Chapter 28
Peace and Cold War, 1945–1973
People
Antonio Salazar: Portuguese dictator who resisted independence for colonies with his
1933 Constitution.
George C. Marshall: A Second World War General, later US Secretary of State, who
helped European recovery with the “Marshall Plan.”
Mao Zedong: led the Communist Revolution in China, took over Tibet, pushed the
“Great Leap Forward,” and organized the Red Guards and Cultural Revolution.
Ho Chi Minh: leader of the Communist movement in Vietnam who fought the French
and then the Americans in the south.
Lyndon B. Johnson: President of United States, ordered bombing of North Vietnam and
enacted Civil Rights.
Salvador Allende: elected socialist leader of Chile, who nationalized copper mines;
assassinated in a coup (organized with US help).
Alexander Dubcek: a Czech Communist who relaxed controls and made liberal reforms
which were squashed by the Red Army.
Leonid Brezhnev: the Soviet Communist leader who said Soviets could intervene in any
socialist nation where socialism was threatened.
Fidel Castro: radical leader of Cuba who nationalized property, leading the US to attack
(Bay of Pigs); he then embraced communism and the USSR, which led to the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962.
Gamal Abdul Nasser: President of Egypt and Arab nationalist, he seized the Suez Canal
and intended to exterminate Israel.
Terms
Security Council: United Nations executive body; five permanent members (each with
veto power) and 10 others.
Secretary-General: head of the Secretariat (UN civil service body) whose role is now
more diplomatic.
Cold War: rivalry and ongoing arms race between the US and the USSR, and their allies,
with threat of war from 1945 to 1991.
containment: US policy of resisting communist expansion with active foreign policy, and
economic help.
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization; alliance of Western democracies created in
Cold War to defend each other in case of Communist attack.
Warsaw Pact: a joint defence agreement of eastern European nations in the Communist
bloc.
“Little Red Book”: quotations from Chairman Mao; a Bible for Chinese people following
his philosophy.
Viet Cong: the communist para-military group that operated in South Vietnam,
supported by North Vietnam in war.
S.A.L.T.: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; weapon reduction discussions between the US
and the USSR.
© 2003 Todd Penner. Reprinted with permission.
Sputnik: the first artificial satellite, it was launched by the Soviets, giving them a lead in
the space race; it scared the US and motivated them to go to the moon.
1.
• The General Assembly: all member nations meet yearly and vote on issues of general
importance.
• The Security Council: five permanent members (with veto) and 10 elected for fiveyear terms to execute UN actions.
• The Secretariat: the civil service headed by the Secretary-General, with a major
diplomatic function.
2.
• the Congo: Belgians had not prepared the Congolese for independence, so their
withdrawal was followed by a bloody civil war, and then a brutal dictatorship.
• India: the British, faced with a strong independence movement and violence, agreed
to withdraw and work out a plan for separate Hindu and Muslim states.
• Indonesia: the Dutch tried to resist the independence movement led by General
Sukarno but were too weak; he had also suppressed Communist Party.
• Algeria: the French fought to hold onto it, but could not win; General de Gaulle
granted independence.
3.
• He is a black French psychiatrist who became sympathetic to the Algerian
independence idea.
• He believed Europe’s wealth was based on raw materials taken from colonies (gold,
diamonds, oil, silk, etc.)
• He was a major influence on post-colonialism and violent resistance to imperial rule.
4.
• Occupied Germany and its capital, Berlin, was divided into four zones.
• 1948: Soviets blockaded the Western part of Berlin, since it united. Berlin Airlift
relieved the people.
• 1961: Soviets closed the border to prevent East Germans from leaving and erected a
concrete wall.
• The Berlin Wall became symbol of communist dictatorship.
5.
•
•
•
•
•
•
1949: Communist Revolution, led by Mao Zedong and others.
1950: Takeover of Tibet. (1959: Dalai Lama flees after revolt.)
1950s: controls were relaxed.
1958: Great Leap Forward, (which was a disaster).
1966: Cultural Revolution, led by the Red Guards.
1976: death of Mao Zedong.
© 2003 Todd Penner. Reprinted with permission.
6.
• Korea was a divided nation after the First World War. North Koreans invaded the
South, with help from USSR. The US and the UN sent troops to defend the South in a
“limited war.” It ended in a stalemate.
• Vietnam was under Communist control in the North after the First World War, and
sought to unite with the South, which was resisted by French and then American
troops. In a war of attrition, the US lost heart and withdrew.
7.
• Iran in 1951: an elected government that nationalized property was overthrown in
coup led by the CIA.
• Guatemala in 1954: a US-sponsored invasion forced the elected President into exile
and reversed his reforms.
• Chile in 1973: A socialist was elected president and then nationalized the copper
mines, but was killed in a US-organized coup led by General Augusto Pinochet (who
then repressed the people and tortured and executed his opponents).
8.
• Poland in 1956: Soviets showed military muscle to keep its empire in line.
• Hungary in 1956: after anti-Soviet protests, a liberal and nationalist leader was killed
by Soviets and thousands fled.
• Czechoslovakia in 1968: when liberal communists came to power, Soviets sent in the
tanks and replaced them.
9.
• 1959: Fidel Castro overthrew dictator Batista and began to nationalize Americanowned properties.
• 1961: CIA-sponsored invasion fails at Bay of Pigs.
• 1962: US learns that Soviets are sending nuclear missiles, as well as advisors and
conventional weapons to Cuba.
– Kennedy blocks shipments to Cuba, but does not invade.
– The world watches Cuban Missile Crisis unfold.
– Nuclear annihilation avoided when Khrushchev and US remove missiles.
10.
• 1948: UN partitioned Palestine and Jews proclaimed the nation of Israel; Arabs
attacked but were defeated and many became refugees.
• 1956: Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, and was attacked by Israel, Britain and
France. The UN intervened and began peacekeeping.
• 1967: Egypt, Syria and Jordan attacked Israel and were defeated in Six-Day War, but
still refused to recognize Israel’s existence.
• 1973: Arabs attacked Israel by surprise on Yom Kippur but nothing was settled. Oil
becomes an Arab weapon for the first time.
© 2003 Todd Penner. Reprinted with permission.
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