Cold War

Contents:

Introduction………………………………………………………………………..3

Chapter I. Causes of the Cold War………………………………………………..5

1.1Underlying causes

1.2 Immediate causes leading to the Cold War

Chapter II. Beginning of the Cold War………………………………………….9

2.1 Soviet control of Eastern Europe

2.2 The Cold War in East Asia

Chapter III. The formation of military alliances………………………………12

3.1 N.A.T.O and the Warsaw Pact

Chapter IV. Voltage drop……………………………………………………….15

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..17

Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction:

The Cold War was a war that literally wasn’t typical war. There weren’t any fighter planes flying over countries dropping bombs, no tanks no ground troops, no actually deployment of missile, and no ground troops. However there were a stockpile of nuclear weapons, money was being spent like an actually War was being fought, propaganda, and there were two superpower enemies but no actually fighting occurred. The Cold War (CW) was a big arms race that was started after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR). There were two dominant powers fighting to become the dominant power. The world became bipolar because of this war. The CW was the war between ideologyies, Democracy and Communism. The United States, after the World War II was trying to promote its democratic ideology to the entire world. The other superpower that benefited from the World War II, the Soviet Union, also tried to spread their communist idea throughout Europe and the rest of the world. The two clashes of ideologist caused a war of competition between the two countries. Therefore, it split the entire world into East and West.

The urgency of this theme represented by the fact that the events of “ the Cold War” took the place in recent past, but its echoes are traceable until now.

The subject of the paper is the relationship between the USSR and the USA in the “Cold War” period.

The aim of the research is to review the period of the “Cold War” to achieve this purpose the following tasks were set: identify the causes and sources of the “Cold War”.

This theme was investigated by such scientists as Andrew Bacevich who wrote American Empire: the Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy, and Leffler, Melvyn P. and Painter, David S. “Introduction,” Origins of the Cold War:  An International History”.

 

Methods:

In my research I used content analysis when reading books by A. Utkin “Cold War” and A.Zinovieva “West and posters of Cold War period” and watching documentary programs and movies about the Cold War period on BBC, CNN, History channels.

My research paper consists of the introduction, four chapters that describe the 1947-1960 period of the Cold War and conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter  I. Causes of the Cold War

In the second half of 20^th century, one conflict, the Cold War, stands unchallenged as the preeminent organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy.  A central question in the historiography of the Cold War is simply, whose fault was it?  During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allies against the fascist Axis powers.  In the waning years of that always uneasy alliance, greater signs of strain began to show, and soon a complete break would follow.  Was this unavoidable?  If not, who carries the greater blame for creating this division, which after all, repeatedly threatened nuclear holocaust.

What is “Cold War”?

The Cold War is the conflict between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations led by the United States. It is fought by all means - propaganda, economic war, diplomatic haggling and occasional military clashes. It is fought in all places - in neutral states, in newly independent nations in Africa, Asia and even in outer space.

The historians have so far not reached any agreement on the time in which the Cold War began. It is, however, quite safe to say that since 1947 when President Truman of the United States declared an anti-communist policy, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union has begun.

The cause of the Cold War is debatable. Because the Cold War doubles as a conflict between two countries (the USA and the USSR) and between two ideologies (Capitalism and Communism) several different causes can be suggested:

There were deep-rooted ideological, economic and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union before the Second World War. These differences were intensified as a result of their mutual suspicions immediately after the Second World War.

1.1Underlying causes

• Ideological:

The United States and the Soviet Union represent two opposing systems of government. In the United States, the government is elected by free elections. The people can form political parties to voice their political opinions. They also possess the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. In the Soviet Union, the government is formed by the Communist Party. The people do not have the right to form their own political parties. They do not enjoy the right of assembly, of speech and of the press. Since these two systems of government are diametrically opposed to one another, there can be little compromise between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• Economic:

The United States wanted to encourage free trade throughout the world. The Soviet Union wanted to shield off her own sphere from international commerce. Russia feared that trade with the West would involve the risk of Russia being opened to western influences which would have eroded the strength of the totalitarian regime. These differences led to much ill feeling between the United States and the Soviet Union.

• Power rivalry:

After the Second World War, with the decline of Europe, power was largely shared between the Soviet Union and the United States. As one wanted 'to dominate the other, conflicts were inevitable.

1.2 Immediate causes leading to the Cold War

Incipient conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States began at the peace-time conferences. Their conflict was intensified after President Truman declared the Truman Doctrine and launched the Marshall Plan in 1947.

• Extension of USSR influence in Europe:

Even before the end of the war, the Soviet Union had gradually extended her influence in Europe. By the fall of 1944, the Red Army had liberated and controlled a large part of eastern Europe. By 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union obtained the Curzon Line as her new boundary line with Poland and also the control of the eastern zone of Germany.

As the war was drawing to a close in May 1945, the Soviet Union quickly consolidated her control of eastern Europe. The Red Army began by influencing the post-war elections. They intimidated the voters and changed the voting lists as they desired.

Although the non-communists could still gain some votes, most of the votes went to the communists. Thus the coalition governments formed immediately after the war were largely dominated by the communists. Two of the key ministries - Defense and Military (Police) - were always under communist control.

• The reactions of the United States:

Despite the increasing USSR influence in eastern and central Europe, many politicians in the United States were optimistic about the chances of co-operation with the Soviet Union after the war and did not advocate strong resistance against USSR expansion. But from May 1945 onwards, the situation was changed. The U.S. government favored a policy of strong resistance against Russia, because of the following reasons:

The first reason was that President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. He was succeeded by Harry S. Truman. President Roosevelt was an optimistic man. He seemed to have believed that although eastern Europe had fallen under the influence of Russia, she would keep her promise (made at Yalta) by setting up freely-elected parliamentary governments in the area. So Roosevelt did not advocate strong resistance against USSR expansion. The new President, Truman, was a complete contrast to Roosevelt. He did not believe the communists. He thought that the communists would not set up democratic governments in eastern Europe. He also believed that after the Soviet Union had established her control in eastern Europe, she would continue to extend her influence into western Europe. Thus President Truman favored a policy of strong resistance against the USSR expansion.

The second reason was that just before the Potsdam Conference was to take place, the United States had successfully exploded her atomic bomb. President Truman thought that since the United States alone possessed the atomic bomb, she could adopt a stiff attitude towards USSR expansion in Europe.

The third reason was that President Truman was disgusted at the non-co-operative attitude of the USSRs at the Potsdam Conference. Russia was determined to exact heavy reparations from Germany. Russia also accused the British of upholding a reactionary monarchy in Greece and supporting an Italian Fascist regime in Trieste. Stalin also blocked Truman's proposal on the internationalization of all principal waterways.

• Poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Union:

The deteriorating relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were reflected in two minor incidents in the year. Land-Lease was abruptly terminated by the United States and the USSR request for American economic aid for the purposes of post-war reconstruction was ignored by the government of the United States. (During the Second World War, the U.S. supplied much war material to the Allied nations through a Lend and Lease programme. As the Lend and Lease programme was suddenly stopped, the war-ravaged Soviet Union could not obtain American material support to help her post-war economic reconstruction.)

The poor relations between the East and West were also reflected in a speech by Churchill. In March 1946, Churchill made a speech at Fulton, Missouri in which he said, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent .... Behind that line lie all the capitals of the central and eastern Europe - all are subject in one form or another not only to Soviet influence but also to a very high and increasing control from Moscow." The Fulton speech increased the American suspicion of Soviet aggressive designs in Europe.

Chapter II. Beginning of the Cold War

The American alarm of Russian expansion in Europe greatly increased when Britain declared on February 24, 1947 that she could no longer give the much-needed financial and military aid to the Greek government which was in danger of being overthrown by the communist guerillas. Another country threatened by USSR-directed communist guerillas was Turkey. America did not have any doubt about the great increase in power which domination over Greece and Turkey would give to Russia. (Both Turkey and Greece had a population composed largely of poor peasants. These two countries were liberated by Anglo-American troops from German control in 1944. After the liberation, the communist guerillas in these two countries threatened to overthrow their governments. The communist guerillas received military aid from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. The government of Greece received military support from the British government.)

On March 12, 1947, President Truman enunciated the Truman Doctrine. The essence of the Doctrine was that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure." This was clearly an anti-communist doctrine. This amounted to an American declaration of war upon Communist Russia. President Truman followed his speech with massive military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey.

The U.S. government also realized that a prosperous Europe would be the most effective barrier to Communism. On June 4, 1947, the U.S. Secretary of State, George Marshall, speaking at the Harvard University, stated that, "It is logical that the United States should do whatever it is able to do to assist in the return of normal economic health in the world, without which there can be no political stability and no assured peace." Immediately after the speech the United States invited all European countries to put forward plans for economic reconstruction so that the United States would provide the necessary financial aid to them. The Soviet Union refused to accept the American financial aid.

The Soviet Union also forbade her satellite countries (the eastern European countries) to accept Marshall Aid. In 1949, Russia tried to counter the Marshal Plan -by offering financial aid to her satellites under the Molotov Plan.

With the proclamation of the Truman Doctrine of March 1947 and the launching of the Marshall Plan, the United States was clearly leading the western nations to resist USSR Communist expansionist activities in Europe. Cold War had begun.

Important events taken place in 1947-1949

No part of the world escaped the effects of the Cold War. But up to 1949 the Cold War was mainly confined to Europe and the chief arena was in Germany.

Return to Parliamentary Democracy in the West

When the Cold War began, relations between the East and the West became critically strained. Both the United States and the Soviet Union tried to tighten their control over their 'satellites' within their own spheres of influence. In April 1947, the Communist Party was declared illegal in West Germany. In May 1947, the communist ministers were dismissed from the coalition governments in Italy and France.

In April 1948, the United States government intervened in the Italian election. The American diplomats urged the Italian voters to support the Christian Democratic Party and threatened that if the Communist Party won the election, America would stop her financial aid to Italy. The result was that the Christian Democrats won most of the votes in the election and became the ruling party.

2.1 Soviet control of Eastern Europe

In the meantime, Stalin. also intervened in the domestic politics of the eastern European countries. In May 1947, Ference Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, was forced to flee for his life. In June 1947, Petkov, a leading opponent of Soviet domination in Bulgaria, was arrested and hanged. One month later, Bulgaria was declared a People's Republic. In October, Mikolajczyk, leader of the democratic Peasant Party in Poland, was forced to flee to the west. In November 1947, Maniu, the 74 year-old head of the Rumanian Peasant Party, was imprisoned and in December Rumania was proclaimed a People's Republic.

In September 1947, the Soviet Union established the Communist Information Bureau (the Cominform). The Bureau was not only to spread communist propaganda to all European countries but also to co-ordinate the activities of the member communist parties in their struggle against 'Anglo-American imperialism'. It also supported the strikes of the workers in France and Italy. Consequently the western nations had increasing fear of Communist conquest of the world.

2.2 The Cold War in East Asia

Meanwhile, events in East Asia moved to a critical stage. The tension of the Cold War seemed to have moved from Europe to East Asia.On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic, under Mao Zedong, was proclaimed in China. This Communist triumph was a great shock to the United States. Overnight, the Communist influence seemed to have extended into the very heart of Asia and onto the doorstep of occupied Japan. The sheer physical size of Soviet Russia and China, and of their combined populations, gave a double threat to the American policy of containment. It was against this background that a full-scale war broke out in Korea.

After the Second World War, Korea north of 38th parallel had been occupied by the Russians, while south of the 38th parallel by the Americans. As no agreement on a common government for the whole country had been reached, the Russians established a communist regime in North Korea and the Americans a western-oriented democracy in South Korea. Syngman Rhee was elected President of South Korea.

On June 25, 1950 the North Korea troops began to invade South Korea. They attempted to unify Korea and set up a communist regime for the whole nation.

American military leaders had become aware of the importance of a non-communist South Korea for the defense of Japan. When the Security Council of the United Nations condemned the North Korean aggression, on behalf of the United Nations, the United States sent large number of troops under General Douglas MacArthur to fight back the invading North Korean troops. When the Americans advanced to the Yalu River, they met with the strong resistance of the Chinese Communist armies who drove the Americans back to the 38th parallel. The war ended in a virtual stalemate at the 38th parallel.

Finally in July 1953, with the help of the United Nations, an armistice was arranged. It was agreed to restore the status quo ante: Korea remained divided along the 38th parallel.

The effects of the Korean War were that

• Korea was much devastated during the war, particularly North Korea;
• China was protected by a buffer state, North Korea, in her northeast;
• China and the Soviet Union became close allies after the war;
• The western nations had given military assistance to the United Nations to fight against aggression and the authority of the United Nations was upheld.

 

Chapter III. The formation of military alliances

The formation of the military alliances was the direct result of the tension between the East and the West produced by the Cold War.

• Treaty of Dunkirk (March 1947) and Treaty of Brussels (March 1948):

Immediately after the Second World War, the western European nations felt threatened by the military power of the Soviet Union because she had emerged from the war stronger than she had been before it. She had an annexed population of about 23 millions and an annexed area of over 180,000 square miles. Moreover, she had more than 3 million men under arms. Undoubtedly, Russia became the strongest military power in Europe.

In response to this military threat, Britain concluded a military alliance with France, known as the Treaty of Dunkirk. The chief purpose was to prevent future German aggression. It also provided for economic assistance and military co-operation against the political threat of the other aggressors, such as Russia.

The Prague Coup of February 1948 gave new fear of the Russian threat. Bevin, the British Foreign Secretary, immediately called for greater economic and military co-operation among the western European countries. The Treaty of Dunkirk was broadened to include the Benelux countries - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg - and they signed the Treaty of Brussels. The Treaty of Brussels was not only a military alliance but also an ideological alliance. It provided for collective self-defense, economic and social collaboration in western Europe.

3.1 N.A.T.O and the Warsaw Pact

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.) (April 1949):

The five western states were increasingly suspicious of the Russian intentions in Europe since the Berlin Blockade. The United States also wanted to find allies in Europe to contain communist expansion.

On April 4, 1949, twelve nations - the United States, Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Italy, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington. The partners of the Treaty believed that Russian Communism, an anti-democratic ideology, had posed a new threat to the democratic world. Thus they stated that "an armed attack against one or more of them shall be considered an attack against them all." In the event of such an attack, for the preservation of peace and their civilized way of life, they promised to take whatever action deemed necessary, including the use of armed force. This regional security arrangement for the defence of the North Atlantic area was valid for 20 years.

Significance of the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization:

1) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was an essential defensive organization against Communist aggression and a successful step towards European and trans-Atlantic co-operation. Soon after the formation of the NATO, the Berlin Blockade was lifted by the Soviet Union and there was no further advance of Communism in Europe (but not in Asia). Many other efforts at co-operation among the western European countries were made after the formation of the NATO.

2) The United States had committed herself to a military alliance in peace time for the first time in her history ' From 1949 onwards, a large number of American troops was stationed in western Europe. For the next 20 years, her allies could call for American military assistance. This marked an end of the isolationist policy which had always been upheld by the United States.

In response to the formation of the NATO, USSR formed the Warsaw Pact.

• The Warsaw Pact:

Since the end of the war, USSR had set up pro-Russian communist governments in eastern and central Europe. By 1948 the Cominform had been formed and Russia had concluded mutual assistance treaties with Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Rumania.

The Soviet Union looked at these anti-communist moves with fear. She concluded the Warsaw Pact with her satellites in May 1955. It included all communist states in Europe except Yugoslavia - Soviet Russia, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, Czechoslovakia and East Germany. The Pact spoke of peaceful intentions and defense. It precluded its members to participate in any other coalition or alliance but it assured members of immediate assistance, including the use of armed force, in the event of armed aggression. To provide for military assistance, a Soviet Supreme Commander was appointed to lead the combined armed forces of its members. A Consultative Committee was established to foster political understanding of its members.