Cold War History And Culture

Gen Ed 2292 10/5/2007 Week 5 – 5 October 2007 1. Pre-cold war relations/ Review a. USSR established in 1922 during WWI b. WWII Allies c. War of ideologies i. Democracy vs. Communism (DISCUSSION?) ii. Nuclear bomb 2. Containment a. Try to contain Communism’s spread b. Official policy of the US after WWII (Truman Doctrine) i. America believed that the USSR would not accept peaceful coexistence with the US, and would try to expand its influence through Communist revolution world wide. c. Involvement in several “hot” wars and areas in the world i. West Germany vs. East Germany (German Democratic Republic) 1. US took a different tack than in Versailles. Rebuild W. Germany 2. Berlin Wall ii. Greek Civil War 1. Sent money. $400 million iii. Korean War 1. US committed troops to drive back N. Korea iv. Vietnam War 1. Bloody. Only war that America has lost. d. Truman played on American fears of Communisim 3. McCarthyism a. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy: Republican from Wisconsin. Claimed he had a list of 205 known communists. Unsupported statements. b. Many Americans accused of being Communists. Investigations from government and private sectors (questions in front of panels). Witch hunt – Salem witch trials. i. Government agencies, entertainment industry. ii. Many lost their jobs, imprisonment. c. McCarthy played on American fears as well. 4. Eisenhower a. Change of policy. “New Look” for Containment. Nuclear Weapons i. Nuclear deterrence. Massive Retaliation 5. JFK. Cuban Missile Crisis a. 16 October 28, 1962. US discovered Soviet missile installations in Cuba, just 90 miles from the US. You can swim from Cuba to Florida. i. 12 days of negotiations and fears of attack. ii. USSR agreed to dismantle weapons in Cuba. US removed weapons from Turkey iii. Closest that cold nearly became hot b. Space race i. Competition ii. But also fears that USSR may have greater weapons capabilities. iii. Sputnik launched 4 October 2007. USSR satellite. 6. Nixon a. Détente. Tensions ease. b. Feb 1972, Nixon travels to Beijing to meet with Mao. Rapprochement (re-establishment of harmonious relations). 7. Reagan

a. “Second Cold War.” Margaret Thatcher and Reagan both stepped up the rhetoric. Like worst days of the Cold War. b. Military spending up. America now the world’s leading debtor. c. Experimental “Star Wars” program. d. Called on Gorbachev to “Tear down this Wall” 8. End of the Cold War a. 1980s Soviet armed forces largest in the world, but this concealed several weaknesses. US overestimated Soviet power. b. Economic stagnation in the USSR. Military spending was a way to prop up the failing economy. c. Mikhail Gorbachev ascended power in 1985. Soviet growth close to zero. i. Announced massive reforms. More concerned with addressing problems in the economy than competing with the US. ii. Dec 1989, Cold War over iii. Feb 1990, Communist party in Russia surrenders its monopoly. iv. Dec 1991, USSR broken into fifteen separate independent states 9. Cold War Culture a. Many decades. Cold War affected many creative expressions in the US. b. Decades of fear i. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWeZ5SKXvj8 ii. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW4s7TETtJA c. Artists and entertainment icons. Particularly songs. i. The Beatles. Back in the USSR 1. Parodies Back in the USA, and California Girls. Georgia on my Mind 2. “It was also hands across the water, which I'm still conscious of. 'Cuz they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not. The kids do. And that to me is very important for the future of the race.” McCartney in Playboy d. Vietnam protest culture i. Small at first. Only a few colleges. But grew to a nationwide movement ii. Access to uncensored information. Photos, television, newspapers. 1. Children fleeing iii. Conscription favored poorer people. Rich people could easily get out of it. iv. Songs. 1. Bob Dylan. Blowing in the Wind. a. How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man? Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. How many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky? Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry? Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind. How many years can a mountain exist Before it's washed to the sea?

Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesn't see? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind, The answer is blowin' in the wind 2. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ced8o50G9kg>. v. Apocalypse Now 1. Based on Heart of Darkness 2. Tells the tale of an American Army officer going deep into the jungles of Vietnam to find another officer who’s gone crazy. 3. Movie and book both show how war is senseless. Scenes of soldiers firing into the jungle for no reason, etc.