America as a WORLD POWER [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 7] Period 8: 1945-1980

Summary

In this video, Heimler's History dives back into the topic of America's emergence as a world power during the Cold War era, specifically between 1945 and 1980. The video discusses various military and diplomatic responses of the United States to international developments post-World War II. Key events highlighted include the U.S.-led coup in Guatemala, the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba, and the CIA's involvement in Iran. Additionally, the video touches on U.S. intervention in Vietnam and Eisenhower's warning about the military-industrial complex. With humor and a touch of irony, Heimler provides an engaging and educational overview of this dynamic period.

Highlights

• The U.S. supported a coup in Guatemala in 1954 to protect business interests; bananas were involved! 🍌
• The Bay of Pigs Invasion aimed to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba but failed spectacularly. 🚤
• The Cuban Missile Crisis had Americans waking up tense, fearing nuclear annihilation. 💣
• In Iran, the CIA helped overthrow the prime minister to maintain a pro-U.S. leadership. 🗳️👑
• Eisenhower highlighted the dangers of the military-industrial complex in his farewell address. ⚔️

Key Takeaways

• After WWII, decolonization surged globally, sparking competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for influence. 🌎
• The U.S. intervened in Guatemala and Cuba to protect its interests against socialism and communism. 🍌🌿🐷
• The Cuban Missile Crisis was a significant tension point, resolved through intense negotiations. 🕊️
• U.S. interventions in the Middle East and Asia focused on preserving oil interests and combating communism. 🛢️🍜
• Eisenhower warned against the growing influence of the military-industrial complex. ⚠️🛡️

Overview

After the end of World War II, the world witnessed a massive wave of decolonization, a process that shifted global power dynamics. The United States and the Soviet Union found themselves in a race to influence these newly independent nations, hoping to mold them into images of democratic capitalism or authoritarian communism, respectively. In a lively manner, Heimler highlights how this led to U.S. interventions in regions like Latin America and illustrates how these moves were fueled by both ideological battles and economic interests.

In Latin America, the United States took significant actions in Guatemala and Cuba, aiming to curb the growing influence of socialism and communism. The infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed attempt to overthrow Cuba's Fidel Castro, is discussed with candor, showcasing its backfiring effect and leading to increased tensions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Heimler's engaging narrative underscores the stakes of the Cold War chess game, particularly when it came to countries near the U.S. border.

Moving to the Middle East and Asia, Heimler outlines the United States' strategic interventions in Iran and Vietnam. The CIA-led overthrow of Iran’s prime minister and the economic support extended to South Vietnam were key moves to secure oil resources and halt the spread of communism. The episode wraps up with President Eisenhower’s ominous warning about the military-industrial complex—a poignant reminder of the intricate and often perilous ties between economic interests and military decisions.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction In the introduction of Chapter 1 of Heimlich's History, the focus is on America's role as a world power during the Cold War. The chapter aims to delve into the military and diplomatic responses of the United States to international developments during this period. This marks a return to the larger global context, following a brief exploration of domestic matters in previous sessions. The chapter also notes the significant decolonization movement that occurred post-World War II.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Decolonization and Cold War Context The process of decolonization began in the 16th century and accelerated after World War II, leading to the crumbling of major empires in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The United States and the Soviet Union saw this as an opportunity to expand their influence, with the US promoting democratic capitalism and the Soviet Union promoting communism. This period marked significant geopolitical shifts as both superpowers sought to shape newly independent nations into their ideological allies.
• 01:30 - 04:00: U.S. Intervention in Latin America: Guatemala and Cuba The chapter discusses the U.S. occupation of an active role in Latin America during the Cold War, and in particular, how the U.S. approached the unfolding political developments in newly decolonized nations. As these countries developed their self-governance systems, they were marked by unstable political and economic situations, making them vulnerable to foreign influence. The United States and the Soviet Union vied to garner influence in these regions, offering aid to bolster their respective ideologies. In the case of Guatemala in 1954, the U.S. orchestrated a coup to depose a socialist government in an effort to maintain its influence in the region and counter Soviet expansion. This intervention marked a key example of U.S. geopolitical strategy during this era.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Cuban Missile Crisis The chapter delves into the political climate of Guatemala in the early 1950s, focusing on the leadership of Jacobo Arbenz. Arbenz, elected as Guatemala's leader in 1951, initiated land reforms that antagonized U.S interests, particularly targeting the United Fruit Company, a prominent American business. His policy of nationalizing uncultivated land to aid impoverished Guatemalans led to tensions as he sought to purchase the land from the company, which they rejected. This set the stage for CIA involvement, who trained a force to intervene in the situation.
• 05:00 - 07:00: U.S. Intervention in the Middle East: Iran The chapter discusses U.S. interventions in the Middle East, focusing primarily on Iran. It highlights the overthrow of leaders and the installation of military dictatorships, motivated by U.S. interests such as economic resources, represented metaphorically as 'bananas'. The transcript briefly mentions similar interventions in other countries like Cuba, where Fidel Castro's rise to power is highlighted as a point of contention for the U.S. due to his non-compliance with American interests.
• 07:00 - 09:00: Decolonization and Conflict in Asia: Vietnam The chapter discusses the spread of communism in Asia and how it posed a threat close to home for the United States. The Eisenhower administration initiated a campaign to counter this by supporting Cuban exiles against the Castro regime. The operation, later executed under President John F. Kennedy, was known as the Bay of Pigs invasion and ultimately failed, with the invaders being quickly defeated.
• 09:00 - 11:00: Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex The chapter discusses the failure of a U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Castro's regime in Cuba, which led to increased tensions between the United States and Cuba, and strengthened Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union. This set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, where U.S. intelligence identified Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba. This was a significant threat given the technological limitations at the time, as launching a missile from the Russian mainland with accuracy was challenging.

America as a WORLD POWER [APUSH Review Unit 8 Topic 7] Period 8: 1945-1980 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hey there and welcome back to heimlich's history now we've been going through unit 8 of the ap u.s history curriculum and in the last few videos we've been taking a break from the larger stage of the international cold war but in this video it's time to get right back to it and talk about america as a world power during this period so if you're ready to get them bring cow's milk well then let's get to it so in this video here's what i'm trying to do explain the various military and diplomatic responses to the international developments of the united states during the cold war easy peasy okay so after world war ii ended there was a massive movement of decolonization throughout
• 00:30 - 01:00 the world remember that starting in basically the 16th century europeans have been colonizing essentially the whole dang world and the united states got its big boy empire pants on two after the spanish-american war but after world war ii most of the major empires began to crumble in africa and asia and latin america and i'm not going to go into all the reasons why this happened but for our purposes you need to understand that this wave of decolonization was like a feeding frenzy on shark week for the united states and the soviet union remember that both nations wanted to remake the entire world into the image of either democratic capitalism in the case of the
• 01:00 - 01:30 united states or authoritarian communism in the case of the soviet union so as all these nations across the world threw off their imperial rule and established some form of self-governance they began as you might expect with unstable political and economic institutions and since that was the case these new nations needed aid and therefore became desirable and valuable assets in the conflict between the united states and the soviets let me give you some examples and let's start in latin america first guatemala in 1954 the united states led a coup to overthrow a socialist government that was
• 01:30 - 02:00 encroaching on u.s business interests the leader of guatemala was a man named jacobo arbenz whom the guatemalans elected to be their leader in 1951 but he turned out to be a little too socialist for the american taste buds because he went ahead and nationalized some of the land on which the american united fruit company grew their bananas now his intent was to nationalize the land that was not under cultivation and distributed to impoverished guatemalans and even he offered to buy the land from the company but they refused enter the cia who trained a force of guatemalan
• 02:00 - 02:30 insurgents who overthrew our bends and installed a military dictatorship instead if you think that sounds a little underhanded let me remind you that bananas were at stake so you know worth it then there was the us intervention in cuba and this nation had been another military dictatorship that responded to the will of the united states but in 1959 stinking fidel castro had to go ruin all of that by overthrowing the government and rising to the seat of power himself now this change of power stunk in the american nostril primarily because castro was a
• 02:30 - 03:00 communist it was one thing to have the communist threat all the way across the pacific ocean but now there was a communist threat in our own backyard and so to remedy this problem president eisenhower in the final months of his administration greenlighted a campaign for the united states to train and arm a group of cuban exiles who were hostile to the castro regime in order to overthrow the castro regime now it wasn't until john f kennedy became president a few months later in 1961 that this operation was ready to go it became known as the bay of pigs invasion and it was a massive failure the invaders were quickly killed or captured
• 03:00 - 03:30 by castro's troops and this botched overthrow only led to the further alienation of the united states from cuba and the further communist embrace of cuba and the soviet union that will become a massive problem two years later in 1963 in an incident called the cuban missile crisis in which u.s intelligence agencies discovered soviet-style nuclear launch weapons being stockpiled in cuba and that was a big deal because the technology was shaky to launch a nuclear missile from the russian mainland with any hope that it would hit its target all the way across the sea but the
• 03:30 - 04:00 technology was just fine for a nuclear warhead to be delivered from cuba and so for several weeks americans were exceedingly tense and woke up every morning wondering if today was the day they were going to get blown up before you go getting all hateful against the soviets for doing such a thing it might be helpful to know that the united states had essentially done the same thing by stockpiling nuclear weapons in turkey which is in close proximity to the soviet union regardless after some intense negotiation the soviet union stood down and the crisis was averted okay those were a couple of examples of
• 04:00 - 04:30 u.s intervention in latin america but now let's shift to the middle east and see what's happening over there and for this we need to visit iran now in 1953 the cia conceived and implemented a plot to overthrow the democratically elected prime minister in order to return the shah mohammed reza palavi to the throne you're starting to see a pattern here now why would the u.s want to do that well the iranian prime minister sought to nationalize iran's oil industry and thus take firmer control over it and the u.s and other western nations have become dependent on oil in the last few decades and so this situation was
• 04:30 - 05:00 untenable the shah on the other hand was extremely friendly with the united states and accepted munitions and other compensations to keep the oil flowing west okay glad we fixed the middle east no more problems there now of course there's much more to be said there but let's keep right on going over to asia and for this the french colony of indochina otherwise known as vietnam will serve as a magnificent illustration so indochina was finally decolonized after fighting off the french and then the japanese and then the french again and in the end vietnam was divided along the 17th
• 05:00 - 05:30 parallel until an election could be held in the north communism took hold into the leadership of ho chi minh while south vietnam remained democratic and if you're thinking this sounds just like the korean conflict then gold star for you my friend eventually this region will be the stage for yet another proxy war between the u.s and the soviet union but that will get its own video anyway for now it'll just be important to know that under the leadership of president eisenhower something like a billion dollars in economic aid was extended to the south vietnamese people in order to stabilize it economically and
• 05:30 - 06:00 eisenhower's argument for doing this became known as the domino theory he argued that if south vietnam fell to communism it would be like a domino that fell and knocked over every other domino in the region and soon communism will be widespread over there so keep that first domino up and all shall be well now since we're talking about eisenhower let me just mention one more thing about him and that was his warning against the proliferation of the military-industrial complex now to understand what he meant by this you just need to take the words one at a time military you know what that means industrial our capacity to make things and complex the interweaving
• 06:00 - 06:30 of two entities into one so what eisenhower was warning americans about was this growing relationship between the military and our industrial capacity which had been churning out munitions for the cold war arms race and all these military interventions around the world the danger was that with military production so closely tied to our industrial capacity it would be tempting to start making policy decisions namely policy decisions about military interventions based on the material interests of those who produced the weaponry and that my friends would be a
• 06:30 - 07:00 bad situation okay thanks for watching here is my a review packet right here which will help you get an a in your class and a five on your exam in may if you were helped by this video and want me to keep making them then go ahead and subscribe and let me know if you did not enjoy this video then just tell the cia that i'm a communist and they will manufacture my overthrow in short order heimler out