The Cold War as a World War
The History Journal
Solving the mystery of Kennedy’s death How women were treated in the USSR The best propaganda in the Cold War How Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) works What the world learned from Chernobyl
The History Journal, Volume 1 No 1 (October 1, 2012)
http://www.stgeorgescollege.edu.pe/
How the Cold War affected life in the US, the USSR and the rest of the world
A Word from the Editor Why is it important to investigate and report the news? The question at first seems to be too obvious or too big to ask. Yet, in a time when an answer to every question is no further than a quick search on our smartphones, we should think carefully about what really is “news”. Truly thorough investigation and honest reporting of the news are virtues not celebrated nearly often enough. The concept of a constant relationship between power and responsibility is a familiar one. In the 21st century, if the power is instant access to an unprecedented level of information never imaginable even a generation before, then the responsibility is the development of skills to filter and select that information which has true value. This magazine seeks to do precisely that – to develop and demonstrate the skills necessary to investigate and report. The obvious topic of this journal is the Cold War, and few topics could provide more opportunity for reporting. Not only has the Cold War changed the world we live in irreversibly, but it also showcases a battle of ideologies – that is, ideas – and wherever there exists a battle of ideas there will surely be efforts to manipulate public opinion. Propaganda from the West, from the East, from Latin America to Russia, from East Asia to the United States was so complex that it took on (as one of our articles will argue) its own art form. Never before in human history had the stakes in a battle of ideas been so high. It has been said, quite accurately, that the Cold War was a war of words. This provides both the need and the opportunity to closely examine a wide variety of topics, and unlike most areas of history, these events have all taken place in the modern era and thus, we benefit from a wide variety of sources. This Journal, like any other scholarly journal, has followed a specific format and each article has been peer-reviewed. The following articles were selected as the best from the 2012 9th grade class of St Georges College. The work is completely original and includes only minor editing. We hope you enjoy the History Journal.
Jason Fowler Jason Fowler Editor-in-Chief
The History Journal Table of Contents Comparing the CIA and the KGB (Eduardo Leon, Henry Perez) .................................................................................................3 Cold War Propaganda (Victoria Borra, Karen Rumay, Sandra Un Jan) ...........................................................................................7 Who killed Kennedy, and why? (Alexandra Granda, Ana Caroline Ruiz) ....................................................................................11 Soviet Art and Cinematography (Valeria Jara, Jimena Suarez) ................................................................................................14 What was Life like for Women in the Soviet Union? (Valeria Paz, Camila Soria) ....................................................................18 Why did the Soviet Union Collapse in 1990? (Melanie Chinchayan, Angie Su) ........................................................................21 The Third World War: was the Cold War a World War? (Mariano Ranilla, Jesus Vigil) ...........................................................24 Does Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) work? (Mayra Ochoa, Cristina Zegarra) ...............................................................28 What can We Learn from Chernobyl? (Miguel Ju Zhu, Sergio Ramirez, Arturo Torres) ...............................................................31 How did the US affect Argentina during the Cold War? (Gabriela Gonzalez, Alexandra Martinez) ........................................... 37
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jason Fowler
CO-EDITORS Arturo Torres Cristina Zegarra
During their lifespan they both had similar goals, such as
Comparing the CIA and the KGB
gathering up tactical information the government may need and others. Those goals were achieved in different ways with different ranges of success. Now, the focus of this article will be to compare and contrast the CIA and KGB in terms of:
Different on the outside, alike on the inside
1.
functions,
2.
methods to achieve their goals and
3.
their success during their active time and beyond.
by Henry Pérez and Eduardo Leon
D
Functions: uring the cold war, the menace of nuclear
warheads caused fear and doubt in most, if not all countries. This fear was so immense that the two main countries of the moment (The USA and the USSR) began doubting each other due to the belief that each had their own secrets that were hidden from the world. The US feared that the USSR would take over the world by spreading their ideals of communism while, the USSR was already afraid of the US’ constant aggression and their also spreading ideal of capitalism. For
these
reasons,
the
US decides to create the CIA in 1947. This is followed
A cartoon that shows the bear (USSR) taking over the East while Uncle Sam (US) watches in fear
the
by
USSR’s
creation of the
In terms of function one needs to make two time comparisons. During 1947-1949, the CIA had three mayor tasks: Gather information,
analyze the information
gathered and finally briefing the President and National Security Council about the relevant information this means that they had no power to make any decisions during this time period. On the other hand, the KGB had different tasks to accomplish. They varied from gathering information in other countries and protecting political leaders to suppression of internal resistance, secret operations and managing propaganda. From what’s been said, one could assume that while the CIA only had the gathering of Intel as a task, the KGB had almost enough tasks to be the government itself. This lets us know that, the USSR’s government might’ve been dependant on the KGB for most of their power and influences as well as for controlling the population and maintaining the integrity of the USSR. But, this is considering the pre-importance period of the CIA.
KGB in 1954.
3
In 1949 the Central Intelligence Agency Act was passed, this
in which they could find information). The implement in
granted the CIA more powers such as the use of
power was successful at improving the CIA’s reputation as it
confidential fiscal and administrative procedures and the
began to rise as the powerful agency it was supposed to be.
ability to use their budget in a free way with complete
Their power rise was such that even cartoons and jokes
secrecy. This pact makes a difference in the comparison
were made about how they saw everything.
between the CIA and
the
USSR
since, before it, the CIA seemed like
a
“library”
since their only The picture shows an image that alludes to the KGB’s Intel searching level. It was believed that they were so good at it that, they were actually watching everyone. This can be affirmed since, up to this day, some people believe that the KGB is still running. Tony Bowden-2010(Image extracted from Flickr site)
vital function was the searching of information
but
due
the
to
limitations it could only be inside the country. In contrast the KGB which had much more work to do than just searching for information (which they could do worldwide and secretly anyways) like containing internal riots and controlling the people’s way of thought by manipulating the media. But, this drastic difference in power changed when the 1949 pact was signed. The boost of power given to the CIA might have happened because the US government noticed the effectiveness of the KGB worldwide and how
Methods:
In order to achieve a successful comparison in methods, we need to take in mind that, due to the CIA being active up to this date, there is few to no information about their methods used during the cold war. This is because, since they are an agency that is still active, they wouldn’t want anyone to find out about any possible illegal activities they might have been involved with in the past. So, most of the information regarding the CIA’s methods won’t be 100% exact.
every country knew that they were watched by them( see image below) so , in an attempt to balance power between the two mayor intelligence agencies in the world, the US government decided to give the CIA more power so that It would be able to contend against the KGB in terms of functionality and progress (The CIA was limited to the ways
Anyways, the KGB didn’t have anything holding it back, neither the law nor ethics. This can be confirmed by looking at the KGB’s functions while it was active. Due to the amount and difficulty of them and the fact that they were indeed performed by the KGB during its active time, one can understand that there couldn’t have been laws
4
stopping the KGB since it would only hinder/slow their
CIA’s torture methods as well as their involvement in the
progress in their assignments. This leads us to think that the
Pinochet coup and multiple tricks for spies (see image
KGB would do anything to succeed at their mission of
below). The image shows one example of how the CIA’s
securing Russia’s future by making it the strongest country
methods were becoming even more similar to the KGB’s
and also help with the spread of communism. This can also
due to the use of deception and espionage to gather
be backed up by noticing the multiple assassination
information or (in the case of the picture) possibly kidnap
relations the KGB had during its active time and also the
someone to interrogate in a future occasion. Thus one can
multiple information about their torture methods and
conclude that, after the act was passed, the CIA had similar
others.
methodology used to achieve their goals: success at all costs.
On the other hand, the CIA (before the act) was forced to be passive due to the lack of strength that would allow it to get secretly involved on international matters. But, this all Success: changed when the act was signed. Ever since then, they adopted stronger methods to achieve their goals. This
This category also needs to be divided in 2 parts: During the
methods included torture, undercover assassinations,
Cold war and AFTER the cold war.
altering other countries governments (see Pinochet) and many more. This further proves that the point of the act was to make the CIA stand a chance against the
KGB
by
removing any type
of
restrains from them. This can In the picture one can see one of the multiple Spy tactics used during the Cold war. In this one the target is distracted by something trivial like lighting his cigarette while the agent secretly puts sleeping pills on the target’s coffee. Photo: Secret C.I.A 'Magic' Manual Shows Cold War Spy Tricks: During Cold War, American Magician Wrote 'Trickery and Deception' Manual for C.I.A.
be backed up by
the
fact
that there is
During the cold war, the KGB had the most success mainly because it had been active for a longer time than the CIA and they had no limit restrain since the start, unlike the CIA which had to wait 2 years after its creation in order to actually be able to get involved in international matters and be able to gather information without any restrains. This changes moderately once the famous act was passed since it gave a mayor power increase to the CIA as well as the ability to get involved in international problems and more. This helps the CIA reduce the effectiveness of the KGB since now they’re both unbound by rules and can provide assistance to any event that’s happening worldwide without having to inform anyone.
information about
the
Phil Franke/Harper Collins Dec 02, 2009 04:12 PM (abcnews.go.com)
5
After the war, it’s simply obvious that the CIA was the
etc) with the only differences being that they belong to
agency with the highest success because of one main
different countries and that one had a higher success than
reason: It hadn’t dissolved like the KGB did post-cold war.
the other. It’s similar to brothers; one looks up to the
This proves that the CIA’s importance was recognized by
other, tries to be as good as him, possibly imitates what the
the US government because, otherwise, the CIA would have
older brother is doing (reason for which the act was passed
been dismantled just like the KGB was in 1991. This means
was so that the CIA could keep up with the KGB i.e. imitate
that, without their main adversary, the CIA was free to
their methods and power) and finally becoming better than
eliminate any type of evidence that linked them to illegal
the older brother by a long margin (the CIA stands strong
acts performed during the cold war while leaking the
while the KGB was dissolved).
multiple operations done by the KGB at the time.
Bibliography: Conclusion 1. Anonymous writer, Our Mission
Concluding, one can confirm that the difference between the CIA and the KGB are close to none after the pact was
CIA website, April 12, 2007 10:03 PM Last Updated: Jan 03, 2012 01:05PM
signed in 1949, since both agencies had similar powers and
https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/6-12th-grade/who-we-are-whatwe-do/our-mission.html
weren’t restrained by rules or law. Apart from that, they
2. J.Clark, The History of the KGB
both used similar methods to obtain what they wanted
eHow website http://www.ehow.com/about_5381628_history-kgb.html
(torture to obtain information, undercover mission to 3. ThinkQuest, KGB
change events, etc). This can be confirmed by the multiple
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/kgb.htm
rumors and conspiracies that rose during the Cold war era
4. Derek Rhule, The central intelligence Agency
which said that both agencies (CIA and KGB separately)
Cold War Museum
were involved in multiple assassinations and manipulation
http://www.coldwar.org/articles/40s/CentralIntelligenceAgencyC IA.asp
of various governments in allied countries. The only aspect that separates them from being the same agency but with
5. Normal Breathing, Brainwashing Techniques: KGB vs. CIA http://www.normalbreathing.com/brainwashingtechniques.php#.UFaXebKTuc3
different names would be the success they had since the KGB was dismantled in 1991 unlike the CIA which stands strong up to this day.
So, it would be correct to affirm that the CIA and the KGB were similar in many aspects (methods, functions, actions,
6
COLD WAR - PROPAGANDA
when the cold war started, and the countries who made the most interesting propaganda of the cold war, this is the question that we want to
he Cold War lasted from the end of World
answer; Which country made the best and the
War II until the early 1990s,
most interesting propaganda of the cold war?
even though the Soviet
We also want to show the positive and negative
Union and the USA never
aspects that the propaganda created. Finally,
really had a direct battle.
how did propaganda change the way people
The
thought?
cold
war
was
by
the
During the Cold War, America and the Soviet
development of nuclear
Union used propaganda to make sure that their
expressed
weapons,
technological
development,
populations hated the enemy and wanted to
espionage and what we call “propaganda”.
support
In this picture (on the left sidei), we can observe
government.
two identical superheroes representing the US and the Soviet Union. It is trying to demonstrate that both countries are equally destructive and dangerous. When Cold War begins the “propaganda” reappears, here we want to demonstrate the
the
The picture at the leftii, created by a French
anti-
communist group, is trying to demonstrate that Stalin’s sign of “peace”, was not true because in the other had he is holding a weapon.
big importance of propaganda in the times
7
The next pictureiii, was published a year after
groups
Stalin’s death. This
democratic states (U.S.A) removed most of their
poster
propaganda.
that
reinforces the
because
after
WWII
the
western
Soviets
But, America has also created propaganda
developed
through all periods of history. They used it
their weapons, and
particularly in times of war and international
air-forces
much
crisis.
more. The red stars
While
have
represent
the
Propaganda
is
pilot’s
kill
considered
to
score.
be
a
the
USSR
showed
off
military
strength,
trying
to
its
impress;
psychological manipulation technique of a
(see the image on
group of individuals, usually known for creating
the rightiv), America
a
used Hollywood and
negative
influence.
Since
the
Russian
revolution to the final days of the Cold War, communists
were
propaganda
art.
experts Using
this
at
making
method,
the
communists won the hearts and minds of Russian people, making them see communism as
a
shining
and
very
attractive
Strong citizens working for motherland. The BGTO media. program was introduced. The boy in the picture is holding a BGTO book.
future.
Most of the propaganda we see comes from the Soviet Union or independent political activist
One result of the immense anti-communism propaganda was the persecution of many Hollywood workers. This is because there were many secret Soviet agents that were hiding in the
American
woodworking.
Senator
Joe
McCarthy was responsible for finding them but 8
he also, affected innocent people by making
bad. It said how Soviets were waiting for any
them loose their job and not being able to find
moment to try to destroy America. Comics, that
another one.
were normally geared towards children, took a twist-
created,
The
Also, when the television was USA
was
able
to
spread
in comic "Is This Tomorrow�, Russians are shown "conquering
propaganda in a more easy, fast, and effective
and
way.
enslaving
America."
As literature was so cheap the non-fiction books and comics became methods to implant
which
country
made
the
propaganda. These were sold very cheap and were about superheroes defeating
So,
most
the
the
and best
interesting
communists. The story was usually about a
propaganda of
cowboy or soldier going against a terrible
the Cold War?
situation
According
but
always
saving
the
day.
to
what was said above, even though most of the propaganda that we can see today comes from The
non-fictional
books
were
very
fictional; they were always
about
communism and the reason why it was
the Soviet Union because of the reasons already mentioned, the US made the most interesting and amazing propaganda, using comics, television, Hollywood, books, and posters. Using all these different strategies helped the US to make the best propaganda. 9
BIBLIOGRAPHY/ RESOURCES: [1] John B. Whitton The American Journal of International Law Vol.45, No. 1 (published in January, 1951), pp. 151-153 Published by: American Society of International Law URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2194791 [2] Davidson, Philip Propaganda and the American Revolution, 1763-1789. Chapel Hill, N.C., published in 1941 URL: http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Propaganda.html [3] "Total Cold War: U.S. Propaganda in the 'Free World,' 19531960." Ph.D. dissertation. University of California, Santa Barbara, Calif., 2001. Many of this essay's conclusions are drawn from the original research in the dissertation. Read more: Propaganda Published in 2001 URL: http://englishrussia.[3]com/2006/09/20/soviet-propaganda-against-usaposters/ [4] Politics and Film: Propaganda and Its Influence during the Cold War Heather Bullis, Carnegie Vanguard High School Published in 02/08/2008 URL: http://hti.math.uh.edu/curriculum/units/2008/02/08.02.02.pdf [5] "Propaganda." Merriam-Webster. Published in 11 Feb. 2008 URL:www.merriam-webster.com Simple definition of the term used as a basic understanding for the students. [6] Soviet Propaganda cartoon DVD´s by Cory Doctorow at 1.00 pm Sunday, Published in November 4 URL: http://boingboing.net/2007/11/04/soviet-propaganda-ca.html
MEMBERS: - Victoria Borra - Karen Rumay - Sandra Un Jan 10
KENNEDY´S ASSASSINATION MYSTERY: Who did it? Why he was killed?
killed
person,
American?
other
president,
other
And most importantly, who
actually killed him?
By Ana Caroline Ruiz and Alexandra Granda J.F.Kennedy with his wife Jacqueline before his assassination
The Kennedys went to Dallas for JKF’s campaign. There were lots of people there, and the Kennedys where on a car waving at the people. The car turned off at the Main Street at Dealey Plaza around 12:30 pm; the car continues to move, passing the Texas
School
Book
Depository,
and
suddenly gunfire started in the plaza. One of the bullets struck in the president’s neck and he slumped towards Mrs. Kennedy.
Kennedy
represented
hope
and
the
prospects for the "new generation", he created an atmosphere that was different from any other elections, and therefore it was devastating. Kennedy’s assassination represented the end of an innocent time and the beginning of a turbulent one. Race relations the war in Vietnam, the threat of communism all
Every single person that has studied history
conspired together to make it a time of
knows this stories, is at schools, books,
anxiety. The country and the whole world
and even movies, but why? Why is this
was dividing into two: the ones who wanted
even so important in history? What does
to find the killer, and the ones who were
JFK had that made him different from other
hiding the killer.
11
The first to be accused was Lee Harvey
an involvement from the Pentagon, from
Oswald, the man who allegedly pulled the
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from the FBI, the
trigger of a rifle from the Texas School
CIA and even the White House itself
Book
because maybe President Kennedy was a
Depository
and
was
found
40
minutes. Oswald denied involvement in the killing.
Two
days
later,
while
threat to their plans.
being A great example of how Kennedy could be
transferred to the county jail, Oswald was a threat was what he decided to do with the shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Vietnam War. The U.S.A gave supplies, Ruby; and then he killed himself. arms and every material thing that they needed but Kennedy knew he could not get the war further; the U.S.A was too involved with the Vietnam War already in 1963. But people
like
Vice
President
Johnson
opposed to the decision because they were ambitious politicians and they could not let But why did Jack Ruby killed Oswald for
communism won after what happen during
then killing himself? There is a belief that
the Cold War and the Domino Theory, so
they were involved to a Mafia Contract, and
there is a belief that every person that
that Oswald knew too much and Jack Ruby
wanted the United States to become
owned a favor to the Mafia and he had no
actively involved in the Vietnam send
choice, still everything is a theory.
someone or some people to kill Kennedy.
There are also lots of probabilities that this murder was a conspiracy. The suspicious people that were supposed to be involved in this conspiracy and that will get benefit from it are The that there could have been
12
Propaganda saying how Kennedy should be careful by getting involve with Cuba
Kennedy showing Vietnam´s map and what they have already done for them
Conclusion: There are many theories on Kennedy’s
However, it is not only believed that the Vietnam War was the only fact or reason for killing Kennedy. Before this, there was the Cuban Revolution, Kennedy was also involved in it and is said that because
death, and for each argument there’s an argument against, making the research even more difficult. But the one that had most motives and more arguments in favor is Oswald; being the one that has
President Kennedy did not help the Cubans
more quotes, videos, and interviews, in exiles in their attempt (1961) to invade
other words more evidence. It has being Cuba and stop the communism of Fidel
proved that he had some psychological Castro´s government, he also did not
issues. He tried to enter the USSR, it destroy Cuba on the Cuba missile crisis of 1962, this facts created a great anger from those Cubans that believed U.S.A would
help them and Kennedy was the one in charge, so this is a theory of why someone would kill him.
didn’t worked so well, and it seems that he killed the president to gain favor with Russians. o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_ of_John_F._Kennedy o http://www.coverups.com/jfk/who.htm o http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harvey_O swald o http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/lhocia.htm o http://listverse.com/2007/09/08/11alternative-jfk-assassins/
13
SOVIET ART AND CINEMATOGRAPHY Common themes between the Two by Valeria Jara and Jimena Suarez
T
here is no doubt that most people recognize the Soviet Union for its communist “achievements”, advanced technology, nuclear weapons, and
several conflicts with other countries. For others, the Soviet propaganda against Hitler (1) Soviet Union is also one of the main producers of high quality films and artistic masterpieces. Soviet
created hatred towards any sort of Soviet art in
art & cinematography was influenced by the
some groups of people, claiming that by having
surrounding events of the time, resulting in the use
this purpose there was nothing “ artistic” about
of a scale of descending colors. Furthermore, the
Soviet cinematography and art at all.
artists in charge never looked to an idealized past,
This article, aside from showing characteristics and
but always
the history of Soviet art and Soviet cinematography.
looked into
will show the main common theme that these two
the future.
share, by demonstrating how important it was for the
Films and
Soviets to diffuse propaganda as much as possible
posters were
using these mediums while keeping in mind the
also a great
“artistic” factors of them.
propaganda
Cinematography
tool. This
After the Union of Soviet Social Republics (USSR) stated that films could be a useful way to spread
Movie leaflet 14
propaganda, considering the immense popularity that
They investigated cinematic theories,
films had among citizens, several Soviet films were
montages, the film industry as a propaganda tool and
developed, but needed support around WWI.
more. In fact, Soviet films did cause a worldwide revolution, mainly due to the highly realistic images and excellent use of montages, it showed everyone a
“Of all the arts for us the most important is cinema” -Lenin (2)
new type of expression. The Soviet film industry kept in mind the diffusion of propaganda as proven before. Nonetheless, in the end it was important for everyone else the way that it
Once that Stalin died in 1953, censorship was
expressed the message, not the actual message. The
constantly applied by the government to movies with
mediums that it used to achieve this, that is what
any undesirable or politically offensive material.
impressed the rest of the world, which is why Soviet
However, now directors were free to apply whatever
cinematography is a very important point in the
they thought that the public would like to see,
history of films in general.
unlike before Stalin’s death where films were done
Art
just to spread propaganda. “Social realism” was finally liberalized to allow the creation of more human characters, but communism could not be criticized at all. “A revolutionary cinema for the revolution” and “Experimentation as a system” were important ideals of the Soviet cinematography. It was necessary to show the world the triumph of the revolution in a revolutionary way, and the government was experimenting with films to build a revolutionary state in every single aspect. (including artistically).
Before 1932, Soviet art drew on futurism, cubism and abstraction. These were symbolic of the new realism being established by the government. Several recognized artists produced propaganda posters and sculptures considered to be true
15
masterpieces of abstract symbolism. Years past 1932 symbolism was gone and realism began. The new paintings included real-life themes such as youth, energy, labor, peasants and buildings. It was quite similar to Nazi art, though Soviet Art looked towards the future instead. The death of Joseph Stalin also affected the arts positively, causing a wave of liberalization. Artist now felt free to experiment in their work, unlike in the past. However, as time flew by it was not as liberal as artists had hoped. Artists who painted in styles different from realism had to do it secretly and in private. Fortunately, Mikhail Gorbachev’s
Soviet abstract sculpture
policies around the 1980’s made it nearly impossible
In conclusion, Soviet paintings and cinema
for the authorities to get involved or place
searched for freedom, art and a way to express their
restrictions on artists and their freedom of speech.
propaganda properly in any sort of mainstream medium. Still, freedom seemed to be more important
Soviet posters played a main role in the art of
for art than it was for cinematography, and people
propaganda. They were introduced to Russia before
were actually allowed to experiment in films after
the Revolution, yet Lenin created the first
the death of Stalin. There was also another very
modern propaganda machine. These became
common theme between the two: revolution. It was
extremely popular as well as controversial, and
the most important thing for the Soviet Union in
nowadays are remembered by many as one of the
general, and it was necessary to express the triumph
main contributors to the Soviet Union. A prime
of revolution in both mediums.
example can be the Anti-Hitler poster in page 1.
16
Bibliography: 1. Anti-Nazi Poster Homepagedaily.com http://www.homepagedaily.com/uploads/20090811/ db4cf020-4e3f-4813-a60ceeff81f19190/a55_redarmy.jpg “Of all the arts for us the most important is cinema” –Lenin (January 17 of 1922) The Film Factory: Russian and Soviet Cinema in Documents, 1896-1939 First published in 1988 http://books.google.com.pe/books?id=dkVKmMW3 V9EC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=of+all+arts+leni n+most+important&source=bl&ots=HtRUi2PDp&sig=xoLwWQcdAMR7Ga3KZGzkWVB5piw& hl=en&sa=X&ei=QXBNUMfAE4mQ9QS14GADg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=of %20all%20arts%20lenin%20most%20important&f= false 2.
3. Nazi & Soviet Art Goodart.org http://www.goodart.org/artofnz.htm 4. Russian & Soviet Cinema The British Library Board http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelplang/russian/russia ncinema/russcinema.html 5. The Russian and Soviet Cinematography – great art from the big country Magdaolchawska.com 2011 http://www.magdaolchawska.com/entry/164
6. Soviet Art Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_art 7. Cinema of the Soviet Union Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_the_Soviet_ Union
17
What was Life like for Women In the Soviet Union? By: Camila Soria & Valeria Paz
In these times, women were more independent, and they were no longer obligated to live with their husband.
Furthermore, in the soviet army there where
Attention was paid to women maternity laws. Also
more than more than 8 percent of mobilized
women’s department wanted to bring women into
troops
politics by visiting factories and villages. (1)
reflected more the propaganda efforts of the soviets
that
were
than
women.
This
situation
the
reality.
Women during the twentieth century wanted to have the same rights as men had, such as work,
equal
pay,
better
the same right to
education,
be
able
to
participate in social and political activities. However, this didn’t occur in Russia until October 1917, which was a milestone in the emancipation of women. For the first time the complete economic, political and sexual
Women propaganda
equality of women was put on the historic agenda. Also, women would finally have the opportunity to work outside of their homes and have a role in all spheres of political and social life. (1) The Soviet Government wanted to mobilize millions of women workers to participate in building the new society.
For this to occur, many conferences were
organized. The government was doing everything it could to enable the Soviet woman to be an
Besides, the Soviet Union was one of the first societies that included women in their armed forces. Women were soldiers in World War 1 and 2.
In the active force, they worked in
clerical positions, the communications field, administration, as repair technicians, and particularly in the health and medical services (3).
independent proletarian socialist worker (1).
18
Women were encouraged to have large families, but also expected to work outside the home. Western feminists have often been confused to find that for Russian women, feminism means being able to stay at home with their children, rather than having to work long hours at a job as well as having
The women of the Soviet Union worked on an equal
to do all the housework, cooking, etc. Russian
footing with men to advance science, culture and
women have been 'having it all' for decades, and
the arts, and they had an outstanding place in the
many of them are tired of it. Very few women in top
national education and health services.
government jobs for instance, and although there were a lot of women doctors, doctor did not have particularly high status. From the beginning, the soviet law recognized that
Also they are implementing their political rights in practice. While 256 thousand women have been elected to rural, regional, urban and republican organs of state power.
motherhood is not a private matter, but rather, the social duty of the active and equal female citizen.
Lenin considered that the role of women was
As well the Soviet Union has solved one of the most
essential to the success of revolution. In 1918 in a
important dilemmas, how women can work without
Women’s congress, he said "the experience of all
leaving their motherhood. Vladimir Lenin, who was a
liberation movements has shown that the success of
Russian revolutionary leader, said that the public
a revolution depends on how much the women
canteens, kindergartens, Young pioneer camps,
take part in it."
playgrounds and crèches, all facilitate women to work by caring for their children.
In the elections of 1927 for the rural Soviets 6,500,000 women took part. Also 146,251 women were elected
Moreover, in this time the soviet state provides increasing materials assistance to mothers and they had support of the government. In 1945, when the families were bigger or one-parent homes, the government would pay them two billion roubles.
to the rural Soviets. In October, 1927, women formed 12.8 percent of the membership of the Communist Party. Finally one-third of the students of higher education
were
women.
Also
there
are
huge
industrial enterprises in the U.S.S.R., like the Skorokhod Shoe Factory, where 60 per cent of those employed were women (4).
19
Therefore, women laws were respected, marriage had no effect on the citizenship of either party, and women did not have to follow their husbands
to
another place, like it was before. Other laws were created in favor of women like providing a vacation period with pay for women, before and after
(1) http://www.socialistappeal.org/analysi s/women-marxism/141-women-in-thesoviet-union Women in the Soviet Union - Monday 19 , January 1998 19:00
childbirth. Some examples of successful women in
(2) http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/
the USSR can be Valentina Grizodubova, Paulina
128134?uid=3738800&uid=2&uid=4&sid =21101032293193
Ossipenko and Marina Raskova, who were fliers that displayed such heroism in the art of flying in their long-distance non-stop flight from Moscow to the Far East. They made a record in non-stop women flight
Alice Schuster, Vol. 30 , No. 3 (July, 1971) , pp. 260-267.
(3) http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/air chronicles/aureview/1982/janfeb/obrien.html Air University Review, January-February 1982. Mary Louise O'Brien
(6).
(4) http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr /government/1928/sufds/ch25.htm
Conclusion Women’s lives were complicated because at first they didn’t have the rights they deserved,
Source: Alexandra Kollontai: Selected Articles and Speeches, Progress Publishers,
however, they fight for them and with the support
1984; First Published: Sovetskaya
of the government women get the rights they
zhenshchina,(Soviet Woman), No. 5,
wanted. Much educational propaganda also helped women to succeed. Women played an important role in the Soviet Union, and they helped along World War 1 and 2 by being part of the military troops.
Women received benefits
from the government, as well as some of the rights they wanted. Women in the Soviet Union should be considered as heroes because they
September-October, 1946, pp. 3-4, abridged.
(5)http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollont a/1946/full.htm Published: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1939. Transcribed: for marxists.org in April, 2002.
(6)http://www.marxists.org/subject/wome n/authors/pichugina/women.html Published: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1939. Transcribed: for marxists.org in April, 2002.
fight for the nations, they wanted to help in the society. Women were accorded public honor for
20 good work or the attainment of greater skill (5).
called the revolution "unexpected". The Soviet
WHY DID THE SOVIET UNION COLLAPSE IN 1990?
Union was far away from any decline, and it did
By Angie Su & Melanie Chinchayan
not seem to have any serious problems. But,
T
he Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
underneath the surface were economic and
(USSR) was a former country with a
political issues, specifically the amount of
major world power, which began with the
money they needed to support all the weapons
Russian Revolution of 1917 and ended in its
and the fact that people were not sure if they
collapse in 1991. It was founded by a revolution
wanted to continue being communists.
led by the Bolshevik party, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. The country was ruled by only one party, the Communist Party. When Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, he was replaced by
The Decline of the Soviet Union was between the 1985 and the 1989. At the 1960s people thought
that
communists
were
the
best,
because
Joseph Stalin, who later became known as one
they
of the most brutal mass murderers in history.
will
produce
The Soviet Union and the United States were
more
major rivals in the end of World War II, creating
goods than the USA and Western Europe. By
the "Cold War". i
the
1980s
people
started
realizing
that
There were disagreements over the size and
capitalism was better, and that communism had
depth of the Soviet system's problems and no
failed because the people were poorer than the
one thought them to be on risk. George Kennan,
people of Western Europe. In addition to that,
an
scientist and
Soviet farming failed. They had rich lands but
historian, found it "hard to think of any event
they could not produce enough food for the
more strange and startling, and at first glance
people.
American
inexplicable,
adviser, political
than
the
sudden
and
total
disintegration and disappearance‌ of the great power known successively as the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union". ii Richard Pipes, an American historian of Russia and advisor to U.S. President Ronald Reagan,
Under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet communism moved a long way from the new kind of state based on fairness and equality, and it became more corrupt. Lenin closely predicts the Party’s future when he asks,
21
"What if unscrupulous and malevolent men
USA, so the invasions made Reagan take a
succeeded in capturing these institutions and
tough anti- Soviet stance. The Soviet military
manipulated them to cover-up or condone their
action failed. The Afghan army was not strong
own abuses of power?" Years later, in 1964,
enough to win, so the USSR helped them, but
when Brezhnev came into power, they system
this affected more the USSR economy.
would reflect Lenin's fears, and the hope for When Mikhail Gorbachev came to the power of true socialism would be gone. As a result this the Soviet Union, their economy was still failing, people had less respect for communism. iii but Gorbachev believed the communist system During the Second cold war (1979 – 1985),
needed to be reformed, not replaced. He
communist economies were in trouble, and they
thought there was a way to do it called
did not have enough money to pay for weapons.
“Perestroika” or “Reforms”
But America and its allies could pay for them because their economies were better than the Soviet Union’s. The cost of the Cold War started to increase when US president Ronald Reagan came to power in 1981. He increased military spending and challenged USSR to join a new arms race. This started a big competition between the Soviet Union and the USA to
Mikhail Gorbachev delivering a speech at the 11th congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in East Berlin, 1986 He also wanted to stop corruption and he knew
destroy their missiles in space.
that the cause of economic problems was the In 1979 Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan to
amount of money spent on defense. And the
support
The
ways to reduce it was taking Afghanistan out of
invasion
the Soviet Union, negotiating arms reductions
was
with the USA and stop interfering in the affairs
criticized
of other communist countries. He did some of
the
these things but they did not help the Soviet
its
communist
government.
by
Islamic
Union
get
stronger.
world. The Afghan rebels received help from
22
Gorbachev failed, so he announced that the
group of hard-line communists tried to seize
Brezhnev Doctrine was now abandoned. The
power, by arresting Gorbachev and were
doctrine determined that when one country was
declaring an emergency. In December of 1991,
going to pass from a socialist (communist)
the
government to a capitalist one (democracy), it
independent.iv
individual
Soviet
Republic
became
concerned all socialist countries, not only the To conclude, the Collapse of the Soviet Union affected country. So when the doctrine was was mostly because of economic issues, how abandoned, the Eastern Europe countries could they used most of the money for weapons in do whatever they liked. In 1989, a series of wars. It was also because of how people were massive anti-communist protests took place on seeing communism different and how they Czechoslovakia; the communist government started realizing that capitalism was better, soon collapsed. Through Eastern Europe there causing the major causes for the collapse of the was no more popular support for communism Soviet Union. and, without the threat of Soviet tanks, communism fell apart.
i
After that, everybody wanted independence from The Soviet Union; and many people demanded the end of communism. The USSR divided into separate republics and Russia was the largest one. Boris Yeltsin left the communist party in 1966, and joined groups to destroy Soviet communism. Gorbachev tried to stop the disintegration of the USSR by using forces against nationalists in
Anissimov, Michael, What is the Soviet Union? , wiseGEEK, Sep. 11 2012 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-sovietunion.htm ii Aron, Leon, Everything You Think You Know About the Collapse of the Soviet Union Is Wrong, Foreign Policy, July 2011 http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/2 0/everything_you_think_you_know_about_the_ collapse_of_the_soviet_union_is_wrong?page= full iii
Unknown, The Growing Problem of Corruption Under Brezhnev, Corruption under Brezhnev, 2002 http://stalingrad_1943.tripod.com/stalingrad/id1 9.html iv
McAleavy, Tony, Gorbachev and the fall of the Soviet Empire, 2002 Twentieth Century History International Relations since 1919 Pages 160- 165.
the Baltic
republics; this caused the loss of his long standing friends and supporters. In 1991 a
23
[1]
The Third World War Was the Cold War a World War? There are many reasons of why the Cold Countries involved in the Cold War (http://imgur.com/Ah9tS)
War should be considered a World War. In the following article we are going to present evidence that will support the hypothesis of why was it a world war. One of the strongest arguments of this was the intervention of the considerable
world are involved. This concept confirms our argument, because as we can see in the graph [1], these sorts of countries are involved, for example the US, the USSR, England, France, Germany, etc.
number of the most powerful countries in
The most powerful leaders in that era were
the Cold War. We are also going to analyze
Churchill from UK, Roosevelt from US (that
the most powerful leaders’ works, the causes
was then replaced by Truman at the Potsdam
and effects of the Cold War, how Africa and
conference) and Stalin from USSR, as we can
the Middle East were involved in the war,
see respectively in picture [2]. At the
and finally the comparison between the
beginning of the Cold War, we all know that
world wars and the Cold War. These will be
they had to discuss about the government of
analyzed in order to answer our main
most of the European countries that were in
topic question.
ruins (economically speaking). They agreed,
First we are going to ask ourselves what is exactly a world war. According the TheFreeDictionary.com, a world war is a war in which the major nations of the
in the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, that non-communist
country
had
to
have
emergency governments as the elections had to occur as soon as possible; also that the 24
border between Germany and Poland would
which side to choose, but of course he gave
be free of Nazi influence and get ready for
some advantages to the countries that
reparations. As it was expected the US and
wanted to be democratic. For example the
USSR did not respect those agreements, so
Marshall Plan that consisted in helping the
instead of that they started to plan
economic developing of European countries,
separately how to: in the case of the US how
was
to make European countries democratic and
countries. So Stalin tried to copy every idea
become their allies and, in the case of USSR
the US created, not just the Marshall Plan,
how to make countries communist and make
but also the NATO, by setting up a similar
them their allies.
system that was the Warsaw Pact. But the US
only
available
to
non-communist
[2] Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, 1945 (http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/wwii/jb_wwii_stalin_2_e.html)
plans were more successful. The Cold War in the Middle East was a US victory. After the Second World War the Jewish and Arabs disputed about an area called Palestine, but finally the US decided to create a Jewish state called Israel. Therefore, as Israel was a US ally, it was a Soviet Union
The main reason of the Cold War was the disagreements between these two world powers on what to do with European countries.
Stalin
wanted
the
rise
of
communism in Europe and eventually in the whole world, while Truman wanted each country to decide by itself what to do and
enemy. An Arab named Nasser took control in Egypt and he seized control of the Suez Canal and asked the USSR for help. Then Israel and Arab states continued fighting between each other, but with American help Israel won the war. Then a new Egypt leader Anwar Sadat broke relationships with the 25
USSR and established good relationships
leader) placed nuclear missiles on Cuba.
with the US. Finally the Americans achieved
There was a grave possibility of a nuclear
to join the Jewish Israelis and Arab
war. When the US found this out, Kennedy
Palestinians to sign a peace treaty in 1993.
insisted Khrushchev to take them out.
Summarizing, the US was more successful in
Eventually Khrushchev did it, but with the
influencing the Middle East than the Soviet
condition that the US will take out their
Union.
missiles in Turkey. And Kennedy agreed: “It
Now, the intervention of the world powers in Central America was different. In 1959, Castro promoted a revolution in Cuba and introduced the idea of communism and became a USSR ally.
was our judgment that, within a short time after the crisis was over, those missiles would be gone� [3]. And finally Cuba ended being a Soviet Union ally, because it was communist. In conclusion, Was the Cold War a War? Yes it was and during this article we had seen everything that can prove it. Summarizing, the first evidence is that just like the two world wars, the Cold War included the two most powerful countries in the world, the US and Russia and also the participation of many others countries. Also we have seen the
In 1961 the American CIA organized an
intervention of these two world powers in
attack over Cuba to stop Castro and it ended
the Middle East and in Central America,
disastrously wrong with the humiliation of
which means that this war take place in
the American President John F. Kennedy.
many parts of the world. And between these,
Then in 1962 Khrushchev (the new Soviet
we had discovered the roots of the Cold War 26
and similarities to any other world war.
and historical war should be considered a
Therefore, we can conclude that this huge
world war. Jesús Vigil & Mariano Ranilla
9th Hawking
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/american/coldwar/terms.html http://www.shmoop.com/causes-of-cold-war/josef-stalin.html http://www.thefreedictionary.com/world+war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_countries_were_in_the_Cold_War “Biblioteca de Aprendizaje Interactivo Mundo Hispano” Editorial Océano: “La Guerra fría” page 1384 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_(1953%E2%80%931962) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vf1CO3xxhgJ:www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/moment.htm+It+was+our+judgment+that,+withi n+a+short+time+after+the+crisis+was+over,+those+missiles+would+be+gone&cd=1&hl=es&ct=cln k
27
Did the policy Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) work?
Then the term “nuclear credibility” appeared which was
another
strategy
that
consisted
in
the
possibility to reach the enemy, the existence of a
By Cristina Zegarra and Mayra Ochoa
wide range of nuclear weapons and the certainty or commitment that will be used if necessary. If we divided it into three parts there would be the
What is Mutual Assured Destruction?
counterforce strategy to destroy or reduce limits the enemy, the counterpart strategy which had the aim
After the Vietnam War, the US and USSR were
to destroy the enemy resources and town, and
devastated and as a way to reduce the tension
finally the concept of triad which became strong in
between them and the countries which could be
the 1950’s.
involved they decided to use MAD doctrine. Mutual Assured Destruction is in fact a doctrine which
The Triad arises in the late 1950’s and had the aim
believes that there are enough nuclear weapons in
to destroy the nuclear arsenal of the opponent.
one place to destroy another one and vice versa so both places have the same chances to win or fail an attack, if they fail, there would be an “assured destruction”. The purpose of this article is to show if people were for in favor of this policy and if it worked making the countries abstain from using nuclear weapons.
How did it work? This doctrine had many strategies. One was the nuclear deterrence and divided it into two, to defeat the USSR because USSR was expanding and the US did not want to use conventional armament but nuclear armament. MAD was seen as a doctrine which helped to prevent conflicts between the USSR and the US. Some people consider that the Cold War ended in 1990, but although it ended, MAD did not; and another strategy was to try to convince the opponent that a minimum attack would be responded with a total attack.
A cartoon showing the first strategy of MAD, “if you attack, me too” (http://www.google.com.pe/imgres?q=mutual+assured+destrc tion&um=1&hl=es&rlz=1C1CHJL_esPE457PE457&biw=1280&bi h=880&tbm=isch&tbnid=rQV8SUf1TM7bdM:&imgrefurl=http:) www.stephankinsella.com/2010/04/mutually-assureddestruction-and-theguillotine/&docid=yNmOTdSOzJFfiM&imgurl=http://www.step hankinsella.com/wpLimited Nuclear War content/uploads/2010/04/guillotine.png&w=600&h=570&ei= Q4liUPKdLoqw0AH994HQBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=850&vpy The staff of the nuclear power, also feature =489&dur=493&hovh=219&hovw=230&tx=140&ty=102&sig=1 08208220467670828222&page=1&tbnh=163&tbnw=171&star strategies that seek to prevent nuclear escalation to t=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:106)
end in a nuclear war. The second-order nuclear
1
powers like Britain and France, due to their limited arsenal, are forced in many cases to use these strategies. Limited Nuclear War can be described 28
simply as a small-scale use of nuclear weapons by
There are not errors in the equipment that have to
two or more belligerents.The concepts of limited
identify a launch by the other side but if it happens;
nuclear war are not compatible with strategies such
accordingly, will produce a full nuclear exchange.
as maximum deterrence and other strategies designed at the beginning of the nuclear age.
Perfect attribution occurs when a launch is launched in the border of two countries, for example: If there is a launch in from the Sino-
Flexible Response Strategy Responds to the concepts of graduated response and tries to respond to each threat or aggression, with a proportionate response to the nature of that,
Russia border, it could be difficult to identify which nation is responsible thus both; Russia and China have the capability to decide where is place where they want to launch. 2
hoping to master the process of climbing and driving the opponent to restrain or negotiate. Such strategies were developed from the 1970’s to be
Perfect Rationality
used in military organizations like NATO and in
Not every state can develop weapons; however, if
response to very specific scenarios and defined.
they do, they stop behaving as a “rogue state” and subject themselves to the logic of MAD. They must
Tactical Nuclear War
not treat with other nuclear weapons states as
The previous discussion of concepts was created
“rogue states”.
for strategic nuclear weapons, which are those that
The “rogue commanders” cannot make decisions to
seek to destroy the adversary's military capability
corrupt launch process.
primarily in the rear. These strategic weapons often
The leaders with launch capability must take care
have far-reaching and enormous destructive power.
of their fellows.
There are a class of so-called tactical nuclear weapons or theater, that are less powerful than the strategic scope. These weapons are under political control but can be used by managers in direct support of conventional forces and are used primarily against enemy armies.
Perfect detection There is not possibility to camouflage a launch because the use of stealth technology in aircraft such as the B-2 bomber makes this assumption less likely to be fulfilled.
This image is a proof made by the US in the Pacific (Nuclear weapon test Apache -yield 1.85 Mt). (http://www.google.com.pe/imgres?q=mutual+assured+de struction&um=1&hl=es&sa)=N&rlz=1C1CHJL_esPE457PE45) 7&biw=1280&bih=844&tbm=isch&tbnid=yA7Ep4zuvCU9YM :&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_ destruction&docid=CoMpLTMM1pLHMM&imgurl=http://u pload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Red wing_Apache.jpg/280pxRedwing_Apache.jpg&w=280&h=223&ei=SohiUL31LLSy0AH L64DACA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=194&vpy=533&dur=1172 &hovh=178&hovw=224&tx=125&ty=100&sig=1082082204
29
Inability to Defend When a nation is inability to defend it doesn’t have enough anti-missile technology to protect the equipment.
Conclusion: MAD did work, because it convinced people that the use of that power could devastate the world and they believed strongly that a limited nuclear exchange was impossible to accept. If US and USSR would have decided that having the nuclear weapons was a good idea, they would destroy the world a lot of times, but we are still alive which means that the strategies mentioned worked and was a brilliant idea for the two countries to stop trying to have more nuclear weapons because it brought more peace for people and managed to reduce the international tension; although if these two countries would have denied MAD doctrine, having no nuclear weapons would be safer because people could be certain that any of those countries would have any chances to
An image showing people who believe that after the total war humanity may live better (http://www.google.com.pe/imgres?q=mutual+assured+de struction&um=1&hl=es&sa=N&rlz=1C1CHJL_esPE457PE 457&biw=1280&bih=844&tbm=isch&tb)d=UZ5UNOmIILLj M:&imgrefurl=https://wikis.nyu.edu/ek6/modernamerica/ind ex.php/AmericanPowerAmpCulturalHegemony/NuclearPo wer&docid=JOmRZBbleu3YhM&imgurl=http://wikis.nyu.ed u/ek6/modernamerica/uploads/AmericanPowerAm) lHegemony.NuclearPower/4.gif&w=421&h=568&ei=SohiU L31LLSy0AHL64DACA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=177&vpy= BIBLIOGRAPHY 152&dur=268&hovh=261&hovw=193&tx=113&ty=154&sig 1.=108208220467670828222&page=2&tbnh=149&tbnw=10 Introduction to MAD, Josh Clark, 2007 http://people.howstuffworks.com/mutual-assured-destruction.htm 7&start=20&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:20,i:137 ) 2.
Richard R Muller talks about MAD, http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/pub585.pdf
3.
—Gen Colin Powell, USA Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj97/win97/parr in.html
attack and it really would end tension. “Today I can declare my hope and declare it from the bottom of my heart that we will eventually see the time when the number of nuclear weapons is down to zero and the world is a much better place.”3
—Gen
Colin
Powell,
USA
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
30
What can We Learn from Chernobyl? 2 The
3
following 1
article would talk
4
about Chernobyl Nuclear
Power that there were an inexperienced staff, they
Plant Disaster. It would
try
were in a test to see the perform of the power
to
explain how this accident occurred and what can we learn from it. Also it would try to show how this disaster affected history and changed
plant and suddenly that was the moment where all starts. The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and
human’s life.
cost an estimated 18 billion rubles. The official The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located Soviet casualty count of 31 deaths has been in Ukraine, 20km south of the border with disputed and long-term effects such as Belarus. At the time of the accident, the plant cancers
and
deformities
are
still
being
had four working reactors. The disaster was a accounted for. catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April in Ukraine (then officially Ukrainian SSR), which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of the Soviet Union. There occurred a huge explosion and fire that released
large
quantities
of
radioactive
contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. And the causes of this accident was
After the disaster Ukraine promulgate a lot of laws, not laws that they were going to do in that
moment,
but
they
accorded
some
recovery projects and were three. The first one was the Chernobyl Shelter fund, the second one the United Nations Programed and the last one was the International Project on the health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident. 31
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant was a 4. The condenser or cooling systems, where it nuclear power station near the city of Pripyat( helps to remove excess heat in the plant. 49000 habitants), Ukraine. It consisted of four nuclear reactors of the RBMK- 1000 design. The reactor one and two were constructed between 1970 and 1977, whilst the reactors
The goal of creating a nuclear plant is to produce a better source of energy in a cleaner way that does not produce greenhouse gases, as it is a type of renewable energy.
three and four were constructed in 1983. th Moreover, to the southeast of this nuclear What happened the 26 of April in 1986?
power plant was constructed an artificial lake to purvey water to the reactors; it was located beside the river Pripyat. The RBMK- 1000 is the soviet design reactor that uses Uranium Dioxide fuel. These reactors were capable of producing 1000 megawatts of electric power, 10 percent of all Ukraine´s electricity. There are 4 parts in the plant which produces nuclear energy: Chernobyl nuclear power plant blew up at 1. The reactor, which produces nuclear fissionable reaction.
1:23 am on this day. This is the worst nuclear disaster in history to date. It affected almost all
2. The steam generator, the heat produced in of the European countries, especially the ones the reactor is used to boil water. 3. The turbine produces electricity with the energy contained in the steam.
that border Ukraine like Belarus and Russia. Other countries that were also affected by the radioactive deposition were Sweden, Finland and Austria. 32
Engineers
that
percent
.In
consequence,
the
power
were in charge of
generated increased to dangerous levels.
the
reactor
After that, the reactor overheated and the
four
water that is supposed to cool it started to
an
convert into steam. The power generated was
number began experiment
one hundred times more than usual, this
lowering the 20 percent of absorption of caused two explosions that caused the neutrons and slowing the chain of reaction reactor´s roof to be blown off (as we can see required for the test. Nevertheless, many rods in the figure 4). As air entered to the reactor it made of uranium caused
a
were lower and the flammable
carbon
reactor shut down. monoxide
gas
Engineers
the
knew causing
that there could be reactors to burn for instability
in
the 9 days! Can you
Uranium
dioxide imagine how much water firefighters spent
molecules so they raised the number of rods trying to put that fire out? Large amounts of to increase the output. Later, the output radioactive generated by the reactor was still low;
so,
fallout
escaped
into
atmosphere. Effects of Chernobyl Radioactivity
the
specialists raised
Chernobyl
the
of
disaster
rods, until power
affected
reached
physically,
number
the
12
nuclear not
only
humans but
it 33
also psychologically affected around 5 million 93,000 deaths from cancer, most of them were babies that were born with deformities in
people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. "The psychological impact is now considered to
be
Chernobyl's
biggest
all the body.
health + Krypton 85 affects the entire body and
consequence," said Louisa Vinton, of the increases the chances of getting leukemia. UNDP. "People have been led to think of themselves as victims over the years, and are
+ Cesium 137 can attack the entire body, centering on the liver, and the muscles.
therefore more apt to take a passive approach toward their future rather than developing a + Barium 140 gathers in the bones and can cause tumors.
system of self-sufficiency.�
As for the physical + Iodine 131 gathers in the thyroid. impacts,
It
radiation produces cancer there.
can cause human beings many kinds of
Baby with malformations
dangerous
diseases
in
the
body like cancer, deformations in the body, and even malfunctions in internal organs. Just one radioactive atom is enough to cause this disease.
Besides,
the
most
What can we learn from Chernobyl?
vulnerable Chernobyl is the worst nuclear disaster in
persons are unborn babies because they history with a level 7 on the International haven't finished developing and aren't as Nuclear
Event Scale.
This
accident
has
stronger as adults or young people. In demonstrated us that the cost of ensuring Chernobyl’s incident there were approximately safety in the nuclear reactor is much lower 34
than
that
confronting accident
of Furthermore, this accident produced important with scientific researches about radiation safety
effects and medicine. Thanks to different countries
(physiological like: USA, Japan, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and
physical and international organizations as: UN, WHO, damages). IAEA. However managing the radioactive
Billions of dollars deposition from the accident have not been a successful programmed and this topic is Chernobyl Nuclear plant after explosion in 1896
have
been becoming a major problem as time passes
reported
from because radiation would continuing spreading
Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia as a result of through Europe and Asia. this accident over 26 years. Besides, we have learned how to deal with the This accident created a negative perception agro
industrial
materials
that
has
been
about this renewable energy and showed the contaminated by the radionuclides that have importance of following the principles for affected the soil. As we all know, plants take nuclear power plants construction. This is the nutrients from the soils but if you plant because Chernobyl nuclear power plant was crops in this contaminated soil there will be a made of flammable materials that caused the radionuclide transfer from soil to plan and later fire for 9 days. Moreover, this accident from plant to human or any animal that feed demonstrated that responsible governments on these crops. should establish an emergency response in case of accidents and should create public dialogues about nuclear energy instead of trying to make all the decisions by their own.
Plants contaminated with radiation.
35
Nowadays, there are new laws about nuclear Arturo Torres, Miguel Ju, and Sergio Ramírez security, however; the probability of a nuclear accident
will
never
be
zero.
Chernobyl
accident provides a unique opportunity to us for improving an emergency response system, otherwise
people
would
suffer
in
case
radiation leaks or depositions. In conclusion, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster taught us many lessons like being more cautious if we are talking about nuclear energy because if there is any nuclear fallout it could affect physically to humans or any animals that could be contaminated in a long period of time. Also it taught us, that in future occasions we should always be prepared for an emergency so we must have emergency system routine. Moreover it also taught us that security is always first over other things that superfluous. In my opinion all the things that left this accident was chaos. Poor people suffer from this radiation and die. Also they were not the only countries that were affected by this tragedy also Moldova, Italy, Belarus and more. Until the day when you ask some of the survivors the only thing that they are going to tell you is that they would never forget that moment and will last until death.
Bibliography : [1] European Centre of Technological Safety. URL: http://www.tesecint.org/chernobyl/Lessons.htm [2] Jennifer Ciotta; Mar 22, 2011. URL: http://suite101.com/article/the-chernobyl-disaster-can-we-learnfrom-history-a361016 [3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster [4] World Nuclear Association,; April 2012. URL: http://www.worldnuclear.org/info/chernobyl/inf07.html [5] Environmental Issues; date not specified. URL: http://environment.about.com/od/chernobyl/p/chernobyl.htm [6] David E. Hoffman; Monday, March 14, 2011. URL: http://hoffman.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/13/the_lesson_of_ chernobyl [7] heodor Abelin, Professor for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Berne, Current Concerns Nº1 2006. URL:http://www.currentconcerns.ch/index.php?id=57 [8] Rich East High School. Date retrieved: 16/09/2012. URL: http://www.richeast.org/htwm/chernobyl/chernobyl.html [9] Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Russian Federal service of Hydrometeorology and Environment Monitoring, Russian Science Academy, Russia. Last Retrieved: 16/09/2012. URL: http://www.eolss.net/Sample-Chapters/C09/E4-11-06-06.pdf [10] A Report Commissioned by UNDP and UNICEF with the support of UN-OCHA and WHO Year Published: 25 January 2002. URL: http://www.un.org/ha/chernobyl/docs/report.pdf [11]The New York Times, Date of Publication: March 24, 2011. URL: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/che rnobyl_nuclear_accident_1986/index.html [12] Report of the UN Chernobyl Forum Expert Group “Environment” (EGE). Year Published: August 2005. URL:http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/pdfs/ege_rep ort.pdf [13] David L. Stern; March 7, 2011. URL:http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110 306/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-ukraine [14] Jennifer Rosenberg.Last Retrieved: 16/09/2012. URL: http://history1900s.about.com/od/horribledisasters/p/Chernobyl.ht m [15]BBC News, The Chernobyl Disaster. Last Retrieved: 16/09/2012. URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456957/html/ nn2page1.stm [17]The day in History, Last retrieved: 16/09/2012. URL: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nuclear-disaster-atchernobyl
36
How did the US affect Argentina during the Cold War? The cold war was an extremely important event to the world and was between the world powers, the United States and the USSR in 1947 and was a war of thinking because US think that nationalism was better than the USSR ideology that was communist. We all know what happen between them but what we really do not know is what was happening in other parts of the world and how did the US affect other countries to be secure that communist did not expand. At the moment that World War II ended Argentina with other small countries get together and made up a ‘global international system’. This made up a world community of economy, technology, political and more. [1]
The US was not the only one who had influence over Argentina during the cold war. To General Juan Domingo Perón and his regime, there was not benefit having US involvement because of his Nazi ideology in others words that any other country could not get involved in Argentina’s economy and politics based on capitalism. The US’s aim was to get the general Juan Domingo Perón out of the government because of his kind of ideology and for not letting the US get involved and put a US type of government. That means that Juan Domingo Perón was not in favor of either US or USSR; and this created a lot of external commercial relationships without any kind of discrimination (Communist, Nationalism or Socialist); Argentina also had commercial relationship with Czechoslovakia, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. However historically both countries have been among the strongest and most independent countries in America. 37
Argentines for the first time built their first railroads with external help in the year 1947. Also they developed the job in transportation thanks to the [5] British and French.
First railroads in Argentina and built with external help.
European and American companies were trading overseas. The Argentina economy depended on the British, French, German and US trades like mining and public resources. The U.S. in an effort to prevent Communism from spreading wanted support from Argentina, and did that by making up some kind of Marshall Plan for Latin America, "to gain greater international influence and concomitantly to attain a greater degree of
industrialization with the attendant assured markets in South America.[1] There was a treatment called TIAR (Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance) in 1947 that includes military assistance with Latin American countries with the objective of having more international help. Argentina also encouraged the signing of this treatment by Latin American countries. Argentina’s first goal was to make small economic countries to have a bigger economy. [2] In 1975 there was also an important US plan called Operation Condor. This was for removing communist influence in South America in such countries as: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, but with the condition that the United States would supervise all the process. That means that Latin American countries were not free to make their national decisions because the United States supervised and the US had to agree with everything that Argentina wanted. [3, 4] 38
Improvement of Argentina starts in 1875 increases over time and that may happen because of US economic support
In conclusion the US affected Argentina in the positive side, improving their economy and they gave the country money to improve their lives like for college and school, transport and medical resources. In the negative side the US did not want Argentina to be free, they were always supervising and watching the country because they were afraid of Argentina to become communist like other countries like Cuba.
Maybe one main reason that the United States wanted to make a treaty with Latin America was because several countries in Latin America were communist in this moment but with the treaty they made sure that those countries were only capitalist.
Bibliography
However the dictatorship ended for Argentina and other countries such as: Brazil and Chile between the years 1983 and 1990. The kidnapping, the torture and corruption was over for them.
[2]
Noah Ron Hagood. 2011. The cold war in Argentina. URL: http://voices.yahoo.com/thecold-war-argentina9116669.html?cat=37 (Last retrieved: September 9, 2012) [1]
Anonymous. 2010. N茅stor & Cristina Kirchner = Juan & Isabel Per贸n? URL:http://www.plawlotic.com/?ta g=economic-policy (Last retrieved: September 11, 2012)
39
Katie Clough. 2011. Abstract: Cold War Politics in Argentina and Cuba: American and Soviet Spheres of Influence URL: http://upperclassmonroe.blogs.w m.edu/2011/02/01/abstract-coldwar-politics-in-argentina-andcuba-american-and-sovietspheres-of-influence/ [3]
(Last retrieved: 2012)
September
10,
Arturo Jimenez, 2007. The Condor Case [Operation Condor], the human costs of militarization in Latin America. URL: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com /South_America/OperationCondo r_humancost.html [4]
Maria Candelaria. Government of Per贸n. [5]
URL: http://translate.google.com/transl ate?hl=es&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A %2F%2Fwww.todoargentina.net%2Fhistoria%2Fperoni sta%2Fperon1%2F1947.html
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