COLD WAR DEVELOPMENT
By the end of the 1940's, it was clear that the Cold War, which had originated in Europe, was spreading to other parts of the globe. Although this was most clearly happening in Asia (China fell in December 1949 and South Korea was invaded by North Korea in 1950), rivalry between the two superpowers was spreading to the South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America as well. By the end of the 1950's, it was clear that Africa was also affected by the Cold War.
A trigger for the global spread of the Cold War was the process of decolonization. The old imperial powers of Europe were increasingly unable to maintain their large empires throughout the developing world and many nations in Asia and Africa began to gain independence, either from peaceful or violent means. Western opposition to decolonization risked encouraging communists in those countries; for those people communism was a vehicle to meet nationalist goals. Even when power was handed over peacefully, the two superpowers attempted to fill the power voids created by this transition by competing for influence. Quickly consider a few case studies:
The catalyst for the development of the Cold War in all these countries, as it was in the rest of Asia and Africa, was decolonization. Although nominally independent since the 19th century, Latin America had long been dominated by the USA and therefore similar trends occurred in this region.
This unit is the largest Cold War unit we will study. The major events it includes are:
In Europe
In Asia
In the Middle East
In Latin America
In Africa
However, these events cannot be studied in isolation and knowledge of these events alone will not suffice to produce a high level answer at IB. For these reasons, we will also cover events in countries such as Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Poland, Angola, Guatemala and Chile.
A trigger for the global spread of the Cold War was the process of decolonization. The old imperial powers of Europe were increasingly unable to maintain their large empires throughout the developing world and many nations in Asia and Africa began to gain independence, either from peaceful or violent means. Western opposition to decolonization risked encouraging communists in those countries; for those people communism was a vehicle to meet nationalist goals. Even when power was handed over peacefully, the two superpowers attempted to fill the power voids created by this transition by competing for influence. Quickly consider a few case studies:
- The Vietminh, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, fought the French for their independence.
- In China and Korea (both either struggling to free itself of foreign dominance or had been recently liberated), there were competing communist and non-communist forces supported by the two superpowers during the Chinese Civil War and the Korean War (essentially a civil war).
- Having been independent of Dutch or Japanese control for 20 years, there was a violent coup d'etat and cleansing of communist elements in Indonesia in 1964 and 1965 that effectively (although largely unofficially) aligned the new Suharto government with the West. A similar shift happened in the Philippines with the rise to power of Ferdinand Marcos in 1965.
- India gained independence in 1947 and managed to remain non-aligned for much of the Cold War period, finally appearing to side (although, again unofficially) with the USA in the late 1970's following security concerns with China and the the Afghan Civil War.
- The Congolese Civil War (which both superpowers tried to influence) broke out almost immediately after the country gained its independence from Belgium in 1960.
- Similar wars occurred in Mozambique and Angola following the collapse of the Portuguese Empire in 1974.
The catalyst for the development of the Cold War in all these countries, as it was in the rest of Asia and Africa, was decolonization. Although nominally independent since the 19th century, Latin America had long been dominated by the USA and therefore similar trends occurred in this region.
This unit is the largest Cold War unit we will study. The major events it includes are:
In Europe
- Hungarian Uprising
- The Berlin Wall Crisis
- The Prague Spring
In Asia
- The Korean War
- The war in Vietnam
In the Middle East
- The Suez Canal Crisis
- The Arab-Israeli conflicts
In Latin America
- The Cuban Missile Crisis
In Africa
- The Congolese Civil War
However, these events cannot be studied in isolation and knowledge of these events alone will not suffice to produce a high level answer at IB. For these reasons, we will also cover events in countries such as Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Poland, Angola, Guatemala and Chile.