PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE: CAUSES, CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2025

The peaceful coexistence was a concept applied to international politics during the second half of the twentieth century. The first to use the term was the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who coined it to describe how relations should be between the two great powers of the time: the United States and the Soviet Union.

Shortly after the end of World War II, the victorious allies divided into two large ideological groups. One, the western capitalist, led by the US The second, the communist, led by the Soviet Union. For a few years, it seemed inevitable that a conflict would break out between the two blocs.

Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy - Source: Photograph from the US Department of State in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston., via Wikimedia Commons

Stalin's death in 1953 turned the situation around. His replacement was Nikita Khrushchev, who soon promoted a new foreign policy, peaceful coexistence. The basis of it was the conviction that to avoid war it was necessary to renounce the use of arms to impose itself.

Peaceful coexistence, despite several major crises that almost led to nuclear war, kept the peace between the two blocs. According to historians, the end of that stage can be marked in the early 1980s.

Causes

Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953 and was replaced by Nikita Kruschev after a succession process in which he had to get rid of those in favor of continuing with the hard line (exterior and interior).

Soon, the new Soviet leader decided to change the policy of his country. On the one hand, it undertook a process of de-Stalinization and made the economy experience a notable improvement. On the other hand, he also launched a proposal to reduce tension with the western bloc.

The armistice in the Korean War and the Peace of Indochina contributed to making this detente possible. Furthermore, in the United States, the adherents of the more aggressive doctrines, who proposed "massive reprisals" against any Soviet movement, were losing influence.

Need for a long period of peace

After coming to power, Khrushchev set out to modernize part of the structures of the Soviet Union. Thus, he planned to build giant dams on the Volga or pipes to bring water to the cultivated fields of Central Asia, for example.

All these projects required a large financial outlay, in addition to a lot of manpower. For that reason, it needed the international situation to calm down and that no war conflict (or threat thereof) could monopolize the resources that were going to be destined for the construction of infrastructures.

Nuclear weapon

The dropping of atomic bombs by the United States on Japan had created a feeling of insecurity in the Soviets. Part of his efforts were focused on matching himself in destructive potential with his rivals.

In 1949, the Soviet Union manufactured its A-bombs and, in 1953, its H-bombs. In addition, it built submarines and superbombers to be able to launch them into enemy territory.

This calmed the Soviet authorities, since they considered that the military power had been balanced.

Mutual Assured Destruction

Another cause of the Soviet proposal for peaceful coexistence was related to the previous point. The development of weapons of mass destruction by the Soviet Union made both sides aware of the foreseeable outcome of an armed confrontation between them.

Both contenders had enough weapons to repeatedly destroy their enemy, rendering their territories uninhabitable for centuries. It was the so-called Mutual Assured Destruction doctrine.

Thaw

After Stalin's death, some signs of détente appeared between the two blocs that emerged from the Second World War. These include the signing of the Panmunjong Armistice, which ended the Korean War in 1953, or the Geneva agreements, related to the conflict in Indochina.

characteristics

The formulation of the concept of peaceful coexistence started from the Soviet ranks. Its leaders came to the conclusion that, for a time, it was inevitable that communist and capitalist countries coexisted. The only way, therefore, to avoid a world war was to renounce arms as a means of resolving disputes.

This theory held true for almost 30 years. At the bottom of it was an optimistic vision of the future of the Soviet bloc: Khrushchev believed that this period of peace would allow them to surpass the West economically.

Distension

The main characteristic of this stage of the cold war was the détente between the two world blocs. There was a kind of tacit commitment not to upset the balance that emerged from World War II.

Peaceful coexistence was based on mutual respect (and fear) between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Geneva Conference of 1955 ratified the existing status quo and confirmed the areas of influence of the two countries.

Respect for areas of influence

Those areas of influence were, with exceptions, respected by the superpowers. Not only in the military, but also in the field of political propaganda.

Balance of terror

The military technology of the two blocs had reached such a development that it ensured the destruction of both sides in the event of war, regardless of who won. For many years, peaceful coexistence coexisted with the fear of nuclear war breaking out.

To try to avoid situations of extreme crisis, the US and the USSR established, for the first time, direct negotiation channels. The famous "red telephone", the metaphor about direct contact between the leaders of the two countries, became the symbol of dialogue.

On the other hand, negotiations were carried out that culminated in treaties to limit nuclear weapons.

Crisis

Despite all of the above, peaceful coexistence did not mean that the confrontation between the two blocks disappeared. Although the nearby areas of influence were respected, one of the characteristics of that period was the crises that appeared every so often in the peripheral areas.

The two superpowers faced each other indirectly, each supporting a different side in the different wars that broke out in the world.

One of the most important crises was that of 1961, when the East German government erected the Berlin Wall that separated the two parts of the city.

On the other hand, the well-known Missile Crisis was on the verge of provoking nuclear war. The United States discovered the intention of the Soviet Union to install nuclear missiles in Cuba and decreed a tight naval blockade. The tension was raised to the maximum, but finally the missiles were not installed.

The Vietnam War was another crisis within the framework of the cold war. In this case, the Americans were forced to withdraw in 1973.

Consequences

According to historians, it is difficult to separate the direct consequences of peaceful coexistence from those caused by the Cold War.

The end of the United States nuclear monopoly

The United States lost the status of being the only country with nuclear weapons. Not only did the Soviet Union make theirs, but also other countries such as Great Britain, France or India.

This led to negotiations to limit the nuclear arsenal and even to dismantle part of it.

The answer within each block

The détente caused discrepancies to appear within the two blocks. Not having to be totally aware of facing the enemy, internal differences surfaced in several places.

In the West, France stood out, establishing an autonomous policy against the United States. The aforementioned Vietnam War also caused a great internal response, even within the United States.

In countries within the Soviet area of ​​influence there were some major uprisings. Among them the Prague Spring, which sought the establishment of a “socialism with a human face”:

For its part, Tito's Yugoslavia, who had already faced Stalin, promoted the Group of Non-Aligned Countries, with the intention of forming a third, more or less, independent bloc.

Creation of new military organizations

In 1954, the Federal Republic of Germany joined NATO. The Soviet response was the creation of the Warsaw Pact, a military organization that encompassed the surrounding countries.

Return to tension

Many experts place the end of Peaceful Coexistence in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan became president of the United States. Others, however, point out that it had begun to weaken years before, with Jimmy Carter as president.

At that time, new sources of conflict broke out on all continents. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the United States responded by supporting the resistance and establishing sanctions on the Soviets, including a boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

The so-called Star Wars, promoted by Reagan in 1983, caused the tension to skyrocket again, confirming the end of the Peaceful Coexistence.

References

1. Ocaña, Juan Carlos. Peaceful Coexistence 1955-1962. Obtained from historiesiglo20.org
2. Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government. Towards Peaceful Coexistence. Retrieved from hiru.eus
3. Icarito. Cold War: Peaceful Coexistence. Obtained from icarito.cl
4. Khrushchev, Nikita S. On Peaceful Coexistence. Retrieved from foreignaffairs.com
5. Van Sleet, Michelle. Khrushchev's Peaceful Coexistence: The Soviet Perspective. Retrieved from blogs.bu.edu
6. CVCE. From peaceful coexistence to the paroxysms of the Cold War (1953–1962). Obtained from cvce.eu
7. Library of Congress. The Soviet Union and the United States. Retrieved from loc.gov
8. Digital History. The Death of Stalin and the Cold War. Retrieved from digitalhistory.uh.edu