The Weight of History

1941-1991 The Cold War

9 min read

1941-1991 The Cold War

Quote

“The cold war was a period of intense antagonism between the two superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union - lasting from 1945-1991. Because there was no direct armed conflict between the two continental giants the description ‘cold war’ remains an accurate one. Now that it is over, and we know the outcome, it is tempting to re-define this period of recent history as the ‘long peace.”
–J. Mason, The Cold War: 1945-1991

Definition of Cold War

Summar

  • a state of extreme hostility & confrontation between two powers, which never erupted into armed conflict or a ‘hot’ war
  • a continuous period of political, economic, cultural and military rivalry between ‘capitalist’ western bloc and ‘communist’ eastern bloc
  • periods of acute tension interspersed with phases of co-operation between the USA and Soviet Union

Dual meaning:

  1. ‘cold’ in terms of paralyzed/frozen relations between main protagonists → not friendly or “warm”
  2. ‘cold’ because although relations were poor/strained, they weren’t so bad that they resulted in a full-blown “hot” war in Europe
    • at times, the Cold War involved “hot” wars between Soviet and American allies in regions beyond Europe

Each historian has their own interpretation of the chronology:

  1. Some use it broadly, to refer to tensions/conflict between two camps for the entire 1945-1991 period. Some argue further that it refers to the globalized/international conflict between capitalism and communism that has existed since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution
  2. Others use it for only particularly tense situations post-1945. The term thus refers to phases halfway between the two extremes of 'hot' war and detente
    • detente: periods of accommodation, co-operation, agreement

Background

  • Nazi Germany had fallen post-WWII; Hitler was dead
  • the ==Soviet Union (Red Army) occupied most of Eastern Europe==, under 👤 Stalin’s leadership
    • the disruption of WWII provided opportunities for 👤 Stalin to take power and regain resources lost in the war
    • obviously, the USA wanted the USSR to get out of Eastern Europe
    • Stalin was motivated by 4.02 Modernising the USSR; he wanted to ensure the USSR's security
  • in 1945, the advent of atomic power began – a pivotal moment in human history
    • they all became death, destroyer of worlds
    • the dropping of Fat Boy and Little Man, on Nagasaki and Hiroshima wreaked devastation never seen before, and evident to all – including Stalin
      • created the Arms Race
    • the USA wanted to keep it to themselves and potentially hold it over everyone else
      • some scientists from the Manhattan Project gave the secret to the Russians to prevent a monopoly + try to level the playing field
        • the Soviets figured it out on August 29, 1949 – codenamed RDS-1 or “First Lightning” at Semipalatinsk

Importance of Geography

The Cold War was, effectively, a geographical conflict short of physical war; a period of ==high tensions between the USSR and USA to shape the future, and a New World Order==.

Who was involved? (dramatis personae)

  • 🇺🇸 USA and USSR
  • two main blocs: US-led Western European Countries v. Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states
  • Communist China (would play an increasingly important role)
  • many Third World countries in Asia, Latin America, Africa
  • former European powers like 🇬🇧 Britain and 🇫🇷 France

Where was it fought?

  • a war of global dimensions
  • Europe was the earliest and main theatre of the Cold War
  • American involvement globally, either to prevent or remove existing communist regimes
  • Northeast and Southeast Asia
  • Middle East
  • South and Central America

Schools of Thought/Interpretations of the Cold War

Inf

Why the Great Alliance fell apart – what evidence do you need to support each of these schools?

Traditional/Orthodox (USSR’s fault)

  • 👤 Historian: Arthur Schlesinger, 1950s; Walter Lippmann, 1945 (American journalist)
  • USSR was responsible and the major aggressor
  • often reactionary towards USSR and perception of its aggression → USA was defensive

Revisionist (USA’s fault)

  • USA was responsible and the major aggressor
  • 👤 Historian: William Appleman Williams, 1960s
  • Salami tactics: used to describe Stalin’s actions in Eastern Europe – he “cut up” Eastern Europe then conquered them
    • part of ==Soviet expansionism==
    • “the practice of using a series of many small actions to produce a much larger action or result that would be difficult or unlawful to perform all at once” –Wikipedia

Post-revisionist (Both’s fault)

  • no one aggravated anyone; both sides misunderstood each other and reacted drastically, escalating the temperature of the conflict to the point of the Cold War
  • OR (depending on how optimistic you are) both sides aggravated each other to nearly the point of nuclear fallout
  • 👤 Historian: John Lewis Gaddis, Late 1970s/80s/2000s
    • historians were able to glean this understanding from the Soviet archives, which briefly opened before being shut again

Realpolitik (self-serving)

  • roots in Bismarck’s Germany
  • states that some politicians ignore ideology when dealing with other states, as long as it's to their benefit
  • the role of ideology is downgraded
    • ideology is only a weapon deliberately used by superpowers to rally support of the nation
    • as a propaganda tool and mask used to fulfill state interests
  • economic pressure, military power and ideology were means used to achieve an aim
  • Richard Nixon as a prime example; staunchly anti-communist, but prepared to negotiate with China and USSR so long as it benefited the U.S.

Nature of the Cold War

  1. Superpower rivalry: USA and USSR emerged as superpowers post-WWII and rivaled each other on many levels (ideologically, politically, militarily, economically) stemming from a quest for security
    • both superpowers competed to limit each other’s sphere of influence and actively engaged in arms race
  2. Ideological contest: USSR promoted communism, US promoted liberal democracy and capitalism
    • from a Western POV, communism threatened their democratic beliefs
      • the U.S. wanted an ‘open door’ world economy with free flow of goods and capital globally
      • a world based on democracy and liberty
      • where American values dominated
  3. Formation of rival blocs: NATO v. Warsaw Pact
  4. Indirect conflict: fighting via proxy wars
    • proxy war: opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting directly, since a direct fight might lead to nuclear war

👤 Anders Stephenson

  • both sides appear to accept for most of the time that co-existence with the other political/social system is impossible
  • determined to weaken each other by any means short of all-out war (incl. establishment, funding, training and arming of terrorist groups)
  • intense arms race between USA and USSR and their allies, involving both conventional and nuclear weapons
  • increasingly bipolar conflict until 1950s when 🇨🇳 Communist China emerges and makes it a multi-polar conflict
  • both sides suppressed/sought to control internal dissidents + were prepared to ally themselves with regimes that conflict strongly with their states’ political ideology and beliefs

👤 Fred Halliday

Halliday identified six main features:

  1. Conventional and especially nuclear weapons build-up and arms race
  2. Intense propaganda
    • incl. suppression of accurate or balanced information in both competing states
    • the West tried to depict the USSR as ‘totalitarian’ and equivalent to 1933-1945 Nazi Germany
    • USSR painted capitalism as an inherently damaging system
  3. No common ground or successful negotiations, + deep division between two camps across the ‘Iron Curtain’
  4. Conflict between capitalism and communism, often spilled over into the Third World
  5. Tightening of controls and repression of dissidents of both camps
  6. East-West conflict paramount

Main crises

Importan

When selecting, use either Korea and Berlin or Korea and Cuba.

(Berlin and Cuba = same region)

Main phases of the war

  1. 1941-1945: Co-operation during WWII to defeat Germany
  2. 1946-1953: First Cold War
    • disagreements between USA and USSR over Germany and Eastern Europe
    • developing nuclear arms race leads to growing tensions
  3. 1954-1968: Fluctuating relations
    • period of antagonism and retreat
  4. 1969-1979: Détente
    • USSR and USA reach agreements to avoid war
  5. 1979-1985: Second/New Cold War
    • relations decline again over developments in the Developing World and nuclear weapons
    • stalemate is reached
  6. 1986-1991: Final stages of the Cold War
    • new period of co-operation
    • break-up of hte Soviet Union

Timeline

  • [] [1936 Riga Axiom] (ref. slide deck pg. 10)
  • 1943
    • [] [1943 Tehran Conference]]
  • 1945
    • February: 1945 Yalta Conference
    • February: Sovietisation/Invasion of Poland
    • May: Nazi surrender of World War II
    • July: 1945 Potsdam Conference
    • August 6: USA drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima
    • August 8: Russia declares war on Japan
    • August 9: USA drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki
    • August 14: Japan surrender of World War II
  • 1946
    • February: Stalin’s hostile speech; communism and capitalism are incompatible
    • March 5: 1945 Iron Curtain Speech
    • (March: Truman demands Russia leaves Tehran)
    • [] [1945-1960s Sovietisation of Eastern Europe|Sovietisation]] of Bulgaria, Albanie
  • 1947
    • January: 1947 Bizonia
    • March 12: 1947 Truman Doctrine
    • June: 1947 Marshall Plan
    • September: Formation of Cominform
    • (September: Rio Pact; U.S. + 19 Latin American countries form a security zone around the hemisphere)
    • [] [1945-1960s Sovietisation of Eastern Europe|Sovietisation]] of Hungary, Romania
  • 1948
  • 1949
  • 1950 NSC-68 (Wikipedia)

1945 Yalta Conference

1945 Yalta Conference

1941-1991 The Cold War

1945 Yalta Conference

Agreements

  • Stalin agreed to enter the war ==against Japan once Germany surrendered==
    • Soviets put up a great sacrifice to win the war; 📈 20 million Soviets died
      • Stalin perhaps was seeking compensation for his people’s suffering
  • Germany was to be divided into four zones – American, French, British, Soviet
    • this division would later cause problems
  • Countries liberated from Germany’s rule would be allowed to hold free and fair elections for the government they wanted
  • The Big Three agreed to join the United Nations, a new organisation to keep peace post-war
  • The Big Three agreed to punish war criminals responsible for genocide
  • Soviet Union held elections; both countries had differing interpretations of free elections
  • Eastern Europe was to be seen as a Soviet sphere of influence
    • the Big Three worried about the risk of invasion from the USSR and its security
    • if Greece turned Communist, the Mediterranean would have its first communist state; communism could spread outwards
      • that is what the Big Three were afraid of
Link to original

1945 Iron Curtain Speech

1945 Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill

1941-1991 The Cold War

1945 Iron Curtain Speech by Winston Churchill

  • Iron Curtain: the invisible line between capitalist West and communist east Europe
    • runs from East Germany to Albania and Bulgaria
  • calls out communism as a danger (implication → that the USSR and Stalin is a danger) and threat to the West
  • suggests the East-West ideological divide, reflective of contending spheres of influence
  • placed the UK in alignment with the USA, reaffirmed Truman’s stance on the USSR
  • led to Stalin’s hostile speech as a reaction
  • resulted in a war of words + raised political temperature
    • increased mutual fear of suspicion of each other → relationship further strained
Link to original

1945-1960s Sovietisation of Eastern Europe

Sovietisation of Eastern Europe

1941-1991 The Cold War

Sovietisation of Eastern Europe

Summar

  • Unilateral actions in taking it over
  • Started with Poland
  • Rigged elections, destroyed opposition parties
  • Threatened the USA, resulted in the Iron Curtain
  • Stalin saw the West as a threat, and thus needed more control through centralisation to fight them
  • obtained control from 1945-1949 – Factfile page 130 in textbook
    • Cominform (political)
      • coordinated political information between Moscow and other Eastern European states
    • Comecon (economic)
      • coordinated economic activities between Moscow and Eastern European states
    • 1955 Warsaw Pact (military)
      • the Soviets’ answer to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), another military organisation formed to ensure protection of western states
      • they’re like a package deal
  • re-affirmed the Riga Axioms → hardened US perception of the USSR
    • threat of communism = expanding and real = something has to stop this
  • timeline:
    • 1945: Poland
    • 1946: Bulgaria, Albanie
    • 1947: Hungary, Romania
    • 1948: Czechoslovakia
  • security or ideology?
    • often reactionary towards USA and perception of aggression from it → USSR was defensive, USA true aggressor
    • rejection of Marshall plan
      • formation of Cominform, Comecon
      • showed strong USSR control over satellite states

Stalin rigging elections

todo

Link to original

1947 Separation of Berlin

  • USA and Britain sought to integrate West Berlin into the economy of Western Europe via Bizonia – a merger of their parts of West Berlin
  • USSR viewed Bizonia as an act of aggression, diminishing their say in how Berlin was run
    • USSR took it as the USA and Britain not taking the terms of the Yalta Conference seriously
  • impact of USSR policies, incl. the Berlin Blockade
    • intensified rivalry → creation of rival blocs
    • increased control over eastern europe
    • ironic use of military power to stabilise the cold war conflict – reaction to the berlin crisis
    • every country feared war again so soon after WWII; tension and race to be the best country in every aspect

Berlin Blockade/Berlin Crisis

1948-1949 Berlin Blockade/Berlin Crisis/Berlin Airlift

1941-1991 The Cold War

1948-1949 Berlin Blockade/Berlin Crisis/Berlin Airlift

Summary

The Berlin Blockade (1948 June – 1949 May) was:

  1. A reaction to Western developments in Berlin seen as unfavourable to Soviets
  2. An economic blockade enacted via military means in protest of Bizonia and other Western actions, on rails and roads

The Soviets hoped that this would lead to:

  1. Western capitulation in Berlin, either leaving or surrendering, allowing Stalin to seize Germany in its entirety
  2. Western powers forced back to the negotiation table for terms more favourable to the Soviets

It resulted in:

  1. Reinforcement & hardening of Western perceptions of the USSR and its expansionist policy → heightened tensions between Western and Eastern Europe
  2. Solidified East/West divide → contributing to the formation of Eastern & Western blocs
  3. The Cold War gaining a military angle, no longer limited to ideology (involvement of NATO in response to Stalin’s troops)
  • a reaction to Western developments in Berlin seen as unfavourable to Soviets
    • 1948 June: introduction of the Deutschmark to West Berlin (currency reform)
      • indicative of economic + political divide of Berlin – East vs West divide
      • indicative of Western attempts to revive German economy
  • an ==economic blockade== enacted via military means in protest of Bizonia, on rails and roads
    • targeted resources entering areas in Berlin under Western occupation
  • USSR hoped this would lead to:
    1. Western capitulation in Berlin, either via leaving or surrender, allowing Stalin to seize it in its entirety
    2. Western powers forced back to the negotiation table for terms more favourable to the Soviets
  • Stalin’s actions threatened the order and security of West Berlin
    • reinforced & hardened Western perceptions of the USSR, that it was expansionist and aggressive → further heightened tensions between East and West Europe → resulted in the creation of NATO (military proven to be a stabilising force in such conflict) → Cold War of contending spheres of influence moves from ideological to military
      • arguably brought the world closer to war & destabilised it
  • militarisation of the cold war – involvement of NATO due to Stalin’s use of force
    • it was previously simply geopolitical tension without military involvement
  • division in Germany mirrored Europe’s division
    • hastened & solidified Germany’s separatoin
  • test of containment – a tentative success?

International response: The Berlin Airlift (aka Operation Vittles)

  • the West sought to avoid military escalation → targeted efforts towards supplying W. Berlin with 2.25m inhabitants
    • the airlift delivered essentials – food, medicine, fuel, coal → sustained the city through the winter
  • 📈 at its peak, a plane landed at the Templehof & Tegel Airports approximately every minute
  • capacity steadily increased until tonnage exceeded what was previously delivered by land → Allies could sustain this operation indefinitely
    • essentially, removing Stalin's leverage
  • symbolically, the airlift represented Western commitment to democracy & resistance to Soviet expansionism → winning the propaganda war, bolstering morale of W. Berliners
  • 1949 12 May: Soviets lifted the blockade, realizing it was unsuccessful

​Factors (for essay/SBQ)

Link to original

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