisis, Oct 1962 | Article

TASK 3: By using the article as a source, create a timeline on events concerning the Missile Crisis.

2. Fog of War - Eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara | Documentary movie

Watch from 5:00 until 20:00 >

TASK 2: Consider, to what extent did a compliance with the principle of 'empathize with your enemy' make it possible to avoid a nuclear war in October 1962.

Robert McNamara (1916-2009) was US Secretary of Defense during Kennedy's and Johnson's presidencies, 1961-68.

1. The Bay of Pigs invasion and its aftermath, Apr 1961 - Oct 1962 | Article

TASK 1: Analyse the consequences of the invasion from perspectives of Kennedy and Castro.

Why did US involvement in Vietnam increased from 1964 onwards?

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Fog of War - Eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara | Documentary movie

From 58 min onwards. Robert McNamara (1916-2009) was US Secretary of Defense during Kennedy's and Johnson's presidencies, 1961-68.

US Involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964 | Article

To what extent were the events in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 reason for the Vietnam War?

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, August 1964 | Document

'US Congress Joint Resolution for the Maintenance of Peace and Security in Southeast Asia'.

With reference to the origin, purpose and content, analyse the value and limitations of the source for historian studying the causes of the Vietnam War.