Western Civilization - History Of European Society

Europe in the Age of The Cold War,1945–75621

countries, with nuclear weapons (see map 31.2 and
chronology 31.1).
The cold war was much larger than a European
struggle. Dozens of global crises threatened to bring
the two sides to combat. The most dangerous of these
crises occurred in Asia. In 1949 Mao Zedong’s Chinese
Communists won the war for control of China that
they had begun in the 1930s. Mao took Beijing and
drove his nationalist opponents, led by Chiang Kai-
Shek, off the mainland to the island of Formosa (now
called Taiwan). In early 1950 the U.S. Pacific Fleet pa-

trolled the waters around Taiwan to prevent a Commu-

nist invasion. A few weeks later Mao and Stalin agreed

upon a Sino-Soviet Alliance. And a few weeks after

that, the armies of Communist North Korea invaded

the south of that partitioned country and captured the

capital city of Seoul. The United Nations adopted a

resolution to send troops to Korea to block aggres-

sion—a resolution made possible because the Soviet

delegate was boycotting the UN Security Council

meeting and therefore not present to cast a veto. Presi-

dent Truman sent the U.S. army (commanded by the

Corsica

Sardinia

Sicily

Crete Cyprus

TURKEY

YU

GOS

LAV

IA

U.S.S.R.

SWITZ.

BULGARIA

FRANCE ROMANIA

NORWAY

SWEDEN

SPAIN

PORTUGAL

ITALY

ALBANIA

HUNGARY

BELG.

NETH.

DENMARK

IRELAND

FINLAND

GREECE

GREAT

BRITAIN

AUSTRIA

POLAND

Baleari

cIsla

nds

DEM.GER.

REP.

FED.

REP.

OF

GER.

Ebro

R.

North

Sea

Atlantic

Ocean

Black Sea

Ca

sp

ia

n

Se

a

Bal

tic

Se

a

Mediterran

ea

n

Sea

Arctic Ocean

R.

Euphra

tes

Tigris

R.

Vo

lga

R.

Danube

R.

Rhin

eR

.

0 300 600 Miles

0 300 600 900 Kilometers

NATO member

NATO ally

NATO member to 1969

Warsaw Pact member

Unrest/revolt in

Eastern Europe

Missile bases: NATO

Troops: U.S.

Nuclear bombers: U.S.

Naval port: U.S.

Fleet: U.S.

Nuclear missile submarine: U.S.

United States/NATO

Missile bases: Warsaw Pact

Troops: Soviet

Nuclear bombers: Soviet

Naval port: Soviet

Fleet: Soviet

Nuclear missile submarine: Soviet

Soviet/Warsaw Pact

MAP 31.2

European Cold War Alliances to 1975