Freemanpedia

During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been wary of Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical, blood-thirsty rule of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as American officials’ bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable.

Efforts for reconstruction of Japan

• U.S. occupation of Japan under MacArthur’s administration
• Democracy and economic development
• Elimination of Japanese Offensive military capabilities; United States’ guarantee of Japan’s security
• Emergence of Japan as Dominant economy in Asia

International Cooperative Organizations

• United Nations
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Warsaw Pact
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights=Established and adopted by members of the United Nations
• Provided a code of conduct for the Treatment of people under the protection of their government

Beginning of the Cold War (1945-1948)

• The Yalta Conference and the Soviet control of Eastern Europe
• Rivalry between the United States and the U.S.S.R.
• Democracy and the free enterprise system v. dictatorship and communism
• President Truman and the Policy of Containment
• Eastern Europe—Soviet satellite nations; the Iron Curtain

Characteristics of the Cold War (1948-1989)

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) v. the Warsaw Pact
• Korean Conflict
• Vietnam War
• Berlin and significance of Berlin Wall
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Nuclear weapons and the theory of Deterrence

Collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (1989-)

• Soviet economic collapse
• Nationalism in Warsaw Pact countries
• Tearing down of Berlin Wall
• Breakup of U.S.S.R. the Soviet Union
• Expansion of NATO

Terms to know

• Containment: Policy for preventing the expansion of communism

Conflicts and revolutionary movements in China

• Division of China into two nations at the end of the Chinese civil war
• Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi)— Nationalist China (island of Taiwan)
• Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong)— Communist China (mainland China)
• Continuing conflict between the two Chinas
• Communist China’s participation in Korean Conflict

Conflicts and revolutionary movements in Vietnam

• Role of French Imperialism
• Leadership of Ho Chi Minh
• Vietnam as a divided nation
• Influence of policy of containment
• The United States and the Vietnam War
• Vietnam as a reunited communist country today

Indira Gandhi

• Closer relationship between India and the Soviet Union during the Cold War
• Developed nuclear program

Margaret Thatcher

• British Prime Minister
• Opposed Soviet communism – “Iron Lady”
• Free trade and less government regulation of business
• Close relationship with United States and U.S. foreign policy
• Asserted United Kingdom’s military power

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Glasnostand perestroika
• Fall of the Berlin Wall
• Last president of Soviet Union
• Oversaw peaceful transition to democracy

Deng Xiaoping

• Reformed communist economy to market economy leading to rapid economic growth
• Communist control of government continued

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