APWH Unit 8.3

Unit 8.3 — Effects Of The Cold War（1900–Present）

Essential Question:
In What Ways Did Both The Soviet Union And The United States Seek To Maintain Influence During The Cold War?

One-glance Review

• Proxy War → Allowed superpowers to compete indirectly without fighting each other directly

• Berlin Airlift and Berlin Wall → Symbolized the division between East and West Europe

• NATO and Warsaw Pact → Created rival military alliances

• Korean War and Vietnam War → Major Asian Proxy Wars tied to containment and communism

• Bay Of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis → Brought the world close to nuclear war

• Angola and Contra War → Showed Cold War rivalry in Africa and Latin America

• Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty → Attempted to reduce nuclear danger

• Antinuclear Weapons Movement → Reflected public fear of nuclear destruction

Core Ideas

Alliances, Proxy Wars, And Nuclear Tension

• During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to maintain influence through:

  • Military Alliances

  • Proxy Wars

  • Economic Pressure

  • Nuclear Deterrence(核威慑)

  • Political Influence

• Although the two superpowers avoided direct war, they competed globally in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The Cold War stayed “cold” between the superpowers themselves, but it became very “hot” in many other parts of the world.

KEY TERMS BY THEME

GOVERNMENT: International Conflicts

• Proxy War

• Berlin Airlift

• Berlin Wall

• Korean War

• Vietnam War

• Domino Theory

• Bay Of Pigs

• Cuban Missile Crisis

• Angola

• Contra War

GOVERNMENT: Treaties

• NATO

• Warsaw Pact

• Communist Bloc

• SEATO

• CENTO

• Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

TECHNOLOGY: Military

• Hot Line

SOCIETY: Activism

• Antinuclear Weapons Movement

GOVERNMENT: Leaders

• Douglas MacArthur

• Lyndon Johnson

• John F. Kennedy

• Nikita Khrushchev

1. The Cold War In Europe

Allied Occupation Of Germany

• After World War II, Germany was divided among:

  • France

  • Great Britain

  • The United States

  • The Soviet Union

• The Western Allies wanted to combine their zones into a democratic state, while the Soviets wanted more control.

Berlin Blockade And Berlin Airlift

• Berlin, located inside the Soviet zone, was also divided into four zones.

• The Soviets tried to block Western access to West Berlin by land.

• In response, the Western Allies launched the Berlin Airlift, flying in supplies from 1948 to 1949 until the blockade ended.

Two Germanys

• After the blockade:

  • West Germany became the Federal Republic Of Germany

  • East Germany became the German Democratic Republic

• This division reflected the wider split between Eastern and Western Europe.

Berlin Wall

• From 1949 to 1961, about 2.5 million East Germans fled to the West.

• To stop this exodus(大规模外流), East Germany and the Soviet Union first used barbed wire(带刺铁丝网), then built the Berlin Wall in 1961.

• The Wall became a symbol of communist repression(压制) and European division.

2. Rival Military Alliances

NATO

• In 1949, Western nations formed the NATO

• It pledged mutual support and cooperation against conflict

• It was created largely out of fear of Soviet expansion in Europe.

Warsaw Pact

• In 1955, the Soviet Union responded by creating the Warsaw Pact

• Members included:

  • Albania

  • Bulgaria

  • Czechoslovakia

  • East Germany

  • Hungary

  • Poland

  • Romania

  • Soviet Union

• These states formed the Communist Bloc and coordinated military leadership through Moscow.

Other Anti-Communist Alliances

• SEATO was formed in 1954 to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia.

• CENTO was formed to contain communism in the Middle East.

Both superpowers used alliance systems to expand influence and contain the other side.

3. Proxy War As A Cold War Strategy

What Was A Proxy War?

• A Proxy War was a conflict in which major powers supported opposing sides without always fighting each other directly.

• These wars often mixed local issues with the global struggle over communism.

Key Concept

• The Cold War was global because it extended into:

  • Asia

  • Africa

  • Latin America

  • The Caribbean

4. Korean War

Origins

• Korea was divided after World War II:

  • North Korea under Soviet influence

  • South Korea under U.S. influence

• In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea to reunify the peninsula under communist rule.

International Response

• The United Nations voted to defend South Korea.

• The Soviet representative was absent and therefore could not veto the resolution.

• UN forces included troops from 16 countries, but the United States contributed the most forces.

• Douglas MacArthur served as the overall commander.

Chinese Intervention And Outcome

• The Soviet Union supported North Korea with money and weapons.

• When UN forces pushed north, China entered the war to prevent a threat near its border.

• After three years and about four million casualties, the war ended in a stalemate(僵局).

• Korea remained divided, separated by a demilitarized zone(非军事区).

Korean War showed how a regional conflict could become an international Cold War confrontation.

5. Vietnam War

U.S. Involvement And Containment

• Following the Truman policy of containment(遏制政策), President Eisenhower sent advisers (顾问) to South Vietnam.

• President John F. Kennedy later increased the number of advisers from 1,000 to 16,000.

Problems In South Vietnam

• The U.S. supported Ngo Dinh Diem, an unpopular and undemocratic ruler. (不得人心且不民主的统治者)

• In 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly burned himself to protest discrimination favoring Catholics over Buddhists.

• A coup(政变), supported by the United States, overthrew Diem.

Domino Theory

• In 1964, Lyndon Johnson sent more U.S. troops.

• He believed in the Domino Theory:

  • if one country became communist,

  • nearby countries would soon follow

• This fear helped justify deeper U.S. involvement.

The Vietnam War became a major example of how anti-communist containment led to prolonged and costly intervention (旷日持久且代价高昂的干预).

6. Cuba And The Nuclear Brink

Bay Of Pigs

• In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista and established a dictatorship.

• Cuba nationalized foreign-owned industries, including many U.S. businesses.

• The United States responded by ending trade and cutting diplomatic ties.

• Castro then turned to Soviet aid and aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union.

• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy supported an invasion by Cuban exiles at the Bay Of Pigs

• The invasion failed completely and strengthened the Cuba-Soviet alliance.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• After the Bay Of Pigs, the Soviets increased military support for Cuba.

• In 1962, Nikita Khrushchev shipped nuclear missiles to Cuba.

• The United States had earlier placed missiles in Turkey, near the Soviet border, which Khrushchev used as justification.

• When U.S. intelligence discovered more missiles were on the way, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine(海上隔离) around Cuba.

• The world came close to nuclear war.

Resolution

• Khrushchev withdrew the missiles from Cuba.

• The United States quietly agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey.

• In 1963, the two sides created the Hot Line, a direct communication link between leaders.

7. Nuclear Treaties And Fear Of Destruction

Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

• In 1963, the Soviet Union, the United States, and over 100 other states signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

• It banned nuclear testing:

  • above ground

  • underwater

  • in space

• Its goal was to reduce harmful radiation(辐射). Underground testing still remained legal.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

• In 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty called on nuclear powers to stop the spread of nuclear weapons technology to non-nuclear states.

Nuclear treaties did not end the arms race, but they showed growing concern about humanity’s survival.

8. Angola And Cold War Competition In Africa

Independence And Civil War

• Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975 after 14 years of armed struggle.

• Like many African colonies, its borders had been drawn by Europeans without regard to traditional ethnic regions.

Foreign Support For Rival Groups

Three major groups competed for power and control of diamond resources:

• USSR and Cuba → backed the Mbundu

• South Africa → backed the Ovimbundu

• United States → backed the Bankongo

Outcome

• Civil war broke out after independence.

• Fighting continued for 27 years until a cease-fire in 2002.

• Even afterward, separatist threats remained.

9. Contra War In Nicaragua

Sandinistas And Contras

• In 1979, the long Somoza family dictatorship in Nicaragua was overthrown by the Sandinistas, who identified as socialists.

• Two years later, conservative opponents called the Contras tried to overthrow them

U.S. Involvement

• From 1981 to 1988, the United States gave the Contras heavy covert support(秘密支持) to isolate the Sandinistas.

• The war killed tens of thousands of Nicaraguans.

End Of The War

• The conflict ended after the Tela Accord in 1989 and the demobilization(解除武装) of both armies.

10. Antinuclear Weapons Movement

Public Opposition To Nuclear Weapons

• Fear of nuclear war inspired the Antinuclear Weapons Movement

• One early movement developed in Japan in 1954 in opposition to U.S. nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Expansion Of Activism

• In 1955, more than one-third of Japan’s population signed a petition against nuclear weapons.

• In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the movement spread to the United States and Western Europe.

• On June 6, 1982, about one million people protested in New York City against nuclear weapons.

The Antinuclear Weapons Movement showed that ordinary people also shaped the Cold War by pressuring governments to reduce nuclear danger.

11. Cause And Effect

Change

• Superpowers created global alliance networks

• Proxy Wars spread Cold War conflict beyond Europe

• Nuclear diplomacy led to treaties and direct communication systems such as the Hot Line

• Antinuclear activism became an international social movement

Continuity

• The United States and the Soviet Union continued competing for world influence

• Smaller nations often suffered the consequences of superpower rivalry

• Nuclear fear remained even after treaties

• Ideological conflict between capitalism and communism continued for decades

Exam-ready Phrases And Sentences

• Maintain global influence

• Build rival military alliances

• Contain the spread of communism

• Support opposing sides in a Proxy War

• Intensify Cold War tensions

• Bring the world to the brink(边缘) of nuclear war

• Expand superpower influence through regional conflicts

• Symbolize ideological division

• Reduce the spread of nuclear weapons

• Mobilize public opposition to nuclear testing

• The Cold War remained a global struggle because the United States and the Soviet Union competed through alliances, Proxy Wars, and nuclear weapons.

• The formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact reflected the military division of the world into rival blocs.

• The Korean War and Vietnam War showed how local conflicts became part of the larger struggle over communism and containment.

• The Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated how close the superpowers came to direct nuclear war.

• Antinuclear activism and nuclear treaties reflected widespread fear of the destructive power of modern weapons.

LEQ / DBQ 使用思路

可用论点（Thesis Ideas）

• During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union sought to maintain influence through military alliances, indirect wars, and nuclear power, turning regional conflicts into global confrontations.

• Although the superpowers avoided direct war, their rivalry reshaped Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America through Proxy Wars, political intervention, and ideological competition.

• The Cold War was maintained not only through force and alliances, but also through nuclear deterrence, diplomacy, and public reaction against the threat of total destruction.

相关笔记

APWH Unit 8.2
APWH Unit 8.4