Berlin 063 Names of people who died during Berlin AirliftRhein-main airfocrce base

Cold War

WestCiv2:  Lecture 18


    The Missing Peace Settlement and Cold War



I.  Introduction


        Finally, we spend so much time on the Cold War because it dominated the west for over forty years and proved to be an enormous waste of money resources.  Though said to be an era of peace, it was, in fact, an era of superpower competition and war, when the great powers fought out their conflicts in other areas and using proxies.


        The postwar settlement was not going to come easy, given the bitterness of the struggle and the differing ideologies among the allies (only a common enemy had united them).  The prevailing hope was not to replay the mistakes of Versailles that led to World War II.  Remember that so many problems in the world traced their roots to the after effects of the war, much as after the Great War.


        Remember too that it was the Red Army that had occupied all of Eastern Europe.  This, coupled with the fact that the French and Italian communist parties had the most prestige in the West, led to yet another Red Scare and the Cold War.


        Also all the larger towns of Europe had suffered some damage.  Those in Germany and Central and Eastern europe lay in ruins.  Roads, bridges and RRs were destroyed, as well as factories.  Men were gone.  It seemed hard to believe that it could all be put back together again, especially as people were scattered everywhere:  forced laborers, pows, concentration camps, returning soldiers, refugees.


        Finally, remember that the U.S. suffered only 389,000 casualties, compared to the Soviet Union 20-30 million.

II.  The Cold War


        A.  Background

            1.  US and USSR in charge, kind of by default:  germany and japan defeated, china in revolution, france and britain exhausted

            2.  the west had, in a way, acknowledged that soviets had a right to prevail in eastern europe
                a.  October 1944 percentages agreement between churchill and stalin:  Greece 90-10, Yugoslavia 50-50, Bulgaria 10-90

                b.  Soviets interested in staying in eastern europe for a number of reasons
                    1)  traditional old Balkan diplomacy
                    2)  they had attacked the soviet union
                    3)  natural resources

            3.  traditional russian paranoia of west (and vice versa)
                a.  nationalization of factories during civil war
                b.  after all took long time till US recog soviet regime
                c.  US econ power and had the bomb until 1949

            4.  russia's strengths were:
                a.  largest army, almost largest air force
                b.  sov pop still climbing, natural resources
                c.  yet deaths, destruction


        B.  The first stage

            1.  In a way, the record after ww2 is a series of one stupid international crisis after another
                a.  ****the rivalry between east and west, between the US and USSR, dominated everything*****

            2.  the Grand Alliance had been stormy (Big three diplomacy)
                a.  for Americans, idealized vision of russkies (had no real idea of the magnitude of the suffering), but common foe kept them together

                b.  arguments over aid (Russians refused to publicize Western aid)



            3.  there were issues of discord between them
                a.  especially the second front, which did not materialize in 1942 or 1943

                b.  Poland
                    1)  all along stalin argued that russia should keep its piece of Poland and compensate the poles in the west
                    2)  August 1944, Warsaw uprising

                c.  prisoners-of-war

                d.  difference in war aims
                    1)  in January 1941, FDR spoke of his 4 freedoms, which kind of became allied war aims:
                        a)  freedom of speech and expression
                        b)  freedom of worship
                        c)  freedom from want
                        d)  freedom from fear
                    2)  Roosevelt and Churchill met off coast of Newfoundland on 14 August 1941 and issued the Atlantic Charter
                        a)  support for freedom of the seas, restoration of conquered peoples
                        b)  later signed by many nations, including the Soviet Union

            4.  Roosevelt and churchill met at Casablanca in Jan 1943
                a.  agreed to invade Sicily and to demand unconditional surrender
                b.  Quebec in August 1943

            5.  big three met at Tehran in December 1943
                a.  agreed to invade france finally the following year
                b.  use curzon line, which meant that Stalin would get to keep a big piece of Poland
                c.  stalin fight japan
                d.  but basically postponed the real issues, i.e., the nature of the postwar polish government

            6.  Yalta in Feb 1945
                a.  Soviets held the bargaining edge
                    1)  army had occupied poland, most of czech, balkans, had helped blunt battle of the bulge

                b.  FDR got Stalin agreement to enter war vs Japan


                c.  also ussr agreed to enter the UN, for FDR a good sign

                d.  Reparations and four-power occupation of Germany vaguely touched on
                    1)  was agreed to punish Nazis and demilitarize germany so never again
                    2)  Austria was also occupied into four parts
                    3)  neither of these occupations were seen as permanent at the time

                e.  big issue was Eastern europe, which was under Soviet occupation
                    1)  Stalin agreed to democratic elections in Poland, Hungary, Czech, but it was soon evident that Stalin's definition was not that of the west
                    2)  Stalin also insisted on "friendly" governments
                    3)  what should be the political composition of these governments, e.g., the two polish governments in exile
                        a)  also most had no firm demo traditions
                        b)  had already set up a communists gov in warsaw
                        c)  agreed to take some Western Poles into the Lublin government

                f.  *****Stalin later argued that he had had no say in Italy*****

            7.  things started deteriorating almost as soon as Yalta was over
                a.  Rumania where Vyshinskii stormed into the king's office and demanded a pro-Russian government

                b.  composition of the Polish gov (moscow refused everybody)

                c.  slow return of US POWS

                d.  then slaughtered 16 polish underground leaders after they came to soviet meeting

                e.  then stalin scared by SS Karl Wolff's approach to swiss

            8.  with end of war, things continued to go downhill
                a.  FDR died
                    1)  had sent a telegram to Stalin about his actions
                    2)  just before his death had conversed with Churchill that it might be time to get tough with Stalin

                b.  Truman, who had never been a big fan of Stalin, lowered the boom on molotov on his way to San Francisco

                c.  then lend lease stopped

                d.  then churchill had the idea of not withdrawing to occupation zones unless stalin behaved, but it was doubtful whether public opinion would have stood for that.

            9.  then Potsdam from 17 july to 17 August
                a.  much different character since Truman and Clement Atlee, 1883-1967, so again Stalin in control

                b.  Atomic diplomacy?

                c.  Germany into four zones, Berlin into four zones.  This later caused problems

                d.  again disputes over size of reparations
                    1)  a provisional agreement for reps in kind to the Russians

                e.  US still believed in self-determination, not spheres of influence

                f.  inter-allied war tribunal set up and nuremburg began in November 1945

                g.  nothing really decided though (agreed to allow the peace treaties to be drawn up by the conference of foreign ministers)

            10.  Never was a definitive peace treaty signed between all the allies and Germany or Japan
                a.  most of the settlements were rather informal agreements

                b.  signed with Italy, bulgaria, Rumania, hungary, finland, as a result of work of the Council of Foreign ministers by early 1947

                c.  treaty with Japan, which Russia opposed, went into effect in April 1952
                    1)  deprived japan of all territory since 1854
                    2)  renounced rights to Formosa, US occupation

            11.  United nations set up (next lecture)
                a.  (note how it has started working as of late)
                b.  League formally dissolved in April 1946

                c.  26 June 1945, charter:  general assembly, Security council, Secretariat, econ and social council, court of justice


        C.  The Events

            1.  After the war, Stalin moved rapidly to consolidate his gains and secure his frontiers
                a.  Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria all became Soviet satellites
                    1)  salami tactics in eastern europe (bit by bit getting control then dictatorship)
                    2)  then, everywhere soviets imposed collectivization, industrial growth, terror and purges

                b.  Soviet troops also occupied eastern germany
                    1)  population transfers between germans and poles

                c.  Yugoslavia under control of Tito

                d.  large communist presence in Greece, France and Italy

                e.  in a way, it was behavior in Poland, that brought about the cold war, because after all, that's why the war started

            2.  1946 Iron curtain, Churchill while speaking at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri 5 March 1946 to get an honorary degree (with Truman beside him)
                a.  vividly illustrated the deterioration in relations between west and east over "democratic" governments in eastern europe
                b.  noted that the US was at the "pinnacle of world power," but a shadow has fallen on the scenes
                c.  from Stettin in the Baltic to trieste on the Adriatic

            3.  Stalin's election reply comparing Churchill to Hitler

            4.  Allied-Soviet disagreement also evident at 1946 Nuremburg trials, which lasted from November 1945 to October 1946
                a.  Goring killed himself in prison as did Himmler
                b.  note that it was very difficult to process all the trials and proceedings, so only the very biggest fish were landed, many escaped, and then the process just petered out.

            5.  Soviets had to be bullied out of Iran in 1946

            6.  then civil war in greece (also intimidation of Turkey)
                a.  *****in response in March 1947 Truman doctrine, that any country under threat of communists could count on US help*****
                b.  "containment" justified by Kennan's famous "Mr. X" article

            7.  1947, at a Harvard commencement speech, American sec of state General George C. Marshall, 1880-1959, proposed massive econ assistance and a comprehensive plan, began to function in early 1948
                a.  felt that it was in america's best interest to restore europe (US economic competitors)

                b.  earlier that year communist ministers removed from french and italian governments

                c.  European Recovery Act

                d.  also signified a willingness of european govs to coordinate to some degree

                e.  already in late 1943, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) had been established and played vital role
                    1)  1944, the United Nations conference at Bretton Woods, NH, created an International Monetary Fund and an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

                f.  Soviets rejected participation in the marshall plan (luckily) and responded later with CMEA

            8.  September 1947, Cominform founded by Stalin to coordinate activities of European communists

            9.  1948 coup d'etat in Czechoslovakia in February, suspicious death of Jan Massaryk, kind of the last straw

            10.  1948 Berlin blockade and airlift began in July
                a.  real beginning of the cold war
                b.  already by 1946, joint admin of germany had collapsed

                c.  when west decided to unify their zones (currency), soviets closed down berlin

                d.  24 July halted all road and rail traffic, almost meant war, airlift lasted until 12 May 1949 (when Germany became independent)

            11.  Tito, Josep Broz, rebelled in 1948, wanted control of his own government
                a.  had his own power base

                b.  June 1948 expelled from Cominform

                c.  US gave aid

                d.  *****led to purges of others in eastern europe, made sure that Moscow controlled the communist parties*****

                e.  still, Stalin wagged his little finger, but Tito did not fall

            12.  in 1949, west and east germanies created

            13.  April 1949, NATO formed, later unified command of 50 divisions formed in 1950

            14.  1949 Stalin had the bomb

            15.  1949 Council for Mutual econ assistance (a pale reflection)

            16.  Problems in China
                a.  who would rule, nationalists or communists

                b.  had been in a common front since 1937?, but Manchuria to russia
                    1)  Stalin had entered the war just before it was over and occupied Manchuria

                c.  by 1949, Mao Tse Tung and his communists had won

            17.  Korea, the next failure, broke out June 1950
                a.  country had been divided along 38th parallel after ww2, plan set for nationwide elections by UN for free, united country, but


                b.  communist republic in north and a dem attempt in the south

                c.  invasion from north on 25 June 1950, then all the way back, then MacArthur's landing, then Chinese intervened in November 1950, then stable front, July 1953 armistice

                d.  UN did take action, because soviet rep was absent at the time, boycotting absence of communist china from seat.

            18.  Note that while Stalin hardened his foreign policy, he also extended the scope of his personal rule at home:  no cc or congress meting, still purges, renamed army, demoted leaders, the crack down,



III.  Thaw?


        A.  De-Stalinization

            1.  Stalin died in 5 March 1953
                a.  Stalin had not eased up in the Soviet Union after the war (5 year plan and purges)
                b.  *****who had been responsible for the conflict, Stalin or the West*****
                c.  (no doubt, Stalin, who was paranoid about security after his betrayal by Hitler)

            2.  the New Course in USSR
                a.  variety of steps to ease tension, though still American "containment"
                b.  Ehrenburg's, The Thaw (1954)
                c.  December 1953 death of Lavrentii Beria

            3.  Nikita Khrushchev, 1894-1971, won the struggle for power by trying to heal the breaches
                a.  travelled everywhere, visited US in 58 and 60

                b.  peaceful coexistence, but we still bury you

                c.  *****May 1955, went to see Tito and proclaimed "different roads to socialism"

                d.  1955, Geneva summit

                e.  Austrian State treaty


            4.  1955, yet still Warsaw pact
                a.  result of rearm of western germany, kept russian troops stationed in eastern europe
                b.  yet now tension in the TW

            5.  *****Feb 22 1956 the secret speech, stalin had been wrong, the "cult of personality"
                a.  on one hand denounced cult of personality, but not party, yet K built own cult
                b.  eastern europeans interpreted this radically, especially since said many roads to socialism

            6.  Poland, 1956
                a.  june 1956 riots in Poznan
                b.  Wladyslaw Gomulka got ok to steer own course

            7.  Hungary, 1956
                a.  Hungarians saw the concessions to yugoslavia and poland

                b.  23 october, the gov appealed to soviet forces for help after student riots began, long struggle to subdue

                c.  Imre Nagy's government went more liberal
                    1)  opened frontier to Austria
                    2)  non communists joined struggle in Nagy's government, for example, György Lukács, the marxist scholar
                    3)  Cardinal Mindszenty released from prison
                    4)  30 October Nagy said multiparty system
                    5)  next day, said leaving the warsaw pact

                d.  on 4 November the soviets re-entered budapest in force, blood bath, executions
                    1)  Soviet ambassador was Andropov, later Gen sec

            8.  same time as the Suez canal fiasco
                a.  Gamal Abder Nassar, to power in 1953 revolution, increasingly nationalistic

                b.  when west refused to bankroll Aswan High Dam, he nationalized suez, owned by a british company

                c.  Israelis, British and French occupied it in October 1956, then later withdrew

                d.  K's threats



            9.  1957 also saw the first Soviet ICBMs and sputnik

            10.  sino-soviet split over the movement
                a.  actually had never really trusted each other especially Mao of Stalin

                b.  Mao thought he had more prestige than K

                c.  Mao wanted a bomb and did not like destalinization

                d.  1960 soviet technicians left china

                e.  then in midst of October 1962, Chinese choose to attack india again

                f.  another issue was the 3rd world and leadership of the movement there
                    1)  chinese were much more militant, and that only communists should lead such movements

            11.  K and the wall
                a.  every year thousands fled the country

                b.  K kept threatening the west to hand over access to berlin to east germany unless peace treaty signed

                c.  Paris 1960 and shooting down of the U-2

                d.  June 1961 at Vienna, K threatened Kennedy

                e.  *****13 August 1961 began to build the wall, to keep people in*****

            12.  cuba
                a.  Fidel Castro, 1926-present, had seized power in 1959

                b.  october 1962 missile crisis
                    1)  hot line installed
                    2)  July 1963 test ban treaty in atmosphere and outer space

            13.  K had seemed committed to "peaceful coexistence" yet many hot spots seemed to keep appearing.  He was ousted by Leonid Brezhnev, 1964-1982, in the Little October revolution



        B.  Detente, yet the 3rd world

            1.  Brezhnev, a petty stalinist, a firm believer in stability of cadres, tried to take advantage of appeal of communism in the Third World

            2.  war in Vietnam
            a.  a triangle between China, america, and USSR

                b.  Vietminh led by Ho Chi Minh, 1890-1969, had revolted vs japanese in ww2

                c.  after defeating the french by 1954, that year the Geneva conference recognized an independent Cambodia and Laos and vietnam

                    1)  Vietnam was divided along 17th parallel
                    2)  Hanoi in north under Ho Chi Minh, 1890-1969
                    3)  southern at Saigon under Ngo Dinh Diem, 1901-1963
                    4)  Geneva promised free elections in two years (US only endorsed the agreement), and the french left in 1956

                d.  by 1962 communist guerrillas had broken out again and were everywhere.

                e.  *****problem also spread to Laos and Cambodia*****

                f.  August 1963 Diem and his brother murdered in a coup that US allowed to occur, many military coups after that

                g.  by 1967 US had 500,000 troops and was bombing north

                h.  *****horrors of Vietnam war seen on the nightly TV screens
                    1)  costs wrecked Johnson's Great Society
                    2)  led Senator Robert F. Kennedy, 1925-68, to enter presidential race in opposition to the war

            3.  Africa
                a.  many regimes flirted with Soviets
                    1)  Egypt got arms
                    2)  Ghana
                    3)  Indonesia


            4.  Brezhnev and Nixon
                a.  though he had pledged to end the war, what did he do but up the commitment, broadened it to Cambodia
                b.  eventually did get America out in 1973

            5.  Detente, 1968-73, after the 1968 czech failure
                a.  largely connected with Nixon and Kissinger who used the China card to frighten Soviets

                b.  1972, SALT agreement and the ABM, cultural exchanges
                    1)  the 1960s had seen a growing arms race
                    2)  MAD
                    3)  2 ABM sites allowed

                c.  in summer 1973, Leonid Brezhnev, "The cold war as far as we are concerned is over." ( anew thaw), but unrealistic expectations

                d.  but failed to last
                    1)  Mideast
                    2)  Jews
                    3)  grain and credit limits

            6.  meanwhile communist takeovers in the Third World:  Angola, Vietnam, later Cambodia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, etc.
                a.  Afghanistan in December 1979 was the last straw


        C.  The End of the Cold War?

            1.  the 1980s and the shift to the right, "the hardening of the arteries"

            2.  Reagan and the "evil empire"
                a.  the illusion of Reagan's victory
                b.  if the "experts" had just realized that the country's that the USSR now bankrolled would eventually bring about an economic collapse in the Soviet Union, all were very poor.
                c.  Stupid US spending
                d.  harsh rhetoric
                e.  a Soviet internal decision to end the cold war, if it has

            3.  1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, age 54, came to power with a reform agenda:  glasnost and perestroika
                a.  Gorby let the people talk because the CP did not want to be the vanguard of change

                b.  reduced arms

                c.  1990 Nobel Peace Prize
 
            4.  the soviets gave up bankrolling third world nations, e.g., Vietnam and Ethiopia, and withdrew from Afghanistan, which was the first step

            5.  the Berlin wall came down; Soviets agreed to leave eastern europe; ended Warsaw pact'; lowed multi-party govs to come into existence; allowed re-unification of germany
                a.  March 1989, Polish communist party agreed to relinquish control, and in december 1990 Lech Walesa became president

                b.  1988 demos in czech.  By 1989, Vaclav Havel was the new president and Aleksander DuBCEk was leader of the Federal Assembly

                c.  Germany unified formally on 3 october 1990

            6.  what did the US do?




III.  Conclusions (on the war, its aftermath and the Cold War)


        The war definitely left the free world in the hands of the US.  The war definitely left a very bitter Soviet Union, feeling that it had born the brunt of the struggle, which it had, and then got nothing after the war for her sacrifices. Two opposed systems squared off.


        It might be said that perhaps Stalin manipulated postwar tension, e.g., the Berlin Blockade, as another mechanism for maintaining his heavy hand in the soviet union, where there was no relaxing.


        Basically the cold war was a result of misconceptions on both sides.  The West was sold on pro-russian prop during the war, and stalin underestimated the west.


        The cold war was not only about power, but it was the result of two competing social systems.


        Is the Cold War over?  Do attitudes and habits change overnight?



Recommended books:




    Sources used:  Winks, some from Gilbert, some from Herlihy and Grew, Perry, Ralph and Lerner, Perry's Ideas, Wallbank

Last Revision:  11 August 1992


WestCiv2:  Lecture 19D


    The Soviet Bloc since 1945 in Political Terms



        For the most part, the East recovered not so very quickly from the devastation of the war.



I.  The Soviet Empire


        The Soviets managed to build an empire and then sit back and watch it disintegrate.


        A.  the Soviet Union

            1.  note that perhaps stalin manipulated tension, e.g., the Berlin Blockade, as another mechanism for maintaining his heavy hand in the postwar soviet union, where there was no relaxing
                a.  so tried to rebuild with own sources
                b.  the economy was also stimulated by the robbery of germany

            2.  high stalinism
                a.  huge size of collective farms,
                b.  purges

            3.  5 March 1953, Stalin dead finally

            4.  struggle for power
                a.  December 1953, beria executed
                b.  1953-56, Malenkov vs Khrushchev, 1894-1971, a self-made man who made it into the Politburo in 1939

            5.  1956 the "cult of personality"
                a.  secret speech of 25 February 1956, denounced Stalin alone, not the party nor lenin
                b.  only crimes vs party, barbaric tortures
                c.  yet still millions released from camps, de-stalinization
                d.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1918-, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; Gulag Archipelago (1975), had spent 1945-53 in camp, 1970 noble prize, 1972 to vermont, depicted the backbreaking work in the labor camps

                e.  1961, took Stalin out of the mausoleum
                f.  other attempts at reform, but K still kept a firm hand
                g.  soviet achilles' heel was, and is, agriculture
                    1)  Virgin lands, never a success

            6.  the space race
                a.  1957 sputnik, 1959 soviet hits the moon with a spacecraft
                b.  April 1962, Iurii Gagarin, 1934-68
                c.  May 1962, Alan Shepard, Jr. 1923-
                d.  feb 1962?, first american orbit, John Glenn, 1921-present
                e.  June 1969, moon landing by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong
                f.  January 1986, challenger breakup

            7.  Pasternak
                a.  Dr. Zhivago (1958) became a huge scandal
                b.  his novel was about freedom of the artists
                c.  Soviets tried to stop its publication abroad
                d.  got noble prize, but government pressure forced him to decline it

            8.  October 1964, coup and Leonid Brezhnev, 1906-1982, took over 1906-82
                a.  stability of cadres became the watchword
                b.  began a long arms build-up

            9.  dissent in 1960s in russia too

            10.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1918-, case, 1918-present
                a.  in 1963, K allowed printing of One Day in the life
                b.  1970 nobel lit prize, 1974 expelled from the soviet union

            11.  1980s and stagnation
                a.  Iurii Andropov, 1914-85, a KGB head since 1967, once ambassador to Hungary, succeeded Brezhnev
                b.  then Konstantin Chernenko, 1911-1985, took over in February 1984

            12.  Gorb came to power as gensec in March 1985, younger
                a.  glasnost and perestroika to get country going again, instead he has seen it all disintegrate
                    1)  because the central planned economy had failed
                    2)  according to Gorb, perestroika was a "policy of accelerating the country's social and economic progress and renewing all spheres of life"
                    3)  cooperation not confrontation
                    4)  reduced censorship

                b.  still he tried to do this from the framework of the CP

                c.  openness of public affairs; people had to learn simply how to speak out

                d.  (October 1988 or 1990) Gorby elected president

                e.  April 1989, Congress of People's Deputies

                f.  by 1990 had multi-party elections (G was now president) and market reform
                    1)  but bureaucracy blocked

                g.  also wanted to ease foreign tensions, cooperate on the basis of equality
                    1)  left Afghanistan in 1989
                    2)  let Germany unify

                h.  19 August 1991 revolution attempt (gorby imprisoned while vacationing in the crimea)
                    1)  Eltsin stood tall

            13.  how to keep together 15 republics, has proven impossible
                a.  Baltics went their own way, problems in georgia and armenia



    II.  Eastern Europe


        A.  Basics

            1.  the soviet blueprint was followed:  heavy industry, five-year plans, central control, collectivization, terror, people's democracies, puppet regimes

            2.  dissent in eastern europe goes way back to the 1950s and K
                a.  Milovan Djilas, 1911-, The New Class (1957)
                    1)  political bureaucrats have become a new exploiting class, party controls gov posts

            3.  23 october 1956, hungarian rev began with students rioting, thousands killed though started out peacefully

                a.  4 November 1956 re-attack
                b.  ended up with Janos Kadar, 1912-1989, and his "goulash communism," a mix of state and private sectors
                c.  removed from power in 1987
                b.  1956 had hoped for complete ind and in their 14 pts demanded the "destruction of the giant statue of Stalin," which they did pull down

            4.  Polish, October 1956

            5.  increasingly diverse political bloc, not everyone took orders from the kremlin anymore
                a.  this eventually led to revolution in eastern europe, (which if you think about it has spread to the rest of the world, which no longer depends on soviet aid)

            6.  SOLIDARITY
                a.  Wladyslaw Gomulka in power 45-48, 56-70, but 1970 strikes and repression led to Edward Gierek
                    1)  too many loans

                b.  1978 John Paul 2
                    1)  carter visit

                c.  July 1980 price hikes led to strikes, including those in Gdansk and Gdynia shipyards by well-paid workers

                d.  Lenin shipyard electrician Lech Walesa came to the forefront
                    1)  nobel peace prize in 1983

                e.  31 August Gierek gov reached an accord with solidarity (approximately 10 million) and the "21 Demands" (the major ones were free trade unions, right to strike and guarantees of freedom of speech
                    1)  inflation

                f.  Dec 81 martial law under general Wojciech Jaruzelski instead of elections
                    1)  1987, lost public referendum
                    2)  August 1988, ended military dictatorship

                g.  march 1989 Polish communist party agreed to relinquish control
                    1)  September 1989, non-communist government and Solidarity in Sejm

                h.  December 1990 Walesa became president
                    1)  unprecedented econ misery in transition to market economy


        B.  Wave of revolution, 1989-1990

            1.  Czechoslovakia
                a.  1968 demos had led to August repression and Brezhnev Doctrine
                a.  1988 and 1989 demos in czech
                c.  November 1989, "Velvet Revolution"
                    1)  Vaclav Havel, dramatist, released from prison
                    2)  24 November com party resigned
                    3)  Havel became pres on 25 December
                d.  Aleksander DuBCEk was leader of the Federal Assembly
                e.  June 1990 elections

            2.  Germany
                a.  east germany had gone through the usual Sovietization, although 1953 disturbances
                b.  1961 wall
                c.  September 1989 a flood west started through Hungary
                d.  in october 1989 Gorb warned Erich Honecker that reforms were necessary, but he ended up arrested for corruption
                e.  renewed flight to the west, followed by protests
                f.  6 November gov resigned
                g.  the wall came down in 9 November 1989
                h.  unified formally on 3 october 1990 after soviets had given green light

            3.  by 1990 rev had spread to Hungary, Romania, Yugo,  Bulg, but all have deep problems

            4.  Hungary, May 1989 com party monopoly abolished

            5.  Yugoslavia collapsed, 1989 breakup
                a.  Tito had been first national communist
                b.  6 republics, 10 ethnic groups

            6.  Bulgaria
                a.  had long been the loyal soviet ally
                b.  Todor Zhivkov ousted only late 1989

            7.  Romania and Nicolae Ceaucescu and family communism, corrupt
                a.  21 December 1989 revolt, 25 December executed

            8.  Albania
                a.  Enver Hoxha died only 1985



    Recommended books:



Recommended films:



    Sources used:  Winks, some from Gilbert, some from Herlihy and Grew, Perry, Ralph and Lerner, Perry's Ideas, Wallbank


Last revision:  17 August 1992



After the enormous loss of life in World War II, it seemed amazing that hostilities could break out again in the world, but they did--never quite directly on the scale of the Second World War--and tensions escalated very soon after the end of the war.  What did not happen this time around was a major, direct clash between powerful adversaries with millions of casualties.  The Cold War was fought either by minor proxies outside of Western Europe (though millions probably still ended up dying) or by non-military means.  For many in the West, the Cold War was a "zero-sum" game; "their" win meant "our" loss.  Politicians also spoke in terms of a "Domino Theory," i.e., if one country "went" communist, then another could and then another (like a long line of dominos falling).  The Cold War could be a fairly brutal conflict as proved in Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, etc.   The Cold war began after 1945 when disagreements arose among the allies over the situation in Eastern Europe.  Poland had been the start of war in 1939; it now also became the start of the Cold War in 1946 as the United States became increasingly suspicious of Soviet activities in the country.  Americans were particularly angered by the refusal of the Russians to allow free, democratic elections to be held.  Each protest from the U.S. elicited a new demand from the Russians, and before long a communist regime, which enjoyed the support of the Russian army and the Russian secret police, had been installed in the country.  Polish dissenters disappeared; Polish intellectuals disappeared; Polish politicians disappeared.  Western frustration over the inability to "save" Poland led to further confrontations elsewhere, such as Berlin, and the Russians became increasingly uncooperative.  The result was an ice cold relationship between the former wartime allies.   Some recommended online lectures:

• The Cold War Begins
• The Cold War, Richard Hooker
• After Stalin
• Gorbachev
• Lecture 14: The Origins of the Cold War
• Lecture 15: 1968: The Year of the Barricades
• Lecture 16: 1989: The Walls Came Tumbling Down
• The Elusive Peace, The Cold War

Suggested websites for further study:

• The Cold War International History Project