Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden

In the wake of the Cold War, the Central Asian region was very important due to its extensive oil reserves, the fact that it produces three quarters of the World's opium which produces millions of dollars worldwide.

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a new rush in opium production unfolded because many of the powerful business syndicates in the former Soviet Union who were allied with organized crime started competing for the strategic control over the heroin routes.

The ISI's intelligence military-network keep on working even in the wake of the Cold War. The CIA continued to support the Islamic "jihad" out of Pakistan and New undercover initiatives started in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus basically served as means for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the appearance of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia.

At the same time, Islamic missionaries of the Wahhabi sect from Saudi Arabia established themselves in the Muslim republics and also within the Russian federation. Even though they had an anti-American ideology, they served as Washington's strategic interests in the former Soviet Union.

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the civil war in Afghanistan continued. The Taliban were being supported by the Pakistani Deobandis and their political party the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).

In 1993, JUI entered the government coalition of Prime Minister Benazzir Bhutto. Ties between JUI, the Army and ISI were established. In 1995, with the downfall of the Hezb-I-Islami Hektmatyar government in Kabul, the Taliban not only instated a hardline Islamic government, they also handed control of training camps in Afghanistan over to JUI factions.

In other words, backed by Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) which in turn was controlled by the CIA, the Taliban Islamic State was largely serving American geopolitical interests.

The Golden Crescent drug trade was also being used to finance and equip the Bosnian Muslim Army (starting in the early 1990s) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In last few months there is evidence that Mujahideen mercenaries are fighting in the ranks of KLA-NLA terrorists in their assaults into Macedonia.

Years later, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, the Bush administration concluded without supporting evidence, that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organization were prime suspects. All of this were the results and after math of teh Cold War.

The Day Democracy Died in Chile - Pinochet, Allende and Nixon

Allende Pinochet Nixon

Salvador Allende was the world's first democratically-elected Marxist leader of any nation. Allende’s term was cut short less than three years later by General Augusto Pinochet. Both of them were very stubborn men who believed that each one of them was right and did not compromise to try to understand each others ideas and points of view.

From the middle of 1973 there had been rumblings of a coup brewing in Chile - the economy was suffering due to the withdrawal of foreign investment in the democratically-elected state. At 4am on 11 September, military units stationed throughout Chile reported for action to the leaders of the coup, which was led by Augusto Pinochet. By 7am, these troops started moving and their mission was to take the urban centres of Chile from local politicians. The most effective operation was carried out in Concepción, where the military had cut all the phone lines of governmental personnel, then took everyone and placed them on an island to keep them from communicating what had happened to the rest of the world. After this, the city was controlled by the military. n Valparaíso, Chile's major port, was taken in stages.

At 6.20am, President Allende was alerted to what was happening and he went to the presidential palace Santiago, the country's capital. He was given the opportunity to leave the country by plane in an offer made by a military aide-de-camp General von Schowen.

By 8.30am, Radio Agricultura, an anti-Allende broadcast station, relayed the news of the coup to the nation and demanded Allende's resignation.

By the time the broadcast had ended, the police, army and navy had mobilised against the Allende government. At 9.30am, Allende made his last address to the nation and the next hours were filled with reports of other towns and cities falling and also news came in that people were being taken into stadiums and onto islands. By mid-morning, the palace was surrounded by tanks and the Chilean President was under siege.

At this point the military started negotiations with the President from the base across the street in the Ministry of Defence, opposite La Moneda (the presidential residence). The next few hours had desperate calls and random sniper fire between the two buildings. Later, at 11.55am, two jets launched 18 rockets at the palace.

Finally, at 1.30pm, a group of people were seen waving the white flag of surrender at a side door of La Moneda. Among them was Patricio Guijón who gave the most controversial and debated testimony of the last moments of President Allende. He said that he had killed himself, but there is still a debate that he was murdered because Guijón said he saw him shotting himself but that he did not heard a shot being fired.

Kim Il Sung

Kim Il Sung

(1912-1994)

He was the absolute ruler of North Korea for 46 years,the first communist head of state who established dynastic rule. It was known as the Hermit Kingdom because of its sealed borders and attempted isolation from its powerful neighbors. Later, Korea was annexed by Japan two years before Kim's birth. Kim since he was young was against the Japanese. Later, he fled with his parents to escape Japanese oppression.

He joined the Chinese Communist party and fought on different wars until he was forced to flee Manchuria for the Soviet Union when Japanese Imperial forces defeated the Chinese guerrillas with whom he was fighting. There, Kim received his military and political training at the Soviet party school in Khabarovsk in the Soviet Far East. Years later, Korea was divided into North korea and South Korea.

After World War II, Kim had been picked by local Soviet commanders in Pyongyang to be North Korea's leader, in part because they knew few other Koreans. In exchange for his loyalty, the Soviets made him the premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea when it was officially founded in 1948. One of his first acts as Premier was to convince his Soviet military supporters that he could sweep across the 38th parallel, conquer South Korea in three weeks, and re-unify the country; he also convinced Stalin of this.

Kim invaded South Korea armed by the Soviets in june 1950. Later, Stalin ceased his military support of Kim, so he then turned to Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) who entered the war with Chinese troops. When the war ended, it ended as it had started with the 38th parallel and Kim's idea of unification lost.

Kim died in 1994.

The Korean War, which lasted until July 25, 1953, was, in part, a manifestation of Kim's ambition to unify the Korean peninsula through military means.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/kim-il-sung/

The Korean War

The division set at the 38th Parallel in Korea.

The map of the Korean War.

After World War II ended, Korea was divided in two just like Germany was: North Korea (recognized by the USSR) and South Korea (by the USA). On June 25, 1950; The Soviet started to advance in the Far East towards the South crossing the 38th parallel in order to provoke the americans. The origin of this was with the idea of unification that Kim Il Sung had, then that with the communist victory in China of Mao Tse Tung and the alliance China had with the USSR was to achieve an expansion in Korea. The reaction of president Truman was to send troops tin order for them to give help and protection to South Korea. Many armed confrontations resulted in this war so they could have a solution, which would be the balance of forces, but there was fear that people were in danger due to the nuclear power they had. This war ended in 1953 due to many factors such as: Dwight Eisenhower elected as the new USA president, Stalin´s death and his sucessor Malenkov. An armistice was agreed by the USA, China and North Korea, South Korea refused to sign and that is why the country is still diveded; and a division was set in parallel 38th.
It has been called also "The Forgotten War" because it was overshadowed by World War II and the Vietnam War.

Cuban Missile Crisis - Kennedy, Krushcev and Castro

Nikita Krushcev
(1894 - 1971)

John F. Kennedy
(1917 - 1963)

Fidel Castro
(1926 until today)

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world has ever been to having a nuclear war.
The arms race and the permament tension between the USA and the USSR was at its highest. Fidel Castro in Cuba was afraid and had plans to defend the country in case the USA attacked it, but at the same time, Nikita Krushcev saw that the missiles they had could only attack european countries because of the large distance between the USSR and the USA, so he decided to put nuclear weapons on Cuba so in case the USA attacked, they could have a strong defence and could attack back.
Castro agreed to the USSR's proposal because after the failed Bay Of Pigs invasion from the USA, he was sure there would be another attack. On 1961, they secretly made bases with nuclear weapons on Cuba.

After this, John F. Kennedy approved a plan created by the C.I.A. against Castro. Castro had officially adopted a socialist regime so it was expelled from OAS (Organization of American States). Castro decided to declare war against the USA and received support from Krushcev.
On 1962, the missiles on Cuba were discovered which caused threats and there was a constant fear of nuclear war. Finally, Kennedy and Krushcev agreed to remove missiles in Cuba with the condition that the USA would respect Cuba.
Later on 1963, USA very quietly removed missiles from Turkey that had an equal threat to the Soviet Union as the missiles on Cuba had to the USA.

http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html

Mao Tse Tung

Mao Tse Tung

(1893- 1976)

He was a chinese Marxist theorist, soldier, and statesman. He led China's communist revolution, was a chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1959 and chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1931 to1976. He was commited to Marxism, which held that revolution lay in the hands of urban workers but Mao concluded that in China it was the peasantry, not the urban proletariat, that had to be mobilized.

He became chairman of a Chinese Soviet Republic formed in rural Jiangxi province; its Red Army withstood many attacks from Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist army, but at last undertook the Long March to a more secure position in northwestern China. There Mao became the head of the CCP. He had many tactics, policies and knew how to appeal to the local population's nationalist sentiments which gained the party military advantages against their Nationalist and Japanese enemies and also a wide support among the peasantry. Mao's agrarian Marxism was different from the Soviet model, but when the communists took power in China in 1949, the Soviet Union provided the new state with technical assistance. However, Mao's Great Leap Forward and his criticism of “new bourgeois elements” in the Soviet Union and China separated the Soviet Union and its aid was withdrawn in 1960. Mao followed the failed Great Leap Forward with the Cultural Revolution, also considered to have been a tremendous mistake. Mao died in september 9, 1976.

http://www.biography.com/articles/Mao-Zedong-93981421

Map of NATO and the Warsaw Pact

This map shows a part of Europe and it is color coded to show which countries belonged to NATO, the Warsaw Pact, states that were not allied and other comunist states.

-NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded on 1949 and its purpose was to prevent future wars by having european and north american countries allied in the same organization. The problem in the Cold War was that with the Korean War they had to do a military plan to defend themselves and they did a Long Term Defence Plan. NATO believed that the Soviet countries were conspiring together and actually they had succesful operations while NATO tried to defend itself. After all of this, the Soviet Union suggested to join NATO in 1954 so there would be peace in Europe but NATO refused fearing that the Soviet Union's plan was to weaken the alliance. Due to this, East Germany joined NATO. NATO continues to this day.

-The Warsaw Pact signed on 1955 was a response to East Germany joining NATO. The countries that signed it were Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union. It was officially called the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance. The purpose of this pact was that if any of the countries that agreed to it were victim of foreign aggression, the other countries would come to aid. The problem was that the Soviet Union started using the pact to its benefit and used the other countries's armies. The pact was dissolved in 1991 due to causes like the Soviet Union along with other countries invaded Czechoslovakia and the diminishing power of the Soviet Union.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO#Cold_War
http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-pact

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and Domino Thoery

Ho Chi Minh
and
the Vietnam War
(1890 – 1969)

He was a sailor, a school teacher and he studied French. He moved to Paris, read books about Karl Marx and later he became a communist and helped found the French Communist Party on 1920. He believed that all communists should go back to their countries to guide and lead the people so they could fight for their freedom and independence. He could not return to Vietnam because he was in danger of being arrested by the French autorithies that controlled Vietnam, so he moved to China near the border of Vietnam. When the French surrendered to the Japanese, Ho and other exiled members saw this as an opportunity and formed an organization called the Vietminh and began a guerilla campaign against the Japanese. They received supplies (weapons, etc. ) from the Soviet Union and after Pearl Harbor, they also received from the USA.
After World War II ended they took ever the control of Vietnam. In 1945, Ho Chi Minh announced the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. While this happened, F. D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and J. Stalin decided that Vietnam would be divided in two: the northern half under Chinese control and the southern half under British control.
France refused to recognize the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and tried to re-establish control. In 1946, Britain agreed to remove its troops and China also agreed in exchange that France would give up its rights to territory in China. Mao Zedong helped to defeat Chaing Kai-Shek, giving the Vietminh a base so they could have a better chance against the French forces. France tried to ease the situation and offered to help set up a national government and promised to give Vietnam its independence. Ho Chi Minh with other leaders did not believe this and continued the war.

In 1954, Vietnam was divided and Ho Chi Minh led the North. Communist with capital in Hanoi. South with Ngo Dinh Diem as the "puppet" western leader with Saigon as capital. The South refused in 1955 to hold elections so they could reunify Vietnam as it was established in the Berlin Conference the year before. The Communist government declared that they wanted to unify Vietnam and control it. The communists made guerillas against Diem government and created the National Liberation Front. The Diem government had american support with the Friendship and cooperation treaty as agreed with president Kennedy. In 1963, Coupe d'etat, they were able to defeat Diem government, so communism advanced. A year later, Lyndon B. Johnson decided to bomb North Vietnam and sent troops to the south.
This war went for a long time killing thousands, leaving great impacts in society and giving great damage to American politics. After a lot of civil protests, global opinions that were against it and the Nixon Doctrine, in 1973 they were peace talks but it was not until 1975 that the National Liberation Front was declared as victorious ending the war.

The Domino Theory



It was an american theory that believed that if one country was communist that all the other countries would become communist too. IT was reffered to as domino due to the effect there is when a domino piece falls down and it brings down all the other domino pieces aligned after it.

Berlin History

Berlin History

In 1945, after the end of World War II, Germany was divided in sections which were being controlled by different foreign governments. There were 4 sections: British, American, French in the West and Soviet in the East. They started to put restrictions on passing through the sections like the Interzonenpass which people had to carry and show to travel between sections.
Then, many other limitations happened like the Berlin blockade which only lasted a year and then on 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was founded. Months later, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was founded; this brought the two sections even farther apart and was one of the many causes to the Berlin Wall.
On 1952, the border between East and West Germany was closes, only the borders between East and West Berlin were still open. By 1957, things were very controlled and leaving one part without permission could even lead up to prison. In 1961, the Brandenburg Gate and the sectorial border between East and West Berlin were closed; barriers were built between East and West.
Ten years later on 1971 due to the Four Power’s Agreement over Berlin became visiting easier for West Berlin. In 2 different years, two U.S. presidents tried to end this situation but they were unsuccessful.
Finally on 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened and later in the same year, the Brandenburg Gate was also opened. By 1990, Germany was reunited.

http://www.dailysoft.com/berlinwall/history/berlinwall-timeline.htm

Stalin

Joseph Stalin

(1879 - 1953)

Born on Dec. 21, 1879 on Gori, Georgia, Russian Empire, he was a Soviet politician and dictator. He joined an underground revolutionary group and sided with the Bolshevik fraction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party in 1903. He was a disciple of Vladimir Lenin, he served in minor party posts and was appointed to the first Bolshevik Central Committee in 1912. He remained active behind the scenes and in exile which lasted from 1913 to 1917, until the Russian Revolution of 1917 brought the Bolsheviks to power. He adopted the name Stalin from Russian stal, “steel”. He served as commissar for state control in the Bolshevik government.

He was a member of the Politburo, and then he became secretary-general of the party's Central Committee. After Lenin's death in 1924, Stalin overcame his rivals, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolay Bukharin, and Aleksey Rykov, and took control of Soviet politics. In 1928 he inaugurated the Five-Year Plans that radically altered Soviet economic and social structures and resulted in the deaths of many millions. Later, he fixed to eliminate threats to his power through the purge trials and through widespread secret executions and persecution. In World War II he signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, attacked Finland in the Russo-Finnish War, and annexed parts of Eastern Europe to strengthen his western frontiers. In 1941 when Germany invaded Russia, Stalin allied Russia with Britain and the U.S. After the war he consolidated Soviet power in Eastern Europe and built up the Soviet Union as a world military power. He was preparing to build up another purge after the so-called Doctors' Plot when he died on March 5, 1953 in Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.. Stalin is remembered for having left a legacy of repression and fear as well as industrial and military power.

http://www.biography.com/articles/Joseph-Stalin-9491723

USSR Map