Cold War

The Cold War was political, economic and psychological conflict, together with regional hot wars, between the United States,NATO and other allies, and the USSR, China and their allies between 1947 and 1989. After 1960, China split with the Soviet Union and set up its own alliances as part of its Cold War with the U.S.

Although there was no direct fighting between the superpowers, each country was involved in a number of proxy conflicts, most notably in Vietnam, Korea and Afghanistan. The most tense moment between the two main powers came in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which ended without escalation into warfare.

The Cold War was marked by a nuclear arms race between the two super-powers, and the unchecked proliferation of nuclear weapons was a cause for concern in many quarters. The Cold War also was marked by high levels of espionage.

The root of the Cold War lies in Soviet expansionism and subversion of so-called "bourgeois regimes".

The tension during the war fluctuated, with the super powers going through periods of heightened conflict and also periods of improved relations. It ended on November 11, 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet overseas empire. History closed the books on the Soviet Union itself on December 25, 1991. It was replaced by 15 smaller countries, especially Russia, which all rejected Communism and the Cold War.

Causes

Following the Russian Revolution in the closing days of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson refused to recognized the communist government of Russia and contributed troops in support of the White Russians. Not until 1933 did the US recognize the Soviet government, and relations did not truly warm until Hitler's invasion of Russia.

While the US and Britain cooperated with Russia throughout World War II, tensions began to deteriorate soon after the end of the conflict, notably over the division of Germany and the occupation status of Europe. In 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat wrote the Long Telegram, in which argued for the necessity of containing the Soviet Union. His cable resonated with President Harry Truman's administration, and the Cold War began with the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to stop Communism in Greece.

Conflicts

Major Cold War Fronts

Strategic

• Containment
• Rollback
• Space Race, Sputnik 1957
• INF Treaty
• Nonalignment
• Strategic Defense Initiative

In Europe

• Truman Doctrine, 1947
• History of Poland
• Berlin Airlift, 1948-49
• Marshall Plan, 1948-51
• NATO, 1949- present
• Tito
• Berlin Wall 1961-89

In Asia

• Korean War (1950-53)
• Vietnam War (1965-75)
• Domino theory
• Soviet-Afghan War, (1978-92)
• CENTO

Third World

• Peace Corps, 1961-present
• Cuban Revolution
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Nicaraguan Revolution, Contras
• Salvadorian Civil War
• Angolan Civil War

The Shootdown of Korean Airlines Flight 007

Considered by many as the second or third most critical single incident of the Cold War, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and Able Archer 83, the shooting down of Korean Airlines Flight 007 on Sept. 1, 1983 signal an escalation in tension during the "Second Cold War."

Breakup of the Soviet Union and Wars End

The Western democracies, under the leadership of the United States under President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War with a policy that rejected detente and containment and instead relied on Rollback. An important element of this victory was Reagan's decision to commit to increased military spending, such as the "Star Wars" program. Reagan's decisions to intervene in Afghanistan while pursuing an arms race exacerbated structural weaknesses in the Soviet economy and pushed the USSR into an early decline.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev become General Secretary of the Communist Party. Recognizing the systemic problems faced by Soviet society, he attempted the twin reform programs of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring). Combined with the disaster at Chernobyl and losses in the war in Afghanistan, the effects of Gorbachev's reforms quickly spun out of control. Glasnost allowed media attention to focus on problems which had long been buried by the state's propaganda regime, causing widespread dissatisfaction among Soviet citizens. In 1989, a wave of constituent republics began to seek autonomy from the Soviet Union. Most attempts at succession (with the exception of Lithuania) were met with no Soviet resistance.

Further reading

The Cold War is well documented by political scientists and historians--especially since 1991 when archives were opened in ex-Communist countries. Following are selected major scholarly books and articles in English, and some major memoirs.

for a much longer guide see Cold War Bibliography

• Bacevich, Andrew J., ed. The Long War: A New History of U.S. National Security Policy Since World War II (2007) excerpt and text search
• Ball, S. J. The Cold War: An International History, 1947–1991 (1998), British perspective; short summary; online edition
• Boyle Peter G. American-Soviet Relations: From the Russian Revolution to the Fall of Communism. (1993).
• Brzezinski, Zbigniew. The Grand Failure: The Birth and Death of Communism in the Twentieth Century (1989)
• Crockatt Richard. The Fifty Years War: The United States and the Soviet Union in World Politics, 1941-1991. (1995), popular. excerpt and text search
• Friedman, Norman. The Fifty Year War: Conflict and Strategy in the Cold War. (2000) excerpt and text search
• Gaddis, John Lewis, The Cold War. A New History, 2005. excerpt and text search
• Gaddis, John Lewis. Russia, the Soviet Union and the United States. An Interpretative History 2nd ed. (1990)
• Gaddis, John Lewis. Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War (1987) online edition
• Kegley Jr., Charles W. ed., The Long Postwar Peace. 1991
• Kort, Michael. The Columbia Guide to the Cold War (1998) excerpt and text search
• LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945–1992 9th ed. (2002) excerpt and text search, liberal
• Leffler, Melvyn P. For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War (2007) excerpt and text search, liberal
• Lundestad, Geir. East, West, North, South: Major Developments in International Politics since 1945 (1999). excerpt and text search
• McCauley, Martin. Russia, America and the Cold War: 1949-1991 (2nd ed. 2008); short textbook excerpt and text search
• Mann, James. The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War (2009) excerpt and text search
• Paterson, Thomas G. On Every Front: The Making and Unmaking of the Cold War. 1992. online edition; excerpt and text search; liberal
• Powaski, Ronald E. The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917–1991 (1998) online edition
• Westad, Odd Arne The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of our Times (2006) excerpt and text search
• Zubok, Vladislav M. A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev (2007) excerpt and text search

External Links

• Berlin 1969 - midpoint of the Cold War

See Also

• Joseph McCarthy
• Iron Curtain
• Containment
• Rollback