The Cold War: Internal Conflicts, Bloc Tensions, and the Fall of Communism

Posted on May 28, 2024 in History

Internal Conflicts in Each Bloc

The Hungarian Revolution

During the period of peaceful coexistence, each bloc experienced internal conflicts. Popular revolts against interference by the USSR broke out in some communist countries. The Hungarian Revolution was one of the most significant.

Khrushchev allowed some opening up of the Communist Bloc. As a result, a movement critical of communism arose in Hungary.
In October 1956, people took to the streets demanding freedom. The Hungarian army joined the demonstrators.
A month later, Hungary announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.
It requested recognition from the UN as a neutral country.
However, the USSR invaded Hungary and put an end to Hungary’s plans.

The Suez Crisis

There were also disagreements in the Western Bloc, such as the Suez Crisis.

The Suez Canal was an essential route for international trade. It was controlled by a British-French company.
In October 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president, nationalized the Canal.
Britain, France, and Israel planned a joint military operation to overturn the nationalization by force.
However, the USA and the USSR opposed it and urged the UN to force the French and British forces to withdraw.
In this way, the two superpowers were able to end European influence over this strategic area and incorporate it into their area of control.

Conflicts Between Blocs

The Berlin Wall

Relations between the two blocs often reached levels of high tension.

After the partition of Germany, Berlin was divided into two zones, West Berlin (Federal Republic of Germany), and East Berlin (German Democratic Republic).
The west was more prosperous than the east, and its people had more freedom. Many East Germans escaped to the western sector.
To end this mass migration, the communists built the Berlin Wall in 1961. The wall divided the city for almost 30 years.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuba was an ally of the USA, but in 1959 Cuban guerrillas led by Fidel Castro came to power. The USA regarded Castro as a threat.
In 1961, a group of Cuban exiles, supported by the USA, invaded the island, with the aim of overthrowing Castro. The attack failed and Castro established closer ties with the USSR.
In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis began. US spy planes detected that Cuba was building Soviet nuclear missile ramps. US president John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and threatened to attack if the USSR did not remove their missiles.
Tension grew when US ships blocked a Soviet convoy. Eventually, Khrushchev ordered the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles.
After the crisis, the USA and USSR agreed that talks were necessary. In 1963 they established the red telephone, a hotline that communicated the two presidents.

The Prague Spring

In 1968, Alexander Dubcek, leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, introduced liberal reforms.
These included less censorship and more freedom and generated expectations of “socialism with a human face”. The brief months of reforms became known as the Prague Spring.
The USSR opposed these reforms, which led to strong protests from the Czech people. In August 1968, the Soviet army invaded Czechoslovakia and stopped the reforms and the protests.

The Middle East Conflict

After the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, conflicts with its neighboring Arab countries were continuous. The area was strategically important because of its oil deposits. The first Arab-Israeli war took place in 1948, when Arab countries tried to invade Israeli territory. Since then, there have been many conflicts.

The Yom Kippur War

In 1973, the Yom Kippur War started as a result of an attack from Egypt and Syria on Israel. However, Israel defeated both countries.
The USA supported Israel, while the Soviet Union supported the Arab countries. The superpowers pressured the UN to mediate.
The consequences of the war were far-reaching.
The oil-producing Arab countries imposed an oil embargo and reduced oil production to dissuade the Western Bloc from supporting Israel.
This caused a major global economic crisis.

The Vietnam War

Vietnam had been part of the French colony of Indochina. In 1954, the French withdrew from Vietnam, dividing it into two countries at the 17° N parallel:
North Vietnam was a communist regime led by Ho Chi Minh.
South Vietnam was a dictatorial regime, friendly towards the USA.
South Vietnam was threatened by a communist guerrilla movement called the Vietcong, which was backed by North Vietnam. The USA was concerned about the possible communist expansion, so it increased its military presence in South Vietnam.
In 1964, the USA sent in combat troops. The Vietcong used effective guerrilla tactics. Despite superior technology and weapons, the USA was unable to achieve a military victory.
By 1968, it was clear that the USA could not win.
In 1973, a ceasefire was agreed. American troops withdrew. However, North and South Vietnam continued to fight until 1975.
In 1976, Vietnam was united as a single country and integrated into the Communist Bloc.
Over two million people were killed and millions more were wounded in the Vietnam War.

Dictatorships in Latin America

The Allied victory in the Second World War led to political democratization in Latin America. But from the 1950s onwards, new dictatorships emerged.
These were the result of coups d’état supported by the USA to prevent the spread of communism.
Examples of coups in this period are: Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay (1954), João Baptista Figueiredo in Brazil (1964), Hugo Banzer in Bolivia (1971), Augusto Pinochet in Chile (1973) and Jorge Rafael Videla in Argentina (1976).
In all cases, these dictatorial regimes used violence, repression, and human rights violations to persecute anyone suspected of being progressive or democratic.

International Stability and Renewed Tensions

From 1970 onwards, some of the most serious conflicts came to an end, for example, the Vietnam War. Negotiations began to resolve others, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict. In addition, a process of reconciliation began between Western and Eastern Europe.

This phase of understanding culminated in the 1975 Helsinki Conference on Security and Co-operation. This conference was designed to improve cooperation between the two blocs.

A Key Year in the Cold War: 1979

In 1979, several crises coincided and renewed tensions.

Islamic Revolution in Iran

Iran, an ally of the USA, was ruled by the dictatorial shah’s regime.
In 1979, the Islamic Revolution established an Islamic fundamentalist republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
The USA lost influence in an important region of the Middle East.

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Afghanistan was ruled by a regime supportive of the USSR. In 1979, faced with attacks by various guerrillas, it asked the USSR for help. The Soviets used this as an opportunity to invade the country.
However, the USSR’s defeat in 1989 and the economic cost of the war weakened their position.

Intensification of the Arms Race

Between 1977 and 1985, the arms race intensified:
In the early 1980s, the USSR increased its nuclear arsenal by developing medium-range missiles. These were deployed in its area of influence in Eastern Europe.
Ronald Reagan won the US election in 1980 and became president.
He ordered the placement of hundreds of medium-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe, directed at the USSR. He approved the Strategic Defense Initiative program. Popularly called Star Wars, the aim of the program was to develop an anti-missile system in space, capable of shooting down Soviet missiles before they could hit the USA.

The Sandinista Revolutions

In Nicaragua, Sandinista guerrillas entered Managua in 1979 and overthrew the Somoza family dictatorship. The new government had a socialist ideology, moving Nicaragua politically closer to communist countries. This caused the USA to intervene to weaken the new regime.

The End of the Cold War (1973-1991)

The USSR experienced various challenges in the mid-1980s.

Externally, its relations with the USA were extremely tense, and it had an increasing rivalry with its traditional ally, China.
Internally, there were growing economic problems and political tensions among the nationalities that made up the USSR.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and changed Soviet policy:
His government carried out a series of reforms within the country.
Gorbachev also established closer relations with the USA, pursuing talks and halting the arms race. In 1987, Gorbachev and Reagan signed an agreement to begin nuclear disarmament.
The loosening of Soviet control in almost all the countries of the Communist Bloc led to the emergence of movements in favor of democratic systems. In 1989, peaceful demonstrations in Eastern European countries gave way to democratic revolutions. Examples were the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the reunification of Germany (1990).
In May 1989, Chinese students protested for democracy in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government reacted violently.
In 1991, Gorbachev resigned, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved and the USSR was divided into various states. The Cold War had ended.