Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

The Yalta Conference, 1945

The Yalta Conference took place February 4-

11, 1945.At Yalta, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin

made important decisions regarding the future progress of the war and the postwar world

World Leaders at the Yalta Conference

The Allied leaders came to Yalta knowing that an Allied victory in Europe was practically inevitable but less convinced that the

Pacific war was nearing an end. Recognizing that a victory over Japan might require armed conflict, the United States and Great Britain saw a major strategic advantage to Soviet participation in the Pacific theater. At Yalta, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed

with Stalin the conditions under which the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan and all three agreed that, in exchange for Soviet participation in the Pacific theater, the Soviets would be granted a sphere of influence in Manchuria following

Japan's surrender. This agreement was the major concrete accomplishment of the Yalta Conference.

The Allied leaders also discussed the future of Germany, Eastern Europe and the United Nations. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin agreed not only to include France in the postwar governing of

Germany, but also that Germany should assume some, but not all, responsibility for reparations following the war. The Americans and the British generally agreed that future

governments of the Eastern European nations bordering the Soviet Union should be "friendly" to the Soviet regime while the Soviets pledged to allow free elections in all territories liberated from Nazi Germany.

In discussions regarding the future of the United Nations, all parties agreed to an American plan concerning voting procedures in the Security Council, which had been expanded to five permanent members following the inclusion of France. Each of these

permanent members was to hold a veto on decisions before the Security Council. Initial reaction to the Yalta agreements was celebratory. Roosevelt and many other

Americans viewed it as proof that the spirit of U.S.-Soviet wartime cooperation would carry over into the postwar period. This sentiment, however, was short lived. With the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, Harry S. Truman became president of

“On behalf of HM Government I send you grateful thanks for all the hospitality and friendship

extended to British delegation at Crimea Conference... No previous meeting has shown so clearly

the results which can be achieved when the three heads of government meet together with the full

intention to face difficulties and solve them.”

“You yourself said that co-operation would be less easy when the unifying bond of fighting against

a common enemy had been removed. I am resolved, as I am sure the President and you are

resolved that the friendship and co-operation so firmly established shall not fade when victory has been won.” Winston Churchill, thanking Stalin for his 'hospitality and friendship'

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

the United States. By the end of April, the new administration clashed with the Soviets over their influence in Eastern Europe, and over the United Nations. Alarmed at the perceived lack of cooperation on the part of the Soviets, many Americans began to

criticize Roosevelt's handling of the Yalta negotiations. To this day, many of Roosevelt's opposition accuse him of "handing over" Eastern Europe and Northeast Asia to the Soviet Union at Yalta despite the fact that the Soviets did make many substantial

concessions.

The Potsdam Conference, 1945

The Big Three Stalin, Churchill, and Truman met in Potsdam, Germany, in July 1945, to negotiate the end of World War II. After the Yalta Conference of February 1945, the Big

Three agreed to meet following the surrender of Germany to determine the postwar borders in Europe. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, and the Allied leaders agreed to continue the discussions that had begun at Yalta. Although the Allies remained

committed to fighting a joint war in the Pacific, the lack of a common enemy in Europe led to difficulties reaching consensus concerning postwar reconstruction in Europe.

The major issue at Potsdam was the question of how to handle Germany. At Yalta, the Soviets had pressed for heavy postwar reparations from Germany, half of which would go to the Soviet Union. While Roosevelt had agreed to such demands, Truman was

determined to be less harsh on Germany by allowing the occupying nations to receive reparations only from their own zone of occupation. Truman encouraged this position because they wanted to avoid a repetition of the situation created by the Treaty of

Versailles, which had exacted high reparations payments from Germany following World War One. The harsh reparations imposed by the Versailles Treaty had handicapped the German economy and fueled the rise of the Nazis. Despite numerous disagreements, the

Allied leaders did manage to conclude some agreements at Potsdam.

1. A complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany; all aspects of German industry that could be utilized for military purposes were to be dismantled

2. All German military forces were to be eliminated; and the production of all military hardware in Germany was forbidden.

3. German society was to be remade along democratic lines

4. The arrest and trial of those Germans deemed to be "war criminals."

5. The German educational and judicial systems were to be purged of any

authoritarian influences

One of the most controversial matters addressed at the Potsdam Conference dealt with

the revision of the German-Soviet-Polish borders and the expulsion of several million Germans from the disputed territories. In exchange for the territory it lost to the Soviet Union following the readjustment of the Soviet-Polish border, Poland received a large

swath of German territory and began to deport the German residents of the territories in question.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

Furthermore, the United States, Great Britain, and China released the "Potsdam Declaration," which threatened Japan with "prompt and utter destruction" if it did not

immediately surrender. The Potsdam Conference is perhaps best known for President Truman's July 24, 1945 conversation with Stalin, during which time the President informed the Soviet leader that the United States had successfully detonated the first

atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. Stalin, however, was already well-informed about the U.S. nuclear program thanks to the Soviet intelligence network; so he also held firm in his positions. This situation made negotiations challenging. The

leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, despite their differences, had remained allies throughout the war, never met again collectively to discuss cooperation in postwar

reconstruction.

The Berlin Airlift: June 27, 1948 to May 12, 1949

Operation Vittles

Following World War II, a delicate balance of power had surfaced between the once united Allies: Great Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union. The opposing economic structures of capitalism and communism emerged triumphant at the end

of the war. The two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, sought to ensure their presence by negotiating territorial claims throughout the globe. At the Yalta and Potsdam

Conferences, Europe and the Far East were partitioned off as spheres of influence to their ideologies. Germany was divided into fourths allowing each superpower to

run its division. This divided Germany, and was to become the first battleground of the emerging Cold War between the United States and the

Soviet Union. 1948 was a critical turning point for President Truman who was faced with the threat of a possible World War III with the Soviet Union

over a developing situation in Berlin. Truman's record against the Soviets, up to this date, had been ineffective in keeping them from occupying

Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. (Buffer Zone) Politicians were calling him soft on communism

Germany’s General Condition:

Food rations in some parts of Germany were being cut to 900 calories a day, far below the recommended daily

allowance for adequate nutrition. Labor unrest was prevalent throughout all the regions of Germany. Communist groups on all

sides of Germany were gaining followers because they offered hope and prosperity in the future. American, British, and French

authorities were facing their worst fears; possible expansion of soviet communist ideology and the collapse of western democratic capitalism in the newly

partitioned Germany

In early September 1947, the United States had, along with Great Britain, combined their zones

into one military province called "Bizonia," hoping to bring security back to the German people. This formal joining helped to provide economic stability. Soon after, France followed suit and annexed its section to Bizonia. The new Trizone looked to secure some

economic stability in the midst of the German recession. In February, both sides waited for the

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

other to make a move. The Soviets, trying to push the west out of Berlin, countered this economic support of West Germany by requiring that all Western convoys bound for Berlin

travelling through Soviet Germany be searched and seized. The Soviets cut all surface traffic to West Berlin.

American ambassador to Britain, John Winnant, stated the accepted Western view when he said that he believed

"that the right to be in Berlin carried with it the right of access."

The Soviets, however, did not agree. Shipments by rail and the autobahn came to a halt. A desperate Berlin, faced with starvation and in need of vital

supplies, looked to the West for help.

The order to begin supplying West Berlin by air was approved by U.S. on June 27, 1948. President Truman, wishing to avoid war, supported the air campaign. Surviving a normally harsh

German winter, the airlift carried over two million tons of supplies in 270,000 flights. The blockade of Berlin was finally lifted by the Soviets on May 12, 1949. Berlin became a symbol of

the United States resolve to stand up to the Soviet threat without being forced into a direct conflict. The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949, after fifteen months. In total

the operation delivered:

2,326,406 tons of supplies, 2/3 of which was coal,

278,228 flights to Berlin. flew over 92 million miles almost Earth to the Sun

One plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds. 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation,

mostly due to crashes. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation.

The cost of the Airlift was approximately US$224 million -equivalent to approximately $2.19 billion today

Korean War 1950-1953

Causes and Intro to the Korean War Japan had effectively occupied Korea since 1904. In the waning days of World War II, an agreement was reached between the United States and

the Soviet Union: the Soviets would occupy South Korea only as far as the 38th parallel. The United States forces that arrived in Korea were wholly unprepared for their duties in Korea, not

understanding its history and relationship with Japan. Too many Koreans, independence and unification were their most important goals.

The United States, supported Syngman Rhee, a Korean nationalist who had

been exiled to the United States in 1907. The United States asked the United Nations to settle the issue of a Divided Korea. Despite Soviet objections, a United Nations commission voted for elections in Korea. The communists in

the South boycotted the election, and refused to allow it in the North. In the South, Rhee received a majority of the vote, in an election in which 80% of

eligible Korean voters took part. Rhee became President of the newly-declared independent South Korea in October 1948. The Soviets installed Kim el Song as the leader of the North.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

The United States drew down its military in the post war period, to a force of 472 officers and men who made up the Korean Military Advisory Group from 40 000. The Korean army, was

given only light weapons. The North Korean Army, on the other hand, was heavily equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles. The communist victory in China, combined with the first

Soviet nuclear tests in 1949, resulted in a new US policy of containment in Asia. The policy for the containment was to be primarily non-military, with economic and military aid given to non-

communist regimes in Asia. (Marshall Plan) On January 5, 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, speaking at

the National Press Club, articulated the American policy. He spoke of those countries that the US would defend with force: Japan, the

Rykus islands and the Philippine Islands. Korea was left out. The withdrawal of the last American forces from Korea, as well as North

Korean Kim's conviction that the US would not intervene, convinced the North Koreans to attempt to unify the country by force. The

Soviets, led by Stalin, and the Chinese, led by Mao, agreed and his plans to unify the country by force were put into action.

Summary of Korean War

The Korean War began in 1950. Korea had been split into North Korea and South Korea two

years earlier. In North Korea, there was a communist government. In South Korea, there was a democratic government. Each wanted to unify Korea under its own form of government. North

Korea invaded South Korea on June 25th, 1950 in order to unify Korea by force.

South Korea was caught off guard and North Korean troops took over the capital, Seoul, and almost took over the whole country. The only area left from communist rule was a little area

around Pusan. The UN forces in Korea attacked Inchon, a city near Seoul, in September of 1950. This caught North Korea off guard. The UN was able to take back Seoul and push North Koreans

back into North Korea. The UN decided to continue to fight, and invaded North Korea in October of 1950.

North Korea was almost lost entirely to UN forces, but the Chinese came into the picture. China had hundreds of thousands of troops, and helped North Korea to force South Korean and UN

Forces back into South Korea. They crossed the border again as well. Seoul was lost for a second time to the communists in January of 1951. After much planning, UN forces regained Seoul in

March. UN Forces pushed North Koreans back about 20 miles above the border. The United States wished for peace talks to begin. Finally, on July 27th, 1953, the papers were signed and

an agreement was made.

South Koreans panicked as North Korea easily invaded their country. The United States along with the United Nations decided to take a stand - if communism was allowed to spread in Korea, the UN feared it would only spread more, to countries such as Japan. (Domino

Effect) Also, the option of using the Atom Bomb, as the United States had done at the end of World War II just a few years earlier, was no longer an option. Russia had developed its own

atomic bomb. Any nuclear attacks would only lead to nuclear war.

The 1952 presidential campaigns heavily revolved around the Korean War. Americans wanted the war to end, and fast. The peace talks had been going on for a long time with no success.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, a popular general from World War II, ran for office. He said he would go to Korea himself if he won the election. He won in November, 1952, and followed through with

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

his promise. Eisenhower gave threats of nuclear attack, which North Korea took seriously. Only a few months after the election, Chinese sent

notice pleading for an end to the Korean War. On July 27th, 1953, the papers were signed and the Korean War ended.

Who won the war, you ask? Technically,the UN gained about 20 miles, a

slight victory. But casualties in the Korean War totaled more than 3,000,000.

Did anyone really win? Or has nothing changed?

Viet Nam Summary “Proxy War”

The causes of the Vietnam War were classic symptoms of the Cold War. The causes of the Vietnam War revolve around the simple belief held by America that communism was threatening to expand all over south-east Asia and needed to be contained with force if necessary.

(Containment and Domino Theory)

Neither the Soviet Union nor the United States could risk a war against each other due to the nuclear military might each possessed. (MAD) However, when it suited both, they had client

states (Nations within the Sphere of Influence) that could carry on the fight for them. (Proxy War) In Vietnam, the Americans actually fought - therefore in the Cold War ‘game’, the USSR

could not. However, to support the Communist cause, the Soviet Union armed its fellow Communist state, China, who would, in turn, arm and equip the North Vietnamese who fought

the Americans.

Post World War II Vietnam

The causes of the Vietnam War trace their roots back to the end of World

War II. A French colony, Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia) had been occupied by the Japanese during the war. In 1941, a Vietnamese

nationalist movement, the Viet Minh, was formed by Ho Chi Minh to resist the occupiers. A communist, Ho Chi Minh waged a guerilla war

against the Japanese with the support of the United States. Near the end of the war, the Japanese began to promote Vietnamese nationalism and ultimately granted the

country nominal independence. Following the Japanese defeat, the French returned to take possession of their colony. Their entrance into Vietnam was only permitted by the Viet Minh after

assurances had been given that the country would gain independence as part of the French Union. Discussions broke down between the two parties and in December 1946, the French shelled the city of Haiphong and forcibly reentered the capital, Hanoi.

These actions began a conflict between the French and the Viet Minh known as

the First Indochina War. The war, ended when the French were decisively defeated at Dien Bien Phu, in 1954. The war was ultimately settled by the

Geneva Accords of 1954, which temporarily partitioned the country at the 17th parallel, with the Viet Minh(communist) in control of the north and a non-

communist state to be formed in the south under Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem. This division was to last until 1956, when national elections would be

held to decide the future of the nation. The Politics of American Involvement

Initially, the United States had little interest in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, however as it

became clear that post-World War II world would be dominated by the US and its allies and the Soviet Union and theirs, isolating communist movements took an increased importance.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

(Containment) These concerns were ultimately formed into the doctrine of containment and domino theory.

Containment identified that the goal of Communism was to spread to capitalist states and that the only way to stop it was to “contain” it within its present borders. Springing from containment was the concept of domino theory which stated that if one state in a region were to fall to

Communism, then the surrounding states would inevitably fall as well. These concepts were to dominate and guide US foreign policy for much of the Cold War.

In 1950, to combat the spread of Communism, the United States began supplying the French military in Vietnam with advisors and funding its efforts against the “red” Viet Minh. These

efforts continued in 1956, when advisors were provided to train the army of the new Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). Despite their best efforts, the quality of the Army of the Republic of

Vietnam (ARVN) was to remain consistently poor throughout its existence. The Diem Regime

A year after the Geneva Accords, Prime Minister Diem commenced on a “Denounce the Communists” campaign in the south. Throughout the summer of 1955, communists were jailed

and executed. Later that year, Diem rigged a referendum vote on the future of the country and declared the formation of the Republic of Vietnam, with its capital at Saigon.

Despite this, the US actively supported the Diem regime as a buttress (support) against Ho Chi

Minh’s communist forces in the north. In 1957, a low-level guerrilla movement began to emerge in the south, conducted by Viet Minh that had not returned north after the accords. Two years

later, these groups successfully began an armed struggle in the south. Military supplies began to flow into the south along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the following year the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) was formed to carry out the fight.

The Vietnam War represented a successful attempt on the part of the Democratic Republic of

Vietnam (North Vietnam, DRV) and the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam (Viet Cong) to unite and impose a communist system over the entire nation. Opposing the DRV was the

Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam, RVN), backed by the United States. The war in Vietnam occurred during the Cold War, and is generally viewed as an indirect conflict between the United

States and Soviet Union, with each nation and its allies supporting one side. (Proxy War)

Trouble on the Home Front

While the antiwar movement in the US was pleased with Nixon’s efforts at détente with

communist nations, it was inflamed in 1969, when news broke about a massacre of 347 South Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers at My Lai. Tension grew further when, following a change in

stance by Cambodia, the US began bombing North Vietnamese bases over the border. This was followed in 1970, with ground forces attacking into Cambodia, a move viewed as expanding the

war rather than winding it down. Public opinion sunk lower in 1971 with the release of the Pentagon Papers. A top secret report, the Pentagon Papers

detailed American mistakes in Vietnam since 1945, as well as exposed lies US involvement in deposing Diem, and revealed secret American bombing of Laos. The papers also painted a bleak outlook for American prospects of

victory. http://www.veteranshour.com/vietnam_war_statistics.htm

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful

attempt to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Increasing friction between the

U.S. government and Castro's leftist regime led

President Eisenhower to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961. Even before that, the

Central Intelligence Agency had been training anti-revolutionary Cuban exiles for a possible invasion of

the island. The invasion plan was approved by

Eisenhower's successor, John F. Kennedy.

On April 17, 1961 1300 Cuban exiles, armed with U.S. weapons, landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba.

Hoping to find support from the local population, they

crossed the island to Havana. It was evident from the first hours of fighting, that the exiles were likely to

lose. Kennedy had the option of using the U.S. Air Force against the Cubans but decided against it.

Consequently, the invasion was stopped by Castro's

army. By the time the fighting ended on April 19, 90 exiles had been killed and the rest had been taken as

prisoners.

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962: Brinkmanship

"Nuclear catastrophe was hanging by a thread ... and we weren't counting days or hours, but minutes." - Anatoly Gribkov

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba

were prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded.

In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately

behind the United States in terms of

military developments. (Arms Race) Soviet missiles were only

powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of

striking the entire Soviet Union. (ICBM) In May 1962, newly appointed Soviet Premier

Nikita Khrushchev came up with the idea of placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. A

deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real

deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. Castro did not openly

reject the idea at first. Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S. Ever since the

failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable.

Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.

For fear of being discovered, they could not use military ships. Therefore civilian vessels were used. In one instance, troops rode on a cruise liner posing as

tourists. In all, sixty missiles and their warheads war transported to Cuba. On August 10, 1962, director of the CIA sent the president a memorandum

indicating his belief that the Soviets have placed nuclear missiles in Cuba.

For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when photographs revealed Soviet

missiles under construction in Cuba. Kennedy immediately organized a group of his most important advisors to handle the crisis. During this phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build

on both sides. (Brinkmanship) Over the next few days their discussions developed several different strategies for dealing with the crisis.

They included the following:

Do Nothing The US had military bases in 127 different countries including Cuba

and had nuclear missiles in several countries close to the Soviet Union.

Negotiate In return for the Soviet Union dismantling missiles in Cuba, the US

would withdraw her nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy.

Invasion Send US troops into Cuba to overthrow Castro's government. Missiles

could then be destroyed.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

After seven days of intense debate, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval blockade or quarantine around Cuba. He wished prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on

the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union

and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba. The world waited anxiously. A public opinion poll in the United States revealed that three out of five people

expected fighting to break out between the two sides. There were angry demonstrations as people protested about the possibility of nuclear war.

As well as imposing a naval blockade, Kennedy also told the air-force to prepare for attacks on Cuba and the Soviet Union. The army positioned

125,000 men in Florida and was told to wait for orders to invade Cuba. If the Soviet ships carrying weapons for Cuba did not turn back or refused

to be searched, a war was likely to begin. (Nuclear War)

On October 24, President John F. Kennedy was informed that Soviet ships had stopped just before they reached the United States ships blockading

Cuba. That evening, Nikita Khrushchev sent an angry note to Kennedy accusing him of creating a crisis to help the Democratic Party win the forthcoming election. On the 26th, Khrushchev

wrote a letter to Kennedy. He proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba ever again. October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A

U-2 was shot down over Cuba and a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. Robert Kennedy suggested

ignoring the second letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the U.S. agreement with the first.

Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev

announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United

States would never invade Cuba.

The Beginning of Détente

The Soviet decision to deploy missiles in Cuba can be broken down into two categories: Soviet insecurity, and the fear of losing Cuba in an invasion.(Sphere of

Influence and Expansionism) The Cuban Missile Crisis was the first and only nuclear confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The event appeared to frighten

both sides and it marked a change in the development of the Cold War. The result of the Cuban Missile Crisis left the 2 superpowers, USA and USSR to lessen tensions between them.

(Détente) Peaceful negotiations and policies to limit the threat of Brinkmanship in the future began to develop and carry forward until the collapse of the Soviet Union. A period of Détente was favored over a Deterrence in the future. Some of the direct consequences of the crisis

include the following:

Blockade Use the US Navy to stop shipments reaching Cuba from the Soviet Union.

Air Strike Carry out air-strikes against missiles and other military targets in Cuba.

Nuclear War Use nuclear weapons against Cuba and/or the Soviet Union.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

The two sides established a direct communications link that became known as the Hot Line. This would help prevent dangerous confrontations such as the Cuban

Missile Crisis arising again. Three months after the Cuban Missile Crisis the United States secretly removed all its

nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy. A Test Ban Treaty was signed in August 1963. The treaty prohibited the testing of nuclear

weapons in the atmosphere. The 1,113 prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs invasion were exchanged by Castro

for $60 million in food, drugs, medicine and cash.

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

Afghanistan hit the world's headlines in 1979. Afghanistan seemed to perfectly summarize the Cold War. From the west's point of view, Berlin, Korea, and Cuba had shown the way

communism wanted to proceed.

In 1979, Russia, invaded Afghanistan. The country was already in the grip of a civil war. The Prime Minister, Hazifullah Amin, tried to sweep

aside Muslim tradition and replace it with a more western ideology in Afghanistan. This outraged the majority of those in Afghanistan as a strong tradition of Muslim ideology was common. Thousands of Muslim

leaders had been arrested and many more had fled the capital to escape Amin's police. Amin also lead a communist based government.

Thousands of Afghanistan Muslims joined the Mujahideen - a guerilla force on a holy mission for

Allah. They wanted the overthrow of the Amin government. The Mujahideen declared a jihad - a holy war - on the supporters of Amin. This was also extended to the Russians who were now in

Afghanistan trying to maintain the power of the Amin communist based government. The USSR, claimed support of a legitimate government and that the Mujahideen were no more than

terrorists.

On December 27th, 1979, Amin was shot and he was replaced by Babrak Kamal. His position as head of the Afghan government depended entirely on the fact that he needed Russian military support to keep him in power. Many Afghan soldiers had deserted to the Mujahedeen and the

Kamal government needed 85,000 Russian soldiers to keep him in power.

The Mujahideen proved to be a formidable opponent. They were equipped with old rifles but had knowledge of the mountains. The Russians resorted to using napalm, poison gas and helicopter

gunships against the Mujahedeen - but they experienced exactly the same military scenario the Americans had done in Vietnam. By 1982, the Mujahideen controlled 75% of Afghanistan despite

fighting the might of the world's second most powerful military power. Young conscript Russian soldiers were no match against men fuelled by their

religious belief.

The United Nations had condemned the invasion as early as January 1980 but a Security Council motion calling for the withdrawal of Russian forces had

been vetoed......by Russia. America did nothing. They knew that Russia had got itself into their own Vietnam. Mujhadeen fighters were given access to American surface-to-

air missiles – though not through direct sales by America. (Proxy War) The US also gave secret aid to the opponents of the Soviet regime in Kabul.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

“We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but we knowingly increased the probability that they would. The day the Soviets officially crossed the border, we understood we now have the

opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam war.......... (Called the Bear Trap).

When Ronald Reagan came to office in 1981, he maintained the activity against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Reagan held that the threat to peace and stability in the region was the

Soviet Union and its policies. (Sphere of Influence, Containment) It was therefore important to restore American forces to deal with the region. Reagan's policy toward Afghanistan maintained that while the United States would employ

no military forces of its own, it would nonetheless provide aid to the Afghan rebels to pressure the Soviet Union to withdraw its forces. (Proxy War)

By the end of the 1980's, the Russian forces had withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Soon afterward the Mujahideen was at war with itself in Afghanistan with hard

line Taliban fighters taking a stronger grip over the whole nation and imposing very strict Muslim law on the Afghanistan population.

The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan was indeed Vietnam-like in its brutality,

killing more than a million Afghans and helping to tear apart a country in 1979. In the upheaval, Afghanistan became a base for terrorists. In many ways, the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the United States’ subsequent support of the mujahidin resistance was another round of the Afghan “Great Game.” The “Great Game” portrays Central

Asia, and specifically Afghanistan, as the region where “international superpower struggle” occurs. This was dictated by the Cold War and defeating communism was part of the daily U.S. foreign policy.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union

"Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full blooded life." Mikhail Gorbachev

The collapse of the USSR radically changed the world's economic and

political environment. No other conflict of interest dominated the post World War Two world like the cold war did. One man is credited with

ending the cold war; Mikhail Gorbachev. This however was not the biggest event Gorbachev was responsible for.

The end of the cold war was just a by-product of the other major event he

was involved with: the fall of communism in the USSR and the collapse of the USSR itself. Gorbachev was appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party of the

Soviet Union in 1985. The break-up of the USSR can be traced back to Gorbachev’s appointment and his early reforms. His major reforms were Glasnost, Perestroika and Democratization.

Glasnost: Political Changes

Restructuring of the Soviet cultural and social policy of the late

1980s. Mikhail Gorbachev began to promote a policy of openness in public discussions about political and economic problems. The policy was termed glasnost. The brutality of the

Stalin era, such as the Great Purges were acknowledged, and the corruption and stagnation of the economy were sharply criticized.

Social 30-2 Chapter 8 Supplementary Notes

Soviet leaders became more receptive both to the media and to foreign leaders as a new period of detente opened between East and West. Gorbachev hoped that candidness about the state of

the country would accelerate his perestroika program. Glasnost can be associated with elements of freedom of speech, freedom to criticize the government policy.

Perestroika: Economic Changes

Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts by Mikhail

Gorbachev to transform the stagnant, inefficient command economy of the Soviet Union into a decentralized market-oriented economy.

Industrial managers were granted greater autonomy and freedom to determine production, and open elections was introduced in an

attempt to democratize the Communist party organization. Perestroika is often argued to be one reason for the fall of

communism in the and for the end of the Cold War.

Democratization:

Gorbachev expressed his belief that the party had to 'reform or die'. Gorbachev had recognized the mistrust and dissatisfaction

the Soviet people had of the Communist Party. He had stated that the Communist Party is drifting and failing in its duty to improve the standard of living of the Soviet people. Gorbachev introduced

the idea of democracy to Communist Party. In 1987 Gorbachev began the process of democratization by implementing the right

for Communist Party members to elect party officials rather than have them appointed by senior party members. In 1989 the first

elections in the USSR since 1917 were held. The elections were anything but free and unbiased. The Soviet people had never

heard of anything like it and were glued to their televisions almost nonstop for days.

Democracy in the USSR proved to be a disease of the mind. The

more democracy Gorbachev sanctioned the more radical the demands became for faster, wider reform to implement both

economic liberal principles and democratic ideologies. He was often left reacting to protesters

demands than genuinely introducing reform. The seeds of Liberalism had been sowed and the USSR was fertile soil for these ideologies to develop quickly.

In the end, western liberal ideology won the Cold War both economically and politically. The

Soviet Union could not keep up with the US military developments and the needs of their citizens for daily goods. Soviet States demanded independence and self-governance wishing to establish

free democratic elections. The Berlin Wall was torn down and the lines between Eastern and Western Europe began to blur into history.