Bye CWI

I just finished my research paper, it feels good. Im pretty confident. Its been a good year. Bye CWI.

Cuban Missile Crisis

 The world came 13 hours from a nuclear war. What does this actually mean? If J.F.K would not have communicated with the USSR we may have grown up in a completely decimated world. It basically means we came very very close to seeing a nuclear strike on US or USSR soil.  

China's Communism

After World War II, the ongoing civil war between the communists and nationalists resumed.  Led by Mao Zhedong, the communists eventually overthrew the corrupt government, run by Chiang Kai-Shek.
Once in power, Chairman Mao started a long period of reforms, meant to push China into its own new age.  Mao took land from the wealthy and divided it up between the poor peasants.  He also had all people start producing steel by melting down all of the steel they had into a communal melting furnace. However, the peasants did not know how to make steel and most of it went to waste.  Another of his failed ideas was the Cultural Revolution, a time period where intellectuals were discriminated against and considered enemies of the state.  Millions were killed throughout many of Mao's ridiculous reforms and ideas.  The reign of Mao did not push China to a new golden age, but pulled it further into a period of regression in technology, ideology, and society.

Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

The Soviet Union collapsed because they could not keep up with the costs of the arms race with the US, nor could they provide the proper leadership citizens were looking for. The Arms Race was very costly for the United States and the USSR, but since the USSR had just came out of World War II with very little money, they could not afford to keep producing nuclear weapons. Also, Gorbachev's implementation of a more Capitalist lifestyle gave citizens a reason to ask for more freedoms, freedoms that the Soviet Union could not give out without abandoning Communism.

Who is to blame for starting the Cold War? The U.S., the U.S.S.R., or both?

I think that both the Soviet Union and the United States are to blame for starting the Cold War. The United States begun to show off their power to the Soviet Union with the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. In turn, the Soviet Union attempted to make their own atomic bombs. The situation spiraled out of control, consequences being huge economical deficits, as well as fear in both Americans and Russians. The Cuban Missile Crisis also caused much fear between the two countries. Both nations were within two hours of a nuclear war, but both sides came to an agreement. Neither country attempted to prevent this crisis earlier, so they both are to blame for helping spiral the situation out of control. Although the United States did make the first move in attempt to show of their strength, the Soviet Union is also responsible for escalating the situation.

Give 2 reasons to explain Germany’s failure from 1942-45.

I believe that Germany failed because of a lack of concentrated man power, as well as trying to take too much land too quickly. Hitler had troops scattered all over Europe and Asia, giving weaker concentrations of troops. The Nazis could not fight with enough man power because they were in too many places, not allowing them to focus on specific targets. Also, Germany tried to push too far too quickly. Operation Barbarossa was an advance into the U.S.S.R. made by Germany. Hitler thought that he was fully capable to move into the U.S.S.R. quickly, but he was wrong. The Soviet Union pushed them back and ended up helping to defeat Germany.

What enables totalitarian/authoritarian regimes to take power?

I think that fear and force allow totalitarian and authoritarian regimes to take power. In Hitler's case, for example, he managed to gain power through force as well as his convincing speeches that made Germans think that Hitler was the solution to their issues. These regimes rely on the weaknesses of the countries they wish to take power in, gaining power through physical action and the fear of the people.

Sputnik

Sputnik was the first man-made satellite sent from Earth into space. It was launched by the Soviet Union, triggering the Space Race between the Soviet Union. Americans could hear the beeps of the Sputnik from their radios, and this worried them about any possible nuclear strikes the Soviet Union could launch from space. Would it have worried you if you could hear a Russian satellite from your radio?

Eastern Europe fights Communism

The US and USSR weren't the only two countries to be "fighting" during the Cold War, countries like Czechoslovakia, it was involved in standing up and fighting Communism. In 1968, Russian troops rolled in with tanks to try and stop anti-communist revolutionaries and implement a Communist government. Unfortunately, the Czech people didn't take kindly to the Soviets and began to protest. Soon, these protests would turn viral and eventually the entire Eastern Bloc was up in revolution against the Communist Russian leaders.

Hitler's Last U-Boat

Close to the end of Word War II, Hitler sent a U-boat to Japan loaded with all of Germany’s latest technology. They disembled the ME-262 and put it in the cargo hold along with Germany’s Uranium 235. When the boat was halfway to Japan, Germany surrendered. The U-boat crew voted to turn the boat over to the Americans. When the U-boat arrived in New York in May of 1945, the cargo was turned over to Robert Oppenhaimer of the (Manhattan Project), where the Uraunium 235 was used in the bomb they dropped on Japan.

Stalin's Secret Armies

In 1942, while the German army was racing across Europe towards Asia, the Russian army had put up little, in some cases almost no realistic defense. When the Germans reached Stalingrad on the Volga, it looked pretty grim for the Russians. At that time, Stalin had Siberian troops guarding the boarder expecting a Japanese attack. When a spy told Stalin there would be no threat from the Japanese, the troops were released to fight at Stalingrad, and that’s what made the difference in winning or loosing that battle.

The Battle of Dunkirk

The German jugernaught trapped the British and French in the port of Dunkirk, the interesting fact was that the Germans could have easily destroyed the British and French in that port. Hitler ordered his forces to stop letting the British and French forces get away on the little ships, why? Hitler always respected the British army, Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf “Britain is a stabilizing force in Europe.” So he let the British and French forces off the hook (so to speak). If the Germans wanted to, they could have easily destroyed that entire force including the little ships.

Containment

The US's containment strategy for stopping the spread of Communism during the Cold War seemed to be a big part of the class, seeing as Mr. Stewart made us repeat it over and over. However, containment was never the best strategy during the Cold War, seeing as we lost close to 1 million troops in Vietnam, had to draw out a stalemate in Korea (and let Mao get praise for "winning" the skirmish), and almost came to nuclear war with the USSR. Basically containment was based on the idea of standing up to Communism wherever it seemed to sprout up. This sounds good on paper, but in reality, you cant win a war without advancing and eradicating the enemy. If you take a look at Vietnam, the US was in a war that was essentially pointless. However, containment did do some good for the world, seeing as the Berlin Airlift kept thousands of capitalistic people alive and allowed the US to gain a sense of authority and aid that smaller countries could run to in time of need. Personally, I think containment was a bunk idea for a strategy.

The Marshall Plan

Europe remained physically and economically destroyed after World War Two. When the U.S. saw all the problems in Europe, they decided to help them before the USSR could get involved. If the U.S. wanted to contain communism, they were going to need to help the Europe economy majorly. On June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall developed a European Recovery Program that Marshall proposed that America would give aid to any European country that needed it to help their economy. America offered this plan to all of Europe, even the USSR. The USSR declined, which the U.S. knew it would. Who ever accepted this would receive aid from the U.S., getting money, food, supplies, and anything else they needed. Truman thought if they removed trouble from Europe it would reduce communism threat, which was true. After the U.S. supporting many nations to help their economy they thought good about capitalism not using communism as a back up plan. The Marshall Plan, served as one of the most successful containment policies during the Cold War.

Communism vs. Capitalism

There's always been some sort of conflict between Communism and Capitalism, United States and the USSR, but the big question is, why? To answer that is simple, comparing Communism and Capitalism is like comparing red to blue. Communism (in its purest form) is a class-less, money-less, government-less society based on the idea of sharing. Everyone is equal, and the old saying "sharing is caring" actually comes to life and is commonly practiced day to day. You work for your fellow comrades and share the benefits from your communal labor. Communism lacks a dominant presence of government and is ran by communal groups that are focused on their state, not the country as a whole.
Capitalism however, is the exact opposite. It's based on a social and economic hierarchy that uses currency to fund personal and governmental needs. Capitalism is based on greed, but, "that's how a Communist would put it as."- Mr. Stewart.

Start of the Cold War

There are many factors that contributed to the start of the cold war, but the US directly caused a chain reaction of paranoia, distrust, and deterrence in it's relationship with the USSR. The first act of spite between the US and USSR came at the Potsdam conference in 1945 where Truman recalled something happening like this- "On July 24 I casually mentioned to Stalin that we had a new weapon of unusual destructive force. The Russian Premier showed no special interest. All he said was he was glad to hear it and hoped we would make 'good use of it against the Japanese.'" -Harry S. Truman, Year of Decisions (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1955) p. 416. 

This conversation between Truman and Stalin was what started all the races such as the arms race and the space race. Even though Truman gave Stalin a hint about the new nuclear weapons the US still decided to use them against Japan instead of showing a demonstration. Many believe that the usage of the nuclear weapons was a form of deterrence to show the USSR what the new weapons can do.

Communism

Since its been a long time since we have reviewed types of governments, I'd like to go over the Soviet Union's form of government: Communism. Communism's major goal is to create a one world society where all people have the same social status and are all equal. One of the founders of communism was Karl Marx, and Communism is often referred to as Marxism. Soviet Union Communism wasn't truly full-blown communism, as in a true communistic society there is no government and everything is arranged by committees. Furthermore, people are given roles in society rather than professions which rotate in cycles. THere is no money in true communism, and everything you need is in a communal warehouse. In theory, it would seem to work, but practical extreme communism has yet to succeed.

Cuban Missile Crisis

When the Russians put nuclear missiles in Cuba, the US responded by blockading Cuba and threatening the start of nuclear war.  Tensions rose when the US supported rebels in a failed attempt to overthrow the communist dictator of Cuba, Fidel Castro.  Placing the missiles in Cuba only made situations worse by showing that they were able to launch a first strike.  Only 90 miles from the mainland, Cuba was the perfect place to store missiles and keep a location that the Soviets could launch a first strike.  The two ideologies, now closer geologically than ever, were at the brink of an actual nuclear war.  Within 30 minutes from launch, the missiles from Cuba could hit the White House and destroy the US government.  In response, the US set up nuclear launch stations in Turkey, right next to the Soviet Union.  This event is significant because it was the closest the US had ever gotten to all out nuclear war.  They had literally been 12 hours from launching missiles at the Soviet Union when Khrushchev sent a message to the White House saying that the Soviet Union will take the missiles out of Cuba. The two powers both backed down, both removing the missiles close to the other, the Americans taking their missiles out of Turkey, and the Soviet Union removed their missiles from Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most exciting part of the Cold War for me. I think part of that is because, it was the closest we came to war during the cold war time period. Along with that, it was also the closest the world had/has ever come to a nuclear war. I believe it was actually good that the crisis occurred, because it showed people that nuclear could really happen at any second. Because of this, I think it also scared the US and USSR which was good because after the crisis, tensions became a little lessened for the first time. This also led to the beginning of communication between the US and Soviet Union which helped the Cold war come to an end.

Space Race

Space Race

You cannot talk about the Space Race during the cold war without bringing up Sputnik. Sputnik was the first ever satellite man kind had ever seen. It was a revolutionary invention and brought a whole new aspect into the cold war, the space race. Although we didn't talk very much about the space race in class, it was still a huge part of the time era. It increased tensions even more between the two countries, but also led to the US putting the first man on the moon. A negative aspect about the space race is that it caused the countries to spend even more money on the war, which for Russia was a very bad thing. Since I knew about the Space race previously because my grandpa participated in it, I believe that it is one of the most interesting events during the cold war.

Long Telegram

Long Telegram

The Long Telegram was sent by George Kennan, a US diplomat in Russia, to the US. The telegram was basically a warning to the United States about the strength of the Soviet Union. It was very alarming to the US government and was the first time they really felt like the USSR was going to be a threat. Because of this, the government created their policy of containment, which ultimately played a part in almost all of the decisions the US made during the cold war. Looking at the big picture, the Long Telegram in a way shaped how the Cold War would play out.

Truman Doctrine/ Marshall plan

Truman Doctrine/ Marshall plan

These plans both had very similar ideas that were based off the idea of containment. The Truman Doctrine was proposed by president Truman and was the thought that the US needs to help the small countries near the Soviet Union so that the USSR could not just go in and takeover easily. This goes along with containment because this is an American attempt to aid countries in east Europe so communism will not spread. The Marshall plan, like the Truman Doctrine, was proposed by George Marshall. The plan provided food, recourses, machines, etc. to help countries that were in ruins from the Cold War. Overall, the US spent over 12.5 billion dollars in east Europe between the two plans.

The Cold War

The Cold War could be described as an icy stare down. War never actually broke out between the Soviet Union and USA and it was more of one country trying to prove they were better than the other. Examples of this are seen in the arms race when each country went into crazy production of weapons based on MAD. This brings up the point of MAD which was created during the cold war. MAD, Mutual Assured Destruction, was the idea that if war broke out, the countries that were hit would be absolutely destroyed because of the nuclear bombs. This made citizens very scared and was also one of the basic ideas of the Cold War.

Containment

Containment was a United States policy to prevent the spread of communism to other nations around the world.  This policy arose as a direct response to counter the Soviet ambition of expansion into neighboring territories.  Containment was based off of a telegram sent by George F. Kennan to the United States Government which stated that if Communism was not contained then it would attempt expand to the rest of the world.  As a result of the Long Telegram, President Harry Truman created the Truman Doctrine which stated that the United States would help any country under the threat of Communism.  Also the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO for short) was a combination of countries whose goal was to combat the Soviet Union.

Glasnost and Perestroika

When Gorbachev comes to power in Russia, he wants less of a totalitarian state, and instead, encourages a free flow of ideas.  In 1985 he announced glasnost, which was a policy of openness.  Soviets were then able to feel more comfortable giving their opinions, even if they were negative.  This signified a change in Russia's communist ways, because people were able to give decide what they wanted.  Later that year, perestroika was introduced, which was economic restructuring.  This was necessary because of the problems that glasnost created.  People began fighting and protesting against long lines for common necessities.  This new policy allowed local managers to have greater authority over their farms and factories, and people were able to open small private businesses.

Research paper and realizing we only have 4 more days of class before the FINAL

After today, December 10th, we only have 4 more days of class until our final!

Our paper is due this Friday, Dec 13th at the end of the period. All late work is due the same day, but at the beggining of the period.


Heres some perspective:

   The final is worth 200 points-- which is 2 times the amount of points our research paper is; our research paper is worth the amount of 2 position papers.

    Also, this is only a semester class so after the research paper and the last notebook check (possibly, the board is nearly full) the final is your last chance to raise your grade. Don't get too stressed out, however it is important to study. You can do this by looking over your notebook and checking Edmodo for resources like practice tests.

   Our final is on Friday, Dec 20, from 10:10-11:45 The last final of the 2013 year you'll take. For those with 3rd periods, that final is on Dec 20, from 8:10- 9:45. You have 25 minutes in between finals to cram but that will not be enough studying and studies show that last minute cramming actually confuses you more than it helps you.

China Becomes Communist

After over 20 years of civil wars in China the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949. It was led by the Communist dictator Mao Zedong.  In 1950 Mao sent the People's Volunteer Army into Korea to fight against the United States.  Mao also imposed land reforms which took land from the "wealthy" land-lords and gave it to the peasants.  Mao also campaigned to suppress Counterrevolutionaries, which involved the public execution of former government leaders, businessmen, and anyone who was not totally loyal to Mao.  In 1976 it was estimated that 1 million people had been killed in the land reforms, and 800,000 in the counterrevolutionary campaign.  During Mao's time in power he imposed several reforms such as the Great Leap Forward  The Great Leap Forward began in 1958 and was a plan designed to strengthen the Chinese economy by having every single person produce Steel. However Mao did not predict that the Chinese people would not be able to produce high quality steel and it ended up being a waste of time.  Many civilians died of starvation during the Great Leap Forward because people were not producing food, just steel.

Soviet Union Leaders During the Cold War

During the Cold War power in the Soviet Union changed hands 8 times.  The founder of the Soviet Union was Vladimir Lenin (we barely touched on Lenin this year so I will not focus on him) He was in power for just over one year.  After Lenin came Joseph Stalin.  Under Stalin's brutal leadership the Soviet Union won world 2, developed it's first atomic bomb, but also killed approximately 20 million people.  After Stalin's death in 1953 Georgy Malenkov was his replacement.  He was in power for 11 days before being replaced by Nikita Khrushchev.  Khrushchev gave a speech in 1956 talking about De-Stalinization. De-Stalinization was the reforms to change/remove key ideals that helped Stalin to control total power in the Soviet Union.  Some examples are GULAG and the renaming of cities such as Stalingrad and Leningrad.  After Khrushchev being removed from office in 1964 Leonid Brezhnev replaced him.  Brezhnev played a key role in Soviet-American relations.  He was in charge during the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks which provided a maximum number of missiles a country could have at any given time.  Yuri Andropov replaced Brezhnev in 1942 but died after only 1 year in power.  Following the death of Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko took power, but similarly to Yuri his health was rapidly declining and died after only 1 year in power.  After Chernenko, the final leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev took power.  Gorbachev was the most important leader of the Soviet Union in terms of Soviet-American relations.  His reforms changed the Soviet Union into a more free nation.  He encouraged people to think for themselves.  When Gorbachev resigned in 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved with him.

The Arms Race Increasing Tensions Creating War Throughout the Cold War

The Arms Race, an event that happened all of the Cold war which you could call a competition between the U.S and the USSR fighting for power. Each nation wanted to be more powerful than other and the Arms Race made countries believe who ever had more weapons was more powerful. When the U.S successfully exploded the atomic bomb it brought a whole new level of competition in the Cold War. August 24, 1949 the USSR developed their first atomic bomb ending the American bomb control while bringing a new aspect of the Arms Race. U.S was still at an advantage but they still continued to make more and more weapons fearing a nuclear war and the USSR going ahead of them in the Arms Race when really they were way ahead, this event was called the Bomber Gap. When USSR starting advancing, President Truman decided to make an even more powerful weapon than the atomic bomb which was the most powerful weapon at the time. In November of 1952, the U.S. successfully tested the Hydrogen Bomb(H-Bomb) which was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. However, only a year later the USSR caught up and built a hydrogen bomb of their own, meaning that both of the world’s superpowers were caught up causing more tensions. The Arms Race was mainly a competition to see who was more powerful as the U.S and the USSR built more and more weapons spending billions of dollars that could have been used on the citizens and the country.

Cuban Missile Crisis

This event happened earlier in the Cold War but it is such a significant event involving U.S and USSR relationships throughout the Cold War, which will help for question number two on the research paper due this Friday the 13th!

Tensions were increasing majorly due the Arms Race throughout the Cold War led to a major event called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The closest period of time the world ever came to a nuclear war, which meant destruction for everyone which everyone feared. Communism and Capitalism were still enemies increasing a lot of the tensions because they both wanted different things. The USSR was still very hind in the Arms Race and when Fidel Castro came to power more tensions increased because he was a Communist and thought placing nuclear weapons in Cuba which was 90 miles from the U.S which U.S felt was too close increased tensions also. Cuba thought a second attack was inevitable due to the Bay of Pigs failure to overthrow Cuba's leader Castro so he thought placing nuclear weapons so close would secure defense. When President of U.S, Kennedy found out this was all happening he responded immediately forcing USSR to remove the nuclear weapons from Cuba and that he would remove the weapons from Turkey. When this was all happening, everyone thought this major crisis would turn the world into a nuclear disaster creating World War III.

Long Telegram

In light of our Cold War Research paper being due this week, I wanted to give an important Cold war event that may be valuable to your paper. The Cold war event that I feel had the most profound effect on US-Soviet relations was the Long Telegram. The Long telegram was an 8,000 word telegram form senior diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Moscow George Kennan talking about Soviet intentions and how the U.S> should deal with them. It gave the basis for the United States policy of containment. Containment was a huge source of tension in the Cold War, and the Cold war was solely a war of tensions. Containment caused the United States to engage in proxy wars with the Soviet Union, or wars where they supported opposite sides of a war in another country and fought each other through these countries. The oppositions caused much strain in the countries' relationships. It also conflicted with the Soviet goal of expansion, and the communist goal to have a one-world communist society. Also, the Telegram said war was inevitable with the Soviet Union, and the United states would eventually have to fight them. Coming from a someone with deep knowledge of current Soviet affairs, it is easy to see why this would cause unrest.

A World Economy

Over the past few days in class we have been watching documentaries on post-Cold War China. One of the most striking features of these documentaries is the effects of globalization on China. Globalization is the interconnection between all countries economies made possible by the internet. Due to the massive population of people in China it is one of the country's most prominent resource. Unfortunately, the huge  population also causes a massive percentage of Chinese people to be poor. Because of this, the labor cost there is cheap, and many Western Businesses are moving their manufacturing centers to China. This has positive and negative effects. It causes westerners to lose jobs in their own country, but also lowers prices for the people in that own country. Chinese are given jobs, but they normally can't afford the products that they make. Does this really benefit the people in the counties, or just the manufacturers. It is hard to say,  but one thing is for sure, it could not happen without globalization.