The Cold War: Hot, Hot, Heat
Cold War : Part Two
Thanks for submitting your work from last week. Hopefully you were able to gain a little insight into the time period of the Cold War, as well as some of the ways in which the USA and USSR competed with each other.
This week's focus will be on PROXY WARS. While the Cold War is often described as a time of "peace" or detente, this is misleading - it was simply a time where the two superpowers didn't fight each other directly.
We came extremely close to nuclear war in the Korean War (when the US military suggested dropping nuclear weapons on China), and even closer during the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you studied the espionage section topic last week, you'll also notice that this was a time of great competition and tension between the two sides. Hardly peaceful.
So, what were those conflicts that took place during this time period?
Proxy wars were battles fought between other countries, but with each side getting support from a different superpower. Key examples of proxy wars include the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in Angola, and the Soviet Afghanistan War. There were many others though, as you can see in the map below - including conflicts that took place in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Israel, Cambodia, Egypt and Iran.
Sometimes the USA and USSR supported other countries with their militaries, other times they provided weapons, and in other cases, organizations like the CIA (USA) helped train soldiers from varying sides. Many of these "hot zones" have continued to be conflict zones in the 21st century (ex. Afghanistan), and so its important for us to go back in time and explore them.
The end goal was always to gain territory and influence for their political ideology.
COMMUNISM VS. CAPITALISM
It is estimated that 7 million people died during the Cold War in these proxy wars - the majority civilians - so its hardly accurate to call this a time of peace.
Examine current-day proxy conflicts in detail - specifically tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, Kashmir, and the Ukraine. We can learn about historical events by examining current day conflicts because history often repeats itself. You will notice that while the Cold War is over, the United States is still heavily involved in proxy wars. You will also notice that the roots of many of these struggles originate during the Cold War.
A. Watch the 3 video clips - learn the material about CURRENT DAY proxy wars
B. Post on TEAMS - PROXY WAR CHANNEL. Answer the following questions in your post -
OPTIONAL : Want to know more about war, and aren't exhausted from reading graphic accounts of battles and civilian deaths? Investigate some of the links below to learn more about the Cold War Proxy conflicts.
Soviet-Afghanistan War - the undoing of the Soviet Union
Congo- World's Most Deadliest Cold War Conflict
What if the Cold War Went Hot? Cuban Missile Crisis
Thanks for submitting your work from last week. Hopefully you were able to gain a little insight into the time period of the Cold War, as well as some of the ways in which the USA and USSR competed with each other.
This week's focus will be on PROXY WARS. While the Cold War is often described as a time of "peace" or detente, this is misleading - it was simply a time where the two superpowers didn't fight each other directly.
We came extremely close to nuclear war in the Korean War (when the US military suggested dropping nuclear weapons on China), and even closer during the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you studied the espionage section topic last week, you'll also notice that this was a time of great competition and tension between the two sides. Hardly peaceful.
So, what were those conflicts that took place during this time period?
Proxy wars were battles fought between other countries, but with each side getting support from a different superpower. Key examples of proxy wars include the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the wars in Angola, and the Soviet Afghanistan War. There were many others though, as you can see in the map below - including conflicts that took place in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Israel, Cambodia, Egypt and Iran.
Sometimes the USA and USSR supported other countries with their militaries, other times they provided weapons, and in other cases, organizations like the CIA (USA) helped train soldiers from varying sides. Many of these "hot zones" have continued to be conflict zones in the 21st century (ex. Afghanistan), and so its important for us to go back in time and explore them.
The end goal was always to gain territory and influence for their political ideology.
COMMUNISM VS. CAPITALISM
It is estimated that 7 million people died during the Cold War in these proxy wars - the majority civilians - so its hardly accurate to call this a time of peace.
Want to know more about some these proxy wars? Read this article here...
Our goal this week will be to explore conflicts that are lesser known so that we can expand our understanding of the nature of war in the 20th century. If you'd like to explore one of these Cold War conflicts you are welcome to, but that will be optional. I'd like to spend this week highlighting some current events, and helping us understand the dynamics of regions we don't always study.
What's My Task For This Week?
A. Watch the 3 video clips - learn the material about CURRENT DAY proxy wars
- Vox Media - The Middle East's Cold War Explained (2017) Saudi Arabia's tension with Iran
- Vox Media - The Conflict in Kashmir Explained (2019) - Kashmir, caught between India and Pakistan
- Vice News -On the Frontline of Ukraine's Proxy war between the West and Russia
B. Post on TEAMS - PROXY WAR CHANNEL. Answer the following questions in your post -
- Record one interesting fact about each of the 3 current day conflicts
- 2 connections that you made while watching any of the videos - for example - background knowledge, movies/media/articles/books, current events, other things that we've learned about. (Hint: Read instruction paragraph above for connections!)
- 1 Question you have - something you want to know more about regarding any of these world region or conflicts.
You are done for the week!
- interested in learning more about how warfare has evolved, and some of the philosophy behind it? Then you might want to check out this video - it's a summary of the famous book
Soviet-Afghanistan War - the undoing of the Soviet Union
Congo- World's Most Deadliest Cold War Conflict
What if the Cold War Went Hot? Cuban Missile Crisis
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