Cold War

We explain what the cold war is and what powers they faced. In addition, its characteristics and main conflicts.

What was the cold war?

The cold war was A period of tension between the United States (USA) and the Soviet Union (USSR) that extended between the end of World War II (1945) and the dissolution of the USSR (1991). This antagonism was generated by the existence of two opposite economic and social systems: capitalism (sustained by the United States) and communism (sustained by the Soviet Union).

Dozens of countries in the world supported one of the two powers or were under their influence and the political map was divided into two large antagonistic blocks (this is called “bipolar world”).

The cold war has this name because The conflict never reached a direct confrontation between the US and the USSR. However, during this period there was “a peace that was not peace” (in the words of George Orwell): the entire world feared the rivalry between powers that had nuclear weapons.

Given the risk involved in a direct armed combat, the US and the USSR faced each other through “subsidiary wars”, that is, armed clashes in other countries (especially in Asia, Africa and America). In these subsidiary wars, both USA and the USSR They intervened offering financial and military aid to local features to obtain influence on international politics.

The rivalry between both powers led to a great competence of power and ostentation. This encouraged the industrial development of each country, beyond its military and political objectives. Both the USSR and the United States sought to demonstrate that its systems were the best to guarantee the well -being of its citizens and the economic progress of political communities. In this way, the rivalry was also expressed in the economic and cultural spheres.

Started clearly and definitively in 1947, after a rapid deterioration in the relations of the allies of World War II, the Cold War reached its peak between 1948 and 1953. After various periods of relaxation and confrontation, the arrival of Gorbachev to power in the USSR triggered a process that culminated in the disintegration of the USSR in 1991.

See also: Chronology of the Cold War

The ideological war: Capitalism vs. communism

The Cold War was also an ideological war in which the values ​​of two opposite systems competed, both politically and in economic:

• Capitalism. It is based on the right to private property and investment with the objective of obtaining economic benefits. Ideologically defends the individual initiative based on the principle of freedom and criticizes communism for raising that individual initiative.
• Communism. It is based on the common property of resources and means of production, and the equitable distribution of its benefits. Criticism of capitalism for based on the exploitation of the working class for the benefit of a few individuals who accumulate the goods, the means of production and capital.

Characteristics of the Cold War

Among the main characteristics of the Cold War can be highlighted:

• It was a period of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union that was triggered between 1945 and 1991, due to the political competition between both powers.
• Although during the conflict, the US and the USSR did not have a direct armed confrontation, the world was divided into two large blocks (western-capitalist and oriental-communist) in which the powers imposed their influence.
• The US and the USSR had nuclear weapons of mass destruction and the consequences of the risks of a direct confrontation were feared for more than four decades worldwide.
• Among the main conflicts of the political sphere, the powers intervened in the Korean War, the missile crisis in Cuba and the Vietnam War.
• In the economic field, the competition of the powers led them to develop different production models, international economic organizations and, especially, an arms race and a space race.
• In the cultural field, both the United States and the Soviet Union sought to demonstrate that its political-economic systems were better to guarantee the well-being of its citizens, through propaganda, cinema and academic studies.

Origins of the Cold War

The removal of the Soviet Union and the Western powers (United States, the United Kingdom and France) had begun in 1917 with the triumph of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

After the burst of World War II, the German invasion of the Russian territories led to the fact that The Soviet Union will ally with the Western powers. The allies managed to defeat European fascisms and Japanese expansionism, but their agreement began to weaken before the war ended.

With the signing of the final treaties of World War II, the victorious powers began to face each other and competed for the control of territories and their influence on the rest of the countries. In this way, by 1947 the Cold War began, a long period of rivalry that faced the US and the Soviet Union and that determined international relations for almost half a century.

See also: Origins of the Cold War

The two Blocks of the Cold War

During the Cold War, the countries of the world were aligned around the blocks. For geographical and ideological reasons, the sphere of influence of the United States was called “Western Block” and the “Eastern Block” Soviet Union. In its competence for the control of resources, territories and political influence, each country designed different strategies to consolidate its power.

Conformation of the western block

To avoid the growth of communism in European countries devastated by World War II, The United States applied the “Marshall Plan”. This economic plan was aimed at delivering technical and economic assistance for the rapid recovery of European economies, the increase in trade, urban reconstruction and the improvement of the quality of life of the population.

In 1949, before the fear of Soviet power, Western powers founded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In the following years, the signatory powers created different organizations (European Coal and Steel Community, European Atomic Energy Community, European Economic Community, etc.) that politically and economically integrated the Western bloc.

Conformation of the Eastern Block

After World War II, Stalin sought to maintain control in the territories he had obtained and grow its influence in the allied countries of the region.

During the first post -war years, the Kominform (the Bureau of Information of the Communist and Workers’ Parties) was created to lead the communist parties of the Eastern Block according to the directives of the USSR, and the COMECON (Economic Mutual Aid Council) to favor the economic cooperation of these countries.

In addition, the Warsaw Pact was created, from which The signatory countries promised to support In case of war clashes.

See also: Blocks of the Cold War

The arms and technological career during the Cold War

After the confrontations of World War I and World War II, the different powers of the world knew that Political and economic hegemony was based on armament possession.

During the decades of the Cold War, both the United States and the USSR and the different powers involved invested millions of dollars and resources in the development of the war industry. This made, in turn, increased the tensions between the powers and the fear of the outcome of a third world war.

The industrial competition between the US and the USSR was especially in three areas: the nuclear career, the military career and the space career.

Nuclear career

The United States had developed the nuclear bomb in 1945, and He released two bombs in Japan (in Hiroshima and Nagasaki) At the end of World War II. Since then, the USSR allocated resources to develop atomic technology. In 1949, he detonated his first atomic bomb in a test field and USA. It ceased to be the only nuclear power on the planet.

In the following decades, both powers developed hydrogen bombs of even higher destructive level. To avoid the use of nuclear weapons (and the consequent counterattacks), UU. And the USSR signed agreements to avoid the proliferation of this technology.

However, scientific developments continued and currently nine countries have nuclear weapons (USA, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea).

Military-industrial complex

In parallel, both in the US and in the USSR the groups of businessmen, politicians and high military commanders who pressed governments to increase military development expenses grew.

During the long decades of the Cold War, the military industry became one of the most profitable worldwide.

Space race

In 1957, The USSR first put an artificial satellite in orbitcalled Sputnik iwhose destination was to receive and emit radio signals. A month later, the Russians wanted to demonstrate that a living being could cross the atmosphere and survive in zero gravity, and sent to the dog Laika aboard the Sputnik II.

In 1961, the USSR sent the first astronaut to space, Yuri Gagarin. A few months later, the United States sent the second: Alan Shepard. In 1967, USA began the Apollo project with the aim of landing on the moon. In 1969 Apollo XI managed to make a successful landing and Neil Amstrong was the first man to walk on the lunar surface.

Military conflicts during the Cold War

Among the main military conflicts that took place during the Cold War, are:

• Korea War (1951-1953). After World War II, the different political factions of the Korean Peninsula disputed the power and orientation of the new government through a war confrontation in which the United States and the Soviet Union intervened directly. At the end of the conflict, the Peninsula was divided into two: to the north, the Democratic Popular Republic of Korea (supported by the USSR) and to the south, the Republic of Korea (supported by the US and the UN).
• Missile Crisis (1962). Since 1959, the Cuban Revolution installed a socialist regime led by Fidel Castro and opposed the American economic exploitation of the country. The US invaded the Cuban coasts but the troops were defeated. Cuba allied with the USSR and allowed the installation of medium -sized missiles in its territory. In response, President Kennedy (USA) threatened with a sea attack, earth and air to Cuba. However, given the rapid climb of tensions, Kennedy and Jrushchov (leader of the USSR) began secret negotiations to avoid nuclear war. They agreed to remove, respectively, the missiles of Türkiye and Cuba, install a direct telephone line between Washington and Moscow, and limit the nuclear weapons in the future.
• Vietnam War (1955-1975). After World War II, in the Southeast Asia controlled by France, several independence movements began to rise. In Vietnam, the communist leader Ho Chi Min led the armed group Viet Minh, whose objective was to free himself from France and install an independent country of communist regime. In 1954, Vietnam was divided into two states that, the following year, began a war that lasted more than two decades: the north controlled by the communists with support from the USSR and the South controlled by the liberal Vietnamese with the support of the US. UU. And France. In 1975, Vietnam of the North defeated the south and achieved the unification of the country under the communist regime. This is considered the biggest defeat for the US during the Cold War.
• Subsidiary wars. Other war confrontations that developed in the context of the Cold War and in which the powers intervened directly or indirectly were the Greek civil war, the First War of Afghanistan, Civil War of Lebanon, War of Angola, Indo-Pakistani War, and the Gulf War.
• Germany division. At the end of World War II, the allies occupied their territory between the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the Soviet Union. With the beginning of the Cold War, the territories occupied by the Western powers were unified in the German Federal Republic (under the direct influence of the United States). In contrast, the Eastern German area was under the influence of the USSR and was formed as the German Democratic Republic. The city of Berlin was divided into both administrations, such as Western Berlin and Eastern Berlin. This division is due to the construction, in the early 1960s, of the Berlin Wall, whose destruction in 1989 marked the end of the Cold War.

End of the Cold War

Since the end of the 1970s, the USSR suffered various economic crises that were triggered from an insufficient energy supply (which hindered the operation of state companies), the stagnation of steel and metallurgical production, and insufficient agricultural production.

This also generated A technological delay regarding the capitalist world (especially in telecommunications and computer areas). In turn, the state apparatus and bureaucracy continued (public workers) was increasingly numerous.

Since 1985, Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachov began promoting a series of reforms in order to strengthen the communist system, called Perestroika and Glasnost. Look for Integrate the USSR into the international economic system and introduce, gradually and partially, a market economy (without state intervention). To do this, he granted greater business autonomy and authorized foreign investment in the creation of mixed companies (private and state management).

In addition, he started A non -intervention policy in the countries of the communist bloc. It allowed freedom of expression in the mass media and promoted an electoral reform, from which members of the opposition to communism were able to enter Parliament.

With the development of these measures, Communism began to collapse in most eastern block countries. Finally, in 1988, Gorvachov announced the retirement of troops from the communist countries of Eastern Europe.

In each country, the transition to capitalism assumed different forms and characteristics:

• In Hungarythe communists themselves introduced gradual changes and opted for a peaceful transition and the implementation of a free election system that gave the triumph, in 1990, to the anti -communist forces.
• In Polandthe mobilization led by the solidarity union was increasing strikes and manifestations, through which democratic reforms were achieved and, in 1989, free elections. In 1990, Lech Walesa (union leader) was elected president and initiated a series of reforms that quickly approached Poland to the western capitalist model.
• In Germanythe strikes and the police repression generated an extreme tension climate that in 1989 led to the division of the Communist Party in the Government and the dismissal of Honecker (Prime Minister of Eastern Germany). A few days later, the border traffic between the two Germans was already enabled through the Berlin wall. The following year, free elections were summoned and, after arduous negotiations, he led to the reunification of the two Germans under a capitalist regime.
• In Bulgariathe day after the fall of the wall, there was a blow within the communist party and the governor was replaced by a reformist politician who led to the democratization of the country.

The fall of the Berlin Wall

The fall of the Berlin Wall, in 1989, was The symbol of the fall of the communist bloc. The opening of the elections in the USSR led to the growth of tensions within the party between the ultra -reformists (who wanted to impose even more reforms in favor of a market economy) and the communist ultraconservatives who tried to control power through a coup d’etat in 1991.

An immense wave of popular protests in the cities and the internal division of the army stopped ultraconservative action. Many of the republics that until then were part of the USSR abandoned it and formed a community of independent states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tayikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan), while others opted for total independence (Estonia, Latvia, Lartonia, Litho, Lithuania and Moldo.

After the coup d’etat, Gorvachov officially resigned on December 25, 1991 and, with that act, the USSR ceased to exist and ended the cold war.

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References

• Hobsbawn, eg (1998). The cold war. In 20th century history. Criticism.
• McMahon, R. (2009). The cold war. A brief introduction. Alliance.
• Tucker, SC, & Roberts, PM (2007). The Encyclopedia of the Cold War: A POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND MILITARY HISTORY, 5 VOLUME SET. ABC-Clio.