The Cold War from 1945 to 1960

* The Early Cold War (almost hot)

- Berlin blockade 1948-49

- Truman Doctrine

-> containment of communism

=> would eventually lead to Vietnam

- NATO v. Warsaw pact

-> military alliances explicitly oriented against each other

- China goes communist 1949

- Korean War 1950-52

-> nationalist communist North demands reunification, attacks

-> US supports southern side against communism

-> USSR and China especially support the North

-> a proxy war

* The Cold War (usually nicely cold)

- Nationalist struggles begin in Vietnam with communists supporting rebels against US-

supported dictators

-> we back anyone who isn't a communist

- Suez canal fighting - 1954

-> Egypt wants to control the Suez, France, England, and Israel want it "open"

-> fighting develops

-> Egyptians allowed to win, and pushed into pro-soviet camp

- every struggle on the planet becomes warped into Cold War polarity

-> Czechoslovakia in 1948, Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954, Hungary in 1956

* Nuclear Weapons and the Cold War

- arms race

-> 1945 Trinity, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

-> 1949 USSR A-bomb

-> 1952 US H-bomb

-> 1953 USSR H-bomb

-> each side has a 3-part delivery system

=> rocket race develops to deliver

+> pumps up the space race

+> we import Nazi missile makers

+> Sputnik frightens us in 1957

=> developing planes to drop bombs

+> B-52s!

=> submarines developed for sea launches

-> Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

=> the only defense against nukes is a guarantee of annihilation

=> a logic of insanity

=> required massive, hair-trigger, reliable weapons systems

+> launch on warning

-> military industrial complex

=> both side keep up steep weapons building

+> preparing for the coming war

+> need better and better weapons to guarantee "credible response"

=> weapons sold throughout the world for proxy wars

=> keeps jobs coming for millions

=> leaves debts piling up

=> diverts money from social spending

Polarity: divided into two sides, poles; nothing in the middle

Leftist: a radical of the pro-worker, pro-socialist stripe

Vanguard: the leaders; in military, the group in the front; in politics, the party that leads the way

Proxy: the function of a deputy (or nation in this case) who takes the place of another