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Cold War Reference Library Volume 2 Almanac PDF

247 Pages·2004·4.5 MB·English
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Cold War Almanac Cold War Almanac Volume 2 Sharon M. Hanes and Richard C. Hanes Lawrence W. Baker, Project Editor Cold War: Almanac Sharon M. Hanes and Richard C. Hanes Project Editor Permissions Product Design Lawrence W. Baker Margaret Chamberlain, Shalice Pamela A. E. Galbreath, Jennifer Wahi Shah-Caldwell Editorial Composition Sarah Hermsen, Matthew May, Allison Imaging and Multimedia Evi Seoud McNeill, Diane Sawinski Mary Grimes, Lezlie Light, Mike Logusz, Kelly A. Quin Manufacturing Rita Wimberley ©2004 by U•X•L. U•X•L is an imprint of graphic, electronic, or mechanical, in- Cover photographs reproduced by per- The Gale Group, Inc., a division of cluding photocopying, recording, tap- mission of the Corbis Corporation. Thomson Learning, Inc. ing, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the While every effort has been made to U•X•L•®is a registered trademark used written permission of the publisher. ensure the reliability of the information herein under license. Thomson Learn- presented in this publication, The Gale ing™ is a trademark used herein under For permission to use material from this Group, Inc. does not guarantee the ac- license. product, submit your request via the curacy of data contained herein. The Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/per- Gale Group, Inc. accepts no payment for For more information, contact: missions, or you may download our Per- listing; and inclusion in the publication The Gale Group, Inc. missions Request form and submit your of any organization, agency, institution, 27500 Drake Rd. request by fax or mail to: publication, service, or individual does Farmington Hills, MI 48334-3535 not imply endorsement by the editors Or you can visit our Internet site at Permissions Department or publisher. Errors brought to the at- http://www.gale.com The Gale Group, Inc. tention of the publisher and verified to 27500 Drake Rd. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED the satisfaction of the publisher will be Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 No part of this work covered by the corrected in future editions. Permissions Hotline: copyright hereon may be reproduced or 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253; ext. 8006 used in any form or by any means— Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058 Library of Congress Control Card Number: 2003019223 ISBN 0-7876-9089-9 (2-volume set); 0-7876-7662-4 (volume 1); 0-7876-9087-2 (volume 2) Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This page is intentionally blank Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Reader’s Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi Words to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv People to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxix Cold War Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxxv Research and Activity Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xlix Volume 1 Chapter 1: Origins of the Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 2: Conflict Builds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Chapter 3: Germany and Berlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Chapter 4: Dawning of the Nuclear Age. . . . . . . . . 79 Chapter 5: Homeland Insecurities. . . . . . . . . . . .99 Chapter 6: Espionage in the Cold War . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter 7: A Worldwide Cold War. . . . . . . . . . . 167 Volume 2 Chapter 8: Renewed Tensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Chapter 9: Cuban Missile Crisis . . . . . . . . . . . .213 Chapter 10: Mutual Assured Destruction. . . . . . . .233 Chapter 11: An Unsettled World. . . . . . . . . . . .251 Chapter 12: Home Front Turmoil: The 1960s . . . . . .275 Chapter 13: Détente: A Lessening of Tensions . . . . .297 Chapter 14: A Freeze in Relations . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Chapter 15: End of the Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . 347 Where to Learn More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .lix vi Cold War: Almanac Introduction Sometimes single events alter the course of history; other times, a chain reaction of seemingly lesser occurrences changes the path of nations. The intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that emerged immediately after World War II (1939–45) followed the second pattern. Known as the Cold War, the rivalry grew out of mutual distrust between two starkly different societies: communist Soviet Union and the democratic West, which was led by the United States and included Western Europe. Communism is a political and economic system in which the Communist Party controls all aspects of citizens’ lives and private ownership of property is banned. It is not compatible with America’s democratic way of life. Democracy is a political system consisting of several po- litical parties whose members are elected to various govern- ment offices by vote of the people. The rapidly growing rivalry between the two emerging post–World War II superpowers in 1945 would dominate world politics until 1991. Throughout much of the time, the Cold War was more a war of ideas than one of battlefield combat. Yet for generations, the Cold War af- fected almost every aspect of American life and those who lived in numerous other countries around the world. The global rivalry was characterized by many things. Perhaps the most dramatic was the cost in lives and public funds. Millions of military personnel and civilians were killed in conflicts often set in Third World countries. This toll in- cludes tens of thousands of American soldiers in the Korean War (1950–53) and Vietnam War (1954–75) and thousands of Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. National budgets were stretched to support the nuclear arms races, military buildups, localized wars, and aid to friendly nations. On the international front, the United States often supported oppressive but strongly anti- communist military dictatorships. On the other hand, the So- viets frequently supported revolutionary movements seeking to overthrow established governments. Internal political devel- opments within nations around the world were interpreted by the two superpowers—the Soviet Union and the United States—in terms of the Cold War rivalry. In many nations, in- cluding the Soviet-dominated Eastern European countries, basic human freedoms were lost. New international military and peacekeeping alliances were also formed, such as the Unit- ed Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Warsaw Pact. Effects of the Cold War were extensive on the home front, too. The U.S. government became more responsive to national security needs, including the sharpened efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Created were the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Council (NSC), and the Department of Defense. Suspicion of communist influences within the United States built some in- dividual careers and destroyed others. The national education priorities of public schools were changed to emphasize sci- ence and engineering after the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik,which itself launched the space race. What would cause such a situation to develop and last for so long? One major factor was mistrust for each other. The communists were generally shunned by other nations, including the United States, since they gained power in Rus- sia in 1917 then organized that country into the Soviet Union. The Soviets’ insecurities loomed large. They feared an- other invasion from the West through Poland, as had hap- pened through the centuries. On the other hand, the West was highly suspicious of the harsh closed society of Soviet viii Cold War: Almanac communism. As a result, a move by one nation would bring a response by the other. Hard-liners on both sides believed long-term coexistence was not feasible. A second major factor was that the U.S. and Soviet ide- ologies were dramatically at odds. The political, social, and economic systems of democratic United States and commu- nist Soviet Union were essentially incompatible. Before the communist (or Bolshevik) revolution in 1917, the United States and Russia competed as they both sought to expand into the Pacific Northwest. In addition, Americans had a strong disdain for Russian oppression under their monarchy of the tsars. Otherwise, contact between the two growing pow- ers was almost nonexistent until thrown together as allies in a common cause to defeat Germany and Japan in World War II. It was during the meetings of the allied leaders in Yalta and Potsdam in 1945 when peaceful postwar cooperation was being sought that the collision course of the two new super- powers started becoming more evident. The end of World War II had brought the U.S. and Soviet armies face-to-face in cen- tral Europe in victory over the Germans. Yet the old mistrusts between communists and capitalists quickly dominated diplo- matic relations. Capitalism is an economic system in which property and businesses are privately owned. Prices, produc- tion, and distribution of goods are determined by competition in a market relatively free of government intervention. A peace treaty ending World War II in Europe was blocked as the Sovi- ets and the U.S.-led West carved out spheres of influence. West- ern Europe and Great Britain aligned with the United States and collectively was referred to as the “West”; Eastern Europe would be controlled by the Soviet Communist Party. The Sovi- et Union and its Eastern European satellite countries were col- lectively referred to as the “East.” The two powers tested the re- solve of each other in Germany, Iran, Turkey, and Greece in the late 1940s. In 1949, the Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb and Chinese communist forces overthrew the National Chinese government, and U.S. officials and American citizens feared a sweeping massive communist movement was over- taking the world. A “red scare” spread through America. The term “red” referred to communists, especially the Soviets. The public began to suspect that communists or communist sym- pathizers lurked in every corner of the nation. Introduction ix

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