The Rise of Communism/The Cold War/The Cuban Missile Crisis/German Reunification Notes

The Rise of Communism

1. Autocracy
  1. During the 21st century, Russia was the only true autocracy left in Europe.
  2. Russia’s tsar (king) was the absolute ruler believed to be anointed by God.
  3. The Romanov family ruled Russia from 1613 until the Russian Revolution in 1917.
  4. In 1884, Tsar Nicholas II became the last aristocratic ruler of Russia.
/ 2. Divided Russia
  1. For many years before WWI, Russia’s citizens suffered under the Romanov monarchy.
  2. Russia was divided into two groups: the ruling class who held the country’s wealth, and the serfs (peasants) who barely had enough food to eat.
  3. Peasants worked for little pay and had few rights.

3. Serf Life
  1. In exchange for working long hours for a landlord, a serf received a small log hut, a tiny piece of land, and a few animals.
  2. Most of the serfs’ crops went to pay the landlord’s taxes.
  3. Anyone who resisted the rules was beaten with a leather and wire whip. Many tried to escape, but few succeeded.
/ 4. Bloody Sunday
  1. In 1905, Russia lost a war with Japan, which angered many serfs and workers because their family members were forced to fight in the war.
  2. On January 22nd, thousands of people marched on the Winter Palace to ask Tsar Nicholas for reforms.
  3. Palace troops shot people in the crowd; this became known as “Bloody Sunday”.
  4. More and more riots began to occur after this.

5.WWI
  1. When Russia entered WWI in 1914, many of its peasants were forced to join the army.
  2. They were not trained or equipped to fight, and many were sent into battle without enough clothes, shoes, or weapons to survive.
  3. Over 2 million soldiers were killed and nearly 5 million were wounded.
  4. Russia’s people were also struggling with food shortages and not having enough coal to keep warm.
/ 6. Tsar/Czar Nicholas
  1. The Russian people blamed their tsar for entering the war and getting so many killed or wounded.
  2. Tsar Nicholas II ignored the fact that his people were suffering and unhappy.
  3. He was seen as a weak man and became increasingly remote as a ruler.
  4. He did not see that changes were needed in the way that his country was run.

7. Change
  1. In early 1917, thousands of workers filled the streets and began to riot.
  2. Men and women protested against the tsar’s failing government.
  3. Tsar Nicholas ordered his army to end the riots, but the people outnumbered them and the military could not keep the peace.
/ 8. Revolution
  1. Workers united against the Russian ruler and on March 15, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his throne.
  2. The tsar and his family were captured.
  3. A new government took over Russia.

9.The Duma
  1. The Duma was the Russian congress.
  2. There were 3 attempts to make the Duma work, but each was too radical and still favored only the wealthiest Russians.
  3. In the end, there were just too many problems.
  4. It was time for a new revolution…
/ 10. Lenin
  1. In October 1917, a revolutionary group called the Bolshevik (Communist) party seized power.
  2. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, took control of the Russian government.
  3. Lenin ordered Tsar Nicholas and his family to be executed.

11. Soviet Union
  1. Lenin declared himself dictator of Russia.
  2. In 1922, Lenin established the Soviet Union, the first communist country in the world.
  3. This joined Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
  4. Lenin promised that communism would bring fairness and equality to ALL Soviets.
  5. Overtime, Communism spread to other parts of the world (Cuba, China, North Korea, Vietnam).
/ 12. What is it?
  1. Communism is a theory based on the ideas of the German philosopher Karl Marx.
  2. Marx published the Communist Manifesto in 1848, and in it he said that capitalism divided people into three classes: rich, middle, and poor.
  3. Marx believed that the poor class would one day rise up and overthrow the wealthy rulers, creating a new society without classes.
  4. People would work together and share everything as a community.

13. Communism
  1. Communism says the government should own the farms and factories for the benefit of all the citizens.
  2. Everyone should share the work equally and receive an equal share of the rewards.
  3. This appealed greatly to many Russians because there was such a huge split between rich and poor.
  4. Unfortunately, the system did not work and Russia’s people continued to suffer for years to come.

The Cold War

1. End of WWII
  1. At the end of World War II, the Allies freed all of the Western European countries that had been conquered by Germany.
  2. The Allies also gave the nations money to rebuild and helped them form democratic governments before returning to their own countries.
/ 2. Eastern Europe
  1. Things were different in Eastern Europe because the Soviets did not leave the countries that they freed.
  2. The Soviet Union continued to occupy and set up Communist governments in many Eastern European nations.
  3. Western Europe and America were alarmed by the Soviet advances in Eastern Europe.
  4. Many believed that the Communists were trying to take over the world!

3.Iron Curtain
  1. In March 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned that an Iron Curtain of Soviet totalitarianism had fallen across Europe.
  2. Churchill meant that a dividing line now existed between the democratic countries in Western Europe and the Communist countries in Eastern Europe.
  3. The term “iron curtain” was a symbol that represented the tensions between Communist and democratic countries in Europe.
/ 4. Eastern Bloc
  1. The Soviets managed to set up communist governments throughout Eastern Europe.
  2. The government outlawed political parties or newspapers that opposed the communists.
  3. The Soviets jailed or killed some political opponents.
  4. They also rigged elections to ensure the success of communists.

5. Superpowers
  1. 1945 was the beginning of a long period of distrust and misunderstanding between the Soviet Union and the United States.
  2. Both countries emerged as the world’s two “superpowers” because they had the political strength and military power to influence countries around the world.
  3. Germany was also prohibited from joining with Austria.
/ 6. Opposing View
  1. The two countries had opposing views about government and economics.
  2. The Soviet Union believed that a powerful central government should control the economy as well as the government (Communism).
  3. The US believed that businesses should be privately owned (Capitalism).
  4. Disagreements between the two became a long period of tension and rivalry known as the Cold War.

7. Cold War
  1. The Cold War was a time of indirect conflict that lasted until 1991.
  2. Both countries worried that the other would become more powerful and spread its economic and political views to other countries.
  3. This tension is called a “cold” war because neither side ever fired a shot.
  4. However, many feared the rivalry between Democracy and Communism would lead to a nuclear war.
/ 8. Arms Race
  1. The United States and Soviet Union competed with one another for political influence and military power.
  2. Both countries built stockpiles of weapons, including nuclear bombs, in case the war turned physical.
  3. This build up of weapons was called the “arms race”.

9. Space Race
  1. During the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union also competed to have the most advanced science and technology.
  2. Both countries competed to be the first to put a man in space and to land on the moon.
  3. This competition for science superiority was called the “space race”.
/ 10. Distrust
  1. Each side thought the other was trying to rule the world.
  2. Neither side would give up, and people lived in fear that another world war would erupt.
  3. This time it could be a nuclear war, which could destroy the entire planet.

11. Alliances
  1. The US and USSR had the ability to influence world events and project worldwide power.
  2. As the Cold War continued, more countries allied with each side.
  3. They formed alliances to protect themselves.
/ 12. NATO
  1. In 1949, Western European countries, Canada, & US formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO).
  2. Each nation in NATO believed the Soviet Union would not attack western Europe if the United States would launch nuclear war in return.

13. Germany
  1. At the end of WWII, the Allies divided Germany into 4 sections to keep it from regaining power.
  2. US, Great Britain, France, & Soviet Union each controlled a section.
  3. In 1948, the Western Allies wanted to reunite Germany, but the Soviets disagreed.
  4. The Soviet section became “East Germany” and the reunited sections became “West Germany”.
/ 14. Berlin
  1. During the Cold war, there were many “hot spots” (areas of extreme tension).
  2. The earliest hot spot was Berlin.
  3. The Soviets controlled the eastern part of Germany, and the western countries controlled the western part of Germany.
  4. The capital, Berlin, deep within Soviet-controlled territory, was also divided into four occupation zones.

15. Blockade
  1. In June 1948, the Soviets blockaded all land and water traffic into western Berlin hoping to make Britain, France, and America leave the city.(Remember Berlin was in East Germany which the USSR occupied.)
  2. In response, the United States and Great Britain began an airlift.
/ 16. Airlift
  1. What’s an airlift?
  2. A system of carrying supplies into Berlin by plane day and night. British and American pilots flew in tons of food, fuel, and raw materials.
  3. How long did it last?
  4. 11 months

17. Now What?
  1. The airlift is over—now what?
  2. Germany officially becomes two countries with two governments.
  3. Bonn becomes the capital of West Germany.
  4. East Berlin becomes the capital of East Germany.
  5. West Berlin remains a democratic stronghold, surrounded by communism.
/ 18. Joseph McCarthy
  1. Many Americans worried that communism would take over the United States and dominate the world.
  2. Senator Joseph McCarthy spearheaded a communist “witch hunt” fueled by these fears throughout the U.S.
  3. His television appearances infected the nation with an anticommunist hysteria that ruined lives of many politicians, writers, and actors
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19. Khrushchev
  1. Nikita Khrushchev was born in 1894 to a miner in Ukraine.
  2. He served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953-1964.
  3. Khrushchev initiated the space program that launched Sputnik I.
  4. He had the idea of placing nuclear missiles in Cuba to restore the balance of power during the Cold War (which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis).
/ 20. Khrushchev
  1. Khrushchev's goals were to overtake the United States in productivity and to help spread Communism throughout the world.
  2. Khrushchev was overthrown in 1964.
  3. After seven years of house arrest, he died in Moscow in 1971.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1. Missiles
  1. In 1962, the Soviets sent ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to communist Cuba.
  2. Cuba is only 90 miles away from the US.
  3. The missiles could have easily destroyed the southeastern states!
/ 2. Blockade
  1. US President John F. Kennedy ordered the US Navy to blockade Cuba, which prevented Soviet ships from delivering more weapons or supplies to the island.
  2. President Kennedy also sent troops to Florida in case the US needed to invade Cuba.
  3. He warned that any attack on the US from Cuba would be considered an act of war by the Soviet Union.

3. Truce
  1. After 13 tense days and many secret negotiations with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviets finally backed down and agreed to pull their missiles out of Cuba.
  2. The US also agreed to never invade Cuba again and to pull its own missiles out of Italy and Turkey.
  3. The world narrowly escaped a nuclear war!
  4. Fidel Castro, Cuba’s dictator, was not present during the negotiations.

German Reunification

1. East Berlin
  1. Berliners hated living under communism.
  2. Luckily, West Berlin and freedom were just across the street.
  3. About 3 million people fled to West Berlin looking for political freedom and better lives.
  4. The East German government wanted it to stop.
/ 2. Berlin Wall
  1. In August 1961, East Germany built a 103 mile wall between East and West Berlin.
  2. Guarded by Soviet troops, it became a powerful symbol of the separation between western and eastern Europe.

3. Losing Control
  1. Unfortunately for the Soviet regime, the economy did not grow.
  2. The weapons stockpiling, space race, and defense of Communist countries cost the Soviet Union a lot of money.
  3. The government planning caused food shortages and there weren’t enough goods to meet citizens’ needs.
/ 4. Protests
  1. By the 1980s, most Soviet people had lost faith in the communist system and protests broke out across Soviet-controlled nations.
  2. The people demanded freedom from Communist rule.

5. Changes
  1. The Soviet Union was spending tons of money putting down revolts, protecting its borders, and keeping up with the US in the arms race.
  2. In 1985, the economy was so unstable that Mikhail Gorbachev, head of USSR, reduced government control of business and increased the freedoms for all citizens.
/ 6. Wall Falls
  1. Demonstrations in East Berlin forced Germany’s Communist government to give up its power.
  2. When the announcement was made, East and West Berliners climbed the Berlin Wall and celebrated.
  3. Citizens immediately began tearing down the wall.
  4. Nov. 9th 1989: the Berlin Wall, a symbol of communism, was destroyed.

7. Reunification
  1. After nearly 30 years, Germany was reunited.
  2. In 1990, Germans voted to make the countries of East Germany and West Germany reunited as one country.
  3. Today, Germany is a free democracy with a mixed-market economy.
/ 8. War Ends
  1. After Germany was reunified, the Soviet republics that had once been separate countries began seeking their independence also.
  2. Between 1989 and 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War finally ends.
  3. 15 independent countries were created; Russia was the largest.