Cold War:

 After World War II, United States and Soviet Union emerge as global superpowers
 Rivals  hungry for power because old white men suck
 Period of tension named “The Cold War”; named as such because there was never any
actual war
 Both countries were armed with nuclear missiles
 Cold war resulted in smaller wars
 The Soviet Union wanted to spread communism, which goes against the basic principles
of the United States
 The Soviet Union had several eastern European countries under its influence
 The Marshall Plan: An American led initiative hoping to send aid to western European
countries, as they wanted them as allies.

Why did the cold war stay cold?

Because of MAD. Mutually Assured Destruction. Both the United States and the Soviet Union
were global superpowers

Picture on Slide 4:

Yalta conference

(Left to right)

Winston Churchill – The Prime Minister of Great Britain

Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) – President of the United States of America

Joseph Stalin *looks communisty* - Leader of Soviet Union

Picture on Slide 5:

Potsdam conference

(Left to right)

Winston Churchill – The Prime Minister of Great Britain

Harry Truman – President of the United States of America

Joseph Stalin *looks communisty* - Leader of Soviet Union

NATO AND Warsaw:

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization): The United States and its allies creating a treaty or
organization hoping to protect themselves against the soviets.

Warsaw (WTO): The Soviet Union and their allies – some eastern European countries – form or
create a treaty to defend themselves against the American and their allies.

Iron curtain speech: Given by Winston Churchill. Berlin Wall nicknamed iron curtain.

Containment Policy: Policy instituted by the United States trying to prevent the spread of
communism

Korean War: A conflict between North and South Korea involving the US and the USSR, who got
involved as a way to challenge one another.

Cuban missile crisis: In 1959 Fidel Castro made Cuba a communist state. In 1963 it was revealed
the Soviets they were stashing nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Americans found out, and cut off
supplies to Cuba, after several days, the soviets agreed to remove the weapons.
*NOTE*: The Korean and Vietnam wars are forms of proxy wars. Proxy wars:
a war fought between groups or smaller countries that each represent the interests of
other larger powers

Iron Curtain:
 Ideological barrier born after World War II
 The Iron Curtain (as named by Winston Churchill) was a metaphorical idea dividing East
and west Europe, thus dividing Germany into east and west.
 East Europe was mostly communist or at least loyal to the USSR
 West Europe was democratic/non-communist

The Berlin Wall:

 After the German surrender, in World War II the country was occupied by allied powers
 During the cold war, Germany was divided into east and west
 West was democratic
 East was communist
 Beginning from 1952, 2.5 million East Germans were fleeing from the communist
regime. A large number of east Germans fled from east Germany, threatening to
devastate the east German economy
 In 1952, The Soviet Union decided to build a wall preventing people from leaving
 Berlin is located inside east Germany; it is split into east and west German territory.

East and west Germany:

 The soviets want to seize control of west berlin

 They blockade west berlin
 The allies airlift supplies and resources to west berlin

Construction of the wall:

 Wall was built August 12th, 13th 1961

 Originally the wall was built from Cinder block and barbed wire
 It was then replaced with concrete walls topped with barbed wire, watchtowers,
and mines
 By the 1980’s, the wall was fortified with electric fences
 The wall divided the city of Berlin into two parts
 The wall helped to save East Germany’s economy, however it showed the failure of
communism
Standards of living:

West Germany East Germany

Democratic system; political, social, Communist system; lack of civil rights lack of
economic rights economic, social rights
Capitalist system Communist system
West Germany is more advanced East Germany is suffering economically; The
economically; they receive aid and Allies are making them pay reparations for
investment from the allies the damage and destruction of WW2.
This leads to: East Germans fleeing to West Germany

The fall of the berlin wall:

 In October 1989, during the wave of democratization sweeping throughout Europe, the
East German leaders were removed from power.
 On November 9th, the East German governments opened the borders with West
Germany including west berlin. Openings were made in the berlin wall, resulting in east
berlin citizens travelling freely to the west.
 In the same night (November 9th), Berlin citizens (both west and east) began to destroy
the wall. The wall stopped being a barrier between them.
 East and West Germany are reunited in 1990 with the destruction of the wall
 It is thought that to this day, West Germany has a more successful economy than that of
East Germany; The wall still has lasting effects to this day.

The Vietnam War:

 Vietnam was part of Indo China. Indo China consists of three countries: Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos
 Indo China was part of the French Empire in the South East Asian Region
 1946 – 1954; the people fighting for their independence from the French:
- Nationalist groups in Vietnam led the fight against the French colonization
- Ho chi Minh was the leader of the nationalism group: the Viet Minh. They were
inspired by the Soviet Union’s communism ideologies.
- Ho chi Minh Viet Minh fought against colonialism
- The United States funded France’s bloodbath

The Two Vietnams:

- After the French lost their power in Indo China, Vietnam was separated into North
and South along the 17th parallel
 - Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh adopted the ideology of communism in North
Vietnam
- South Vietnam had a separate government
- Joint elections were going to be held, in hopes of uniting North and South Vietnam.
However, the elections were never held, because a civil war was breaking out in
South Vietnam:
 South Vietnamese president Diem Ngo refused to prepare for the elections.
The US refused to get involved not wanting a communist victory
 Ngo’s government lost popularity:
1. Ngo was a Catholic, and the majority of the population – Buddhists
– they were discriminated against
2. Ngo was thought to be corrupt and under American influence
3. He became more dictatorial as time went on
 The military planned a coup, planning to overthrow Diem Ngo and his
government
 The country was thrust into a state of political crisis and instability.
 The United States finally got involved in South Vietnam.

U.S. Involvement:

 The US opposes communism and any country that follows it

 The domino theory was theorized by the US government; if one southeast Asian fall to
communism, all other southeast Asian will fall to communism
 The Policy of Containment: a policy adopted by the US government aiming to contain
the spread of communism
 When the US tried to involve themselves, they faced tough resistance from the Vietcong
(FLN) and the North Vietnamese.
 To avoid looking weak, the United States deployed ground troops in Vietnam
 The objectives of the United States from containing the spread of communism to
maintaining their reputation and avoiding a humiliating defeat

Guerilla Warfare:

 Guerilla warfare is small scale war, consisting of sabotage, booby traps, ambushes, raids
 The Vietcong and the Vietminh were very skilled at Guerilla Warfare and they were
familiar with the territory. The Americans were not used to that type of war; they were
accustomed to full scale battles and walking with in guns a blazing
 Guerillas would hide among normal civilian populations
 The Vietcong wished to unite all of Vietnam and they received support from the USSR,
China, and North Vietnam
 North Vietnam to unite all of Vietnam under communism
JFK (John F. Kennedy):

 He created an antiguerrilla campaign

 JFK’s plan included grouping all the peasants together and moving them into fortified
villages
 He hoped that this would keep the Vietcong
 This did not work as the Vietcong had a strategy of hiding among civilians.
 JFK was later assassinated 1963

LBJ (Lyndon Baines Johnson):

 He was JFK’s vice president, and he took over when JFK was assassinated
 He dropped bombs on north Vietnam hoping that Ho Chi Minh would stop his campaign
 40% of south Vietnamese villages were under the control of the Vietcong
 LBJ assumed that the Vietcong were following Ho Chi Minh’s orders
 The year is 1968, and 80% of southern Vietnamese villages are now under the control
of Vietcong
 There was pressure on the American government to withdraw from Vietnam
 LBJ decided not to run again for President (quitter)

Richard Nixon:

 He had to take a different approach after seeing LBJ’s failures

 He came up with the idea of Vietnamization; allowing American troops in Vietnam to
teach the Vietnamese how to properly arm and themselves
 Vietnamization was applied in the hopes of slowly withdrawing American troops, and
bringing American troops back home
 At the same time, Nixon was heavily bombing North Vietnam

Agent Orange:

 Poisonous gas used for herbicide; the extermination of plant and wild life
 It was used to cut off the main food supply of the north Vietnamese army, and to
prevent them from carrying out guerilla warfare.

US Public Opinion:

 US Public opinion was strongly against the war:

- The terrible bombing of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
- The use of chemical weapons such as agent orange and napalm, which would
brutally murder civilians.
- The thousands of deaths of innocent civilians
 - The American public loses trust in their government; the government lies about the
severity of the situation

Tet offensive:

 A surprise attack launched by North Vietnam on one of the major South Vietnam cities
 The Americans were gaining the upper hand because they were fighting in familiar
conditions, while the north Vietnamese were unfamiliar with the situation.
 The Tet offensive was an overwhelming victory for the Americans.

US withdrawal:

 The Americans decide to bomb the north Vietnamese hoping to reach the negotiation
table
 They came to an agreement that entailed:
- All American troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam
- Both North and South Vietnam would respect the border between them
- After the Americans left, the Vietcong continued their campaign
 On April 30th, 1975  Saigon (capital of south Vietnam) fell to communism. Vietnam
was finally united under a communist government
 Laos and Cambodia became communist countries

Effects of the war:

 1 to 2 million Vietnamese civilians have died

 18 million Vietnamese civilians are left homeless
 The new government Vietnamese government:
- Instituting concentration camps
- Liming Freedom of Speech
- Problems with repairing war damages
 Effect of the war on the Americans:
- The public felt that the war was unnecessary
- Humiliation
- War veterans are treated badly and shunned
- A victory for the communist world
-

*THE UNITED STATES FAILED AND LOST THE WAR*

The Algerian War of Independence:

 In 1830, France colonized Algeria
  The biggest problem for the Algerians to overcome, had been the settler problem. There
were around 1 million French settlers, known as black feet
 The settlers controlled a 1/3 of the fertile land that was taken from Algerians

The main economic problem Algeria was facing:

The French were exporting goods and produce from Algeria; many Algerians were going hungry
due to a lack of resources

*The French conquered Algeria between 1830 - 1903*

*Slide 70*

Country colored in Green in South America is overseas France: French Guiana

*Slide 72*

Female Resistance Icon  Lalla Fatma N’Soumer

Lalla (title)

Fatma (name)

N’Soumer (name of the city she comes from)

*Slide 73*

Messali Hadj  Peaceful resistance fighter/ Moderate Nationalist

Algerian Fight for Independence phases:

 Violent, battles, bloodshed

 Peaceful resistance

Aftermath of the peaceful resistance:

 Peaceful resistance lasted 10 years; little to no progress

 Main problems Algerians still dealt with:
- Algerians were treated like second-class citizens; they were discriminated against,
and did not receive basic political, social economic…etc. right
 - The French settlers will not leave the land
- The French were dominating the economy as they had control over most of the
farm land; Algerians did not have a chance

 The French believed that their power and might would be enough to instill fear into the
Algerians, which would keep their protests non-violent.
 Algeria was treated like overseas France; it was not considered to be a colony.
 Algerians had some form of power, but in the end, all of the authority fell to the
Europeans.
 The French, after their humiliating defeats in Indo-China, Moroccan and Tunisia, could
not afford to grant Algeria independence out of embarrassment, and not wanting their
own people to turn against their government

The National Liberation Front:

 It became evident that the settlers were the real problem, because they did not want to
cooperate
 This meant that the struggle for independence would become violent
 The Algerians were encouraged by the French being defeated in Indo-China
 They founded the National Liberation Front (FLN)
 FLN launch a guerilla campaign
 The French try to stop the Guerilla campaign by sending 700,000 soldiers in the year
1960
 Ahmad Ben Bella was in charge of the FLN

The Effect of the war France:

 The French Politicians realized that even if they won the military struggle, they would
never win over the people, as the Algerians supported the FLN’s cause
 French control of Algeria was no longer secure
 French generals did not want to experience another defeat with Algeria, they even
though overthrowing any government that thought to leave Algeria.
 As for public opinion, some wanted to support the settlers, and others felt as though the
war was useless. It got so severe, that it threatened a civil war in the country.

*Slide 79*

Right to left:

Winston Churchill  Prime Minister of Britain

Charles de Guall  Founder of *Free France

FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt)  President of the United States

*Free France: an organization dedicated towards fighting the Nazi regime in France

 Generals Massu and Salan decide to bring in the respected Charles De Guall; hoping to
unite the people and keep Algeria in French control
 Meanwhile in France, the government is in shambles, civil war seems imminent
 Charles De Guall runs for prime minister, on the condition that he can rewrite the
constitution to give himself the presidential power.
 He is elected as president in 1958, and resigns in 1969
 De Guall received the popular vote from most of the french as well as the Algerians

The true difficulty of the situation:

 Charles De Guall was faced with a dilemma. He could not resort to a military solution or
a compromise.
 De Guall relied on his popularity to find a solution
 De Guall negotiated with the FLN. Word got out of his meeting with the FLN, people
were enraged, including the military and the french settlers
 The French General Salan founded the OAS, a terrorist organization that blew up
buildings in both France and Algeria. They also tried to assassinate Charles De Guall
several times
 It was finally announced that peace talks were to be held, meanwhile the OAS took
power in Algeria
 Charles De Guall broadcasted a message asking for piece, and the army and rebellion
complied

*Slide 87*

Guy on the left: General Massu

Guy on the right: General Salan

Aftermath:

 Algeria was granted independence in 1962

 Ahmad Ben Bella was the President of Algeria
 800,000 French settlers
 Algerians who were suspected of being loyal to France were executed or murdered.
Approximately 150,000
 Some people think that Charles De Guall prevented a civil war
 Despite the conflict France and Algeria have good relations to this day.