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Karl Marx

THE COLD WAR

The industrial revolution made workers faced poor health terrible working conditions and poverty.

Believed that this economic inequality could only lead to revolution.

Marxism

Workers exploited rise up to replace capitalism with communism system, where the means of production would be commonly owned and the extremes of wealth and poverty would disappear.

The Rise of Communism

In Russia where discontent and failures in the WWI would lead to the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin.

Bolsheviks would establish a dictatorship of the proletariat, would safeguard the revolution with any means possible. The economy was nationalized.

In 1922 the union of Soviet Socialist Republics (URSS or Soviet Union Communism) was created from the remnants of the Russian Empire.

In the west capitalism was failing.

The Soviet Union appeared to have been much more successful in its goals. Joseph Stalin had successfully transformed the nation from a backwards agricultural society into a modern industrial superpower.

After the URSS ended the WWII, communist support was growing throughout the western world (to many, democracy and capitalism was anything but certain).

The Second World War

Soviet Union would be forced to ally with UK and US during the WWII to fight against the Axis Powers.

While the USSR had millions of losses and waged a defensive war with a Nazi invasion that wiped out towns, the western allied countries had few losses and kept their economy stable.

A New World

The united nations for the US, to deter future aggressors, the world bank and international monetary fund were created to revival of the global economy.

Install pro-soviet governments across eastern Europe for the Soviet Union. Stalin accepted to enter only at the UN, WB and IMF promote capitalism.

At the Potsdam conference of July 1945 Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation with the capital berlin being divided in the same way.

It was based on the policy of containment, if soviet expansionism could be contained for long enough then the flaws of the soviet system would cause it to fall apart.

The cold war had begun.

Truman Doctrine

To help stop the spread of communism the CIA was set up in 1947.

Marshall Plan was introduced in 1948 sending financial aid to help post-war reconstruction, improving the economic situation in Europe people would be less likely to adopt communism

McCarthyism

The Berlin Blockade

Stalin sponsored a communist coup in Czechoslovakia eliminating the last non-communist government in eastern Europe

US and its allies established an independent west German state the federal republic of Germany and the Soviets creating the German democratic republic in the east

To create a united front against soviet expansionism, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created in 1949).

Cold War in Asia

Chinese communist revolutionary, Mao Zedong took power in 1949 establishing the people's Republic of China.

US grating independence to Philippines, UK to India, Pakistan, Burma and Sri Lanka and Holland to Indonesia.

Mao would soon sign a defensive pact with Stalin the Sino-Soviet treaty.