The Cold War: Causes, Practices & Effects
The Cold War: Causes, Practices & Effects
Introduction
The Cold War (mid-1940s to early 1990s) was a period of tension, competition, and conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies.
George Orwell may have coined the term "cold war" in 1945, envisioning a world divided by nuclear weapons leading to a perpetual state of "cold war."
This resulted in "an end to large-scale wars at the cost of prolonging indefinitely a 'peace that is no peace.'"
Cold War Rivalry: A Story of Sides
Ideological Rivalry: Both the USA and USSR aimed to prove their political system was superior.
Economic Rivalry: Superpowers sought economic alliances, using resources to attract countries to their side.
Technological Rivalry: The USA and USSR competed via scientific achievements, including the space race and military weapons development.
Military Rivalry: Evident in the creation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact in Europe, and global alliances.
Goals of the USA
Shape the world to be more like the USA.
Expand democracy.
Expand trade (capitalism).
Expand US culture.
Goals of the USSR
Create safety and security for the USSR.
Shape the world to be more like the USSR.
Expand communism.
Causes of the Cold War
War Time Alliance Tensions
The alliance between the USA, Britain, and USSR was strained due to:
The USA delaying the opening of a second front in France until 1944.
The USSR refusing to support the Polish army during the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944.
British and US officials excluding the Soviets from secret talks with the Germans to secure the surrender of their troops in Italy.
Planning for a Post-War Era - Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945)
The Big Three discussed:
The future of a defeated Germany.
The fate of other occupied territories.
The creation of and membership in the United Nations.
How to defeat Japan.
Yalta Conference Outcomes:
Germany divided into four zones of occupation (USSR, Britain, France, USA).
Berlin (inside the Soviet zone) was also divided into four zones.
Countries freed from Nazi control guaranteed the right to hold free, democratic elections (Declaration on Liberated Europe), though Stalin was offered a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.
The US and UK agreed to allow the USSR to take reparations from the occupied territories.
Stalin committed to joining the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated.
All leaders committed to pursue and try suspected Nazi war criminals.
The Allies agreed to the setting up of the United Nations.
Changes Between February and July 1945
President Roosevelt died in April 1945 and was replaced by Truman, who adopted a tougher stance toward the USSR.
The Soviet Red Army occupied territory deep inside Germany.
Winston Churchill lost the UK general election and was succeeded by Clement Attlee.
Potsdam Conference (July 1945)
Only Stalin remained from the original Big Three.
Disagreements over:
The communist government in Poland.
Reparations for the war.
Truman did not mention the A-bomb, which they used 1 week later.
Long Term Causes of the Cold War
The Nuclear Age
America was the first to have a nuclear bomb.
The USSR was not "in the loop".
Stalin saw the bomb as a means by which the U.S. would seek to extract post-war concessions.
Truman used the bomb chiefly to end the war, and he and his advisors expected their new weapon to induce a more conciliatory attitude on the part of the USSR.
New World Power Rivalries
USA vs. USSR.
Ideological differences.
Post-war political instability
Many countries were "unsettled" by the war.
A New Power Rivalry
The Second World War destroyed the old international order.
The US and USSR emerged as the significant international military and ideological forces.
US had become the number 1 global air-power
USSR had become the number one conventional land power in the world
The former military power of both Britain and France had been fatally diminished as both states had failed to defeat Germany
USSR lacked strong military neighbours - making it the regional military power
Economic Understanding
The US economy grew dramatically and could outproduce other nations due to its geographic distance from the war and it had nothing to “rebuild”.
The US promoted capitalism and free trade.
The US used its economic power to help secure economic recovery in Europe, build alliances (or reliance) and prevent instability.
USSR economy had been built up for war production, but it also had been damaged by the war.
Stalin believed suggested he could provide support for smaller Eastern European countries who had struggled economically, IF he had some “managerial control”.
Political Understanding
For US and the western allies Liberal Democracy was the ideology that had defeated fascism and should shape the post-war order
For USSR it was communism that had defeated fascism and should shape the new world order.
The horrific human losses of the USSR in the war (estimated at 27 million) seemed a reasonable claim for establishing future security for USSR by limiting power of other states
The USSR's relative strength meant that it could influence politically influence the development of post-war governments in Eastern Europe.
Theory: Balance of Power
States seek to expand and influence other states.
States seek to curb the growth of power states by forming alliances and create equilibrium.
At the core of the balance of power theory is the idea that states will seek alliances with other states so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others.
Post War Political Instability
The Soviet Union gained increasing political control over Eastern Europe through a method known as ‘salami tactics’.
Securing the Eastern Bloc
Stage 1: Soviets supervised organization of governments, establishing broad alliance of ‘anti-fascists’.
Stage 2: Parties 'sliced off' one by one.
Stage 3: Communist ‘core’ left, replaced with Moscow-trained people.
By 1946, Soviet-dominated Communist governments were set up in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Short Term Causes of the Cold War
Onset of the Cold War
By June 1945, Germany was divided into 4 zones.
By 1949 the Western areas reunited, & the Soviet area as East Germany
Austria was also divided in the post war period (until 1955).
The Iron Curtain
In 1946 Winston Churchill warned that an "Iron Curtain" was falling across Europe.
Eastern European countries came under the direct influence of the USSR (Soviet Bloc).
The US Policy of Containment
Containment was a plan to resist Soviet expansion.
This reluctance to see the rivalry "heat up" is where we get the term "Cold War."
The Truman Doctrine
President Truman stated in 1947, that the United States would support “free peoples throughout the world to resist external intervention”.
The Marshall Plan
Starting in 1948, the US provided economic aid to Western Europe to rebuild.
Between 1948 and 1952, the US spent dollars to ensure friendly and non-communist governments remained in power in European nations.
Cold War Tensions Intensify
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
US created NATO to defend western Europe.
If any member country of was attacked, all other member states would come to its defense.
Warsaw Pact 1955
The formation of NATO intensified the Cold War as the Soviets felt they were rallying other nations against them.
In return, they formed their own defensive alliance called the Warsaw Pact made up of all the “satellite states”.
Tensions Build 1948
USSR tried to seize control of all Berlin by cutting off all supply lines into the city.
The Americans broke the blockade by flying in supplies and air dropping them into Berlin.
Mutually Assured Destruction
By 1949, the Soviet Union had developed its own nuclear bomb
Each nation had the ability to destroy each other meaning Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) would prevent any direct conflict.
An Arms Race
Summer 1949 USSR tests its first Atom bomb
January 1950 US begins work on H-bomb.
1952 US detonates an H-bomb
August 1953 USSR detonates an H-bomb
Brinkmanship
The policy of brinkmanship started in reaction to MAD - - - the idea of taking the world to the brink of annihilation without actually launching an attack became the center of geopolitical relations by the 1950s
Tensions Build 1949
The Communists under Mao Tse-Tung took control in China and became uneasy allies with the USSR. Maoist communism was not compatible with or keen to take orders from the Soviet model.
Early Cold War Events & Consequences
1946 Iron Curtain Speech: Led to urgency against communism.
1947 Communism in Eastern Europe: Determined US containment policy.
1947 US support in Greece: USSR saw efforts as a ploy to curb communism.
1947 Truman Doctrine: Strong anti-communism containment policy.
1947 Marshall Plan: Efforts to rebuild Europe/move away from communism.
1948 Communist Czechoslovakia: Further proof that USSR sought to expand its influence.
1948 Berlin Blockade: First event that brings the two sides close to outbreak of war.
1949 Communists in China: Signal to the USA of a global communist threat.
1949 Soviets test A-bomb: USA loses its atomic advantage.
1949 NATO: The Cold War lines are drawn.
1950-55 Korean War: USA containment policy goes worldwide.
1955 Warsaw Pact: USSR response to NATO.
Cold War Heats Up
The Domino Effect
By 1949, the West feared a “Domino Effect” - that Communism would spread from country to country until a whole region would fall under the influence of the USSR.
Proxy War
*Proxy War: a war instigated by a major power which does not itself become involved.
The history of the last half of the 20th century became largely about proxy wars.
The Korean War 1950-1953
At the end of Japanese occupation, the Soviets had occupied Korea up to the 38th parallel and Kim II Sung took over backed by Chinese and Soviet communist parties.
The U.S. sent troops, under the authority of the United Nations, to “liberate” Korea .
In 1953 the war ended in stalemate and the final boundary remained at the parallel.
The Korean War
The Korean War pushed US rearmament into high speed.
The Berlin Crisis
Between 1945 and 1961 – close to 20% of the East German population left through illegal migration into West German held West Berlin.
*August 13, 1961 – The East German military began constructing a wall to “secure” East Berlin - to limit illegal crossings
Cold War Geopolitical Interference
Both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. began to interfere in other nations both directly and indirectly using spying agencies .
1953 – Iran - CIA convinces the Shah of Iran to replace the prime minister and backs a coup
1954 – Guatemala – CIA trained army staged a coup to topple President Arbenz Guzman after he seized 200,000 acres of American owned land and gave it to peasants
Hungary – 1956 - Protest against Soviet control leads to Soviet sponsored crackdown & occupation
Czechoslovakia – 1968 – Protest leads to Soviet invasion to restore Communist dominance
The Cuban Hot Spot
Castro seized power in early 1959.
By early 1960 Castro was openly declaring his new close ties to the Soviet Union – the US became nervous
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
April 17, 1961 – President Kennedy sent 1,400 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and start a counter-revolution at the Bay of Pigs .
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Summer 1962 – The Soviet Union agreed to supply Cuba with a steady supply of weapons – including some nuclear warheads
*October 14, 1962 – US spy planes return with images of the construction of Soviet missile bases in Cuba – some of them already armed
*October 22, 1962 – Kennedy publicly announced the existence of the missile sites and declared that they had to be removed, and declared that any attack from Cuba would lead to an all out attack by the US on the Soviet Union
Decolonization & the Cold War
Cold War Case Study: Vietnam
Colonization: Vietnam
Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia had been a French colony since the late 19th century when they had been claimed as “French Indochina”.
In World War 2 the 1941 Japanese invasion was allowed by the Vichy government in France, which led to a Nationalist movement.
In September 1945 the Japanese withdrew & Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam independent
The American War in Vietnam
In 1946 France tried to reestablish its colonies after the war - Vietnamese nationalists turned their attention to removing the French and creating independent Vietnam
In 1950 Ho declared an independent, communist, North Vietnam, backed by China, the US began to supply economic () and military support to fight the spread of communism into the South
The Geneva Accords in 1954 divided Vietnam at the parallel
The Cold War Heats Up
In 1956 the US and the South Vietnamese government cancelled elections believing the Ho Chi Minh would win
In 1961 Pres. Kennedy sent US combat troops into South Vietnam to help Diem, and in November 1963 the CIA helped stage a coup against Diem and set up a new 12 member government in the South
The Communist Response
Viet Cong – Communists in South Vietnam - began to be supplied along the Ho Chi Minh Trail from the north through Laos & Cambodia.
The American Response
August 1964 – the North Vietnamese fire on a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin & the US destroyer fires back.
*December 1965 there were 180,000 US troops
*November 1967 there were 500,000 US troops
Why didn’t America win?
Jungle terrain, use of guerilla tactics, knowledge of the landscape, ability to blend in with the civilian population and desire to evict foreign invader gave Viet Cong the upper hand
The Cost of the Cold War in Vietnam
The war exacted an enormous cost: estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million
Some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians were also killed
Positive Effect: A Cold War Thaw
Détente (a cooling of tensions through negotiation) between USA and USSR began with the SALT 1 treaty in 1972
The thaw was further seen in Pres. Nixon’s visit to China (1972)
The American War Ends
Amidst a “cold war thaw” years of protest at home, the last US ground troops were withdrawn in 1973
A Cold War Thaw
Helsinki Accords (1975) were the first agreement, signed by 35 nations including the US and USSR, that promoted human rights, economic cooperation, and respect for national borders
End of the Cold War
What were the problems of the eastern bloc?
*Lack of consumer goods and shortages
*Government surveillance and censorship
*Limited travel and personal freedoms
*Education and propaganda
*Dissent and underground resistance
Daily life in Eastern Bloc countries
Marked by long queues and rationing of common goods
Government surveillance & censorship
Secret police like the Stasi in East Germany created a culture of fear
Strict censorship suppressed free speech and access to uncensored information
Limited travel & personal freedoms
Citizens were generally forbidden from traveling to non-communist countries.
Education and Propaganda
Schools promoted communist ideology and loyalty to the party and the state
Economic Decline of the USSR
Severe economic problems with stagnation, inefficiency, and an unsustainable arms race straining the system
Gorbachev’s Reforms
Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)
Perestroika - was a restructuring of the economy
Glasnost - was to allow for “openness”
The End of the Cold War
The THAW of Gorbachev’s policies was immediate and brought new levels of opposition and protest.
The military stood by as the Berlin Wall fell.
The Fall of Communism in 1990 through Spring and Summer, when democratic elections were held in five former Eastern Bloc states.
The final collapse of the USSR came in 1991, marking the definitive end of the Cold War.