AFP NOTES 3/6

190.342 LECTURE 13: ORIGINS OF THE COLD WAR, PART 1

USSR was the first double threat against the US
-Material AND ideological
-US had fought each separately before, but never BOTH at once
-not one that's prepared to go toe-to-toe with the US

At the time of WWII, ideological concerns were put off to the side in the name of union
-FDR was prepared to make certain allowances and compromises
-Yalta conference, Feb 1944, Stalin laid down his non-negotiable terms
-Stalin wants Poland (not only a matter of pride, a matter of security)
-was prepared to offer free elections in poland (was lying, though)
-FDR pushed the UN on the rest of the allies
-stalin agreed on the condition that the USSR had a veto power

A) Architects
Harry Truman (1945-53)
In order to get truman on the ticket, he had to dump his sitting VP- henry wallace
-Wallace had a much much much different view
US had huge interests in europe, much more limited ones in asia
-US had massive numbers of troops in Europe, not too many in Asia, however (except S. Korea)
US starts to demobilize, however maintains force projection capabilities
-the strategy was called 'MASSIVE RETALIATION'

SoS George Marshall

SoS Dean Acheson

George Kennan
LONG TELEGRAM, FEB 1946
argued that the sources of soviet foreign policy lay deep within the system itself
-at the bottom of the reasoning laid a deep sense of insecurity
-both external and internal
-insecure in relation to foreign powers, what they might do to it
-also insecure in relation to its own people, not sure if they ACTUALLY own the soviet people
-post-war soviet foreign policy would be a mix of Tzarist expansionism and the soviet sense of mission
-Tzarist expansionism- own Poland, establish a 'warm water port'
-soviet sense of mission- "fig leaf"- they said they acted on the same principles as America- peace for all, etc- but this was actually a front for establishing totalitarianism
Kennan thought a confrontation between US and USSR was inevitable
-Kennan was a realist
-2 views- Universalistic (liberal) or Particularized (realist)
-thought that US should go with the particularized view, because otherwise the US would be forced to maintain their universalistic rule of law around the world, can't afford to do that
Thought that the US should draw a line
-what are the areas we CANNOT allow to fall under soviet control?
-for kennan
-atlantic community
-med. community through Iran
-japan & philippines
-found 5 essential power structures in the world
-US, UK, Germany, Japan, USSR
-US has control of the spectrum to start, can't allow the three in the middle to turn to soviet aims
Was NOT afraid of soviet invasion
-was afraid of soviet communism subverting those nations, cause germany and japan are already demoralized
3 plans by Kennan to win the cold war
-Self-Confidence
-Exploiting internal tension
-USSR's children will destroy it
-in the future, nationalistic strains of communism will compete with the soviet strain, cause more tensions
-modification of soviet mindset
3 criteria for whether we should intervene
-is assistance justified?
-not just anyone non-communists
-not backing non-communist dictatorships
-is american security at stake?
-cost vs benefits
-is it in america's interests to do so? would it be too expensive to?
-if a state on its own initiative votes in a free election for a communist govt, the US should NOT intervene
battle of 'hearts and minds'
-he'd prefer if the defeat of the USSR came slowly by diplomatic means, rather than it coming quickly by military means
-he was actually correct, war with the USSR was NOT necessary, it fell from within
April 1946, a memorandum issued by H. Freeman Matthews
-argued the exact opposite
-US can take USSR militarily
-should use a peripheral strategy of sorts, attack where US naval, air, and amphibious forces are superior locally
September 1946, Clark Clifford
-US should embrace ALL democratic countries that are endangered or menaced by the USSR
"X" ARTICLE, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, JULY 1947
-also written by Kennan
-US policy should be one of FIRM CONTAINMENT (this is important) at every point with counter-force
-US should not be restricted by only naval or air engagements, but should be prepared to go to full-scale war when the USSR moves out of its sphere of influence
-by the time the article was published, however, Kennan's views had evolved
-strongpoint defense
-pick fights that defend only key regions, because US doesn't have the resources to defend EVERY point
-US needs to distinguish 2 sets of interests- vital and peripheral
-vital
-Europe, Middle East, Japan
-peripheral
-Mainland Asia
-determinants of vital interests
-strategic location (chokepoints, trade or communication)
-military/industrial capacity (if it has high military/industrial capacity, it can contribute to the war effort)
-raw materials (OIL most importantly)
-lines of communication (don't let france become communist, cause that would cut off west germany, for example)
-use an asymmetric response to respond to threats in these area (any means necessary, overwhelming force, anything that works, etc)
-difference between US and Soviet policy was that USSR looks for control, US looks for denial of Soviet control, just influence
B) The Truman Doctrine
Greece & Turkey
US, UK had been supporting them against communism
-lots of civil wars going on in that region
-USSR is putting pressure on turkey for the bosphorous straits that connect the black sea to the med. sea
-UK could no longer afford to support greece
-dean acheson argues that if greece fell, turkey would fall as well
-first application of the domino theory
-if greece fell, turkey would fall, eastern europe would fall, europe would fall
-march 12, 1947
-truman launches the truman doctrine
-'support free peoples against armed minorities or outside pressures'
-asks for aid to help turkey and greece
-america in order to prevent internal subversion of states, needs to address the issues of poverty, misery, and want
-the secret to success from then on during the cold war was to convince the US that the opponent was either communist or allied with moscow
-this brought US into war on their side
-US commits $400 million to greece and turkey
-FIRST TIME US has gone outside self-imposed restriction of the monroe doctrine during peacetime

The Marshall Plan
announces marshall plan on June 5, 1947
-trick in maintaining democracy against communist subversion was to reestablish a strong economy in affected countries
-truman asks for billions of dollars for the Marshall Plan, Congress initially does nothing
Czechoslovakia
Key turning point for congressional approval of funds
-Feb 1948, coalition fledgling democracy collapsed
-communists seized power in a coup later in the month
-2 weeks later, the foreign minister of the country was assassinated, Soviets moved in to take control
-Congress was like oh shit
-US had sold out the democratic Czechs before, exactly 10 years earlier
-this posed a threat here- DOMINO effect, also soviets could actively repeat this subversion across western europe
-March 14, 1948 Senate voted to endorse the Marshall Plan
-communist response to Marshall plan- cut off berlin from the rest of europe
Berlin Airlift
Berlin was deep inside East Germany, half was US controlled, half was USSR controlled
-plan was to starve out US half
-Truman started the Berlin airlift, owned the soviets, they back down
NATO
April 1949, NATO established
-US isolationism FINALLY thrown off
-first permanent alliance structure
-US finally drawn into European politics
-key determinant in NATO was the separation between West and East Germany
-"iron curtain" was drawn across europe, US had to prevent the curtain from spreading to West Europe
-isolationism was defeated entirely, next time they make a resurgence was the 1960s
C) The Doctrine Tested
Soviet Atomic Bomb
Soviets have the bomb
-now our unilateral capacity for massive retaliation was broken
Fall of China
US has no direct presence in mainland china, all by proxy
-unfortunately, all of the colonial powers that had been US proxies started collapsing
MAO TSE-TUNG
Communist leader
-OWNED Chiang Kai-Shek
CHIANG KAI-SHEK
Nationalist leader
-gambled that he could beat Mao after the war
-was FUCKING RETARDED
-even with massive US aid, he failed to stop the communists from spreading
FORMOSA/TAIWAN
Last redoubt of the Chinese Nationalists
-subsumed into Japan-Philippines-Taiwan defense sphere of the US
NSC-68
document released about how to proceed in asia
-firmly rejects isolationism
-explicit declaration of the US recognizing soviet objectives, rejecting them
-US will protect and defend the 'free world'
-'free world' is ANYONE not communist
-endorsed containment by all means short of war
-tried to foster seeds of destruction within the soviet system
-if the soviets will try to undermine our values, we'll do the same to them
-problem is that US is in a state of 'relative decline'
-US is more powerful than ever, but USSR is gaining strength faster than they are, so they're in 'relative decline'
-US HAS to win the cold war, regardless of any domestic taxes, spending, etc
-'a defeat anywhere in the free world is a defeat everywhere'

Go watch these movies
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Thirteen Days
Dr. Strangelove
Fail Safe
Crimson Tide
Vietnam
The Magnificent Seven
The Wild Bunch

OCC CIV LENIN STUFF

centralized political party are

Describe Leninism as a political philosophy?
-centralized political party
-party OWNS the state, state's needs are subsumed by the needs of the party
-party members fill the roles of government officers, who are at the command of the party
-seize power first, then get the support of the people afterwards

How would you compare his understanding of the historic role of the working class to that expressed in the Communist Manifesto?
-role of the working class in communist manifesto
-they're the instigators of revolution
-role of the working class in history
-get bitched. tools of the upper class
-lenin's role for the working class
-combination of the two
-the clash between the working class and the bourgeoisie creates a new sort of system
-thesis, antithesis, synthesis

Why was WWI important to Lenin?
-Lenin took advantage of the turmoil caused by the Bolshevik Revolution to take the reins
-was a leader in the Bolshevik Revolution


Describe Leninism as a political philosophy? How would you compare his understanding of the historic role of the working class between that expressed in the Communist Manifesto? Why was WWI important to Lenin? What does Rapport mean by "mass politics" and would Lenin agree with him or not?