Cold War

Written by: Mayank || Graphics by: Mayank || SEO by: Darshan

On the planet Earth we have 195 countries. Each one has its own essence of nature, beauty and cultures. Yet all of those countries have been directly or indirectly inclined towards two of the most powerful and supreme leader of the world, i.e. U.S.A and Russia. But how have the relations been among the two authoritative countries. Let’s discuss about these including the cold war reasons.

Cold War Timeline

Year(s)	Event
1945	‘A’-Bomb dropped on Hiroshima + Nagasaki. USA ahead in the arms race
1947	Marshall Aid to the west of Europe. Stalin of USSR refused it for Eastern Europe
1948	start of the Berlin Blockade – ended in 1949
1949	NATO established; USSR exploded her first ‘A’-bomb; China becomes communist
1950	Korean War started
1952	USA exploded her first hydrogen bomb
1953	Korean War ended. USSR exploded her first hydrogen bomb. Stalin died
1955	Warsaw Pact created. ‘Peaceful coexistence’ called for
1956	Hungary revolts against USSR. Suez Crisis.
1957	Sputnik launched.
1959	Cuba becomes a communist state.
1961	Military aid sent to Vietnam by USA for the first time. Berlin Wall built
1962	Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963	Huge increase of American aid to Vietnam
1965	USA openly involved in Vietnam
1967	Six-Day War in Middle East
1968	USSR invades Czechoslovakia
1973	Yom Kippur War
1979	USSR invaded Afghanistan
1986	Meeting in Iceland between USSR (Gorbachev) and USA (Reagan)
1987	INF Treaty signed

Cold War Definition

According to “quizlet.com” cold war is defined as:-

A – A long, intense period of armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

B – Any war that is fought with missiles, fighter jets, and other modern weapons.

Cold War Summary

The Cold War started to develop its roots during World War II. And when war ended in 1945, the Potsdam Conference divided Germany (capital Berlin) and Austria (capital Vienna). The stakeholders at that time were the Soviet Union, the U.S., the U.K., and France.

During the conference, President Harry Truman endorsed to Soviet leader Stalin that testing of atomic bomb has been successfully done by the U.S.A. His implied threat chilled relations between the two former World War II allies and kicked off decades of Cold War animosity and espionage between the two sides.

After the Second World War, the USSR had set up pro-communist regimes in six border countries in Eastern Europe viz. Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. They used them as a buffer against the U.S. allies of France, West Germany, Italy, and Greece, who were their non-combatant enemies.

When at peak, the Soviet Union annexed 14 countries beyond Russia which were Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Yugoslavia was communist still it was not a satellite state.

And when China became communist in 1949, Communist North Korea supported them and then Russia, invaded U.S. ally South Korea in 1950, enkindling the Korean War. Later, when the Vietnam War also was fought by U.S. forces to contain communism but was won in 1975 by the communist North Vietnamese.

Cold War Starting Cause/cold war reasons

Various causes were responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War. At first, the difference between Soviet Russia and USA led to the Cold War. The US could not accept the Communist ideology of Soviet Russia while on the other hand; Russia could not digest the fact of US’s dominance upon the other European Countries.

Secondly, the Race of Armament between the two super powers served another cause for the Cold War. After the Second World War, Soviet Russia had increased its military strength which was considered to be a threat to the other Western Countries.

So America started to manufacture the Atom bomb, Hydrogen bomb and other deadly weapons. Furthermore other European Countries also began to participate in this race. So, the whole world was divided into two power blocs and paved the way for the Cold War.

Thirdly, the difference in the ideologies was another cause for the Cold War. When Soviet Russia spread Communism, at that time America propagated Capitalism. This propaganda ultimately accelerated the Cold War.

Fourthly, Russian Declaration made another cause for the Cold War. Soviet Russia highlighted Communism in mass-media and encouraged the labor revolution. On the other hand, America helped the Capitalists against the Communism.

So it helped to the growth of Cold War. Fifthly, the Nuclear Program of America was responsible for another cause for the Cold War. After when the US bombarded on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Soviet Russia became afraid for their existence. So, it also followed the same path to combat America. This led to the growth of Cold War.

Lastly, the Enforcement of Veto by Soviet Russia against the western countries made them to hate Russia. When the western countries put forth any view in the Security Council of the UNO, Soviet Russia immediately opposed it through veto. So the western countries became annoyed in Soviet Russia which gave birth to the Cold War.

Cold War Aftermath

Demands for freedom soon started to spread in the Soviet Union. The BALTIC STATES of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared independence. Similar sentimental talks were heard in UKRAINE, the CAUCASUS, and the CENTRAL ASIAN states.

Here Gorbachev wished to draw the line. Self-determination for Eastern Europe was one thing, but he intended to maintain the territorial integrity of the Soviet Union. In 1991, he proposed a Union Treaty, giving greater autonomy to the Soviet republics, while trying to keep them under central control.

Americans were pleasantly shocked, but shocked nonetheless at the turn of events in the Soviet bloc. No serious discourse on any diplomatic levels in the USSR addressed the likelihood of a Soviet collapse. Republicans were quick to claim credit for winning the Cold War.

They believed the military spending policies of the Reagan-Bush years forced the Soviets to the brink of economic collapse. Democrats argued that containment of communism was a bipartisan policy for 45 years begun by the Democrat Harry Truman.

Others pointed out that no one really won the Cold War. The United States spent trillions of dollars arming themselves for a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union that fortunately never came. Regardless, thousands of American lives were lost waging proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam.

Americans hoped against hope that the new world order of the 1990s would be marked with the security and prosperity to which they had become accustomed.

Cold War Facts

1. The Cold War is called “cold” because there was no direct major conflict between the Soviets and the United States, although they supported major proxy wars around the globe.
2. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union detonated the largest nuclear weapon the world had ever seen. Called the Tsar of Bomba (King of the Bombs), it released the equivalent of over 50 megatons of TNT, which was more than all the explosives used during WWII combined.

• Winston Churchill was the first person to use the term “iron curtain” to refer to the Cold War boundaries. He said an “iron curtain” had fallen across Europe.

1. The Berlin Wall was the quintessential symbol of the Cold War.
2. The Bay of Pigs is the most famous Cold War conflict and is widely known as “a perfect failure” for the United States. Due to confusion over time zones, American bombers failed to support a group of Cuban exiles as they attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro.
3. U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared the official end of the Cold War at the Malta Summit in 1989.

Cold War Books, Movies, and Series

Books:-

1. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
2. The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis

• The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945-2010 by Peter Hennessy

1. The Book of Daniel by EL Doctorow

Movies:-

1. Cold War(2018)
2. Bridge of Spies(2015)

• Dr. Strangelove(1964)

1. Atomic Blonde(2017)
2. The Coldest Game(2019)

Series:-

1. The Game(2014)
2. The Untold History Of United States(2012)

• 1983(2018)