COLD WAR: CAUSES, CHARACTERISTICS, COUNTRIES, CONSEQUENCES - HISTORY - 2024

The G uerra Cold is the name given to the historical period that began after the Second World War and ended with the demise of the Soviet Union. This stage was characterized by the political, economic, social, informational and scientific confrontation between the United States and the USSR.

Although both superpowers did not reach an open military confrontation, they did participate in many conflicts indirectly, supporting the side most ideologically related. The most important were the Korean War, the Vietnam War or the Cuban missile crisis.

Blocks in the Cold War - Source: Creative Commons Generic Attribution / Share-Alike 3.0 license

After the end of the Second World War, the world was divided into two great blocks. On the one hand, the Western, capitalist and based on liberal democracy, led by the United States. On the other, the countries with a communist economy and under non-democratic regimes, led by the Soviet Union.

During the decades of the Cold War, the world lived in fear of nuclear conflict. The arms race skyrocketed and almost all countries were forced, at one point and another, to position themselves. Finally, the economic imbalance caused by military spending and low productivity, caused the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Background

Although most historians agree to mark the beginning of the Cold War at the end of World War II, some point out that the long-standing confrontation between the Soviet Union and the Western bloc began earlier.

Thus, they point out that since the Russian Revolution in 1917, tensions began to arise between communism and capitalism, led by the USSR and by the British Empire and the United States respectively.

However, during the Second World War both blocks joined forces to end Nazism, although, certainly, there was already a certain mutual distrust.

Second World War

During the war, the Soviets believed that the British and Americans had left them the greatest weight in the fight against the Germans. Similarly, they suspected that when the war ended, they would create an alliance against him.

On the other hand, the allies distrusted Stalin and his intention to spread communism to neighboring countries.

In this regard, the United States advocated the establishment of capitalist governments throughout Europe, while the USSR sought to create a bloc of allied nations to protect its borders.

Conferences

The Yalta Conference, held in February 1945 and attended by the allies fighting against Nazi Germany, began to discuss the future of Europe after a victory they already took for granted. The disparity of opinions caused that they did not reach any agreement.

After the conflict ended, the Soviets proceeded to take control, de facto, of the territories near their borders, in Eastern Europe. For their part, Americans and allies settled in the western part of the continent.

Germany then became the subject of contention. There a sort of mandate was created divided between four countries: the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

A new Conference, that of Potsdam, showed the first great differences on the situation in Germany and in Eastern Europe.

The United States announced at that conference that it had a new weapon, the atomic bomb. A week later, he used it against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many authors consider that, apart from wanting to end the War of the Pacific, he also intended to show his destructive power to the Soviets.

The Iron Curtain

Tensions mounted, and in February 1946 the diplomat and political scientist George Kennan wrote the so-called Long Telegram. In this, he defended the need to be inflexible with the Soviets, laying the foundations of American policy during the Cold War.

The Soviet response was another telegram, this one signed by Novikov and Molotov. In this writing, they affirmed that the United States was using its status as a power within the capitalist world to achieve world supremacy through a new war.

Weeks later, Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, delivered a speech that many mark as the true start of the Cold War. The politician accused the Soviets of having created an "iron curtain" from the Baltic to the Adriatic and advocated an alliance between the United States and his country to control their ambitions.

Causes and initiation

Before the Cold War began, there was a time when it seemed that coexistence between the two powers could be peaceful. Roosevelt, in Yalta, had proposed that they collaborate to maintain world peace. Stalin, for his part, saw international aid necessary to rebuild his country.

There were some events that seemed to agree with the optimists. The Communists, for example, obtained very good electoral results in France, Italy or Czechoslovakia and Churchill, a hardliner, lost the elections in Great Britain.

In addition, both blocks collaborated in a couple of actions, such as the Nuremberg Trials against the Nazi leaders or the Paris Peace Treaty, signed in 1947.

However, a series of causes caused the two powers to distance themselves and start the Cold War.

Causes

Among the main causes that caused the Cold War is the eagerness of the Soviets and Americans to spread their respective ideologies throughout the world, clashing in many places.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union viewed with fear the acquisition of atomic weapons by the United States. Soon enough, she began developing her own atomic bomb, starting a rapid arms race.

The two previous factors caused the fear that a war would break out between them grew. To this was added the aversion that the American president felt towards the Soviet, Josef Stalin.

The year of the break

The total breakdown occurred in 1947. Europe was still badly damaged by the effects of the war, without reconstruction having begun. This caused an increase in unrest among citizens and the countries of the western bloc began to fear that they would end up voting for the communist parties.

On the other hand, the Soviet Union complained about the lack of Western aid for its own reconstruction, something that they considered fair to have had to keep the entire Eastern front almost without support.

The year 1947 began with what was considered a clear violation of the Yalta accords by the Soviet Union: in Poland, the elections were classified as undemocratic, since they were held in an environment of lack of freedom. The victory was for the supported candidates

Creation of the Eastern Bloc

After World War II, Stalin wanted to secure his western border by creating a kind of shield made up of countries under his direct or indirect control. In the first case, it annexed the Soviet Union, as Socialist Republics, Estonia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Likewise, part of the Polish and Finnish territory was incorporated into the country.

As satellite states, the eastern bloc expanded with East Germany, Poland, the People's Republic of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Albania, although the latter left its area of ​​influence in the 1960s.

The Truman Doctrine

President Harry Truman.

The establishment of US policy against the Eastern Bloc had its precedent in February 1947. That month, the British reported the impossibility of continuing to support the Conservative government in Greece, which was fighting a communist guerrilla.

The United States reacted immediately. At that time, his government was aware that it could not recover the areas already under Soviet control, but it could prevent them from expanding. Harry Truman, president of the country, gave a speech in Congress on March 12 to demand the approval of economic aid to Greece and Turkey.

In addition, that speech laid the foundations of the so-called Truman Doctrine, which promised American aid for any government that felt threatened by communists from abroad or within.

Meanwhile, in Western Europe the bad economic and social situation was causing the growth of the communist parties. In this context, the ministers of that ideology who were in the French, Italian and Belgian governments were expelled from their posts.

The Marshall Plan

To prevent the spread of communist ideas, the United States knew that it was imperative that living conditions in Western Europe improve. That was one of the reasons why he launched an economic aid program, the Marshall Plan.

In order to receive such aid, the countries had to create mechanisms for economic collaboration. This led to Stalin's refusal to participate in the Plan.

Along with this economic aid operation, Truman created several agencies that played a major role during the Cold War: the CIA and the National Security Council.

Soviet response

At first, some country in the Soviet orbit, such as Czechoslovakia, had shown interest in participating in the Marshall Plan. However, the orders from Moscow were blunt and everyone ended up rejecting him.

In September 1947, the USSR created its own aid plan. On that date, he founded the Cominform (Information Office of Communist and Workers' Parties), whose purpose was to coordinate the policies of all communist parties in Europe.

It was at this time that the Jdanov Doctrine was born, promulgated by the Soviet representative in the Cominform. In it, it was found that the world had been divided into two blocks, as well as the leadership of Moscow in what, according to the diplomat, "anti-fascist and democratic camp."

What countries participated in the Cold War?

Except for a limited number of countries that declared themselves “not aligned,” the Cold War affected almost the entire planet.

Soon, albeit indirectly, almost every nation positioned itself alongside one of the two great superpowers: the United States and the USSR.

U.S

The United States was the leader of the western bloc. Its economy was based on capitalism, with market freedom as the maxim. Likewise, it promoted the idea of ​​a democratic government, with free elections.

Allies of the United States

The main allies of the United States during the Cold War were the countries of Western Europe, in addition to Canada and Australia.

Although they were capitalist countries, the fear of communism led to the creation of the Welfare State. Thus, to a greater or lesser extent, European countries created almost non-existent social protection systems in the United States, such as health and free and universal education.

Among these allies, countries such as Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Turkey and West Germany stood out.

Soviet Union

Since the Russian Revolution of 1917, the country's economic system had been based on socialist ideas. These put the focus on public ownership of the means of production and on the concept of mutual aid.

However, its political system became increasingly dictatorial. During Stalin's time, the repression was brutal, causing large numbers of victims.

Allies of the Soviet Union

After World War II, the Soviet Union succeeded in having communist movements seize power in several Eastern European countries. In these it was repeated in the Soviet political and economic scheme.

Among its most important allies were Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania..

Asia

As noted above, the Cold War was not limited to Europe. Over time, its effects were noticeable in the rest of the continents. In Asia, for example, the Soviets financed various revolutionary guerrillas in some countries of the Southeast. For its part, the United States signed military alliances with Japan, Thailand and the Philippines.

Some of the most important conflicts during the Cold War took place on this continent. Among them, the Korean War, between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, armed by the USSR, and the Republic of Korea, under the influence of the United States

The second of these great conflicts was the Vietnam War. There, the United States and South Vietnam clashed with North Vietnam and communist guerrillas.

On the other hand, the civil war in China ended in 1949 with the victory of the communist side, led by Mao Zedong. Although, initially, they established an alliance with the Soviets, over time the relations worsened markedly.

Africa and Middle East

In Africa, the situation was very similar to that in Asia. The Soviets financed the leftist anti-colonial movements, while the United States supported the more conservative ones.

One of the sources of conflict was Egypt. Although formally neutral, part of its funding came from the USSR. This support, also technical and military, was noted during the Six Day War against Israel, a close ally of the United States.

Other countries also found themselves immersed in the Cold War, such as South Yemen and Iraq, on the Soviet side.

The US, for its part, supported the Kurdish movement to weaken the Iraqi nationalist government or the Shah of Persia. In a move frowned upon by his allies, he even considered Nelson Mandela's movement, which fought against Apartheid in South Africa, as an enemy.

Latin America

At first, it seemed that Truman did not give too much importance to what was happening in Latin America. However, the growing Soviet influence in some countries caused a radical change.

The US goal was for Latin American governments to break relations with the Soviet Union, something they did, except in the cases of Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay. Likewise, he began to press for all communist parties to be banned.

In two years, between 1952 and 1954, the US signed mutual defense pacts with 10 countries in the area: Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Nicaragua and Honduras.

However, this did not prevent Fidel Castro's revolutionaries from coming to power in Cuba in 1959.

Characteristics of the Cold War

Among the characteristics that marked the Cold War is the fear of the use of nuclear weapons, the proliferation of indirect conflicts and the division of the world into two blocks.

Bipolar world

The world during the Cold War was divided into two great blocks, depending on the chosen economic and political system.

The global balance was very precarious, with a multitude of local conflicts in which, indirectly, the Soviet Union and the United States participated. In addition, both powers did not hesitate to support violent movements to prevent a given country from changing sides.

As an example of this, the United States supported several coups in Latin America and launched the Condor Plan, while the Soviets forced the related governments of Hungary or Czechoslovakia to repress those seeking more freedom.

Competition to win followers

The two blocs sought during those decades to extend their influence as much as possible, for this they resorted to economic, military or technological incentives to add countries to their orbits.

Similarly, propaganda became very important. It was about, on the one hand, spreading the benefits of its political model and, on the other, discrediting the adversary, regardless of resorting to unethical methods. Thus, the spread of false news was frequent, as long as they met the objective set.

The entertainment industry, especially the American one, also played an important role in spreading its socioeconomic system. From cinema to television, the products with propaganda elements were innumerable.

The Soviets, for their part, based their propaganda on the idea of ​​the struggle for freedom, especially highlighting the role of revolutionary or anticolonial movements.

Mutual Assured Destruction

The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction began with the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Not only the United States and the Soviet Union developed these bombs, but also other countries with France, Great Britain or India.

In this way, both blocks had the ability to destroy the world. In theory, starting a war of this type would end up hurting both sides, since the answer would be total destruction.

However, the danger of nuclear war was present at times during the Cold War, especially during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Aside from nuclear weapons, the two blocs embarked on an arms race. This hurt the world economy, although it hurt the Soviets much more.

Fear

The foregoing caused that this time was characterized by the fear of the population in the face of the danger of a war breaking out.

In addition, the growing radicalization of positions led to the appearance of dictatorships, witch hunts or coups d'état.

Indirect conflicts

Given that an open war would have caused, as has been pointed out, mutual destruction, the two powers engaged in indirect confrontation, supporting different sides in all the conflicts that broke out at the local or regional level.

The Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Missile Crisis or the Arab-Israeli wars were some of the main conflicts during this stage.

Less bloody, but equally significant, were the boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. The first, held in Moscow, had the absence of the United States and other allied countries under the excuse of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The second, based in Los Angeles, was met with boycott by the Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern bloc.

Main conflicts

As has been detailed, during the four decades of the Cold War, the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were indirectly involved in conflicts in various parts of the planet.

The Berlin blockade

The first serious confrontation between the two blocs occurred in 1948, when Berlin was still divided into four sectors. France, the United States, and England were bringing materials and supplies to rebuild the city, raising suspicions in Stalin that they, too, might be transporting weapons.

Given this, the Soviets closed all land access routes to West Berlin, causing the greatest crisis at the beginning of the Cold War.

The United States responded by organizing an airlift to transport the supplies, without the Soviets being able to prevent it. Finally the blockade was lifted peacefully.

Korean War (1950 - 1953)

On June 25, 1950, North Korea, an ally of China and the Soviet Union, invaded neighboring South Korea, supported by the United States and Great Britain.

The Korean War showed all the characteristics of the regional conflicts that would mark the Cold War: two rivals with opposing ideologies supported, indirectly, by the superpowers who, thus, did not have to confront each other.

On this occasion, the status quo of the two Koreas was maintained. To this day, both countries remain divided and, since no peace was signed, officially at war.

The Vietnam War (1964-1975)

As in the previous case, Vietnam was divided into two parts, one capitalist and one communist. South Vietnam had the support of the Americans, while North Vietnam had the collaboration of China.

In 1965, the Americans began to send troops to fight communist guerrillas operating in their ally's territory and seeking unification with the North.

Despite great military inequality, favorable to the Americans, the North Vietnamese held out. The US used chemical weapons, such as Agent Orange, and caused several massacres of civilians. This created a great feeling of rejection among its own citizens.

The unpopularity of the war, the number of its own casualties and the impossibility of winning it in the short term, caused the United States to withdraw its troops. Without them, the conflict ended on April 30, 1975, with the victory of North Vietnam.

Missile crisis

The triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 was an important event in the development of the Cold War. When Castro approached the Soviet Union, the United States encountered, for the first time, a rival bloc country a few kilometers from its territory.

In 1961, tensions between the two countries led to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The following year, the Soviet Union began building nuclear silos in Cuba. In addition to preventing further invasion attempts, the Soviets responded in this way to the installation of missiles in Turkey.

The crisis began when the United States discovered Soviet ships transporting atomic weapons to Cuba. They immediately responded by sending their own ships to block their passage.

During the days after October 22, 1962, the tension between the two superpowers grew exponentially. Kennedy demanded the withdrawal of his ships, threatening massive retaliation.

On the 26th, Khrushchev agreed to cancel his plans, on the condition that the US promised not to invade Cuba and that it withdraw its missiles from Turkey. On the 28th, Kennedy accepted the proposal.

After what happened, both superpowers agreed to set up a direct communication channel between Moscow and Washington to prevent this type of crisis from repeating itself: the famous hotline.

Prague spring

The Soviets also had problems in the countries of their bloc. The most important, along with the 1956 invasion of Hungary, was the so-called Prague Spring.

In Czechoslovakia a movement appeared which, even within socialism, tried to liberalize the political situation. This stage began on January 5, 1968, with the coming to power of the reformist Alexander Dubček came to power.

For a few months, the Czechoslovak government enacted various reforms that increased public and political freedoms.

Finally, the Soviet Union decided to end this democratizing project. On August 21 of the same year, troops from the Warsaw Pact, the equivalent of NATO in the eastern bloc, invaded the country and deposed the government.

Afghanistan

In 1979, the Soviet Union became entangled in Afghanistan's hornet's nest, a conflict that wore down its economy.

In April 1978, a revolution took place in Afghanistan that brought the Communist People's Democratic Party (PDPA) to power. Opponents soon took up arms, with fierce guerrilla warfare across the country.

The Soviets supported the PDPA through military advisers. For their part, the opponents had the help of Pakistan and the United States. The latter country began a program of military assistance to the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets.

After a few months of civil war, the Afghan president was assassinated in an internal coup in the PDPA. His replacement, Hafizullah Amin, was in turn assassinated on the orders of the Soviets.

The new government, under Soviet influence, got under way. To protect it, the USSR began to send military forces, although without thinking that they would have to carry the weight of operations in the war against opponents.

The Americans responded by decreeing sanctions that affected various Soviet products, such as cereals. In addition, they continued to fund and train the Mujahideen, who, over time, would become the seed of organizations like Al Qaeda.

The Space Race

Although it was not an armed conflict, the space race in which both sides fought was of great importance. First, because of the propaganda revenues they planned to obtain and, second, because of the consequences for the economy, especially the Soviet one.

Since the late 1950s, the USSR began to invest large amounts of money to reach space, in part to improve its defense systems against possible American attacks.

Thus, they went ahead by sending the first satellite into space, Sputnik, capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals. In November 1957, they launched the second object, Sputnik II, the first with a living being inside it: the dog Laika.

The Americans reacted the following year, with the launch of Explorer I. However, it was the Soviets who were able to send the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin.

Given this, the United States proposed the ultimate move: step on the Moon. Aboard Apollo 11, Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked the satellite on July 21, 1969.

Consequences

The Cold War affected, as has been pointed out, the entire world. Its consequences ranged from the economic destabilization of some countries to the state of fear of an atomic war.

Economic destabilization in other nations

The United States and the Soviet Union were focused on expanding their influence around the globe. To do this, they did not hesitate to intervene in any other country if they considered that it benefited their objectives.

Among the effects of these policies was the political and economic destabilization of smaller nations, both in Latin America and in Africa or in Europe itself.

Civil and military wars

From Korea to Vietnam, through Afghanistan or Angola, many countries were involved in the confrontation between the two superpowers.

The United States, seeking to prevent the spread of communism, became involved or fomented conflicts all over the planet. For its part, the Soviet Union did the same with the opposite objective.

Largest nuclear presence in the world

During the Cold War, the tension in the face of possible attacks caused an increase in the world's nuclear arsenal.

Not only did the United States and the Soviet Union equip themselves with a number of nuclear warheads capable of destroying the planet several times, but other countries followed suit. Thus, France, Great Britain, Israel, Pakistan or India manufactured their own bombs, often with the technical support of the Soviets and Americans.

Fall of the Soviet Union

The final consequence of the Cold War was the disappearance of one of the two great powers: the Soviet Union. This, wounded by its bad economic situation, aggravated by the great military investment, was unable to withstand the pressure of the western side.

Furthermore, at the end of the 80s of the 20th century, the territories that made up the country were claiming their independence. In the end, the Soviet Union ended up disintegrating, with 15 new countries appearing. Russia remained as her heir, although much less powerful.

End

Four years before accessing the presidency, Ronald Reagan declared what his policy would be with respect to the Soviet Union.

It was January 1977, and the future American president stated that his "idea of ​​what American policy should be with regard to the Soviet Union is simple, and some will say simplistic: we win and they lose."

Once in office, Reagan greatly increased military spending. Together with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, they called the USSR the Empire of Evil.

Starting in 1985, the American president implemented the so-called Reagan Doctrine. This was not only based on containment, but also on their right to overthrow existing communist governments.

To do this, he did not hesitate to support the Islamists in countries where they faced the Soviets, such as Afghanistan.

Structural problems of the Soviet economy

While the United States could afford to increase its debt to increase its military capabilities, the Soviet Union had many economic problems. In the second decade of the 1980s, Soviet military spending reached 25% of its GDP and they could only maintain it at the cost of reducing investments in other areas.

This led to a major economic crisis, which became structural. Thus, the Soviets found themselves unable to follow the escalation initiated by Reagan.

American tactic

Despite Reagan's anti-communism, the American population was reluctant to engage their country in open conflict. The United States, faced with this, opted for another type of tactics, cheaper and faster.

In 1983 alone, Reagan intervened in the Lebanese civil war, invaded Grenada and bombed Libya. In addition, during his mandate he supported the Nicaraguan Contra, which fought against the Sandinista government, as well as other anti-communist groups in much of the planet.

The Soviets, for their part, were caught up in the war in Afghanistan, expending enormous resources. In total, they managed to mobilize 100,000 soldiers on Afghan soil, without the results being positive.

Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev became Secretary General of the Soviet Union in 1985. From the beginning of his mandate, with the economy stagnant and affected by the drop in oil prices, he decided to develop a series of reforms that would allow the country's recovery.

At first, Gorbachev's reforms were only superficial. It was in June 1987 when he announced that deeper changes were going to be necessary, which were known as Perestroika (restructuring in Russian).

Perestroika meant the return to a certain private economic activity and sought the arrival of foreign investors. Another goal was to reduce military spending and put that money into more productive activities.

At the same time, Gorbachev introduced other measures called glasnot (transparency in Russian). These increased the freedom of the press and the transparency of State institutions, then afflicted by great internal corruption.

Thaw of relationships

Gorbachev's reforms found a positive response in the United States. Reagan agreed to establish talks to reduce nuclear weapons, as well as to establish some economic agreements.

Between 1985 and 1987, both leaders met three times. The agreements were the halving of the nuclear arsenal and the elimination of part of the ballistic and cruise missiles, both nuclear and conventional.

The Soviets, moreover, withdrew from Afghanistan and proclaimed the so-called Sinatra Doctrine. Through this, they declared their intention not to intervene again in the internal affairs of their allies in Eastern Europe.

It was in this context that, on December 3, 1989, Gorbachev and George HW Bush declared the Cold War over during the summit held in Malta.

Fall of the wall

The reforms promoted by Gorbachev did not affect only the Soviet Union. The rest of the eastern bloc went through a transitional stage between its communist regimes and liberal democracy.

Without Soviet intervention, the rulers of those countries fell within a few months.

In reality, Gorbachev's intention was never for the eastern bloc to crumble or, obviously, for the USSR to collapse. Its objective was for the reforms to modernize its structures, improving its economy and increasing the political rights of citizens.

However, in late October 1989, events accelerated. On the 23rd, Hungary declared itself out of the Soviet orbit, without the USSR being opposed.

A few days later, Honecker, president of East Germany, was replaced by a reformist communist, Egon Krenz. He made the decision to open the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

The end of the Soviet Union

Inside the USSR, opposition to the regime was greatly strengthened, especially in the different republics that made up the federation.

Soon, several of these republics declared their autonomy from Moscow. Some, like the Baltic republics, went further and declared themselves independent from the USSR.

Despite Gorbachev's attempts to prevent the dismemberment of the country, the nationalist movements were already unstoppable. The attempted coup against Gorbachev in August 1991 was the last attempt to return to power by opponents of the reforms. Its failure was the coup de grace to the USSR.

On December 25, 1991, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved. At first, the Commonwealth of Independent States was created, but this attempt to remain united was short-lived.

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