Notes

Effects of the Cold War:
Following the German surrender to the Allied powers on May 8, 1945, Germany was occupied and divided into four zones. Each of the main Allied powers (the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France) was responsible for the administration of its zone. In 1947, the United States and Great Britain merged their zones. After tensions arose between Soviets and the Western powers, the German Federal Republic (FRG, commonly known as West Germany) was created out of the American, British, and French zones. The Soviets then established the German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly known as East German Republic) to counter the West German Republic.

West Germany has made an industrial comeback. It has become the leading industrial nation of Europe, and a major producer of coal steel, and manufactured goods.
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Premier Khrushchev threatened to sign a separate peace treaty with East Germany unless the Western Allies left Berlin. Since a separate treaty would give East Germany control over all routes to Berlin, the United States and its allies have refused to negotiate over their rights in Berlin.

Three years later, the East German government erected the Berlin Wall in the dead of night and for 28 years kept East Germans from fleeing to the West. The Berlin Wall was both the physical division between West Berlin and East Germany from 1961 to 1989 and the symbolic boundary between democracy and Communism during the Cold War.

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Austria was also divided into four zones of occupation. Russia's unwillingness to agree to an Austrian peace treaty prolonged the occupation.
The United States had extended both military and economic assistance to the non-communist world to prevent the expansion of communism.
The Cold War was also manifested in the division of China and the Korean War.

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Korean War -
In South Korea, the war is usually referred to as "625" or the "6–2–5 Upheaval" (6.25 동난(動亂), yook-i-o dongnan), reflecting the date of its commencement on 25 June.
In North Korea, the war is officially referred to as the "Fatherland Liberation War" or alternatively the "Chosǒn [Korean] War"

Korea is located between two powerful rival neighbors: China and Japan. China ruled Korea for many years and at the end of the 19th century, China, Russia and Japan contested for control. Japan gained dominance over Korea after defeating China and Russia.

When Japan was defeated in World War II, Korea was divided into two zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south by the United States. Negotiations on unification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south.

Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—invaded South Korea. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire.
The fighting ended when the armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea. Clashes have continued to the present.

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Vietnam War
Also known as the Second Indochina War or the American War.
After World War II, the Vietnamese pulled together in their war of Independence from French. Ho Chi Minh established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (generally known as North Vietnam). Vietnamese were supported by communist China and Soviet Russia. The French troops could not fight in the jungles and swamps of Vietnam. At last, in the Geneva Peace Conference, French recognized the independence of Vietnam. However, Vietnam was to be divided, in which North Vietnam was under communism while the southern part was democratic.

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Cuban Revolution
An armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro's and its allies against the dictatorial government of Cuban President Fulgencio Batista who was overthrown as a result.

Castro seized all the American business interests in Cuba and received aid from Russia. The United States found out that Russia had set up powerful missiles with atomic warheads in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy demanded the Russian pullout of Cuba. An agreement between Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy was reached and the missiles were pulled out.

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The War of Propaganda

The anti-communist nations had made use of the following:

- Powerful radio stations have been set up to broadcast the truth about the Western World to the people behind the Iron Curtain.
- Economic, technical and military assistance have been extended to anti-communist and neutral nations.
- Citizens of the Unites States have been sending CARE packages to people in countries behind the Iron Curtain.

The Soviet Union has used similar weapons in the propaganda war:
- It has attempted to cut off the Soviet people from all outside influences.
- It has tried to weaken NATO.
- It has sent propagandists into Western Europe to stir up discontentment.
- It has encouraged communists parties to extend their influence and power.
- It has tried to convince other nations that communism is superior to capitalism. Proofs include the launching of Sputnik - the first artificial Earth satellite. As well as the rapid economic development.

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The Cold War Thaws
After the death of Stalin, the group of leaders that came to power allowed their satellites countries little independence. However, there came growing protest movements in Eastern Europe. This threatened the Soviets Union's hold over the region.

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Destalinization and Protests
Khrushchev became the dominant leader after Stalin's death. He adapted the policy of Destalinization or playing down the greatness of Stalin. De-Stalinization refers to a process of political reform in the Soviet Union that took place after the death of head of state Joseph Stalin in 1953. The reforms consisted of changing or removing key institutions that helped Stalin hold power: the cult of personality that surrounded him, the Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system, all of which had been created and dominated by him. Khrushchev talked of the need of ''peaceful coexistence'' between the superpowers. The new spirit of cooperation favored talks to slow the arms race and ban the testing of nuclear weapons.

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Poland and Hungary was motivated to try to get off from Soviet domination. Wladyslaw Gomulka, a Polish communist leader, took control of the government. He allowed workers to speak for labor, in result, the Soviets protested and threatened to send troops. Later, Khrushchev accepted the Polish regime.

Hungary
Imre Nagy, a Hungarian communist leader, became premier. Nagy ended one party rule and called for free elections. His withdrawal from the Soviet alliance and his plans for having democracy got an immediate response from Khrushchev. Nagy was remove from power and later executed. Soviet troops crushed the uprising.

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Revolt in Czechoslovakia
Khrushchev lost prestige in his country. He was voted out by communist party leaders and was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. The Communist Party strictly enforced laws limiting basic human rights. Brezhnev clamped down on those who protested his policies. The secret police arrested many dissidents (a person who is rebelling against a government).

Brenzhnev made it clear that he would not tolerate dissent (objections) in Eastern Europe. His policy was put to test in 1968 when Czech Communist leader Alexander Dubcek loosened controls on censorship to offer his country socialism. The Prague Spring ended with a Soviet invasion, the removal of Alexander Dubček as party leader and an end to reform within Czechoslovakia.

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Split with China
The Sino-Soviet split (1960–1989) was the worsening of political and ideological relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. In the 1960s, China and the Soviet Union were the two largest communist states in the world. The Chinese started to spread their own brand of communism because they cam to resent being Moscow's junior partner. Khrushchev punished the Chinese for their independence by refusing to share their nuclear secrets with them. The split grew so wide that fighting broke out along the Chinese-Soviet border.

A Policy of Detente
Brinkmanship Policy
The policy of both Eisenhower and Kennedy. Brinkmanship is a term coined during the Cold War to describe the tactic of seeming to approach the verge of war in order to persuade one's opposition to retreat. It also called MAD, short for mutual assured destruction.









Add Infos:
A satellite state (or a client state) is a political term that refers to a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country.

Nikita Khrushchev was a Russian politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier

John Fitzgerald Kennedy commonly known as Jack Kennedy or by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States.

Propaganda - the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc.
Warfare - armed conflict between two massed enemies