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Political Science 324 week 1-6 exam notes
Political Science 324 week 1-6 exam notes 2023.
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THE COLD WARHOW DID THE COLD WAR PERIOD SHAPE INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR?
Page | 1
,Contents
THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR ........................................................................................ 4
1945-49: Key Events ................................................................................................................... 7
War time conferences: Teheran (1943), Yalta (Feb 1945) and Potsdam (July 1945) ...... 7
The Teheran Conference November 1943 .......................................................................... 7
The Potsdam Conference - July-August 1945 .................................................................. 10
USSR and USA and the creation of spheres of interest .................................................. 11
Reasons for the Soviet Union’s takeover of Eastern Europe .......................................... 12
Reaction of the West to Soviet control of Eastern Europe .............................................. 12
The USA’s policy of containment: Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan............................ 13
Marshall Plan 1947 .................................................................................................................... 15
Reaction of the Soviet Union react to the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan .... 16
The First Berlin Crisis ................................................................................................................ 17
THE BERLIN AIRLIFT 1948-9 ................................................................................................. 19
Opposing military alliances: NATO and the Warsaw Pact .............................................. 20
Impact of NATO and the Warsaw Pact have on Cold War relations ............................. 20
The Berlin Wall 1961 ................................................................................................................. 21
Containment and brinkmanship: The Cuban Missile Crisis ................................................. 23
The Cuban Missile Crisis and its impact on East-West relations ................................... 25
Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis for the Cold War ......................................... 27
What was the arms race? ......................................................................................................... 27
What was the space race? ................................................................................................... 28
Who was to blame for the Cold War? Differing points of view. ........................................... 29
Cold War, 1950-79 ..................................................................................................................... 31
Case Study: China - How did China rise as a world power after 1949? ....................... 31
Implications of Sino-Soviet relations with regard to the Cold War? ............................... 37
To what extent was China established as a superpower by the time of Mao’s death?
................................................................................................................................................... 38
Case Study: Vietnam ................................................................................................................. 40
Background – overview of the struggle against colonial powers prior to the Second
World War................................................................................................................................ 40
Stages in the Vietnam War ................................................................................................... 41
The Domino Theory: .............................................................................................................. 42
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,So how exactly do we define the term ‘Cold War’?
In diplomatic terms there are three types of war.
Cold War Warm War Hot War
This term is used to This is where talks are still This is actual warfare. All
describe the relationship going on and there would talks have failed and the
between America and the always be a chance of a armies are fighting.
Soviet Union from1945 peaceful outcome.
to1991. However, armies & navies
Neither side ever fought are being fully mobilized
the other directly – and war plans are being put
because the into operation ready for the
consequences would be command to fight in case
Nuclear War! Instead they talks collapse.
used:
Client states who were
loyal to each Superpower,
to fight for their ideologies
on their behalf e.g. During
the Vietnam & Korean
Wars.
Competition in an arms &
space race
Propaganda to spread
their ideologies & gain
favour with other countries
by making either side look
bad
Page | 3
, THE ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR
What was the World up to
before the Cold War? WORLD WAR II (1939-45)
Why did a Cold War develop at the end of World War II?
Because of “Bad blood” before the outbreak of World War 2
BETWEEN THE WEST & USSR
NB: The WEST refers to: USA, Britain & France. However, because the USA was the
most powerful of the three (in military & money), it was called a Superpower. It was the
only country that could match the Superpower abilities of the USSR. So when we refer to
the West vs USSR, it is mainly the USA vs USSR.
Why was there “Bad blood”?
In 1917 Lenin led the Bolshevik Revolution, which established a communist government
in Russia. The new Bolshevik government planned to remove the concept of private
ownership based on the philosophy of Karl Marx. This was in stark contrast to the
American’s economic system based on capitalism. The Americans feared the spread of
communism and its belief in the elimination of private wealth and ownership. This fear
continued through the period of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, as well as during and
after the Second World War.
Each Superpower believed that their way of running and controlling the country
was correct and any different way was considered suspicious and grossly
incorrect. Remember, communism was the ‘answer’ to all the negative aspects of
capitalism during the industrial revolution. However, each ideology is based on the ideal,
but in reality, corruption and greed disrupts these ideals.
How did World War II affect this “Bad blood”?
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