COLD WAR

BERLIN AIRLIFT (JUNE 1948- MAY 1949)
1. Berlin was divided into four zones taken up by the 4 powers - France, Britain, America, Soviets. The allies provoked each other
2. Stalin wanted the Allies to evacuate Berlin
3. Britain and France joined together in Bizonia 1947 to form a single government
  1. They planned a currency reform and introduced a new currency called the Deutschmark. There were now two currencies in Berlin but it deemed the old currency worthless
  2. Angered Stalin and called for a meeting for what he was going to do next
4. All power and food etc. and land communication was cut for the Western people. He was asking for a change in policies from the Allies
  1. Western Allies replied by Airlifting supplies up to the people in the West in order to AVOID CONFLICT AND WAR
    1. Up to 2,000 tonnes daily
    2. Provided employment
    3. C5s replaces C7s which meant that they could transport about 200,000 tonnes daily
  2. The West only had 4 hours of power every day. There wasn't enough food stored for the winter. If you went across the border, the police harassed you. However, the East had lively music, dancing, electricity and everyone could by food whenever they wanted
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS (16th - 28th OCTOBER 1962)
1. Leaders: Russia - Khrushchev America - Kennedy Cuba - Castro
2. Cuba was an ideal placement for Russia because it was only 20 miles away from the coast od America
  1. America had shown hostility towards Castro because he had declared to be communist, had taken over American owned companies, had made trade agreements with the Soviets
  2. "BAY OF PIGS"
    1. Anti Castro Cuban nationals that had been trained by the CIA tried to overthrow him by invading at Cochinos Bay. This was unsuccessful as all of the 1500 attackers were either killed or wounded.
      1. They had underestimated the support Castro had in Cuba. They were viewed as the enemy because years before that, America had cut off nearly all of the trade between Cuba and them which had a major toll on the economy.
  3. In 1964, Castro allowed Khrushchev to place 64 SS-4 and SS-5 missiles on 9 bases on the island
    1. Kennedy found out about the missiles on the 16th October 1962. However, he did not tell the American public till 22nd October. He had kept the crisis a secret for 6 day, with only him and his advisers aware of the danger they faced.
      1. He informed them of their plan to blockade. This was the most sensible option as the other three would have resulted in a nuclear war
        Khrushchev responded by sending a secret message suggesting a deal, that if Kennedy doesn't invade Cuba, then he should withdraw the missiles
        Kennedy accepted this message in public
        However, he then shot down an American U-2 spy plane and sent a second message stating that Kennedy also had to remove the Jupiter missiles in Turkey
        Kennedy responded to this in secret and asked his brother to go to the Soviet embassy in order to tell them that he would remove the missiles once the crisis was over
    2. Kennedy was under pressure because the Soviet military leaders only cared about not looking weak to powers such as China and Albania but did not see the dangers of the war.
VIETNAM
1. Vietnam had been occupied by the French together with Laos and Cambodia to form what was known as Indo-China. The Geneva Agreements made the countries independent (1954)
  1. In 1941, communists set up an opposition group known as Vietminh. There was an ongoing fight as France wanted to prove that they were still a strong power after the war. However, a communist government came to power in China and they supplies the Vietminh with weapons which eventually led to their win. Vietnam was now an independent country.
    1. Vietminh - a communist independent movement who freed Vietnam of France and Japan // Vietcong - National Liberation Front in S. Vietnam
  2. The French had proven to cause great concern for the Vietnamese people because they were recruiting people and making them Catholic.
    1. Ngo Di Diem was the president of Vietnam. He was a devout Catholic and refused to repeal the laws that had been previously enforced by the French.
      1. In retaliation, many Buddhists volunteered to commit suicide in order to show how greatly they felt about their religion.
        Quang Due was one volunteer who poured petrol on himself and lit himself on fire, burning without uttering a sound.
        Diem's government's reply to such attempts was "Let them burn, and we shall clap our hands". Some of them even offered to pay for the petrol
2. AMERICA'S INVOLVEMENT
  1. DOMINO THEORY - A doctrine brought about by Vice President Nixon. He said that if one country in Asia turned communist, then all the neighbouring ones would soon follow on this path. It would have a knock-on effect.

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	Created by mercy.gitangu about 9 years ago