Cold War: Bipolar World, Conflicts, and Coexistence
The Formation of a Bipolar World
In the West, democracy defended the plurality of parties, individual freedoms, and parliamentary liberalism. In the Communist bloc, democracy was defined as equality of justice. This bloc covered the USSR and its allies such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Yugoslavia, etc.
Conflict of the Cold War
The Cold War was a confrontation between the U.S. and the USSR characterized by an arms race, the absence of direct confrontation, and regional conflicts outside its territory, often related to decolonization in Africa and Asia.
Crisis: German Blockade of Berlin
In 1945, Germany was divided into four zones. Berlin was also divided into four zones. In 1948, the Western Allies united their territories and created the German Federal Republic. The Soviets decided to isolate the western sector of Berlin, except for air access, prompting the Americans to establish an air bridge to the city.
Cuba: Missile Crisis
In 1959, Fidel Castro’s revolution collapsed Batista’s dictatorship. Fidel Castro, a nationalist who wanted to free Cuba from U.S. dependence, nationalized the island’s economic resources that were controlled by the U.S. The U.S. declared an economic boycott and supported Cuban political exiles.
The Soviet Union offered to help Fidel Castro, supporting a communist revolution. The U.S. arranged for a landing at the Bay of Pigs by Cuban exiles supported by the CIA, which was a failure. Subsequently, Fidel Castro allowed the Soviet Union to install nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy discovered the missiles and effectively blockaded the island with the Navy to prevent more supplies from arriving. He demanded the withdrawal of the missiles, which the USSR eventually did.
The Years of Peaceful Coexistence
The First Signs of Thawing
Causes of distraction between the blocks: In the Soviet Union, Stalin died in 1953. Three years later, the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU established a new foreign policy of peaceful coexistence. The Soviet Union agreed not to export the Bolshevik revolution to other countries, accepting that other revolutionaries could achieve socialism. The USSR provided for the dissolution of the Cominform.
In the U.S., the witch hunts of Senator McCarthy, who had created a court that persecuted Communist activities in the U.S., came to an end. Eisenhower replaced his secretary of state.
In 1960, Kennedy, a Democrat with a project called the New Frontier, was elected. The objectives of the internal politics were to end racial discrimination and poverty.
Foreign Policy initiatives included launching the space program, providing financial support for South American democracies, and seeking agreement with the Soviet adversary.
The Return of Tension
China
Since 1949, China had been Communist, but after Stalin’s death, ideological polemics with the USSR arose regarding peaceful coexistence with the U.S. There was a rivalry for world communist leadership between the USSR and China, and there were border conflicts with the USSR along the Ussuri River.
The Hungarian Revolt
In 1956, worker and student revolts brought down the communist government. Imre Nagy, a communist dissident, formed a new government with the support of Liberals and Social Democrats and considered abandoning the Warsaw Pact. Ultimately, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Hungary and removed Imre Nagy from the government.