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Mapping The Cold War

Fall of the Soviet Union

With the space race in 1969 ending and America winning, Russia had spent all of their money and gone bankrupt. First, the 3 Baltic states left the USSR. The leader of Russia, Gorbachev, allowed them and every other country to elave at their own will. Consequently, every involved republic announced their independence and withdrew from the federation.

The Soviet Union before and after their dissolution

Postwar Occupation & Division of Germany

Formation of the Eastern Bloc

Germany was the primary instigator for the second World War, and therefore they faced massive consequences once the war was over. Europe decided that Germany could not be trusted and that its reunification should be prevented. On May 8, 1945, After Germany was brought down to their original territory, and the area was split into 4 zones controlled by foreign military.

Berlin Blockade/Berlin Airlift

Germany was being blockaded, so they needed another way to get resources. To do this, the U.S. and U.K. airlifted resources from June 24, 1948 – May 12, 1949, which supplied Germany with all supplies needed and overpassed the blockade

The U.S. and Russia used to be allied during WWI, but after the violent differences between Democracy and Communism clashed, the two nations became rivals. The U.S.'s goal was to maintain democracy throughout the world, while Russia was converting countries to its great union called the Eastern Bloc (founded 1944), where Communism became the dominant government for Eastern Europeans, namely Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, portions of Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany, becoming known as the Soviet Union. With the formation of this bloc and the rise of Communism, countries such as Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom raised their defences against the expanding Soviet army, forming NATO.

Rise & Fall of the Berlin Wall

American planes airlifting supplies

In 1961, the Berlin wall was created to separate East and West Germany, preventing Eastern Germans controlled by USSR from leaving their side of the country and entering the Western-controlled West side for the sake of separating Communism and Capitalism. This symbolized the entire T of the Cold War. In 1989, the Berlin Wall was taken down and symbolized the end of the Cold War, as Capitalism and Communism were starting to dissolve their fierce rivalry. In 1990, Germany was unified.

Berlin wall being taken down

Marshall Plan

Europe had seen much destruction in World War 2. The U.S. sent money to these countries to support their economies during their rebuilding and allow them to hopefully become Capitalist countries. From April 1948 to December 1951, the Marshall Plan was in effect, though not very successful in its purpose of converting people to Capitalism.

Soviet War in Afghanistan

The United States sent CIA agent Jesuits to convert Irani Communists to Chistianity, and therefore Capitalism. The agents also taught Osama Bin Laden and his group called the Taliban to launch missiles and fly planes in order to attack Russia. To counter this, in 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. The Soviets lost this war because the CIA agents were supplying Afghanistan with resources and supplies to fight the Russians, which began the downfall of the USSR.

Russian tank and men marching to Afghanistan

Photo of results of the Massacre

Korea

Tiananmen Square Massacre

The General Party Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Yaobang, resigned in 1987 unwillingly because of many protests. At his funeral, he was officially disgraced, leaving many thousands of people that supported him to be very angry. More protests ensued, aggression and violence rose, and the government did not know how to deal with it. Many wanted military suppression to take place, and many wanted to solve the issue through discussion. On June 2, soldiers marched into Tiananmen Square, killing all protestors in their way and leading to the massacre of thousands of students. This led to great anger against China and led to their discredit and decline.

Chinese Revolution

In China, there was a conflict between Nationalists and Communists from 1945 1949, where America supported the nationalists to combat the spread of Communism in the style of a proxy war. The revolution was very violent and ended in upwards of 30 million deaths with Communism prevailing.

Korean War

The Containment Policy was America's way of trying to prevent the spread of Communism, which is what got them involved in the Korean War. In this war, from 1950 to 1953, America was supporting the Nationalists of Korea against the Communists in Korea, similar to their conflict in China. In this war, Amerrica supplied nearly 7 million soldiers, mainly veterans of World War 2, to fight. The war ended in a standstill where a cease fire was announced in 1953 and Korea was split into North and South Korea, known as the 38th parallel. The North was Communist and the South was Capitalist.

Communist China propoganda poster

American troops and weapons in Korea

China

Space Race

The impact of the Cold War continues to influence global politics, alliances, and conflicts to this day.

The Space Race was a crucial aspect of the Cold War, demonstrating technological and ideological competition.

Cuban Revolution

The government within Cuba before 1959 was a failing dictatorship. This led the people to be angry and want a new government, which became the opportunity for Fidel Castro to rise up in 1959 and turn Cuba into a Communist Nation. This was a special blow to America because it showed how they had failed to contain the spread of Communism and provided the USSR with a way to attack America.

Vietnam

Propoganda poster against Batista

sign reads: "Free Press In Havana, January 1959, Batista Flees"

Bay of Pigs Invasion

American troops and helicopters in Vietnam

Cuban Missile Crisis

Vietnam War

There was a party of Cuban Nationalists that wished to rebel against their Communist government. John F. Kennedy from America said that he would support them in their overthrowing, but once they had started their offensive, JFK pulled out and decided not to help. He took blame for what he did, but the damage had already been done. This was a very bad look for Capitalism, especially with these world events now being publicized.

In 1962, since Cuba had become Communist, Russia was loading their country with nuclear bombs to shoot at America. During this time, America also had bases in Germany and Japan with the same, pointed at Russia and China. This was the closest that the world had ever gotten to nuclear warfare. A spy plane was sent over Cuba and shot down, though it could not be considered an act of war. America then blockaded Cuba, which was considered an act of war. There was a 13 day standoff that came very close to an open nuclear war, but was saved because of the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). I would be pretty mad if my country was wiped off the face of the Earth too.

The Vietnam War was very similar to the Korean War. From 1964 to 1975, America was supporting Nationalist Vietnamese in the South with 500 thousand troops in opposition to Communist Vietnamese in the North known as the Vietcong, supported by China and Russia. The American troops sent to Vietnam lost because of the homefield advantage that made guerilla warfare so effective for the Vietnamese. During this war, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed in 1964, which allowed the president to send troops anywhere at his own will. This was the first war publicized on live television, which revealed the bad acts of Nationalists and diminished their public favor. In 1969, Richard Nixon trained Vietnamese soldiers to fight and pulled out his own troops in response to anti-war sentiments that resulted. America was also secretly bombing Laos and Cambodia for their Communist ties. This war ended in a loss for America on both their military fronts and in their public image.

Cuban nationalists being walked off to be killed for treason

American vs Russian boat standoff (with nuclear cargo)

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