World War I

World War I (WW I), also known as the Great War, lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November
1918. WW I was fought between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers. The main members
of the Allied Powers were France, Russia, and Britain. The United States also fought on the
side of the Allies after 1917. The main members of the Central Powers were Germany, Austria-
Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
Causes of the War
There was no single event that led to World War I. The war happened because of several
different events that took place in the years building up to 1914.
The new international expansionist policy of Germany: In 1890 the new emperor of
Germany, Wilhelm II, began an international policy that sought to turn his country into a world
power. Germany was seen as a threat by the other powers and destabilized the international
situation.
Mutual Defense Alliances: Countries throughout Europe made mutual defence agreements.
These treaties meant that if one country was attacked, allied countries were bound to defend
them. The Triple Alliance-1882 linking Germany with Austria-Hungary and Italy. The Triple
Entente, which was made up of Britain, France, and Russia, concluded by 1907. Thus, there
were two rival groups in Europe. Alliances at the beginning of the War
Imperialism: Before World War I, Africa and parts of Asia were points of contention among
the European countries because of their raw materials. The increasing competition and desire
for greater empires led to an increase in the confrontation that helped push the world into World
War I.
Militarism: As the world entered the 20th century, an arms race had begun. By 1914, Germany
had the greatest increase in military buildup. Great Britain and Germany both greatly increased
their navies in this time period. This increase in militarism helped push the countries involved
into war.
Nationalism: Much of the origin of the war was based on the desire of the Slavic peoples in
Bosnia and Herzegovina to no longer be part of Austria Hungary but instead be part of Serbia.
In this way, nationalism led to the War.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: In June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the
heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was shot while he was visiting Sarajevo in Bosnia. He
was killed by a Serbian person, who thought that Serbia should control Bosnia instead of
Austria. Because its leader had been shot, AustriaHungary declared war on Serbia. As a result:
Russia got involved as it had an alliance with Serbia. Germany then declared war on Russia
because Germany had an alliance with Austria-Hungary. Britain declared war on Germany
because of its invasion of neutral Belgium - Britain had agreements to protect both Belgium
and France.
Phases of the War
The conflict developed on several fronts in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The two main scenarios
were the Western front, where the Germans confronted Britain, France and, after 1917, the
Americans. The second front was the Eastern front in which the Russians fought against
Germans and Austro-Hungarians. After a brief German advance in 1914, the western front was
stabilized and a long and brutal trench warfare started: it was a "war of attrition" (the western
front remained immovable). Meanwhile on the Eastern Front the Germans advanced but not
decisively. In 1917, two events changed the course of the war: the United States joined the
Allies and Russia, after the Russian revolution, abandoned the conflict and signed a separate
peace. Finally after the German offensive in the spring of 1918, the Allied counterattack
managed to force a decisive retreat of the German army. The defeat of its Germany’s allies and
the revolution in Germany that dethroned Wilhem II (German Emperor), brought about the
signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918. The Great War was over.
Consequences of the war
Economic consequences: World War I cost the participating countries a lot of money.
Germany and Great Britain spent about 60% of the money their economy produced. Countries
had to raise taxes and borrow money from their citizens. They also printed money in order to
buy weapons and other things they needed for war. This led to inflation after the war.
Political Consequences: World War I brought an end to four monarchies: Czar Nicholas II of
Russia, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, Emperor Charles of Austria and the sultan of the Ottoman
Empire had to step down. New countries were created out of old empires. Austria- Hungary
was carved up into a number of independent states. Russia and Germany gave land to Poland.
Countries in the Middle East were put under the control of Great Britain and France. What was
left of Ottoman Empire became Turkey.
Social Consequences: World war changed society completely. Birth rates declined because
millions of young men died (eight million died, millions wounded, maimed, widows and
orphans). Civilians lost their land and fled to other countries. The role of women also changed.
They played a major part in replacing men in factories and offices. Many countries gave women
more rights after the war had ended, including the right to vote. The upper classes lost their
leading role in society. Young middle and lower class men and women demnded a say in
forming their country after the war.
Treaty of Versailles: On June 28, 1919, World War I officially ended with the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was an attempt to prevent the world from going
into another war. Treaty of Versailles It is organized in several chapters each having different
clauses. Territorial clauses: France regained Alsace and Lorraine Eupen and Malmedy passed
into the hands of Belgium Eastern territories were annexed by Poland which caused East
Prussia to become territorially isolated. Danzig and Memel, former Baltic German cities were
declared free cities Denmark annexed northern Schleswig-Holstein Germany lost all of its
colonies and the victors annexed them Military clauses: Drastic limitation of the German navy.
Dramatic reduction of the Army (only 100,000 troops, prohibition of having tanks, aircraft and
heavy artillery). Demilitarization of the Rhineland region. War Reparations: The treaty
declared Germany and its allies responsible for all 'loss and damage' suffered by the Allies and
as a consequence they were forced to pay war reparations to the victors.
However, the war also brought other important social and ideological changes. The U.S.,
which had won the war but had not experienced the conflict on its territory, became a first
world power. The mass mobilization of men led to the incorporation of women into the
workforce, which was a major step forward for women's rights. The triumph of the Soviet
Revolution (Russian Revolution) and the social crisis that followed the war encouraged
workers in many countries to protest, creating a pre-revolutionary climate. The extreme
nationalism experienced during the war, coupled with fear of a Communist revolution,
encouraged the middle-class populations of some countries to move to the extreme right. This
created a hotbed of fascist movements. Creation of the League of Nations: The League of
Nations was an international diplomatic group developed after World War I as a way to solve
disputes between countries before they erupted into open warfare. A precursor to the United
Nations, the League achieved some victories but had a mixed record of success. By ensuring
Germany’s economic ruin and political humiliation through the Treaty of Versatile, the post-
war settlement provided fertile ground for World War II.
World War II
World War II, also called Second World War, was a conflict that involved virtually every part
of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—
Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies— France, Great Britain, the United States, the
Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. It was the biggest conflict in history that had lasted
almost six years. Nearly some 100 million people had been militarised, and 50 million had been
killed (around 3% of the world's population).
The major causes of World War II
They include the impact of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI, the worldwide economic
depression, failure of appeasement, the rise of militarism in Germany and Japan, and the failure
of the League of Nations.
Treaty of Versailles
Following World War I, the victorious Allied Powers met to decide Germany’s future. Germany
was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Under this treaty, Germany had to accept guilt for
the war and to pay reparations. Germany lost territory and was prohibited from having a large
military. The humiliation faced by Germany under this treaty, paved the way for the spread of
UltraNationalism in Germany.
Failure of the League of Nations The League of Nations was an international organization set
up in 1919 to keep world peace. It was intended that all countries would be members and that
if there were disputes between countries, they could be settled by negotiation rather than by
force. The League of Nations was a good idea, but ultimately a failure, as not all countries
joined the league. Also, the League had no army to prevent military aggression such as Italy’s
invasion of Ethiopia in Africa or Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in China.
Great Depression of 1929 The worldwide economic depression of the 1930s took its toll in
different ways in Europe and Asia. In Europe, political power shifted to totalitarian and
imperialist governments in several countries, including Germany, Italy, and Spain. In Asia, a
resource-starved Japan began to expand aggressively, invading China and maneuvering to
control a sphere of influence in the Pacific.
Rise of Fascism Victors’ stated aims in World War I had been “to make the world safe for
democracy,” and postwar Germany was made to adopt a democratic constitution, as did most
of the other states restored or created after the war. In the 1920s, however, the wave of
nationalistic, militaristic totalitarianism known by its Italian name, fascism. It promised to
minister to peoples’ wants more effectively than democracy and presented itself as the one sure
defense against communism. Benito Mussolini established the first Fascist, European
dictatorship during the interwar period in Italy in 1922.
Rise of Nazism Adolf Hitler, the Leader of the German National Socialist (Nazi) party,
preached a racist brand of fascism. Hitler promised to overturn the Versailles Treaty, restore
German wealth & glory and secure additional Lebensraum (“living space”) for the German
people, who he contended deserve more as members of a superior race. In 1933 Hitler became
the German Chancellor, and in a series of subsequent moves established himself as dictator.
Moreover, in 1941 the Nazi regime unleashed a war of extermination against Slavs, Jews, and
other elements deemed inferior by Hitler’s ideology.
Policy of Appeasement Hitler openly denounced the Treaty of Versailles and began secretly
building up Germany’s army and weapons. Although Britain and France knew of Hitler’s
actions, they thought a stronger Germany would stop the spread of Communism from Russia.
An example of appeasement was the Munich Agreement of September 1938. In the Agreement,
Britain and France allowed Germany to annex areas in Czechoslovakia where German-
speakers lived. Germany agreed not to invade the rest of Czechoslovakia or any other country.
However, in March 1939, Germany broke its promise and invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Even then, neither Britain nor France was prepared to take military action.
Key Turning Points of the World War II
The Start Three years of mounting international tension - encompassing the Spanish Civil
War, the union of Germany and Austria, Hitler's occupation of the Sudetenland and the invasion
of Czechoslovakia led to deterioration of ties between Axis Power and Allied Powers.
However, the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and subsequently two days
later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This marked the beginning of World War
II. Phoney War The western Europe was very quiet during the first few months of the war.
This period of war is known as 'phoney war'. Preparations for war continued in earnest, but
there were few signs of conflict, and civilians of the western european countries (allied powers)
evacuated to safe places. Ribbentrop Pact By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf
Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees
of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to
invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would
resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations in August 1939, led to the
signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. Further, Russia followed
Germany into Poland in September and Poland was carved up between the two invaders before
the end of the year. Winter War 1940 The 'winter war' between Russia and Finland concluded
in March, and in the following month Germany invaded Denmark and Norway. Denmark
surrendered immediately, but the Norwegians fought on - with British and French assistance -
surrendering in June 1940. Fall of France 1940 After war with scandenavian countries got
over, Germany invaded France, Belgium and Holland. During this phase, the western Europe
encountered the Blitzkrieg - or 'lightning war'. Blitzkrieg: Germany's combination of fast
armoured tanks on land, and superiority in the air, made a unified attacking force that was both
innovative and effective. Despite greater numbers of air and army personnel in Allied powers,
they proved no match for German Forces. In France an armistice was signed with Germany,
with the puppet French Vichy government. Having conquered France, Hitler turned his
attention to Britain, and began preparations for an invasion. Battle of Britain 1940 Lasting
from July to September 1940, it was the first war to be fought solely in the air. German took
decisions to attack from airfields and factories to the major cities, but somehow the Royal Air
Force managed to squeak a narrow victory. This ensured the - ultimately indefinite -
postponement of the German invasion plans. War Getting Global With continental Europe
under Nazi control, and Britain safe - for the time being - the war took on a more global
dimension in 1941. Following the defeat of Mussolini's armies in Greece and Tobruk, German
forces arrived in North Africa and invaded Greece and Yugoslavia in April 1941. Operation
Barbarossa After facing defeat in Britain, Hitler broke the Ribbentrop Pact and invaded Russia
in 1941. The initial advance was swift, with the fall of Sebastopol at the end of October, and
Moscow coming under attack at the end of the year. The bitter Russian winter, however, like
the one that Napoleon had experienced a century and a half earlier, crippled the Germans. The
Soviets counterattacked in December and the Eastern Front stagnated until the spring. Pearl
Harbour The Japanese, tired of American trade embargoes, mounted a surprise attack on the
US Navy base of Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. This ensured that global
conflict commenced, with Germany declaring war on the US, a few days later. Also, within a
week of Pearl Harbor, Japan had invaded the Philippines, Burma and Hong Kong.
Reversal of German Fortunes By the second half of 1942, British forces gained the initiative
in North Africa and Russian forces counterattacked at Stalingrad. In February 1943, Germany
surrendered at Stalingrad to Soviet Union. This was the first major defeat of Hitler's armies.
Further, German and Italian forces in North Africa surrendered to the Allies. As the Russian
advance on the Eastern Front gathered pace, recapturing Kharkiv and Kiev from Germany.
Moreover, Allied bombers began to attack German cities in enormous daylight air raids. The
Russians reached Berlin (capital of Germany) on 21 April 1945. Hitler killed himself on the 30
, two days after Mussolini had been captured and hanged by Italian partisans. Germany
surrendered unconditionally on 7 May, and the following day was celebrated as VE (Victory in
Europe) day. The war in Europe was over.

Cold war
The Cold War was a lengthy struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union that
began in the aftermath of the surrender of Hitler’s Germany. In 1941, Nazi aggression against
the USSR turned the Soviet regime into an ally of the Western democracies. But in the post-
war world, increasingly divergent viewpoints created rifts between those who had once been
allies.
The United States and the USSR gradually built up their own zones of influence, dividing the
world into two opposing camps. The Cold War was therefore not exclusively a struggle between
the US and the USSR but a global conflict that affected many countries, particularly the
continent of Europe. Indeed, Europe, divided into two blocs, became one of the main theatres
of the war. In Western Europe, the European integration process began with the support of the
United States, while the countries of Eastern Europe became satellites of the USSR.
From 1947 onwards, the two adversaries, employing all the resources at their disposal for
intimidation and subversion, clashed in a lengthy strategic and ideological conflict punctuated
by crises of varying intensity. Although the two Great Powers never fought directly, they
pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war on several occasions. Nuclear deterrence was the
only effective means of preventing a military confrontation. Ironically, this ‘balance of terror’
actually served as a stimulus for the arms race. Periods of tension alternated between moments
of détente or improved relations between the two camps. Political expert Raymond Aron
perfectly defined the Cold War system with a phrase that hits the nail on the head: ‘impossible
peace, improbable war’.
The Cold War finally came to an end in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse
of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe.
I. Towards a bipolar world (1945–1953)
The end of the Second World War did not signal a return to normality; on the contrary, it
resulted in a new conflict. The major European powers that had been at the forefront of the
international stage in the 1930s were left exhausted and ruined by the war, setting the scene
for the emergence of two new global superpowers. Two blocs developed around the Soviet
Union and the United States, with other countries being forced to choose between the two
camps.
The USSR came out of the war territorially enlarged and with an aura of prestige from
having fought Hitler’s Germany. The country was given a new lease of life by its heroic
resistance to the enemy, exemplified by the victory at Stalingrad. The USSR also offered
an ideological, economic and social model extending as never before to the rest of Europe.
Furthermore, the Red Army, unlike the US army, was not demobilised at the end of the war.
The Soviet Union thus had a real numerical superiority in terms of men and heavy weapons.
The United States was the great victor of the Second World War. Its human and material
losses were relatively low, and even though the US Army was almost completely
demobilised a few months after the end of hostilities, the United States remained the
world’s leading military power. Its navy and air force were unrivalled, and until 1949 it was
the only country with the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. It also confirmed its status
as the world’s leading economic power, in terms of both the volume of trade and industrial
and agricultural production. The US now owned more than two thirds of the world’s gold
reserves and the dollar became the primary international currency.
The conflicts of interest between the new world powers gradually multiplied, and a climate
of fear and suspicion reigned. Each country feared the newfound power of the other. The
Soviets felt surrounded and threatened by the West and accused the United States of
spearheading ‘imperialist expansion’. For their part, the Americans were concerned at
Communist expansion and accused Stalin of breaching the Yalta Agreement on the right of
free peoples to self determination. The result was a long period of international tension
interspersed with dramatic crises which, from time to time, led to localised armed conflicts
without actually causing a full scale war between the United States and the USSR. From
1947, Europe, divided into two blocs, was at the heart of the struggle between the two
superpowers. The Cold War reached its first climax with the Soviet blockade of Berlin. The
explosion of the first Soviet atomic bomb in the summer of 1949 reinforced the USSR in
its role as a world power. This situation confirmed the predictions of Winston Churchill,
who, in March 1946, had been the first Western statesman to speak of an ‘Iron Curtain’ that
now divided Europe in two.
The Yalta Conference
From 4 to 11 February 1945, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt
met in Yalta, in the Crimea on the Black Sea, to settle the questions raised by the inevitable
German defeat. Roosevelt was particularly anxious to secure the cooperation of Stalin,
while Churchill was apprehensive of the Soviet power. He wanted to avoid the Red Army
exerting too widespread an influence over Central Europe. At this time, the Soviet troops
had already reached the centre of Europe, whereas the British and Americans had not yet
crossed the Rhine.
The Potsdam Conference
The last of the Allied conferences took place from 17 July to 2 August 1945 in Potsdam,
near Berlin. Six months earlier, in the Crimea, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin had laid the
preparations for the post-war period, but the promises made in Yalta were unable to stand
up to the balance of power on the ground. The climate had changed significantly in the
intervening period: Germany had surrendered on 8 May 1945 and the war in Europe had
come to an end. Japan stubbornly resisted US bomb attacks but the United States had a
final trump card: on 16 July, the first atomic bomb test explosion took place in the desert
in New Mexico. At the Potsdam Conference, Harry Truman replaced Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who had died on 12 April 1945, and Clement Attlee took over as head of the
British delegation after Winston Churchill’s defeat in the general elections of 26 July. Only
Joseph Stalin was personally present at all the Allied conferences.
The United States and the Western bloc
From 1947 onwards, the Western powers were increasingly concerned at the advance of
Communism: in several European countries, Communist parties played an active role in
coalition governments (for example in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, France,
Belgium and Italy), sometimes even excluding other parties from power. Greece was in the
midst of a civil war since the autumn of 1946, and Turkey was threatened in turn.
The Truman Doctrine
In this tense international atmosphere, US President Harry S. Truman broke with the policy
of his predecessor Franklin D. Roosevelt and redefined the country’s foreign policy
guidelines. On 12 March 1947, in a speech to the US Congress, the President presented his
doctrine of containment, which aimed to provide financial and military aid to the countries
threatened by Soviet expansion. Clearly aimed at stopping the spread of Communism, the
Truman Doctrine positioned the United States as the defender of a free world in the face of
Soviet aggression. An aid package of around 400 million dollars was granted to Greece and
Turkey. This new doctrine provided a legitimate basis for the United States’ activism during
the Cold War. These changes to external policy marked a real turnaround in the history of
the United States, which had previously remained on the sidelines of European disputes.
For the US, isolationism was no longer an option.
The Marshall Plan
At the same time, the US Secretary of State, George C. Marshall, was concerned at the
economic difficulties in Europe. In the aftermath of the Second World War, intra-European
trade was hindered by a lack of foreign exchange and the absence of an international
economic authority capable of effectively organising worldwide trade. The United States,
whose interests lay in promoting such trade in order to increase its own exports, decided to
help the European economy via a large-scale structural recovery programme. The United
States wanted to protect American prosperity and stave off the threat of national
overproduction. But its desire to give Europe massive economic aid was also politically
motivated. The fear of Communist expansion in Western Europe was undoubtedly a
decisive factor that was just as important as that of conquering new markets. The Americans
therefore decided to fight poverty and hunger in Europe, factors which they felt encouraged
the spread of Communism.
The USSR and the Eastern bloc
In August 1949, the USSR exploded its first atomic bomb, then, in 1953, its first hydrogen
bomb. Its claim to be a world power could no longer be disputed. In the Soviet Union,
Stalin continued to govern alone. Liberalising tendencies which had appeared during the
war disappeared once again, and Stalin’s personality cult reached its height. A further wave
of repression was interrupted, however, by the death of Stalin on 5 March 1953.
The creation of the Soviet buffer zone
Territorially enlarged, the USSR came out of the war with an aura of prestige from having
fought Hitler’s Germany. Although in 1945 the Communist world was limited to the Soviet
Union, it rapidly spread to Central and Eastern Europe, forming a protective buffer zone
for the USSR. Communist propaganda was greatly helped by the presence of the Soviet
army in the countries that it had liberated in Central and Eastern Europe.
The leaders of non-Communist parties were progressively removed: they were either
discredited, intimidated or subjected to show trials leading to their imprisonment or even
execution. Three years was enough for the USSR to establish people’s democracies ruled
by Communist parties. Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia were more or less
brutally forced into the Soviet embrace. Nevertheless, the refusal in 1948 of the Yugoslav
Communists to follow the line decreed by the Cominform showed that the USSR had some
difficulty keeping control of all its satellite countries.
The Zhdanov Doctrine and the Cominform
On 22 September 1947, delegates from the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union, Poland,
Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy and France gathered near
Warsaw and created the Cominform, an information bureau located in Belgrade. It quickly
became the Communist movement’s agent for spreading its ideology through its newspaper
For a lasting peace, for a people’s democracy. Presented as a ‘revival’ of the Comintern,
the Cominform actually served as an instrument for the USSR to keep close control over
Western Communist parties. The aim was to close ranks around Moscow and to ensure that
European Communists were in line with Soviet policies. Tito’s Yugoslavia, accused of
deviationism, would soon be excluded from the Cominform.
The division of Germany
During 1945, the Allies began organising their respective occupation zones in Germany.
The Americans occupied the South, the British the West and North, France the South-West,
and the Soviets Central Germany. The Eastern part was administered by Poland, except the
town of Königsberg (renamed Kaliningrad) and its surrounding area, which were annexed
by the USSR. On 30 August 1945, the Inter-Allied Control Council was founded. Berlin
was divided into four sectors and placed under the administrative control of the Allied
Kommandatura. In 1946, the main war criminals were tried in Nuremberg by Allied judges.
In the same year, the fate of the German satellite states and of Italy, Bulgaria, Romania,
Hungary and Finland was determined in Paris by separate peace treaties. On 28 July 1946,
the United States proposed a plan for economic unification of the occupied zones. Faced
with the refusal of France and the Soviet Union, the British and Americans decided to unite
their zones economically and, in December of the same year, created the Bizone. On 1
August 1948, the French occupation zone joined the Bizone, which then became the
Trizone. Gradually, relations between the Allies deteriorated, and the quadripartite
structures became unmanageable. In March 1948, the Inter-Allied Control Council ceased
to operate, as did, in June 1948, the Kommandatura.
The Berlin Blockade
Hoping to keep Berlin united in the heart of the Soviet zone, and denouncing what it called
the Anglo-American policy of acting without consultation, the USSR reacted to this
initiative on 24 June 1948 by imposing a total blockade of the Western sectors of Berlin.
The city lay in the Soviet zone, but the Americans, the British and the French were
established in their respective occupation zones. Access to Berlin by road, rail and water
was impossible until 12 May 1949. Food supplies and electricity were cut. Each day,
thousands of aircraft (more than 270 000 flights in total) brought food, fuel and other
essential goods to the beleaguered city. In all, over 13 000 tonnes of goods were delivered
every day. Berlin became one of the main theatres of confrontation between East and West.
The division of Europe into two blocs was confirmed.
The strengthening of alliances
On 11 June 1948, the US Congress passed the Vandenberg resolution, which put an end to
American isolationism by authorising the United States to be involved in international
alliances even in peacetime. This paved the way for the Atlantic Alliance. On 4 April 1949,
twelve Foreign Ministers signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, thereby
establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The Five of Western Union
were joined by the United States, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Portugal.
The creation of a Euro-American alliance was strongly contested by Communists across
the world. Negotiations on the North Atlantic Treaty were marred by threats and barely
veiled intimidation from the Kremlin towards the Western powers. But the climate of fear
surrounding the ratification of the accession treaties by the Western Parliaments only served
to speed up the process. The North Atlantic Treaty came into force on 23 August 1949 and
established a transatlantic framework for the defence of Western Europe. In 1953, the new
US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Secretary of State John Foster Dulles extended
the Truman Doctrine by introducing the ‘rollback’ policy, which aimed not merely to
contain Communism but to actively drive it back. This required the formation of military
alliances with countries threatened by Communist expansion. The early 1950s were
characterised by a phenomenon termed ‘pactomania’. Several treaties similar to the North
Atlantic Treaty were signed: the ANZUS Treaty (Australia, New Zealand and the United
States) in 1951, SEATO (the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation) in 1954 and the Baghdad
Pact in 1955.
The USSR responded in 1955 with the creation of the Warsaw Pact. Following the FRG’s
accession to the North Atlantic Treaty on 9 May 1955, the Socialist countries of Eastern
Europe also united to form a military alliance. The members of this mutual defence pact to
counter aggression were the USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Hungary,
Poland and Romania.
The first confrontations
From 1947 onwards, the Cold War gave rise to localised conflicts that opposed the two
camps without triggering an outright war between the United States and the USSR. Greece
was in the midst of a civil war since the autumn of 1946, and after initially having let the
United Kingdom act alone, the United States later intervened actively to help the
antiCommunist forces. In China, American aid was given to the Nationalist Chang Kai-
Shek, but that failed to halt the advance of the Communists, supported by the Soviet Union.
The Cold War reached its first climax with the Soviet blockade of Berlin. In June 1950 the
stage moved from Europe to South-East Asia as Communist North Korean troops invaded
South Korea. The region became a bloody ideological battleground, pitting the West against
the Communist world. This indirectly precipitated the rearmament of the Federal Republic
of Germany.
The Korean War
On 25 June 1950, Communist troops from North Korea crossed the 38th parallel, which
since 1945 had been the military demarcation line between the North of the country (under
Soviet influence) and the South (under US influence). The confrontations along the border
and the invasion of the South of the peninsula would mark the beginning of the Korean
War. The United States, determined to support the authorities in the South, were able to
take advantage of a moment when the Soviet delegate was temporarily absent from a United
Nations Security Council meeting to commit the United Nations (UN) to defending South
Korea. They called on the UN to apply the principle of collective security and to vote for
sanctions against North Korea. In June 1950, US air and naval forces landed on the
peninsula. Sixteen countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and
Luxembourg, were involved in the creation of an international force under US command.
North Korea, on the other hand, enjoyed the diplomatic support of the Soviet Union and
military aid from Communist China.
Although his forces had been able to drive the North Korean troops back to the Chinese
border, US General Douglas MacArthur was confronted by a massive counter-attack led by
Chinese reinforcements from the beginning of 1951. He therefore put to the US President,
Harry Truman, a proposal to bomb Communist China, resorting to atomic weapons if need
be. The situation became truly dramatic — a new world conflict seemed imminent. But
Truman refused to use the atomic bomb and the war continued, despite constant diplomatic
efforts to broker a ceasefire. An armistice was finally signed in July 1953 in the climate of
international détente brought about by the death of Stalin four months earlier. However, as
the United States continued to offer substantial economic aid to South Korea, whilst the
Soviet Union supported North Korea, the reunification of the country would clearly be
impossible for some time to come.
From peaceful coexistence to the paroxysms of the Cold War (1953–1962)
After the death of Stalin in March 1953, his successors adopted a more conciliatory attitude
to the West. From 1955, Nikita Khrushchev, the new First Secretary of the CPSU,
developed a policy of peaceful coexistence. Boosted by the advances that it had made in
thermonuclear power and the space race, the USSR wanted to use the new climate of peace
in the world to take the rivalry between itself and the United States onto a purely ideological
and economic level. In the United States, President Eisenhower had to make allowance for
the risk of escalation and the hazards of direct nuclear confrontation with the Soviets. In
1953 he opted for the so-called ‘new look’ strategy. This combined diplomacy with the
threat of massive retaliation. To complicate matters further, the United States was no longer
the only country with nuclear weapons. It had to come to terms with technological progress
made by the Soviet Union, which tested its first atomic weapon in 1949, with the first
hydrogen bomb following in 1953.
But despite certain encouraging signs, the distrust and ideological opposition between the
two blocs continued. In Central and Eastern Europe, the populations of several satellite
states attempted to cast off the Russian yoke, and the Cold War reached its peak in the early
1960s. In Europe, the status of the city of Berlin remained a major stumbling block for the
two superpowers. The construction of the Berlin Wall in the summer of 1961 closed the last
crossing point between West and East. Elsewhere in the world, the tension surrounding
Cuba culminated in a trial of strength played out between John F. Kennedy and Nikita S.
Khrushchev in October 1962 over the stationing of Soviet nuclear missiles on the island.
By the mid-1950s, East-West relations had certainly evolved and were characterised by the
principle of peaceful coexistence, but the Cold War was not over and the ideological
tensions between the two blocs prevailed.
The building of the Berlin Wall
During the 1950s, the City of Berlin was still divided into a Western zone, consisting of the
American, British and French sectors, and a Soviet zone. Berlin constituted a thermometer
during every international crisis, registering the degree of seriousness of the crisis. The
Western Allied powers were determined to uphold their rights in the former capital of the
Reich. For the Communist Government of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), West
Berlin was a constant provocation, as it was an easy escape route for many East Germans
who wanted to flee the country. In 1953, production levels in the German Democratic
Republic (GDR) were poor. In order to stimulate production, the Socialist Unity Party
(SED), led by the Stalinist Walter Ulbricht, imposed increasingly severe working
conditions on the workforce. However, he did not offer in exchange any prospect of an
improvement in the people’s standard of living. East Berliners noted with envy the ever-
increasing economic prosperity in the Western sectors.
On 16 and 17 June 1953, strikes broke out in East Berlin and spread rapidly throughout
East Germany. These uprisings, however, were brutally put down by Soviet troops, leaving
many dead and injured. The defeat of the June 1953 riots resulted in several hundred
thousand East Germans fleeing to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). More than two
million people had crossed from East to West in less than ten years. In order to stop this
mass exodus, which particularly weakened the country’s economy, the GDR finally
prevented people crossing to the West.
During the night of 12 to 13 August 1961, East German workers, flanked by soldiers, built
a wall between East and West Berlin that made passage impossible. The Western powers,
resigned, could only register their verbal protests. During a visit to Berlin on 26 June 1963,
US President John F. Kennedy expressed his sympathy for West Berlin by declaring ‘Ich
bin ein Berliner’. In practice, it was virtually impossible to cross the ‘wall of shame’. This
closed border became the most tangible symbol of the Cold War and the division of Europe.
The Cuban Crisis
In 1962, a new trial of strength unfolded in Cuba: for two weeks, the world teetered on the
brink of nuclear war.
Since the overthrow of Fulgencio Batista’s military dictatorship in January 1959, Cuba had
been ruled by Fidel Castro. In the course of agricultural reform, Castro nationalised the
Cuban property of American undertakings on the island, thereby incurring the wrath of
Washington. In response, the pro-Communist Cuban leader moved closer to the USSR,
which was delighted to find a new ally in the western hemisphere and inside the American
security zone. The Cuban and Soviet regimes signed successive agreements on trade and
military cooperation. In April 1961, the United States attempted to overthrow the new
regime by arranging for anti-Castro exiles to land in the Bay of Pigs. The operation failed
and ultimately only strengthened Castro’s position. He enticed many Latin American
revolutionaries to Cuba, which was the only Communist country in the Americas, and
threatened the United States’ prestige in the region. Khrushchev decided to secretly provide
the Cubans with intermediate-range offensive missiles that could pose a direct threat to the
territory of the United States
On 14 October 1962, after Soviet freighters carrying missiles had been identified on their
way to Cuba, American spy planes also photographed launchers for Soviet intermediate-
range rockets.
The US President, John F. Kennedy, therefore decided to impose a naval blockade, closing
off access to Cuba. Any attempt by Soviet ships to force their way through could have
ignited the powder keg, provoking open conflict between the United States and the Soviet
Union. Europe, and in particular Germany, would inevitably have then become a theatre of
war. However, at the eleventh hour, and after repeated contact between Moscow and
Washington, largely through the intermediary of the United Nations, a compromise
emerged: the Soviet ships agreed to turn back, and the Americans undertook not to invade
Cuba and to remove their rockets from Turkey. On 28 October, the world avoided nuclear
war by a whisker and the two Great Powers returned to disarmament negotiations. In
Europe, Franco-German links were strengthened by the crisis.

From détente to renewed tensions (1962–1985)

Having narrowly avoided nuclear war, the United States and the USSR drew conclusions
from the Cuban Crisis. This direct clash between the two superpowers brought about a sort
of truce in the Cold War. In 1963, a direct line — the famous ‘red telephone’ — was
established between Washington and Moscow and the two Great Powers opened
discussions on limiting the arms race. There were other reasons behind the moderate
approach adopted by the two parties. The United States was finding it increasingly difficult
to finance its global military presence, and its growing involvement in the Vietnam War
from 1964 onwards met with strong criticism from the general public. In Europe, all eyes
now turned to the Ostpolitik: the Federal Republic of Germany was developing closer
relations with the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia and the USSR.
As Europe remained at the heart of the East-West confrontation, it sought to promote
détente between the two military blocs. It also contributed to the maintenance of world
peace and raised hopes of a reunification of the continent at the Helsinki Summit in 1975.
However, the attempt by Alexander Dubček to liberalise the Communist regime in
Czechoslovakia was crushed in August 1968 by the troops of the Warsaw Pact. In the late
1970s, the two superpowers sought to extend their respective influence. The Soviet policy
in Africa and the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan led to a cooling of relations between the
US and the USSR. In the United States, the ‘America is back’ rhetoric adopted by new
President Ronald Reagan set the tone for the Cold War in the 1980s. This period was
marked by a new arms race.
The Vietnam War
The period of détente was not without localised conflicts, but these did not directly
jeopardise relations between the United States and the USSR. The most notable of these
was the Vietnam War, which hung heavily over the 1960s and early 1970s. It was part of
the overall Cold War confrontation and the American struggle against the spread of
Communism in the world, but did not involve a direct confrontation between the two
superpowers. The US justified its military intervention in Vietnam by the domino theory,
which stated that if one country fell under the influence of Communism, the surrounding
countries would inevitably follow. The aim was to prevent Communist domination of
South-East Asia.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, convinced that Communist China was actively
supporting North Vietnam, approved a US military campaign in Vietnam to help the
nationalist government stave off the Communist rebellion. His successor, Lyndon B.
Johnson, who was keen to see peace in South-East Asia and to maintain America’s
economic and political interests in the region, stepped up his country’s involvement,
massively expanding the American presence from 23 000 troops in 1965 to over 540 000
in 1969. The Viet Cong Communist rebels, supported by the North Vietnamese Army, were
supplied along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, which consisted of a network of paths, tunnels and
bunkers that the Americans tried in vain to destroy. This only led the USSR and China to
intensify their assistance to the Communist National Liberation Front (NLF), which they
supplied with arms and food; however, they did not intervene directly. In February 1965,
the United States began bombing military and industrial targets in North Vietnam. This was
followed by a protracted guerrilla war, despite some fruitless attempts at international
mediation.
Following new carpet bombing raids carried out by the US Air Force on the orders of
President Nixon, peace negotiations began in Paris in May 1968. The Paris Agreements of
27 January 1973 finally provided the United States with an opportunity to pull out from the
conflict. Their South Vietnamese ally would stand alone for only two years before falling
to the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese. The fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 marked
the true end of the Vietnam War. The American military intervention in the Vietnamese
quagmire weighed heavily on US policy and caused serious damage to the country’s
international standing, especially in Western Europe.
Soviet expansionism
The USSR profited from the settlement of the Vietnam conflict in 1975 to gain a foothold
in Africa, particularly in Guinea, Mozambique and Angola. The fall of the Ethiopian
imperial regime of Haile Selassie in September 1974 and the immediate establishment of a
Communist dictatorship in the oldest African state only emphasised the Soviet hold over
Africa, at China’s expense. Initially, the United States’ response to the Soviet advance in a
series of Socialist oriented States was restrained and sporadic. For example, the United
States supported the anti-Communist guerrillas in Angola.
However, the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet army on 24 December 1979 provoked
a much more vigorous reaction from the Western world. The USSR was seeking to support
the ruling Communists against increasingly threatening counter-revolutionary guerrillas.
President Carter ordered a boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and an embargo
on grain exports to the USSR. The UN adopted a resolution condemning this military
invasion. The United States’ response did not stop at diplomatic condemnation. During the
ten years of the conflict, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) offered
assistance and financial support to the Afghan resistance, or Mujahideen.

Towards the end of the Cold War (1985–1989)

The arms race and ‘Star Wars’

In 1980, the Americans voted in a man who was determined to restore the image of the
United States in the world. New President Ronald Reagan used the term ‘evil empire’ to
describe the USSR and relaunched the arms race. Reagan’s Presidency was particularly
marked by a rise in military spending and a significant increase in the budget for the
armed forces. The arms race reached such a scale that the term ‘balance of terror’ was
coined to describe the global situation. Détente was forgotten and the number of direct and
indirect interventions increased.
This period of tension between East and West fuelled the arms race, the focus of which was
the ‘Star Wars’ programme devised by US President Reagan. On 23 March 1983, Ronald
Reagan announced the launch of a vast technological programme known as the ‘Strategic
Defense Initiative’ (SDI), or ‘Star Wars’: the United States would be protected from enemy
nuclear weapons by a space-based shield that would detect and destroy enemy ballistic
missiles as soon as they were launched. This forced the USSR to match US spending,
furthering their economic difficulties.
The US project (which would never come to fruition) drew the USSR into a frenzied
arms race which led the country to the brink of financial and economic collapse. It
was only in 1985, with the arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev in power in the USSR and his
domestic reforms to democratise the Soviet regime, that Moscow decided to put an end to
this reckless arms race that was ruining the country. Gorbachev openly displayed his wish
to develop closer relations with the West and to resume talks with the United States.
The USSR burden due to Arms Race. The USSR spent enormous resources on its military
and defense industries to compete with the United States. This arms race strained the budget
and took away resources from other crucial sectors of the economy.
USSR was facing an economic stagnation. Centralized Planning was ineffective. The
Soviet economy was heavily centralized, which led to bureaucratic hurdles, production
inefficiencies, and a lack of innovation. The focus was on meeting quotas rather than
producing consumer goods, leaving the populace with limited choices and hindering
economic development. The Soviet Union's centrally planned economy struggled to keep
pace with the dynamic and innovative economies of the Western world, particularly the
United States. Years of heavy military spending and inefficiencies in resource allocation
drained the Soviet economy, leading to stagnation and shortages.
The late 20th century was a time of major geopolitical upheaval in Eastern Europe. The
fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 put an end to the Cold War and its divisions,
which dated back to the Second World War. The fall of the Communist bloc brought about
the end of a bipolar world built around the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet
Union. Economic and military structures such as Comecon (the Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance) and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved in 1991. The events of the late
1980s marked the beginning of improved relations between two parts of the continent that
had long been divided.
The Eastern bloc in the throes of change. The political events and economic changes in
Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980s radically altered the geopolitical situation in Europe
and transformed existing institutions and structures. Aspirations to freedom, democracy and
the defence of human rights, which had long been stifled by the authoritarian regimes of
the Soviet bloc, were expressed more and more openly, thanks in particular to the reforms
introduced in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Gorbachev and his policy of gradually opening
up to the West.
Communist governments, already weakened, quickly collapsed, encouraging the
reawakening of national identities and minorities in the USSR’s satellite states and
then in the Soviet Union itself. Demonstrations and strikes in support of political and
economic reform became increasingly frequent. The fall of the Berlin Wall in November
1989 further accelerated the removal of the Communist regimes. After Poland and Hungary,
authoritarian governments gave way to elected multi-party coalitions in Czechoslovakia,
the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Romania and Bulgaria. The democratic
revolutions also put an end to the Warsaw Pact and the Comecon planned economy system.
The Soviet Union imploded and was unable to prevent the wave of national independence
in the Baltic states and in most of the republics making up the USSR. In 1991, a group of
conservative Communists, fiercely opposed to the turn of events, mounted an unsuccessful
coup to overthrow President Gorbachev. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
incorporating some of the former republics, replaced the old Soviet Union. The former
satellite states of the Soviet Union, keen to defend human rights and adopt the principles
of the market economy, immediately turned to Western structures.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall and Eastern Bloc. The symbolic fall of the Berlin Wall in
1989 and the collapse of communist governments across Eastern Europe eroded the image
of Soviet power and influence.

Gorbachev’s ‘perestroika’ and ‘glasnost’. On 11 March 1985, at the age of 54, Mikhail
Gorbachev, an apparatchik of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), was
appointed General Secretary of the CPSU by the Central Committee. He aimed to carry out
a root-and-branch reform of the Soviet system, the bureaucratic inertia of which constituted
an obstacle to economic reconstruction (‘perestroika’), and, at the same time, to liberalise
the regime and introduce transparency (‘glasnost’), i.e. a certain freedom of expression and
information.
Mikhail Gorbachev’s reformist policies in the Soviet Union fuelled opposition movements
to the Communist regimes in the Soviet bloc countries. Demonstrations became more
frequent. Governments were forced to accept measures — recommended, moreover, by
Gorbachev — towards liberalisation. However, these measures were not deemed to be
sufficient.
Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms like glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)
came too late. The Soviet government became rigid and resistant to change, which led to
mounting internal pressures and a loss of legitimacy as people yearned for greater
freedoms.
Hopes of freedom, long suppressed by the Communist regimes in the countries of the Soviet
bloc and in the USSR itself, were inevitably fuelled by Mikhail Gorbachev’s attempted
reforms in the Soviet Union and his conciliatory policy towards the West. It proved
impossible to maintain reformed Communist regimes. They were entirely swept away by
the desire for political democracy and economic liberty. Within three years, the Communist
regimes collapsed and individual nations gained freedom, initially in the USSR’s satellite
countries and then within the Soviet Union itself. The structures of the Eastern bloc
disintegrated with the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. The Soviet Union
broke up into independent republics.
Although popular with the West, Gorbachev was far less so in his own country, where his
reforms resulted in the disruption of the centralised planning system without the
implementation of any real market mechanisms. This resulted in reduced production,
shortages and social discontent, which led to strikes. This discontent could be all the more
strongly expressed within the system of ‘transparency’; all previously withheld information
concerning the activities of the state and its administrative bodies might henceforth be
disclosed and publicly debated. The lifting of the taboos imposed by the Communist
regime, of which intellectuals and liberated dissidents took full advantage, allowed critical
judgment to be passed on the history of the Soviet Union and on its political, economic and
social structure.
Nationalist Movements started within USSR. Various republics within the USSR sought
more autonomy or even full independence. This led to unrest, weakening the power of the
central government in Moscow. Within the Soviet Union, nationalist movements gained
momentum, fueled by long-standing ethnic tensions and resentment toward Moscow's
centralized authority. These movements, particularly in the Baltic states and Eastern
Europe, challenged the Soviet government's legitimacy and ultimately contributed to its
dissolution.
Social Issues in USSR rosed. Corruption increased and simultaneously there was a
decline in living standards of citizens of USSR. Corruption became widespread,
undermining trust in the system. Coupled with economic problems, this led to a decline in
living standards for many.
Disillusionment and Dissatisfaction in USSR increased. The Soviet populace became
increasingly weary of restrictions, economic shortages, and the lack of political freedom,
leading to widespread dissent.
All this resulted into ideological decline of communism. By the late 20th century, the
appeal of communism as an ideological alternative to capitalism had waned significantly,
both domestically and internationally. The lack of political freedoms, combined with
economic stagnation, led to widespread disillusionment among the Soviet populace.
Technological factors played a significant role in the disintegration of the USSR. The
advent of information technology, particularly the spread of personal computers and later
the internet, facilitated the flow of information both within and outside the Soviet Union.
This enabled dissidents to disseminate alternative viewpoints, bypass government
censorship, and organize opposition movements more effectively. Improved
communication technologies, such as satellite television and fax machines, allowed
people in the Soviet Union to access news and information from the West more readily.
This exposed them to contrasting narratives about political and economic systems, fostering
skepticism toward the Soviet regime's propaganda and ideological orthodoxy.
The collapse of Soviet Communism led to dislocation of the Soviet Union, sapped by an
ideological, political and economic crisis. This in turn precipitated the break-up of the
empire, both cause and effect of the end of Communism. The organisations specific to
‘Soviet federalism’ hastened the implosion of the Soviet Union despite being primarily
intended to consolidate it. One after another the Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs)
proclaimed their sovereignty in the summer of 1991. In December of the same year, some
of these republics, which had become independent in the meantime, redefined their
respective links by creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The Collapse. Ultimately, the combined weight of economic problems, political paralysis,
internal unrest, and dwindling global leverage proved unsustainable, leading to the
dissolution of the USSR in 1991

US Hegemony in the 1990s: A Moment of Unipolarity

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 effectively ended the decades-long Cold War
rivalry between the United States and the Soviet bloc. With the demise of its primary
geopolitical competitor, the United States emerged as the sole superpower, wielding
unparalleled influence in international affairs. The 1990s marked a period of unipolarity in
the international system, with the United States emerging as the sole superpower following
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This period saw US hegemony manifest in several
key areas:
Unmatched Military Power. The US possessed the world's most powerful military, both
in terms of conventional forces and nuclear capabilities. This dominance allowed them to
project power globally and deter potential adversaries. The arms race with the United States
spurred technological advancements in military technology. However, the Soviet Union
struggled to keep pace with Western innovations, leading to a widening technological gap.
The inability to maintain technological parity weakened the Soviet Union's military
capabilities and contributed to its perceived vulnerability.
Expansion of NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) expanded eastward,
incorporating former Soviet satellite states, solidifying US influence in Europe. The United
States played a leading role in shaping international institutions and promoting liberal
democratic values, advocating for free trade, human rights, and democratic governance.
American presidents such as George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton exercised considerable
diplomatic influence, mediating conflicts and promoting peace initiatives around the world.
Military Intervention. The US engaged in several military interventions during this
period, including the Gulf War (1991) and the Kosovo War (1999), demonstrating its
willingness to use force to uphold its interests. The United States engaged in a series of
military interventions and peacekeeping missions in various regions, including the Balkans,
the Middle East, and Africa, asserting US military leadership and reinforcing its role as the
world's policeman.
Economic and Technological Leadership. The US possessed the world's largest and most
diversified economy, giving it significant leverage in international trade and financial
markets. The US economy experienced remarkable growth and prosperity throughout much
of the 1990s, fueled by technological innovation, globalization, and the dot-com boom.
American companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Google became global leaders in
technology and innovation, while Wall Street emerged as the epicenter of global finance.
Technological Powerhouse. The US continued to be a leader in technological innovation,
driving advancements in fields like computers, the internet, and telecommunications. This
technological edge further strengthened its economic and political influence.
Cultural Influence. American culture, with its emphasis on individualism, democracy, and
consumerism, spread globally through various channels such as music, movies, and
television. This cultural influence served to promote US values and interests. American
cultural products, including films, music, television shows, and consumer brands,
permeated markets worldwide, shaping global popular culture and lifestyle trends.
Hollywood became synonymous with cinematic excellence, while American fashion, fast
food, and consumer goods attained iconic status across continents
The 1990s witnessed an unprecedented era of globalization, characterized by increased
interconnectedness and interdependence among nations. The United States, as the world's
largest economy and a proponent of free trade, played a central role in shaping the global
economic order, fostering trade liberalization, and promoting economic integration.