A World Divided: The Early Cold War, 1945 to 1993
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Theme
The Cold War affects imperialism and vice versa.
Summaries
From Friends to Foes
The two most powerful Allies of World War II came to oppose one another in the Cold War.
Making Money
Economic development creates wealthy consumer societies.
To the Brink, Again and Again
The confrontations between the two superpowers continued result in violence.
Letting Go and Holding On
The Western empires fell apart, but Western dominance continues.
American Hegemony
Latin America coped with the superior power of the United States.
The Uneasy Understanding
Détente cooled tensions of the Cold War.
The Walls Come Down
Suddenly, the Cold War is over.
Keywords
From Friends to Foes
Cold War (1948-1991), Nuremburg Trials, superpowers, Yalta (1945), Potsdam (1945), Truman (r. 1945-1953), denazification, United Nations (1945-), sovietization, containment, Truman Doctrine, CIA, Berlin Blockade (1948-1949), Berlin Airlift, NATO, Warsaw Pact, H-bomb (1952), ICBMs, deterrence
Making Money
welfare state, suburbanization, The Beatles (1962-1970), sexual revolution, Women's Liberation, feminism, civil rights, apartheid (1948-1993), environmentalism, Greens, nuclear energy, Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986), ecumenism
To the Brink, Again and Again
Nationalist China, People’s Republic of China, Great Leap Forward (1958), Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1965-1953), Korean Police Action (1950-1953), McCarthyism, Khrushchev (r. 1953-1964), Hungarian Revolt (1956), Berlin Wall (1961-19890, Prague Spring (1968), Space Race, Sputnik (1957)
Letting Go and Holding On
decolonization India & Pakistan, Algeria, Kenya, Congo, zairianization, global debt, kleptocracy, Israel (1948-), Suez Crisis (1956), Palestine Liberation Organization
American Hegemony
liberation theology, Argentina, Juan Perón (r. 1946-55, 1973-74), Evita Duarte Perón (d. 1952), Dirty War (1974-83), the Falklands War (1982), Guatemala, Chile, Panama, Cuba, Castro (r. 1959-2008), Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961), Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
The Uneasy Understanding
Common Market/European Economic Community (1957), Ostpolitik (1970s), Vietnam War (1964-1973), Nixon (r. 1969-1974), détente, Khmer Rouge, Helsinki Accords (1975)
The Walls Come Down
mujahideen, Solidarity (1980), Thatcher (r.1979-1990), Reagan (r. 1981-1989), Nicaragua, Gorbachev (r. 1985-1991)
Review Questions
- How did the winning alliance of World War II split into the mutual hostility of the Cold War?
- How did the postwar economic growth produce unprecedented prosperity and cultural change?
- How was the Cold War fought in the West and around the world?
- How did the decolonization of Africa and Asia succeed yet force choices between Communist or Third World status?
- How was Latin America entangled in the Cold War?
- How did the policies of détente ease Cold War tensions?
- How did the Cold War suddenly end?
Other Questions
- How did leaders during the Cold War abide by the basic principle that “nobody wanted World War III, because it would mean the end of the world?”
- How does the basic principle that “only women can bear children; everything else about men and women’s social roles is up for argument” finally apply to womens’ places in society in the latter part of the Twentieth Century?
- How have democracy, fascism, and communism dealt with nationalist and ethnic problems in the context of the Cold War and after?
- How was the Cold War different from all previous wars?
- What problems did the former colonies face after independence? What kind of solutions did their leaders undertake? What are the similarities and differences between newly independent countries in Africa and Asia and older countries in Latin America?
