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This information is to accompany Unit Four Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Map: The Vietnam War

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This information is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Sheet: The Space Race: A Reflection of the Cold War

Science became an important aspect of the Cold War when the Soviets launch the first satellite, Sputnik, into space in October 1957.

• In April 1961, the Soviets were again first in sending a human being into space.

The Soviet achievements startled the Americans.

• They feared that the Soviets were far ahead in space research.
• President Kennedy announced that the goal of the US space program was to land a human being on the moon by the end of the decade.
• The US initiated an intensive space research program, creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
• NASA was charged with the responsibility of closing the gap between the Americans and the Soviets in the space race.

Throughout the 1960s, both nations launched astronauts into space. These flights culminated with the US Apollo program that landed the first human on the moon in July 1969.

Both of the superpowers concentrated their efforts on developing satellites with surveillance capabilities.

The US space shuttle program, of the 1980s, focused on the development of a reusable launch vehicle designed to launch, recover and repair satellites.

• The space shuttle program was marred by the explosion of the Challenger shuttle in January 1986. All seven crew members were killed.

Star Wars

The 1980s also saw the Americans focusing on Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" program.

• Through this program, high-energy laser devices would provide the US with a defensive shield by destroying in space missiles launched against the US.
• The US spent billions of dollars on the program throughout the 1980s.
• The concept and practicality of the "Star Wars" program generated much debate within the scientific community.

The Soviets also spent billions of dollars on their space program. They concentrated their space efforts on the development of space stations. The Soviet space program has also experienced tragedies.

Other Nations

Since the 1970s, nations other than the US and the Soviet Union have engaged in space research and satellite development. Canada has excelled in the area of space communication technology and has contributed expertise to the American program.

Benefits of Space Technology

The benefits of space technology have not been limited to the military.

• Communication satellites allow for the rapid transmission of information and knowledge throughout the world.
• Some satellites identify weather patterns and enhance weather predictions.
• Resource satellites have been used to monitor air and water pollution and to locate valuable resources.

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This information is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Sheet: European Recovery After the Second World War.

Although facing the great challenges such as rebuilding devastated economies, restoring prewar living standards, and resisting the communist challenge, the nations of western Europe quickly returned to parliamentary democracy after the end of the Second World War.

• Even in the defeated nations, Italy and the western-controlled zones of Germany, the transition to parliamentary democracy was relatively smooth.

Political parties with mass support that represented the moderate left and right, appeared.

• The communist parties, although popular due to their opposition to the Nazis, had no significant role in the postwar governments of western Europe.
• However, they did serve as minor partners in the government of France for a short time.

The relative political stability of most western European countries combined with massive American assistance through the Marshall Plan, did have positive results.

In each of the western European nations, a debate arose over the level of government intervention in the economy of the nation.

• Some nations favoured limited government involvement, while others favoured a more interventionist approach by the government.

West Germany

In West Germany, the Adenauer government encouraged the free-market economy. Price controls and rationing were abolished. The currency was reformed and the economy flourished.

• By 1949, the prewar levels of production were equalled.
• By the late 1950s, West Germany was the leading economic power in western Europe.

France

France also experienced a period of sustained economic growth.

• The French recipe for economic growth was a balance between government and private ownership of the banks and key industries.

Britain

The newly elected Labour government initiated a program of nationalization that included the Bank of England, the coal industry, the railroads and the electricity companies.

• Reforms carried out included a universal medical care program and increased public housing.
• However, economic growth in Britain did not match the growth in West Germany or France.

Despite differing rates of growth, western Europe experienced a period of sustained growth throughout the l950s. Indeed, by 1963, western Europe was collectively producing 2.5 times the prewar level.

By comparison, the nations of Eastern Europe, were not experiencing the economic growth that characterized Western Europe.

Key Concepts

Free Market Economy

Supports of free market economic organization believe that restricting government intervention and impact on the supply-demand cycles, income distribution and trade, will lead to greater economic activity and general prosperity.

Government Intervention

Supporters of this concept believe that the intervention of the government in the market place is often necessary to ensure the achievement of social policy goals.

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This information is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Sheet: Japan's Economic Miracle

Economic renewal and sustained growth were not limited to Western Europe and North America. Japan experienced similar economic growth.

At the end of the war, the United States had sole control over Japan and was able to institute policies designed to meet American objectives.

Under the direction of General MacArthur, who in effect, ruled Japan during the immediate postwar period, the nation's political system was westernized.

• A new constitution recognized the Emperor, as a figurehead, and gave real power to the elected parliament, the Diet.
• The Prime Minister and Cabinet would be chosen by the Diet.
• The new constitution also defined civil rights and placed severe limitations on Japan's military. The size and duties of Japan's defense forces were restricted.
• The education system was purged of the prewar militarists, and its curriculum followed the American model.
• The Land Reform Act of 1946 provided land to several million formerly land-less peasants.
• Numerous reforms to protect industrial workers were passed.
• Japanese women were given the right to vote.

With the communist victory in China and the events in Korea, the United States came to view Japan as an essential part of the defense against communist expansion.

• To strengthen Japan, the Americans provided additional aid. Food imports were doubled.
• The restrictions on the prewar industrial cartels were eased.
• Communists were purged from the trade unions.

Japan became a fully independent nation in 1952. For the next 20 years, the annual growth of the economy averaged 9.7%, nearly double that of any industrialized nation in the postwar period.

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This information is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Sheet: Eastern Europe and the Czechoslovakian Challenge

The was a great deal of change and development in the western world during the 1960s. The changes taking place in the West influenced events in the communist world.

• Technological advances in communications made the transmission of events/conditions in the West available to rest of the world.

In 1964 Khrushchev was deposed and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. Why?

• Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign posed a threat to the authority of the Communist Party.
• Khrushchev's erratic foreign policy, especially the Soviet back-down over Cuba, disturbed the Soviet leadership.

The new leaders initiated a massive arms build- up. The armed forces were enlarged and be made capable of intervening throughout the world.

Despite the commitment to an arms build-up, Brezhnev sought to develop a stable relationship with the United States.

Eastern Europe

The modest liberalization that took place during Khrushchev's reign influenced Eastern Europe.

• In January 1968, reform-minded communists assumed power in Czechoslovakia. Their leader was Alexander Dubcek.
• They launched a series of major economic and political reforms. Censorship was relaxed.
• Dubcek hoped to build "socialism with a human face."

Soviet leaders were less than pleased with developments in Czechoslovakia. They were even more displeased when Poles began demanding the same Czech-style of government.

• The Soviet leadership warned Dubcek to restore order in his nation.
• The Czechs were not willing to accept Soviet demands and in August 1968, Soviet and other East European forces occupied Czechoslovakia.
• Dubcek was removed from power and the reform program was ended.
• Censorship was reimposed and additional Soviet troops were stationed in Czechoslovakia.

Brezhnev Doctrine

Brezhnev had demonstrated the new Soviet policy, the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine.

• It stated that the Soviet Union and its allies had the right to intervene in any "socialist" nation whenever they saw the need.
• The Soviet leadership was determined to maintain the status quo in the Soviet bloc. The main feature of that status quo was Soviet domination.

Key Concept

Hegemony

Know that hegemony means that a person, nation or theory has a dominating influence over other persons, nations or theories.

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This information is to accompany Unit Four of the Curriculum Guide.

Student Information Sheet: Mikhail Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War

In March 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev emerged as leader of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was a realist and quickly implemented a number of economic reforms.

• He realized that the Soviet Union although a military superpower, was economically weak. It lagged well behind the western nations in the production of consumer goods.
• His reforms became known as "Perestroika" or restructuring, and were aimed at the democratization of the government and the economy.

Gorbachev believed that Soviet society had to be altered in order to motivate the individual. To accomplish this formidable task, Gorbachev encouraged openness in Soviet society.

• Soviet history was re-examined and criticisms of government actions were encouraged.
• As part of the reappraisal of Soviet history, the government formally denounced the Hitler-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939.
• It also noted the illegality of the Soviet takeover of the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
• This action encouraged a rise in nationalist sentiment, throughout the 1980s, for independence in each of these states.

Gorbachev realized that increasing consumer production would require a reduction in military spending.

• One way of accomplishing this was to attempt to reach arms reduction agreements with the US
• It also meant a reduction in Soviet foreign commitments. The Afghanistan entanglement had to be ended.

Opposition to Reform

The entrenched bureaucracy and party officials in the Soviet Union, were critical of Gorbachev's reforms. Such reforms endangered their privileged positions.

• Military officials were not happy with proposed military reductions.
• Many in the Soviet leadership did not trust the US, fearing that the US would attack the Soviet Union if it appeared to be weakening.

Gorbachev and Reagan

Gorbachev and President Reagan, beginning in 1985, held a number of meeting with the goal of mutual arms reduction.

• Economic pressures were forcing both superpowers to seek a reduction in expenditures for military purposes.
• By the mid-1980s, the United States was

being outperformed economically by Japan and challenged by the European Community. It became the most indebted nation in the world in the 1980s.

The two leaders first met in Geneva in 1985.

• They agreed to move towards a 50 percent reduction in long-range weapons.
• They agreed to outlaw chemical weapons and destroy all existing stockpiles of such weapons.
• They however disagreed over the American Strategic Defense Initiative or Star Wars.

Gorbachev gained much public support in the West with his plan to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000.

• In late 1988, Gorbachev stated, at the United Nations, that "the use or threat of force no longer can or must by an instrument of foreign policy."
• He indicated that Soviet forces would be reduced by over 500,000 troops and Soviet forces would withdraw from Eastern Europe.

Chernobyl

The new openness in the Soviet Union, initiated by Gorbachev, was demonstrated during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

• Chernobyl was one of the largest nuclear power stations in the Soviet Union.
• On April 26, 1986, part of the plant blew apart and huge amounts of radiation were released.
• Although slow to admit the incident, Soviet authorities confirmed the disaster and sought aid from western nations.
• The Chernobyl disaster fuelled the debate over the use of nuclear energy both within the Soviet Union and in the developed nations of the noncommunist world.
• The United States also experienced nuclear mishaps including the incident at Three Mile Island in 1979.