New Military Alliances, Nuclear Proliferation, and Proxy Wars of the Cold War Era

Military Alliances of the Cold War

  • Post-World War II Soviet Occupation: Following the conclusion of World War II, the Soviet Union occupied significant portions of Eastern Europe. This region became known as the Soviet block or the Communist Block.
  • Political and Economic Control: Within these occupied territories, the Soviet Union installed Communist governments. The economies of these nations were restructured to serve the interests of the Soviet Union rather than their own domestic populations.
  • Western Reaction: The United States and the nations of Western Europe grew increasingly concerned (described as "twitchy") regarding the proximity and influence of Communist regimes.
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO):     - Founded: 1949.     - Nature: A mutual defense alliance formed by Western nations against Soviet expansion.     - Leadership: The United States served at the helm of this alliance.
  • The Warsaw Pact:     - Founded: 1955.     - Nature: A military alliance formed by the Soviets in response to NATO.     - Leadership: The Soviet Union served at the helm.
  • Mutual Defense Agreement: In both NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the foundational agreement held that an attack on any single member state constituted an attack on the entire alliance. Consequently, all member nations were obligated to respond to such an attack.
  • Impact on Tensions: The creation of these massive, competing military alliances significantly heightened Cold War tensions (described as cranking the tension up "to 11").

Nuclear Proliferation and the Arms Race

  • Nuclear Arms Race Background:     - The United States pioneered atomic weaponry during World War II.     - In 1949, the Soviet Union successfully developed its own atomic bombs.     - The United States responded by developing the hydrogen bomb, which was significantly more powerful than the original atomic bomb.     - The Soviet Union followed suit by developing their own hydrogen bomb.
  • Overkill Capability: After several decades of competition, both superpowers possessed enough nuclear weaponry to destroy the world a thousand times over.
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962):     - Precursor: A failed attempt by the United States to oust the Communist leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro.     - Soviet Deployment: Soviet leader Nikita cruff shipped a large quantity (described as a "metric buttload") of nuclear missiles to Cuba.     - Strategic Proximity: Cuba's location in "America’s backyard" meant that missiles launched from there could destroy a significant portion of the United States.     - Discovery: In 1962, U.S. spy planes identified the missile sites.     - U.S. Context/Missiles in Turkey: The speaker notes that American hands were not entirely "clean," as the U.S. had previously placed nuclear missiles in Turkey, which shared a border with the Soviet Union.     - Naval Blockade: President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent further weapons from arriving. The speaker notes that surrounding an island nation with warships is essentially a declaration of war.     - Thirteen Days of Anxiety: For 13 days, the global population lived under the intense fear of nuclear annihilation.     - Resolution: Ultimately, the missiles were never fired, and all involved parties backed down.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968): This event reinforced the danger of nuclear weapons, leading to a 1968 treaty that called on existing nuclear powers to prevent non-nuclear countries from developing similar weaponry.

Proxy Wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America

  • Definition of Proxy War: Since the Cold War was "cold" (lacking direct combat between the two superpowers), the U.S. and USSR engaged in indirect fighting. These were small, local wars where the superpowers took sides and provided support.
  • The Korean War:     - Division of Korea: Following WWII, the Allies divided Korea; the North was occupied by Soviet forces, and the South by the U.S. and its allies.     - Outbreak (1950): After occupying forces withdrew, the Communist North Korea invaded the anti-communist South Korea with the goal of creating a unified state under Communist leadership.     - Superpower Involvement: The United Nations (primarily the United States) intervened to aid South Korea. The Soviet Union did not send troops but provided a "metric buttload of guns and boom boom" (weaponry) to the North.     - Outcome (1953): The conflict ended in a stalemate. The borders remained largely the same as they were before the war.     - Human Cost: Approximately 3 million people died in the conflict.
  • The Angolan Civil War (1975):     - Colonial Legacy: Angola was a colony of Portugal. The Portuguese had drawn colonial borders that grouped rival ethnic populations under a single government.     - Independence: These groups united to fight and win independence from Portugal.     - Power Struggle: Post-independence, a conflict arose over which group would hold power.     - Superpower Intervention: The Soviet Union backed one faction, the United States backed another, and South Africa supported yet another. This local conflict became a battleground for the larger Cold War.
  • The Contra War in Nicaragua:     - Rise of the Sandinistas (1979): The sand denista National Liberation Front, self-proclaimed socialists, seized power in Nicaragua.     - U.S. Intervention: Opposed to socialist influence in the Western Hemisphere, the U.S. (two years later) backed a group known as the contras to overthrow the sand denistas.     - Soviet Support: The sand denista government received support from the Soviet Union.     - Human Rights and Outcome: The contras committed numerous human rights violations during the conflict. The war eventually ended in a ceasefire, and the sand denistas were later defeated in a national election.