Cold War - Enquiry 2 Widening the Cold War (1949-1955)

By BowenOwen

  • Formation of Republic of Korea - August

    • US forms capitalist Republic of Korea with Syngman Rhee as the head of the provisional government made from political right and center
    • Rhee was nationalist and fiercely anti-communist, so desired to form a united, non-communist Korea but required US support and military aid to reunify the country
    • Rhee preferred defending a border with Manchuria than on the 38th parallel, and believed that an major assault on N.Korea would be successful

  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea - September

    • USSR forms communist D.P.R.K. with Kim Il Sung being the head of the Korean Provisional People's Committee
    • Kim was committed to using force to unite Korea, and used the 200,000 communist supporters in S.Korea to undermine Rhee's regime
    • Kim was also aware of the USA's nuclear threat and relationship with Japan, so tried to gain Soviet/Chinese support by emphasising a swift victory, communist supporters existed in S.Korea, and were organised, and the USA wouldn't be able to react in time.

  • CCP joines military alliance with USSR - June

    At the start of 1949, Mao Zedong's forces had defeated Jian Jieshi's nationalist forces (KMT), and feared that the USA would respond and support Jieshi from Taiwan, so joined the USSR in a military alliance - furthered in February 1950

  • USSR tests nuclear bomb - September

    • The loss of its nuclear monopoly prompted the US to hold NSC-68

  • Dodge Line

    Financial plan devised by American economist Joseph Dodge and Japanese Finance Minister Hayato Ikeda as a plan to remove post-WW2 inflation.
    Set a target of $4m surplus => initially led to business closures and unemployment

  • China White Paper (USA)

    US is trying to justify the withdrawal of direct military support for Jiang Jieshi
    Dean G. Acheson (SoS) was committed to helping the KMT undermine CCP rule from Taiwan, but had to appear neutral to not pose as an "imperialist menace" to China to reinforce the Sino-Soviet alliance

  • Sino-Soviet Alliance - February

    Mao Zedong forms a military alliance with the USSR

  • USSR supplies N.Korea

    • Korea was not in D.P.S. and China had become communist
    • 1,600 artillery
    • 178 military aircraft
    • 258 T-34 tanks
    • April: Stalin wouldn't commit Soviet troops but would help indirectly to avoid nuclear conflict with the USA

  • China joins N.Korea vs S.Korea - November

    • Mao wanted to continue sending 'volunteer troops' to N.Korea in order to stabilise communist control within China
    • 27th June: 7th US Fleet moved itself between China and Taiwan and exacerbated the worsening tensions
    • Mao moved Chinese troops to the Manchuria border
    • Under increasing Soviet pressure, China decided to give N.Korea military support, as China had to appear supportive of fellow communist countries
  • Period: to

    Japan's rearmament (Aug50 - Jul54)

    • August 1950 - 75,000 strong National Police Reserve established to be trained by US military advisors
    • August 1952 - NPR expanded to National Safety Agency, with 110,000 ground troops, and 7,600 maritime personnel
    • November 1952 - US announces plans for new Japanese air force
    • July 1954 - 140,000 strong Self-Defence Force should be created using $240m of US funding
  • Period: to

    McCarthyism

    • H.U-A.A.C. becomes permanent in 1945
    • Jan50: Alger Hiss convicted of perjury for giving the USSR secrets while in State Department
    • McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover
    • Dec54: McCarthy found guilty of bringing Senate into disrepute for suggesting the presence of communists in American army
  • Period: to

    France in Indochina

    • By 1952, FRA had suffered 90,000 casualties
    • Vietnam was crucial as a marketplace for Japanese goods, so the USA helped FRA with troops and money, but refused to take unilateral military action
    • By 1954, the US was paying 75% of the cost of war
    • Decisive defeat for the French at Dien Bien Phu (13 March to 7 May 1954) led to the Geneva Conference

  • Defensive Perimeter Strategy

    Acheson believed that communism in the Far East would be contained if the US pledged to protect certain key areas in the Pacific - achieved through the DPS
    The strategy was criticised for not including Korea

  • McCarthy on State Department

    • "thoroughly infested with communists" who "guide and shape our policy"
    • Speech to the Senate

  • NSC-68

    • Result of USSR testing their own nuclear bomb in September 1949, and the 'loss of China'
    • Stressed the importance of maintaining the USA's nuclear, military, economic, and political dominance
    • Focused on the globalisation on the Cold War

  • UN intervention in Korea

    • US rushes to get the UN prepared for military intervention on Korea
    • USSR had been boycotting the meetings for not recognising Mao's government, and couldn't use their veto
    • Use of UN veto from 1946-55 USA - 0 GBR - 0 China - 1 FRA - 2 USSR - 75
  • Period: to

    Korean War

    • Jun50-Sep50: forces of N.Korea move into S.Korea push the S.Koreans to Pusan; 29 UN countries prepare to give support for S.Korea; Mao masses troops on Manchuria border
    • Sep50-Nov50: MacArthur lands and pushes N.Korea across 38th parallel; Oct: Mao sends 300,000 troops across Yalu River
    • Dec50-Jun51: Jan: Chinese capture Seoul; Feb: UN condemns China; Mar: MacArthur dismissed, replaced by Ridgway
    • Jun51-Jul53: Stalemate for peace; USA consolidates relationship with Japan

  • US-Japan Security Treaty (after SanFranPT)

    Bilateral security agreement
    Gave the USA:
    - unrestricted use of military bases in Japan
    - administrative of Owkinawa
    - right to use military force to intervene in internal disorder in Japan
    - right to veto Japan giving other nations access to military bases

  • San Francisco Peace Treaty

    Japan's PM Shigeru Yoshida ensured Japan's role as a component to contain communism in the Far East and guarantee security. The treaty was not signed by the USSR or China.
    The treaty did not:
    - place significant restrictions on Japanese economy or political model
    - restrict Japan's future rearmament
    - force Japan to pay reparations to countries it occupied during WW2
    The treaty did:
    - recognise the full sovereignty of the Japanese people
    - force Japan to renounce claims to neighbouring countries

  • Japan joined IMF

  • USA tests H-bomb

    USA tests H-bomb in Pacific Ocean

  • Adenauer wins second election - September

    • The USA didn't interfere in East Germany as it hoped that Soviet intervention would help Adenauer secure another election
    • Adenauer won with a much larger majority due to Foreign Ministers' Conference and provocative radio broadcasts

  • Presidium of the Soviet Council of Ministers - May

    • Beria and Malenkov failed to convince ministers to push for a neutral reunified GER, as they still wanted a pro-Soviet GER
  • Period: to

    Common leadership of the USSR

    • Stalin died 5 March 1953
    • Replaced by Krushchev, Malenkov, Molotov, Beria and Bulganin

  • East German Uprising

    • strikes and riots broke out due to Ulbricht's increase of personal worker targets by 10% (July52) and arresting of non-communist politicians in spring 1953
    • 17 June: USSR brings tanks and troops to quell uprisings - 125 killed

  • Ethel and Julius Rosenburg Execution

    Convicted and executed for passing American nuclear secrets to the USSR

  • Panmunjom Armistice Agreement

    • Military demarcation line with 2km of DMZ either side (roughly 38th parallel)
    • All military forces withdraw to their territory
    • Repatriation of prisoners begins
    • Pre-war status quo restored

  • USSR tests H-bomb

    • Ended H-bomb monopoly
    • More usable than US bomb because it could be dropped from an airplane

  • Eisenhower's New Look Policy

    • NSC 162/2 said that the best deterrence of the USSR would be the forceful display of US nuclear dominance
    • Eisenhower and Dulles used brinkmanship to force agreements
    • USA should retain sufficient influence in W.Europe and there should be a collective Western defence treaty including the FRG (NATO in 1955), USA must retain influence in Asia, the USA must retain powerful nuclear and conventional forces, the Soviet threat is real and threatening

  • Berlin Conference Jan.-Feb.

    • USA, GBR, FRA, USSR
    • all hope of reuniting GER is lost
    • Beria had been executed for his 'treachery' as political rivals blamed him for the uprising
    • Western allies and USSR produced their own plans, which the other side rejected

  • Geneva Conference

    • 26th April - 20th July 1954
    • Two zones of Vietnam, divided by 17th parallel, intended to be temporary with elections on two years
    • President of S.Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem refused to sign the agreement

  • Joseph N. Welch

    • "Have you no sense of decency, Sir"
    • Radio broadcast

  • Formation of SEATO

    • Response to Sin-Soviet alliance in Feb50, which was strengthened in May53 when the USA gave defence technology and economic aid to China
    • Thailand, Pakistan, GBR, USA, FRA, N.Z., AUS, Phillipines
    • Didn't protect Burman, S.Vietnam, Laos,and Cambodia, but they were within the territory protected and were given 'observer status'

  • FRG joins NATO

    • May52: General Treaty in Bonn gave the FRG full sovereignty
    • USA put pressure on FRA, so FRG is admitted to NATO and can form its own army, but Adenauer renounced WMDs and limited the army to reassure the French
    • Leads to the Warsaw Pact, and USSR recognises full sovereignty of GDR

  • Warsaw Pact

    • Response to the West allowing FRG into NATO
    • Hoped to consolidate Soviet relations with its satellite states and provide legitimacy for Soviet presence
    • Czechoslovakia, USSR, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, GDR, Poland, Hungary
    • Article 4: "each state that is party to this treaty shall render... immediate assistance by all means it may consider necessary including... armed force"
    • Article 5: "joint command for their armed forces"