Sin-Russian Conflict A

A cult of personality refers to a leader's ability to make himself godlike in his people's eyes, or the people's ability to think of their leader as absolute evil. This was the cause of a rift between the Chinese and the USSR residents, because the USSR looked at him as a god. They thought his “puppet governments” were defensive against the imperialist Eastern forces. The Chinese thought we was oppressing those countries, including their own.

IRL 15

http://www.ena.lu/treaty_prague_11_december_1973-020302438.html

The document provided at the link is the full text of the Prague treaty that we read about in class. It gives greater detail and insight into the nature of the mutual relations between Czechoslovakia and Germany, discussing the 1938 Munich Agreements as well as general mutual cooperation. The source is valuable because as a .lu adress in orginates from Luxembourg in Europe. It is also not a commercial site. However, no sources for the articles are given.

IRL 14

http://reds.linefeed.org/bios/castro.html

The above is a biography of Fidel Castro. He was a main player in the Cuban Missile Crisis which we learned about in class. The source adds information about previous attempts for revolution and Castro's and Cuba's history in the Communist Party. It is limited because no sources are cited and the site seems outdated. However, it is valuable because it is a non-for-profit (.org) site.

IRL 12

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1953/marshall-bio.html

This link is to a biography of George Marshall, one of the creators of the Marshall plan. This adds to what we have learned in class because the Marshall Plan is a main part of the Cold War. The article mostly mentions Marshall's military and diplomacy achievements, but the most intriguing is the source of the biography;the biography is from the Nobel prize website, and the main heading is Marshall's award of the Nobel peace prize in 1953. This also provides a backdrop in terms of the Swedish view of the Marshall Plan. It is limited in the respect that a biography describing a man chosen for the Nobel prize would not be critical.

SGQ11

IBSL2 SGQ11

Guiding questions:

Why did the Cold War spread from Europe to other parts of the world after 1950?

For what reasons, and with what results for East-West relations, did the superpowers become involved

in the affairs of one of the following: Korea; Vietnam; the Middle East?

What were the effects of the Korean War on international relations?

MWH p. 143-147

1. Background

a. Explain the evolution of control of Korea from 1910 to 1948

Japan had occupied Korea, so the US and Russia split up the country for the purpose of eradicating the Japanese. The US thought there would be free elections, but there was a disagreement and Korea became part of the Cold War conflict.

b. What was the leadership situation in Korea in 1949?

Russian and American troops withdrew themselves, and leaders from North and South Korea claimed themselves as leaders of the country.

2. Why did the North invade the South?

Possible answers:

a. Kim's idea - It was Kim's idea, inspired by the lack of a mention of Korea in the USA's list of countries to defend.

b. Chinese role - Kim was encouraged by the Chinese Communists.

c. Russian role - The Communists wanted to take over all of Korea

d. S. Korea's role - Syngman Rhee's troops crossed the 38th parallel.

3. What did the USA do?

Attacked.

a. Why did Truman decide to intervene?

i. Felt it was part of Stalin's Communist Revolution

ii. Remembered Hitler's policies, appeasement did not work

iii. Wanted to back the UN

iv. Was undergoing criticism from Republicans, had to dispel claims of Communist infenstation

b. What nations joined the US in support of S. Korea?

14 Countries of the UN, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

c. Briefly summarize the course of the war in 1950

When the UN went in, Korea was almost all Communist. They pushed it back to the border, then invaded North Korea.

d. How and why did China get involved?

Chinese felt Manchuria was threatened, summoned huge force to push UN troops back.

e. How did the war end?

Treaty with boundary lines around 38th parallel.

4. What were the results of the war?

a. Korea -

4 mil dead, 5 mil homeless, armed to the teeth

b. the US -

Truman felt containment was a success, Republicans felt they missed their chance for a North Korean invasion.

c. the UN -

Looked at by the Communists as a Capitalist tool.

d. China -

Huge military effort highlighted missing UN seat

e. the Cold War -

Asia now involved. Permanent conflict between USSR/China and US. SEATO created, fails.

ToK/IRL

Can history provide a guide to understanding contemporary affairs? Can it provide a guide to the future? What might be “the lessons of history” for future generations?

History can provide a guide to understanding contemporary affairs, albeit a very rough one. Although historical events cannot be predicted exactly using past events, these past events do affect current ones. For example, censorship in China is discussed in a BBC article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8124735.stm . The specific way in which information would be censored (through the internet) was not a repeat of history, but the idea of censoring was existent in Communist China.

In some case the prediction is not very accurate at all, for example at http://worldatwar.net/timeline/other/league18-46.html it notes that Iraq and Iran joined a peace pact with other eastern nations, yet that fact alone cannot be used to predict today's middle eastern wars. Other knowledge is needed.

IRL11

http://worldatwar.net/timeline/other/league18-46.html

The Source above is a timeline of the League of Nations, including the countries that joined and exited, as well as events. It relates to our classwork because the actions of the League of Nations were a major cause of WWII. It adds a better sense of perspective to our knowledge. It is from a .net address, which means that it is not commercial. It also provides books as sources, and compiles data from the United Nations offices in Geneva. However it ends its history where the League of Nations becomes the United Nations.