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UNIT SEVEN: THE 20^TH CENTURY SINCE 1945

Cold War Balance of Power

Germany

Basic Law for Federal Republic of Germany – Grundesetz GG (1949) (Text of post-war German Constitution, in English translation) on German Law Archive website (click on “Statutes” and then on “Constitution/Basic Law”):

http://www.iuscomp.org/gla/

Description of Germany’s Government, Constitution, and legal system, including the “Basic Law” or Constitution of 1949, on website of Germany’s U.S. Embassy:

http://www.germany-info.org/relaunch/info/facts/facts_about/govern.html

The Marshall Plan

Study Collection at the Truman Library website, including folders of linked documents which relate to this Plan, and links to external site information:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/marshall.htm

The Truman Doctrine

Several folders of linked documents, dated from 1947 to 1952, which expressed this doctrine, at the Truman Library website:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/doctrine.htm

The Berlin Airlift

Collection of documents, photos, and explanatory material, at the Truman Library website:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/berlin_airlift/large/berlin_airlift.htm

Japan

Basic information on the post-war and American occupation period, on commercial website:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2124.html

Japan’s post-war Constitution and political system--brief background in “Japan Index” webpages of Professor at Berne University, Switzerland:

http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/ja__indx.html

Japan’s Constitution (1946) – Text in English translation on a private, Canadian website:

http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Japan/English/english-Constitution.html

1951 Security Treaty between U.S. and Japan, at Yale Law School‘s Avalon Project website:

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diplomacy/japan/japan001.htm

Emergence of the Superpowers – U.S. and Soviet Union

Aftermath of the Second World War – map of Europe and Western Soviet Union showing occupying countries, changes in political structure and territory, and emigration, in “Historical Atlas of the 20^th Century” private/individual website created by Matthew White:

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/post-ww2.htm

Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” Speech (1946) (excerpts) on Modern History SourceBook webpages of Fordham U. professor Paul Halsall:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/churchill-iron.html

Cold War – CNN website contains information on topics including the Iron Curtain, Berlin

Airlift, Marshall Plan:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/kbank/maps/index.html

The Cold War 1945-1960 – world map showing alignment of countries with either U.S. or Soviet Union, in “Historical Atlas of the 20^th Century” private/individual website created by Matthew White:

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/coldwar1.htm

National Park Service website provides information on the Cold War and the Nike missile antiaircraft defense system in San Francisco Bay area:

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/coast_defense/nike/

NATO

The NATO Collection, at the Truman Library website, includes materials on the treaty and early development of NATO:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/nato/large/nato.htm

1955 Warsaw Security Pact

Text of the Agreement between USSR and Eastern European countries that led to consolidated Soviet power in Eastern Europe, at Yale Law School’s Avalon Project website:

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/intdip/soviet/warsaw.htm

Communism—Development and Duration: World map showing Communism’s spread and retreat during period: 1917-2000, in “Historical Atlas of the 20^th Century” private/individual website created by Matthew White:

http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/communis.htm

Hungarian Revolt – Events of Fall 1956 peoples’ revolt against the Communist regime in Hungary, from book by R. Lettis and W.I. Morris, on Historical Text Archive website (click on “Those Historic Days” for timeline):

http://www.historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=13

Czechoslovakia

Soviet Invasion of (1968) -- Information, chronology, and perspectives, on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website

http://www.rferl.org/nca/special/invasion1968/

Online Exhibit about the Soviet invasion, with translated original documents, in Univ. of Michigan Labadie Special Collections webpages:

http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll/czech/

Nuclear Weapons and Space

“Accomplishments in the 1950s” on website of U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:

http://www.llnl.gov/50th_anniv/decades/1950s.htm

Nuclear Testing

“Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Site” -- website of Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, includes Chronology of Key Events (1940’s to present):

http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/coalition/ctch4050.htm

Facts and Figures on Nuclear Testing (website of same organization as above link):

http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/coalition/ctfallou.htm

Space Exploration

Smithsonian Institute’s National Air and Space Museum’s “Space Race” website exhibition:

http://www.nasm.si.edu/galleries/gal114/gal114.htm

BBCi’s “Space Exploration” webpages include Mission Timeline from the 1950s to present, with clickable links for timeline events:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/exploration/missiontimeline/index.shtml

“NORAD, the Cold War, and the Space Race” – readings on teacher webpages of Univ. of Calgary, Canada (click on this topic):

http://www.weblearn.ca/teachersite/NORAD/Readings/readingsmenu.htm

Surrogate Superpower (U.S. vs. former Soviet Union) Rivalries

Some examples:

Egypt

Democratic Republic of Angola

Chile

Iran

Iraq

Vietnam

Guatemala

Greece

Turkey

U.S. State Department “Background Notes” webpages -- click on a country name in list and under next screen -- profile & history, see “U.S. Relations”; also see post-WW II period in detailed history:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/

Virtual History Library website (U. of Kansas) – Index also contains extensive links to information on these countries (click on country or region name in “By Countries and Regions” or “Asian Studies” sections):

http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/

Library of Congress’ “Country Studies” – webpages containing information from book reprints (click on country name in list) (note: recent information is not available for most countries):

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Cyprus – Website of this Mediterranean island country provides information about its history, including its relationship with Greece and partial occupation since 1974 by military forces of Turkey:

http://kypros.org/PIO/

Non-aligned Nations

Background and history of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM), on NAM official website:

http://www.nam.gov.za/background/history.htm

Korean War

Truman Presidential Library’s “Korean War: Holding the Line” (1950) Collection, with descriptions and links to original documents:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/korea/large/koreasec3docs.htm

Eisenhower Library Collection of Korean War documents, with descriptions:

http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/Korea/html/Koreandocuments.html

“The Forgotten Korean War” on AOL’s Teachersnet webpages (click on subject links in Table of Contents or scroll down to view lists of links under each subject area):

http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/Korean.html

United Nations and the Korean War

Description of the U.N.’s role in the international effort (led by U.S. WWII General MacArthur and largely made up of U.S. troops) to repel the invasion of Soviet Union troops into South Korea, with links, on British educational website:

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_korean_war.htm

U.S. Forces in Korea website – official website on U.S. forces supporting ongoing U.N. forces in Korea. Click on “Enter” and then on “SOFA - documents” for link to U.S./Republic of Korea Mutual Defense Treaty (1953); “Republic of Korea Factbook” for link to U.S. CIA’s Factbook on South Korea:

http://www.korea.army.mil/index.htm

Korean Reunification Prospects

North Korea – on WWW Asian Studies Virtual Library pages, with links to news and information sources:

http://www.duke.edu/~myhan/s-nk.html

North Korea Country Book on U.S. Library of Congress website -- Information includes Chapter 3 Foreign Economic Relations (see “Inter-Korea Economic Cooperation”) and Chapter 4 Foreign Policy, (see “Inter-Korean Affairs”):

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/kptoc.html

Threat of North Korea Today

North Korea Special Weapons Guide – links to reports and information on nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, on website of Federation of American Scientists

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/index.html

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Syracuse, NY

October, 2003