The Cold War

The Cold War

Final years(1985-91)

By Joshua Park

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The Cold War was nearly at its end at this time, as the Soviet economy was failing and the Berlin Wall was demolished, reuniting long-lost families together. In the same year, the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan in and by 1990, Gorbachev, the Soviet president at that time, focused on German reunification. By 1989, the Soviet alliance was on the brink of collapsing, the Eastern Bloc forming their own republics peacefully. Romania was the only member to topple its communist regime violently, executing its head of state. Germany had been reunified, numerous Soviet republics broke away, and the USSR's ruling Communist Party were forced to step down.

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Capitalism

Communism

Credits: Wikipedia

"Second Cold War"(1979-85)

Confrontation through detente(1962-79)

This term was used to describe the intensive reawakening of the tensions in the Cold War. The war in Afghanistan started, with the Soviets aiding the communist PDPA(People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan), while the US aided the muhajadeen. However, one of the leaders of the muhajadeen was Osama bin-Laden, who went on to create al-Qaeda, who later claimed that they were responsible for the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which concluded in the collapse of the Twin Towers by hijacked planes. So the US basically funded terrorism against themselves. The Korean Air Line Flight 007 from Anchorage, USA, was shot down by Soviet air forces near the Soviet island of Sakhalin, which Reagan described as a`massacre`.

Throughout this time, Western Europe and Japan's economy grew rapidly and strongly and recovered quickly from the destruction on World War 2. Even more violence took place, including the Vietnam War, which landed for nearly 19 and a half years. This weakened America's influence in the Third World as well as cooling relations with Western Europe. Meanwhile, the Khmer Rouge regime, lead by Pol Pot resulted in the death of 1-3 million innocent citizens due to his stereotyping policies. Tensions along the Sino-Soviet border reached their peak in 1969, with China eventually improved relations with America to gain advantage over the Soviets. Tensions were beginning to ease at this time.

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Crisis and Escalation(1953-62)

The Beginning(1947-53)

Introduction

During 1953, political changes changed the dynamic of the Cold War. Dwight D. Eisenhower became president of the US, while Nikita Khrushchev became leader of the USSR. The American defense budget had quadrupled, and Eisenhower reduced this by a third while continuing fighting the Cold War effectively. Nikita shocked the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party by listing Stalin's crimes on February 25th 1956, and the unsuccessful Hungarian revolution also happened in the same year. From 1957-61, Khrushchev openly and repeatedly threatened the Western countries with nuclear annihilation, also claiming that they were capable of destroying an American or European city. Nationalist movements seemed to be allied with communist groups or were perceived in the West to be friends with communists. The US and the USSR competed for influence in the Third World, as decolonization began to take form in the 1950s and 60s. However, the Soviets saw continuous losses by imperial powers. Parts of Africa, Central America and the majority of Asia were influenced by Communism at this time. The Cuban missile crisis happened when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, sparking terror in America. This brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever and it only stopped when the Soviets removed the missiles in return if America wouldn't invade Cuba.

The Cold War was a conflict between America and the Soviet Union which lasted for 44 years. The two enemies never fought directly at each other, but they fought alongside independence movements who wished for recognization. This was an era where nuclear tests were conducted more frequently and in which more countries would appear in the world. Read on to find out...

The Cold War began to make its mark in history when US president Harry Truman's advisers urged him to retaliate to the fact that Joseph Stalin was tightening influence on Soviet satellite states(countries who are independent but are under strong influence from another country). The governments response to this was to stop the spread of Communism. However, this resulted with the beginning of the Cold War, first the Berlin Wall, then the Czechoslovakia coup, then the Chinese Civil War, the establishment of NATO and SEATO, and then the Korean War, all of which kick-started this long, indirect war. The Chinese communists won because they made less mistakes than the Democrats, who may have lost because they were weakened in WW2 by Japan. Soldiers in the Korean War wanted to stop in 1952, but Stalin urged them not to stop fighting. The armistice was only signed because of Stalin's death in 1953.