The Three Worlds: 1945-1991

●​ WWII changed the world order and confirmed changes that began earlier in the
century
●​ The United States and the Soviet Union had been building their power and
dominated the globe
●​ The old imperialist order collapsed as European powers yielded to colonial
pressure for independence
●​ Political, economic, and social-cultural imperialism continued with a clear division
of power in the world
●​ Global struggle for power and influence divided the world into three categories
○​ US; First World
○​ Friends of the Soviet Union; Second World
○​ Countries that superpowers sought for support; Third World
●​ New international organizations formed and strengthened
●​ More countries continued to industrialize
○​ Early Industrial countries focused more on new goals and values
■​ Emphasis on enhancement on the quality of life
■​ Realization of individual rights for minorities and women
■​ Improvement of the the environment
Cold War Politics
●​ Wartime cooperation between Britain and the US was anchored by the
partnership of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt
○​ Both did not trust Stalin or the Soviet Union’s communist system
●​ Divisiveness became clear as tensions were apparent at three Allied conferences
during the war
Allied Conferences During World War II
●​ Improved transportation and communications allowed for leaders of Allied
powers to hold meetings during the war
●​ Conferences clearly illustrated the growing tension between the United
States/Britain and the Soviet Union
●​ At the Tehran Conference, the Soviet Union and Britain compromised on how to
act in the war
○​ US asserted its support of self-determination for small nations
●​ At the Yalta Conference, countries could not agree on a cooperative approach to
handling post-war Germany
○​ Soviet Union wanted to eliminate German industrial power
○​ Britain and US saw Germany as a potential ally against Russia
○​ Stalin wished to control German governments while Britain/US wanted to
ally with them
 ○​ Soviets agree to join the UN with a secret agreement to create a security
council where they have veto power
■​ Prevents UN from exerting total power
○​ Soviets agree to help invade Japan in exchange for land lost in Russo-Jap
War (war in pacific isn’t over)
●​ In the Potsdam Conference, the Soviet Union had installed communist regimes
and industrial equipment for shipment to the Soviet Union
●​ Churchill and Harry Truman met with Stalin in order to protest these actions
○​ Stalin stated he had no intention of keeping promises made at Yalta
regarding freedom of eastern European countries
●​ Truman disclosed plans about the atomic bomb to Churchill but not Stalin
●​ Differences between the capitalist, democratic Britain/US and communist Soviet
Union became apparent
○​ Set the stage for post-war political divisions
●​ No peace treaty was signed with Germany, which solidified into two countries
○​ West Germany supported by the US and Western Europe
○​ East Germany supported by Soviet Union
●​ US occupied Japan while Korea was split between Japan and Soviets
●​ Communist North Korea and noncommunist South Korea became independent
states in 1948
Emergence of the “Superpowers”
●​ Britain gradually lost its role in determining world politics
●​ Churchill/Roosevelt partnership was broken after Roosevelt’s death
●​ Churchill’s Conservative Party lost its major control over parliament, leading to
his losing of the position of prime minister
●​ Winning Labor Party turned toward domestic affairs and left US against the
Soviet Union
●​ Through the Truman Doctrine, Truman stated that the US should support smaller
countries who could not defend themselves (self-determination)
○​ Reflected change in western leadership
■​ US replaced Britain as protector of western values and authority
●​ US proclaimed Marshall plan
○​ Provided loans to help nations of western europe rebuild war-torn lands
●​ Soviets believed the US was trying to dominate Europe economically
●​ Soviet drive to control eastern Europe was partly based on the belief that they
were reclaiming lands lost at Versailles
●​ Germany was the focus of the cold war in the early years
●​ Soviets believed that seizing German goods and factories served as reparations
●​ Western Allies prevented Russia from intervening in their zones and gave
western Allies economic support
 ●​ Soviet Union blockaded city of Berlin in 1947
○​ US responded with a massive airlift in order to keep the city supplied
■​ Two Germanies were separated with heavy fortifications along their
mutual borders
●​ East German government built the berlin Wall in order to prevent its citizens from
fleeing to noncommunist areas of the city
●​ Cold War divisions spread to the formation of the
○​ North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
■​ Grouped western European countries, Canada, and US
○​ Warsaw Pact
■​ Soviet Union organized eastern European countries to counter
NATO
●​ In 1949, Soviet Union developed its own atomic bomb, starting an arms race
which lasted into the 1980s
●​ Both sides built more sophisticated nuclear arsenals of weapons and missile
systems
●​ More conventional forces expanded
○​ Large amounts of each country’s national budget allocated to military
buildup
The United Nations and Cold War Politics
●​ Roosevelt and Churchill signed Atlantic charter
○​ Supported establishment of peacekeeping world organization after the war
●​ US, Britain, Russia, and China drafted proposals for the United Nations Charter
●​ Charter created two main bodies
○​ General assembly; representatives from all member states
○​ Security Council; dominated by the major Allied powers
●​ Security council was charged with keeping world peace and with dealing with
situations that threatened security of UN
○​ Composed of Britain, China, France, Soviet Union, and US
●​ Decisions of Council had to have majority consent from seven rotating members
●​ Various agencies were set up to address special international issues
●​ UN was more flexible than the league of Nations
○​ did not require unanimous approval for decisions
●​ Cold War politics rendered Security Council helpless as US and Soviet Union
were on opposite ends of the issue
●​ Britain and France were as they lost control of colonies
●​ Communist government took over China in 1949
○​ US rejected its legitimacy until 1972
●​ Council voted to condemn actions of communist North Korea when it invaded
South Korea
 ●​ Korean war reflected the fact that the real forces at work were nation-states, not
the United Nations
●​ US was primary ally of South Korea
●​ People’s Republic of China gave support to North Korea
●​ Actions of the international organization were less important than those of
powerful nation-states
Limited War
●​ Korean War represented a new style of fighting, limited war
●​ Superpowers faced one another in clashes that were limited to the regions where
they initially broke out
●​ Atomic weaponry could be used to annihilate both sides and bring about the
destruction of all civilizations on earth
●​ Every regional crisis contained the seeds of nuclear war
●​ US feared that launching attacks into China might bring retaliation from the
Soviet Union
●​ Fighting settled into a war with troops on either side of the parallel that separated
the two countries
●​ Both sides continued to arm the border even after a truce was signed
●​ Nationalist rebellion against French led by Ho Chi Minh
○​ Ho Chi Minh was a marxist who defeated the French on the battlefield and
installed a communist regime in the northern half of the country
○​ Eisenhower decided to fund the government in the south and agreed to
hold elections for a national vietnamese government
●​ Unifying elections were never held
○​ South Vietnamese leader stated that Ho would manipulate them
●​ John Kenney supported the Diem government by sending US ground and air
power to counter increasing guerilla activity in the south
●​ In the Vietnam war, Chinese soldiers never became actively involved so US
losses came at the hands of North Vietnamese
●​ Significant antiwar movement grew in the US leading to a treaty in 1973
Nuclear Arms Race
●​ Both the US and Soviet Union continued to develop more powerful nuclear
weapons
●​ Us developed the hydrogen bomb, which the Soviet Union developed a year later
●​ Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba in response to US efforts to
overthrow Fidel Castro’s government
●​ Kennedy prepared to invade Cuba, but the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
stopped Russian ships from breaking the US quarantine that surrounded the
island
 ●​ In the Cuban Missile crisis, both countries acted to avoid using nuclear weapons
that could spark an all-out total war
●​ Commitment of both sides to contain the tensions of the Cold War was reflected
in a series of arms limitation treaties
●​ US and Soviet Union agreed to ban the testing of nuclear weapons underwater,
in the atmosphere, and in space
●​ Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty limited development of nuclear weapons
●​ Talks between US and the Soviet Union continued for several years as they
negotiated weapon limits
●​ Attention turned from arms limitation to an attempt to ease tensions in general by
1975
●​ Western nations agreed to recognized Soviet-dictated boundaries in exchange
for more liberal exchanges of people and information between East and West
●​ Two superpowers competed to build larger and more accurate missiles by
launching space satellites
●​ USSR placed a satellite called Sputnik
○​ US responded with its own satellite a few months later
●​ Space race continued during the 1960s as both countries strived to reach the
moon first
○​ Accomplishment claimed by the US in 1969
The Rise of Communist China
●​ US adopted foreign policy of containment; preventing the spread of communism
beyond areas where it had already spread
○​ Reflected by the Truman Doctrine
●​ Communist forces under Mao Zedong managed to drive Chinese Nationalist
forces under Chiang Kai-shek out of mainland China and declare founding of the
People’s Republic of China
●​ After WWII, Chiang and Mao met in a civil war with Mao as the winner
●​ Mao established People’s Republic of China under communist rule
●​ Chiang claimed that his headquarters in Taiwan formed the true government
●​ “Two Chinas” was created and PRC was not recognized as a nation by the UN
until 1972
Rule by Mao Zedong
●​ Soviet Model
○​ Soviet Union supported Mao’s efforts and poured money and expertise
into the PRC
○​ Mao and the Chinese Communist Party turned their attention to China’s
social problems
■​ Property redistributed from rich to poor, productivity increased in
the countryside
 ■​ CCP greatly enhanced women’s legal right while trying to free
people from opium addiction
●​ Legitimized Mao’s government in the eyes of the people
■​ Five Year Plans - Soviet-style five year plan held to nationalize
industry and collectivize agriculture, implementing steps towards
socialism
●​ The Great Leap Forward
○​ Mao tried to free China from Soviet domination through spirit of
nationalism
○​ Utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society
○​ Emphasis was economic based on 4 principles
■​ All-around development
■​ Mass mobilization
■​ Political unanimity and zeal
■​ Decentralization
○​ Efforts ran counter to bureaucratic centralism
○​ Many lacked the skills needed to contribute to industrialization
○​ Fears of the loss of the mandate of heaven were created
●​ Mao allowed Shaoqi and Xiaoping to implement market-oriented policies that
revived the economy
●​ Mao instituted Cultural Revolution in order to see more progress toward true
egalitarianism
○​ Encompassed political, social, and economic changes
○​ Goal was to purify the party and the country through radical transformation
●​ One primary goal of the Cultural Revolution was to remove all vestiges of the old
China and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality
●​ Emphasis was also put on elementary education
○​ Any education that created inequality was targeted for destruction
●​ Mao died and left his followers divided into factions
○​ Radicals, supported radical goals of the Cultural Revolution
○​ Military
○​ Moderates, emphasized economic modernization and limited contact with
other countries
Reforms under Deng Xiaoping
●​ Gang of Four was arrested by the new CCP leader
●​ Zhou’s death opened the path for new leadership from the moderate faction
●​ Deng Xiaoping drastically altered China’s direction through Four Modernization;
industry, agriculture, science, and military
○​ Open door trade policy encouraged trade in order to boost China’s
economy
 ○​ Reforms in education - Higher academic standards and expansion of
higher education and research were emphasized
○​ Institutionalization of the Revolution
■​ Legal system and bureaucracy of the Old China restored
■​ Government decentralized
■​ Elections modified
■​ Capitalism infused
Decolonization in Southeast Asia
●​ British and France had been devastated by WWII so that holding onto its
colonies became economically impossible
●​ Disagreements between Ho Chi Minh’s communist forces in the north and the
French and US supported government in the south, North and South vietnam
remained separate until the end of the Vietnam War
Decolonization in Sub-Saharan Africa
●​ African independence movements were led by men newly educated in European
ideals who came to dream of democracy and nationalist independence for
colonies in Africa
●​ Africans served in the world wars in support of their mother countries
●​ Africans became discontent with harsh working conditions in places that
controlled the economy and contained racial security
●​ Africans met in five meetings between WWI and WWII - All-African People’s
Conference
●​ Little progress was made toward independence until the Fifth Congress
●​ While European empire began to crumble, a new generation of African leaders
such as Nkrumah and Kenyatta and could more confidently demand African
independence
New African Countries
●​ Britain and France new that they could no longer afford to keep their colonies
●​ Both countries devised plans for recognizing independence while keeping
goodwill of new countries
○​ Invested in projects to support African infrastructure
○​ Increased educational facilities
○​ African economies still remained weak
●​ Gold Coast was the first black African country to win independence
●​ Nkruman led the movement in Ghana and convened the All-African People’s
Conference in Accra
●​ Britain later granted independence to Nigeria
●​ Borders were drawn arbitrarily grouping many hostile groups within the same
country and separating those related
 ●​ Nigeria was composed of the Hausa, Yoruba, and the Ibo, which were all
influenced by different religions
○​ Differences made nationalism a problem for Nigeria, a common pattern
experienced by many other new African countries
●​ France turned over local self-government to its colonies in west and central
Africa but still kept them within the French empire
●​ Later offered colonies the choice between limited self-government under French
protection or complete independence
○​ Guinea and French Somaliland chose independence but strong ties
continued between France and other former African colonies
●​ Freeing of Belgian colonies was accompanied by violence
●​ Belgium pulled out of the country during rioting and looting of their shops, leaving
it in chaos that resulted in civil war
●​ Colonial government had been one of the most cruel and exploitative
○​ New government’s prime minister, Lumumba, expressed his bitterness at
the independence ceremony
■​ Deposed in a coup and assassinated a few months later
●​ Belgians allowed Tutsi minority to dominate the government in Ruanda-Urundi
○​ Hutus challenged Tusis for control and tensions broke out into warfare and
massacres (continues today)
South Africa
●​ After 1980, South Africa was the only white-ruled country in Sub-Saharan Africa
●​ British and Dtuch fought on opposite sides of the Boer War but came together to
form the Union of South Africa in 1910
●​ Majority black and “colored” populations were ruled harshly, with no political
rights, few economic opportunities, and the right to purchase land in only
specified areas
●​ African National Congress formed as a party of protest but was unable to
convince white government to liberalize its racial policies
●​ Apartheid was established in 1948
○​ Black workers could not live near their work and were forced to live in
black residential areas far away or in dormitories apart from their families
●​ International pressure built against South african government to dismabtle
apartheid system but resisted any change
●​ ANC shifted to more aggressive methods, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life
imprisonment
○​ Surrounding countries brought support to the ANC
●​ Many UN nations adopted sanctions against South Africa, restricting trade or
withdrawing economic investments
 ○​ Sanctions proved difficult as South Africa had many natural resources and
a very strong military
●​ Strikes and protests against the government’s discriminatory practices were held
●​ Sanctions gradually worked as diplomatic pressure mounted abroad for change
●​ Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and was elected president of
the African National Congress the Following year
○​ Later received the Nobel Peace Prize
○​ Elected South Africa’s first black president in that country’s first truly
democratic election with all races able to vote
Decolonization and Change in North Africa and the Middle East
●​ Areas in northern Africa and the Middle East experienced many different patterns
and time frames as nation-states were formed
○​ Includes the entire Arab world but not all inhabitants are Arabs
●​ Founding of Israel in 1947 meant that the number of Jews in the Middle East
increased rapidly
○​ Reflected in different patterns of nationalism and varied responses to
decolonization and the declining influence of the West
Turkey
●​ After Ataturk unified Turkey as an independent country in 1932, he led the
organization of a secular nationalist state
○​ Curbed the power of Islam by abolishing shari’a law, practice of polygamy,
and the office of caliph in the government
○​ Replaced Arabic script with the Roman alphabet
○​ Encouraged Turks to wear western clothes
○​ Urged women to discontinue wearing veils
●​ Ataturk’s goals were similar to those of the Ottoman Empire as he wanted to
adopt western technology and customs in order to have a respected place in the
world
●​ Ataturk had to accept a loan from the USSR in order to buy equipment to use in
the country’s sugar and textile industries
●​ By the time of WWII, Turkey
○​ Made economic and educational strides
○​ Improved their spirit of nationalism
○​ Only country that remained neutral for most of the war - sided with the
allies toward the end of the war
●​ Ataturks’ secular nationalism was highly controversial as his actions created a rift
in Turkey’s political culture between those who wished to keep the state secular
and those who wanted to return to a Muslim state
●​ Armed forces intervened periodically in politics so that government alternated
between democratic elections and military dictatorships
Iran
●​ Iran was divided into three parts
○​ Each part controlled by the Iranian government, Russia, and by Britain
during WWI
●​ Iran was in political and economic disarray by 1921
○​ Quareling factions polarized the legislature into an ineffective ruling body
●​ Reza Khan carried out a successful coup d’etat against the weakened political
state and declared himself shah
○​ Established his own Pahlavi dynasty
●​ Legislature lost its power and authoritarian rule was re-established in Iran
●​ Shah ruled with absolute authority until he turned over power to his son
●​ Democratic experimentation from earlier in the century was not forgotten
●​ Muhammad Mosaddeq was elected prime minister and his increased power
forced the shah to leave the country
●​ British and American governments sponsored an overthrow of Mosaddeq and
restored the shah to full power
●​ US wanted to keep Soviet power contained
●​ Iranians viewed Britain and the US as supporters of autocracy, and the shah as a
weak pawn of foreign powers
●​ Two Pahlavi shahs built a highly centralized state
●​ Iran remained a religious state but its courts became full securalized
●​ Shah securalized Iran by extending voting rights to women, restricting polygamy,
and alloiwng women to work outside the home
●​ Shah’s behavior distrubed Iranians as they believed he overstepped bounds of
political culture
○​ Perceived as being totalitarian instead of authoritarian
○​ Broke the balance between secular and religious state
○​ Ties to the west (US) offended Iranian nationalists and the clergy
●​ Shah created a divide in the political culture​
○​ Onde side supporting modernization and the other defending traditional
ways (Shi’ism)
●​ Elite of clerics led a revolution and overtook the shah and the government
●​ Iran’s revolution was largely religious, as revolutions in Russia and China
revolved around communism
●​ In Mexico, the Church was involved in the revolutionary era but did not direct the
military
●​ Most important revolutionary leader was a cleric
●​ Iran’s revolution resulted in the establishment of a theocracy while other
revolutions generally were against religious control of the government
 ●​ The Charisma of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was able to defend Islamic
fundamentalism, which emphasized literal interpretation of Islamic texts, social
conservatism, and political traditionalism
○​ Articulated resentments toward the elite and the US
●​ He depicted US as “Great Satan” which resonated with frustrated people in Iran
●​ Ayatollah gave new meaning to an old Shi’i term velayat-e faqih (jurist’s
guardianship)
○​ Gave senior clergy broad authority over unfortunate people in the society
■​ Khomeini claimed that the true meaning of jurist’s guardianship
gives the clergy authority over the enter Shi’ite community
○​ Many groups supported the revolution as reins loosened
○​ Hundreds of unarmed demonstrators were killed in a central square in
Tehran
●​ Rallies were organized and led by the clerics but were broadly supported by
people from many sectors of society
●​ Khomeini was in exile in Paris but audiotapes of his speeches were passed out
freely at the rallies where people called for the abolition of the monarchy
●​ Shah fled the country and his government officially ended with the founding of
the Islamic Republic of Iran
●​ Shi’ite leaders launched the Cultural Revolution with goals similar to Mao
Zedong’s
●​ Shi’ism inspired iran and communism fueling China
●​ Purification was at the heart of both revolutions
●​ Iran aimed to purify the country from secular values, behaviors, particularly those
with western origins
●​ Universities were cleared of liberals and staffed with faculty who supported the
new regime
●​ New government suppressed all opposition and were executed in the name of
“revolutionary justice”
States in Northern Africa
●​ 7 was an independent state but was technically still a part of the ottoman Empire
until WWI
●​ British held a great deal of economic control even through independence
●​ New government was put in the hands of the Wafd, an Egyptian nationalist party
○​ Took the lead in establishing the League of Arab States, a regional
organization designed to strengthen and unite countries with Arab
majorities
●​ Gamel Abdel Nasser became the new nationalist leader and took advantage of
Cold War politics to gain aid from the US and Soviet Union but aligned with
neither superpower
 ●​ Nasser was able to declare that the Suez Canal belongs to egypt
●​ Bold challenge of imperialism order was one example of the transition from
western European global hegemony to the Cold War era of Third World countries
balancing competition
●​ Arab-Islamic nationalist movement was developing in Algeria
●​ Arab nationalists were united as the National Liberation Front
●​ Charles De Gualle contained the violence and ushered the Fifth Republic
●​ New state was limited by the exodus of virtually all the one million resident of
Algeria
●​ New leaders encouraged industrialization, improved roads, infrastructure, and
education system
●​ Many Algerians emigrated to France as control of Algeria remained fragile
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
●​ Zionist Movement suceeded in getting Britain’s foreign secretary to issue Balfour
Declaration in support of Jewish land claims
●​ British government took no steps to promise that document
●​ Israel, a Jewish homeland was created in 1948
●​ Arab people in the area, Palestinians, were distressed as they were being
displaced from what they considered to be their ancestral lands
●​ Jewish settlement in Palestine increased after WWI which came with increasing
conflict
●​ Armed Arabs unsuccessfully tried to drive Jewish immigration out
●​ Nazi persecution of Jews throughout WWII and atrocities of the Holocaust
reminded Britain and othe rallies of the need for a political state for the Jewish
people
●​ UN passed a resolution agreeing to the establishment of an independent Jewish
state in Palestine on land occupied by Arabs
●​ Jews viewed the action of the Arabs trying to block out the creation of Israel a a
new form of anti-Semitisim
●​ Conflict came to have broader religious meanings in the land where Judaism,
Christianitty, and Islam originated
●​ After the UN created Israel and partionited Palestine, all-out warfare erupted
●​ Zionists were better armed and defended themselves well
●​ Brief but bloody war created hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab refugees
●​ Palestine Liberation Organization formed to represent the stateless people
○​ Not absorbed into neighboring Arab states but shuffled into refugee camps
●​ West Bank and Gaza strip became hotbeds of conflict that eventually put Israel
at odds with Egypt over borders
●​ Israeli armies inflicted a humiliating defeat of Nasser’s Egyptian forces
●​ Peace treaty was finally signed in 1979
 ○​ Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal
○​ Israel gained dissidents on both sides
●​ Anwar el-Sadat was assassinated by a member of a splinter group of Muslims
○​ Hosni Mubarak gained control of the country but underlying tensions
between Israelis and Palestinians continued to fester
The Indian Independence Struggle
●​ During WWI, British leaders promised Indian nationalists that if they supported
the war effort, India would move towards self-government
●​ Government of India Act in 1919 pleased both Muslim League and Indian
National Congress as various powers were moved to Indian-elected legislators at
the provincial level
●​ British switched between treating India as a budding democratic home-ruled
nation and a colony which frustrated Indians
●​ Leaders of independence movements used Woodrow Wilson’s idea of self
determination in his Fourteen Points and expected the principle to apply to them
○​ British government did not support freedom of press and assembly,
repressed independence rallies
●​ Mohandas K. Gandhi caused voices of independence to be much louder
●​ Gandhi was an English-educated Hindu who practiced law in South Africa before
returning to native India during WWI to join the Indian National Congress
●​ Although being from a well family, Gandhi showed sympathy for the poor by
dressing like them
○​ Attracted large numbers of admirers and transformed the cause of Indian
independence from an elite movement of the educated into mass
movement
○​ Ideals symbolized by a spinning wheel
●​ Gandhi advocated for a return to Indian self sufficiency
○​ 1929; 80-mile salt march
○​ Illustrated his belief that civil disobedience, or peacefully breaking unjust
laws, and non-violence were the best practices for bringing about change
●​ Gandhi fasted for 21 days but could not heal the Muslim-Hindu conflict
●​ Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, led the movement for a
separate Pakistan after WWII, and did not trust Gandhi’s Indian National
Congress to deal equitably with Muslims
●​ Gandhi disagreed with his successor, Jawaharlal Nehru, who supported the
creation of a modern industrial India
●​ After WWII, Britain’s Labour Party government agreed to Independence
○​ Process complicated by disagreements between Hindus
●​ Despite Gandhi’s begging for tolerance and cooperation, violent rioting between
Hindus and Muslims broke out
 ●​ 1747, agreement to partition India into two states, each dominated by Hinduism
and Islam, India and Pakistan became independent countries
●​ Transition to independent India was chaotic with Muslim and Hindu neighbors
turning on each other in violence
●​ Only one state with a muslim majority, kashmir, remained in India
○​ Contributed to unrest as many Muslims in Kashmir preferred to join
Pakistan
Latin America
●​ Latin American countries gained their independence before the WWII
decolonization but remained a part of the Third World
●​ Most Latin American economies were midway between the nations of the North
Atlantic and the developing countries of Asia and Africa
○​ Contained authoritarian governments led by elites which were in close
contact with capitalist countries
●​ Latin America was economically vulnerable when international markets collapsed
during the Great depression
●​ Decolonization in Latin America took place due to economic and cultural reasons
○​ New nations sought autonomy and control of their own destinies
The search for stability in the Early 20th century
●​ Resentment of Latin America accelerated after colonization and intervention in
Panama’s bid for independence
●​ Under Roosevelt, the US built its navy but had a disadvantage in the
geographical separation between the waters of east and west coasts
●​ French tries to build a canal in Central America similar to the Suez canal but
experienced engineering problems and out spread of malaria
●​ US proposed a plan to construct the canal but was rejected by Colombia
○​ USz backed an independence movement in Panama and got
Panamanians to sign an agreement that gave the US over the canal and
its operation
●​ Colombia was resentful of US intervention which gave the US the nickname
“Bully of the North”
●​ Many countries turned to import substitution industrialization, in which they
produced for themselves some of what had formerly imported
○​ Industries developed, but the end of war brought international competition
into play
●​ Fragile economies suffered debilitating inflation that increased political unrest
●​ Industrialization also supported large numbers of urban workers
○​ Unions formed and workers went on strike, creating growing senses of
class conflict
●​ Socialist and communist parties formed or grew in strength in several nations
 ○​ Opposed by conservative elites
○​ Military remained important for keeping order
●​ Personalist leaders appeared on both sides of the political aisle
○​ Some as military generals, others as populist radicals
●​ Cambodia gained independence from France
○​ Khmer Rouge overthrew the government and established communism
○​ Pol Pot was a ruthless leader which caused many deaths and growing
discontent with his leadership
■​ Everyone who was not supportive of the Khmer Rouge was
slaughtered
○​ 1978, Vietnam invaded Vietnam in order to support the effort to overthrow
Pol Pot
○​ Vietnam became newly democratic with free elections
●​ Indian independence included the partition of INdia into new INdia filled with
Hindus and Muslims in Pakistan
○​ India established a democracy while Pakistan established an authoritarian
government
○​ Kashmir was mostly Muslim but sought between both countries (leader of
region was Hindu)
○​ India, Pakistan, and China eventually all claimed parts of Kashmir
●​ Government Intervention
○​ Land redistribution and nationalization of industries was used the Sri
Lanka economy
○​ In India, Indira Gandhi imposed a 20 point plan
○​ In Africa, socialist plans were imposed
●​ Refugees and immigrants moved to metropoles
○​ Allowed metropoles and their former colonies to maintain their ties
Post-Revolutionary Mexico
●​ During the bloody revolution in Mexico during 1910-1911, Mexico was ruled by
military strongmen who were subject to coups by other military leaders
●​ In 1929, regional caudillos united for the sake of stability under the Party of the
Institutionalized Revolution
●​ President Lazaro Cardenas stabilized the country through charismatic leadership
○​ Put in place a socialist-leaning government that nationalized industries
●​ After the Cardenas presidency, leadership of the country fell to a president who
supported the free market
●​ Orientation of the government switched back and forth until the 1890s
●​ By the 1990s, the PRI still dominated the country
○​ All presidents chosen from within its ranks
 ●​ Instability remained a crucial issue in Mexican politics, but democratization finally
appeared
The Vargas Regime in Brazil
●​ Getulio Vargas rose to power during the New York stock market crash
○​ Vargas based his state on an authoritarian regime supported by military
force
○​ Traded with both allied and axis powers for a while but eventually sided
with the allies in return for arms, financial aid, and trade advantages
●​ Government based on corporatism, or the authoritarian state’s allowance of input
from major groups outside the government
●​ Vargas was deposed by a military coup but returned 5 years later
○​ Made peace with communist elements and nationalized the oil industry
Argentina: The Personalist Rule of the Perons
●​ When the economy collapsed, a military coup installed a coalition of nationalists,
fascists, and socialists
●​ Conservative, military-backed party eventually came to rule
●​ Political instability occurred as another military coup brought Juan Peron to
power
●​ Peron appealed to Argentina’s growing sense of nationalism
○​ Goals were to industrialize and modernize Argentina to make it the
dominant power of South America
○​ Peron gained power through charismatic appeal
●​ During WWII, Peron’s support for the Axis powers was widely known
○​ Sidestepped when the US attempted to discredit him
○​ Re-elected by nationalistic supporters
●​ Person learned to moderate his government through nationalization of industries
and deft management of a quite diverse coalition of political forces
○​ Personalist skills did not prevent a coup
○​ Peronist party was banned but urban workers and Peronist unions were
agitated in support of his programs
●​ Vice president trump was short lived as conflict among Peron’s supporters made
his government ineffectual until his death the following year
●​ Argentina again fell under teh sway of military dictatorship which regained control
only after brutally suppressing its opposition through terrorist tactics
Radical Governments in Guatemala and Cuba
●​ Guatemala and Cuba’s socialist governments brought about radical changes that
captured the attention of the world
●​ Guatemala exemplified the worst of the region’s problems
○​ Huge gap between wealthy elites and large Amerindian population
 ○​ Most of the land was owned by the rich and supported cultivation of
bananas and coffee for export
●​ Juan Jose Arevalo was elected as president and redacted socialist programs
○​ Land reform, regulation of working conditions in factories and farms
○​ Government became involved in Cold War politics as it turned on foreign
companies operating in Guatemala
■​ United Fruit Company targeted as an object of nationalistic anger
as it controlled transportation, shipping, and large maounts of land
●​ Colonel Jacobo Arbenz was even more radical as he moved to nationalize many
areas of the economy that were controlled by foreign companies
●​ US backed United fruit’s opposition to the plans, out of fear of commmunist
influences at work within the government
○​ Imposed economic and diplomatic restrictions on Guatemala
●​ Socialists in other Latin American countries sided with Guatemala
○​ After the US CIA helped to organize a military force which invaded
Guatemala, old resentments of the “Bully of the North” rose
●​ Government fell and was replaced by a pro-American regime that ruled by
military force
●​ Military governments did not address the poverty of Amerindians
○​ Politics were controlled by a coalition of coffee growers, foreign investors,
and the military
●​ Intervention of the US in Guatemala was seen by leftist forces in Latin America
as outside interference with the internal workings of a government trying to help
the people
●​ US was concerned that socialist governments would come under the sway of the
Soviet Union
●​ Tensions had roots when the industrializing US was seen by poorer Latin
American countries as overbearing
●​ Cold War atmosphere deepened these divides and created a confrontation in the
Caribbean
○​ Represented the worldwide struggle for power between the US and USSR
●​ Cuba was dependent on foreign investments for its well being
○​ Geographical location gave it more connections to the US economy
●​ Cuba’s economy was based on the production of sugar for export
●​ Living conditions in Cuba were generally better than in Guatemala
○​ American investments in the island helped to create businesses that
employed a large middle class
●​ Fulgencio Batista was an authoritarian strongman who promised reforms but had
become an entrenched dictator
 ○​ Fidel Castro organized an army composed of students, intellectuals,
laborers, and rural workers to depose Batista
●​ United States government had mixed feelings about the coup at first
○​ Castro’s actions after he took control brought Cuba to the front of Cold
War politics
●​ Instead of enacting moderate reforms as most observers expected, Castro
nationalized all foreign properties
○​ Instituted a centralized social economy based on Marxist principles of
eliminating all private property
●​ Cuba became dependent on foreing aid from the USSR after relations with the
US were broken
●​ Soviet intrusion into the Western Hemisphere was exactly what the uS feared
●​ Cubans who disagreed with Castro’s policies fled the country or were exiled by
the government
○​ Conspired to overthrow the new regime
●​ US government sponsored an external invasion of the island by the exiles
through funding and training
●​ Invasion turned into a failure as the dissidents were met by Castro’s forces and
crushed
●​ USSR responded by placing nuclear missiles in CUba pointed toward the US
●​ Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the US demanded the missiles be removed
○​ US sent ships to quarantine the island
○​ Soviet ships headed toward CUba but turned back before encountering
US ships
○​ Missiles eventually removed
●​ Cuba remained a dangerous hot spot in the COld War which threatened to
explode
●​ Soviets continued to support the CUban economy and government with massive
amounts of foreign aid
●​ Cuban citizens supportive of US capitalism left the country to live in the US
Chile: The Clash of Socialism and Militarism
●​ Latin American military governments were alarmed by the Cuban success
○​ Greatly feared the popularity of leftist politics in many countries
●​ Socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown by the military
●​ Allende nationalized industries and banks which had worked to promote land
redistribution
●​ Business interests, foreign companies, and the military opposed such reforms
○​ Forces joined together to take over the government in a military coup led
by Augusto Pinochet
○​ Supported by the US
●​ Allende and thousands of Chileans died in the uprising, others tortured and
illegaly imprisoned
●​ PInochet’s government rolled back the social reforms, encouraged foreign
investment, and controlled the country until a civilian government was elected
●​ Between 1495 and 1991, many parts of the globe were affected by the
competition between the US and USSR
●​ At the end of WWII, the USSR seized countries of eastern Europe as satellites in
order to protect them from capitalism
●​ US sponsored the Marshall Plan to shore up Western European nations in order
to protect them from communism
●​ US aided Turkey and Greece in the fight against Soviet military pressure and
subversion
●​ PRoxy wars fought in Korea and Vietnam which pitted communist against
non-communist
●​ Third World country leaders played one side against the other by getting aid from
both
●​ In Latin America, the Us reacted to socialist movements through the fear that
Soviets would witn their favor
●​ Rapid decolonization in Africa, Asia, and the MIddle East left European countries
much less in control of world affairs
●​ new countries were left vulnerable after years of dependency on imperialist
powers
●​ Cold War politics and decolonization shaped the world until 1991, when the
collapse of the Soviet Union produced major changes
●​ Socialism is an economic system while communism is a political system
○​ Who controls the means of production is economic