The Cold War: History, Events, and Impact
The Cold War
- Tense international relations from 1947-1991
- Two blocs: United States and Soviet Union
- Iron Curtain (Churchill)
Characteristics
- Bipolar order
- Arms race
- Areas of influence
- Propaganda
- Threat of war
- Regional conflicts
- Espionage and secret services
The Western Bloc
- Truman Doctrine: containment of communism
- Marshall Plan: European Recovery program, economic aid
- NATO: military alliance
Soviet Bloc
- Satellite states: economically and politically under its control
- Comecon: economic coordination and mutual help
- Warsaw Pact (1955): military alliance
The End (1985-1991)
- Changes in the Soviet Union
- Mikhail Gorbachev: reforms to democratize the party and improve relations with USA
- Geneva Summit: Gorbachev and Reagan (1985)
- Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (1987)
- START I Treaty (1991)
Other Events
- Withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan
- Fall of Berlin Wall (1989)
- Reunification of Germany (1991)
- Break-up of the USSR (1991)
- Dissolution of the Warsaw Pact (1991)
- Gorbachev resigned as president in December 1991
The Beginning of the Cold War (1947-1953)
- The Greek Civil War, Berlin Blockade, and Korean War were major crises
The Greek Civil War
The first years of the Cold War were extremely tense. The most serious crises during this phase were the Greek Civil War, the Berlin Blockade, and the Korean War.
The Greek Civil War
At the end of World War II, Greece was immersed in a civil war between communist insurgents, supported by Yugoslavia and indirectly by the Soviet Union, and the Greek government army which was backed initially by the United Kingdom.
In 1947, President Harry S. Truman announced the Truman Doctrine of providing financial and military aid to states threatened by the spread of communism. It therefore sent financial and military aid to the Greek pro-government troops. At that time the Greek communist army (DA) lost the support of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. The outcome was the defeat of the Greek communists.
The Berlin Blockade
After World War II, the Allies occupied Germany and divided it into four zones: American, Soviet, British and French. Berlin was located in the Soviet sector: however, it was jointly occupied by all four countries.
In 1948, the London Conferences took place. At these talks, it was decided to create a West German single economic area controlled by the western powers. To achieve this, the USA, Britain and France agreed to combine their three German zones into one.
Germany was now divided into two zones, one administered by the western allies and the other one by the Soviets. As a result of this crisis, that same year Germany was partitioned into two:
The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), or West Germany, was part of the Western Bloc and had a democratic political system.
The German Democratic Republic (GDR) or East Germany, was part of the Soviet Bloc and had a communist regime.
The end of the Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War lasted from 1927 to 1949. The two sides in the conflict were the Chinese Nationalist Party, or the Kuomintang, and the Chinese Communist Party.
In 1949, Mao Zedong, the leader of the communists, took power and proclaimed the People’s Republic of China.
In 1950, China and the USSR signed the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship. This was an agreement of mutual aid, and was a diplomatic triumph for the Soviet Union.
The Korean War
Korea was part of the Japanese Empire before World War II. In 1945, after the Japanese defeat, Korea was divided into two different countries:
North Korea had a communist regime, and was supported by the Soviet Union.
South Korea had a pro-western, authoritarian regime, and was supported by the USA.
In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, but the United Nations condemned the invasion and sent in UN peace-keeping forces to end the conflict. The UN forces, led by the USA, began the counter-attack to recover the territories lost by South Korea. However, the US troops went beyond containment and invaded North Korea, winning territories close to the Chinese border.
The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953. This armistice established two separate states, divided by the Korean Demilitarised Zone under the control of the UN.
South Korea has a democratic regime with a capitalist economy, whereas North Korea is ruled by a communist dictatorship.
In 1953, Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev was elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In the United States, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became the new president.
The Hungarian Revolution
After Stalin’s death, Khrushchev’s reforms in the Soviet Union affected the Soviet Bloc countries. In Hungary, people began to criticise the regime openly. In October 1956, Hungarians took to the streets demanding freedom. The Hungarian army joined the demonstrators and the protest turned into a revolution. A month later, Hungary announced plans to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. It requested recognition by the UN as a neutral country. In response, Soviet tanks entered the capital, Budapest, and brutally crushed the Hungarian Revolution.
The Suez Crisis
In July 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president, nationalised the Suez Canal. The Canal was an essential route for international trade and was controlled by a British-French company. In response, Israel, together with Britain and France, planned a joint military operation to invade Egypt and end Nasser’s regime. Initially, they regained control of part of the Canal. This put the Soviet Union on the alert, until the UN forced British and French troops to withdraw from Egypt.
The Berlin Wall
West Berlin, part of the Federal Republic of Germany, and East Berlin which was the capital of the Democratic Republic of Germany. Many East Berliners escaped to Western Berlin(more freedom). In 1961, in order to end this mass migration, the communists built the Berlin Wall. It divided Berlin until 1989.
The Cuban missile crisis
In 1958, Fidel Castro and his guerrilla movement ended the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. From its beginnings, Castro’s communist government was seen as a threat to US interests. In 1961, a group of anti-Castro Cuban exiles, supported by the United States, invaded the Bay of Pigs on the southwest coast of Cuba, with the aim of overthrowing Castro. The attack failed, however, and as a result, Castro established closer ties with the USSR.
In early 1962, the USA deployed several nuclear missiles in Turkey, within range of many Soviet cities. As a response, Khrushchev secretly placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. A US spy plane, on a routine mission, detected the Soviet missiles.
In response, John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and threatened to attack Cuba if the USSR did not remove their missiles.
In 1963, the United States, the Soviet Union and Britain signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in space or at sea. In 1972, the superpowers signed the SALT I Treaty (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) which limited the amount of nuclear weapons.
In January 1968, Alexander Dubček became leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. He introduced liberal reforms which included less censorship and more freedom.
The USSR opposed these reforms, which led to strong protests from the Czech people. In August 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union forced the Czech government to abandon the reforms and re-establish the regime directed from Moscow. The brief months of reforms became known as the Prague Spring.
The Middle East conflict
After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, conflicts with its neighbouring Arab countries were continuous. The Middle East was strategically important because of its rich oil deposits.
In 1973, the Yom Kippur War started as a result of an attack from Egypt and Syria on Israel. The United States supported Israel while the Soviet Union supported the Arab countries.
In 1973, the US government backed a coup d’état to overthrow the president of Chile, Salvador Allende. Government headed—General Augusto Pinochet took over the country and imposed a cruel authoritarian dictatorship until 1990.
The Vietnam War
Vietnam was divided in two: North Vietnam was a communist regime led by Ho Chi Minh and South Vietnam was a dictatorial regime, friendly towards the United States.
South Vietnam was threatened by a communist guerrilla movement called the Vietcong that was backed by North Vietnam. The USA assisted South Vietnam, and later, in 1965, sent in US combat troops. achieve a military victory.
By 1968, it became clear that the USA could not win. The anti-war movement grew in strength throughout the western world.
In 1969, Richard Nixon was elected president of the United States, and peace talks began in Paris.
In 1975, a major offensive from the North led to the Fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. In 1976, Vietnam was united as a single country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.