Cold War

Cold War;
Rise of United States and Soviet Union,

Era of Tight Bipolarity, Détente and
Loose Bipolarity, Revival of Cold War.
Concepts
Communism
 An ideological stance in which the property is owned by the
community.
Socialism
 Socialism is an ideological stance in which the resources, industries
and transportation should be owned and controlled by the state.
Capitalism
 A system based on private ownership of resources, goods and
services.
Outcomes of WWII – a summary
 Decolonization – colonial powers exhausted.
 Emergence of Two Superpowers – USA & USSR
 Incompatibilities b/w two Ideologies.
 Containment policy of USA Vs. USSR
 Marshall Plan (13 $Bil. 16 European countries)– first move

towards NATO
Cold War
 Why Cold? – neither war nor peace b/w US capitalist and Soviet
communist blocs after WWII.
 Great power rivalry stopped short of war.
 Arms race, ally-seeking, ideological antagonism, interventionism

etc.
Roots of Cold War
 Communist Revolution of November 1917 was viewed as

challenge to democracy and capitalism.
 Therefore, USA had also tried to prevent the revolution in

Russia.
 First ‘red-scare’ 1919-1920 in USA.

Roots of Cold War
 “Soviet states would not co-exist with capitalist states”, Lenin

1919.
 After WWII USSR & USA became super powers.
 During WWII, Stalin, Roosevelt, & Churchill discussed the

future of the world in the aftermath of WWII.
Roots of Cold War

 After WWII, Germany was to be divided into two;
1. East Germany under USSR

2. West Germany under USA
 Berlin into four sectors – USA, France, UK and USSR.
 Germany was also to be de-militarized & de-nazify.

US, British and Soviet views;
 FDR wanted economic supremacy through – Bretton Wood

System and victory in Asia.
 Churchill wanted to maintain colonies.
 Stalin wanted to keep Germany divided and retain East

Europe.
Roots of Cold War
 These Soviet goals brought mutual suspicions.
 Overall world was also transforming – decolonization, Chinese

awakening, Indo-Pak independence etc.
Cold War – shaped the world
 Cold War (1945-1991) was the centre point of world politics.
 It dominated the FPs of the whole world – by affecting their

societies, politics, economies, and military institutions.
 Education, literature, and philosophy as well.

Who Started the Cold War – two interpretations
Traditional view:
 Former allied within few months, engaged in a global struggle.
 Creeping sovietisation of the region b/w 1945-1948 was the

source of Cold War.
 Josef Stalin was an evil dictator, guided by evil Communist

ideology for world domination.
Who Started the Cold War – interpretations?
Revisionist View:
 In the 1960s, a new generation of historians — sceptical about
the Vietnam War — offered a different interpretation;
 Economic expansionist policies of US was the cause of Cold

War.
 “Stalin was more interested in protecting the Soviet Union than

in dominating the world.”
Who Started the Cold War – interpretations?
 Americans erroneously interpreted Stalin’s concerns for a
security buffer in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania as a
desire for global conquest.
 American efforts to contain Soviet influence, soviet

intimidation with atomic bomb, and to pursue American
economic interests around the globe were primarily responsible
for the start of the Cold War.
Stages of CW : Tight Bipolarity (1945-1969)
Iron Curtain (1946)

 Churchill used this phrase in his 1946 speech, speech, “from
Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain
has descended upon the continent”.
 He called for an Western alliance against communist threat.
 Effectively requested and welcomed US diplomatic and

military support and protection.
Tight confrontational Bipolarity (1947-1969)
 The cold war in Europe reflected the failure to implement the

principles agreed at the wartime conferences of Yalta &
Potsdam of 1945.
 The future of Germany and Poland were issues of growing

tension between USA & USSR.
Truman Doctrine 1947 and Containment Policy of US
 Truman requested congress 400 million US$ for Turkey and

Greece so they could fight against communism.
 The largest US aid program in peace time history.

 It was the beginning of US invention into other countries.
 Under this doctrine, US was committed to oppose the spread of

communism and to intervene, even by military force when
necessary.
 NATO & Marshall Plan - two elements of containment strategy,

“Two halves of the same walnut,” said Truman.
Truman Doctrine and Containment Policy of US
 US elite had divided the world into “good” and “bad” states –
based on human rights record….
 Whoever was in communist camp - fell into the category of

“Bad” and a target of US.
 In East, nationalists and socialists were also considered as

Marxists, loyal to Moscow. e.g. ZA. Bhutto
 First confrontation between US and USSR came when in June

1948 Stalin cut road and rail communications.
 West Berlin’s population was kept alive by a massive airlift.

 Blockade attracted the deployment of US long-range bombers
in Britain, described as ‘atomic-capable’, though not.
 US consolidated its military commitment by forming NATO in

April 1949.
 USA took the responsibility of the protection of the Europe.

 In 1949, thirty-year-long Chinese civil war ended with victory
for the communists under Mao Zedong.
 USSR also broke the nuclear monopoly of USA in 1949.
 1950 North Korea attacked SK, USA intervened so did

communist China.
NATO 1949
 NATO & west German armament in 1954 resulted in Warsaw
Pact in 1955.
 By the 1960s, there were some 7,000 nuclear weapons in

Western Europe alone.
 NATO deployed nuclear weapons to balance Soviet

conventional superiority, Soviet deployed superior nuclear
force to counter US nuclear superiority.
Warsaw 1955
Cold war and the Middle East
 Israel came into being in 1948 - Nazi genocide.
 Both USSR and USA supported the creation of a Jewish state on

Arab lands.
 But, in 1950s, Soviets supported Arabs Vs. Pro US Israel.
 Though Jamal Nasser was a nationalist not communist.

Suez Canal Crisis, 1956
 On July 26, 1956 Jamal Nasser announced to nationalize Suez

Canal.
 Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt.
 This brought a serious rift in the ‘special relationship’ between

Britain and the US.
Suez Canal crisis 1956
 Eisenhower strongly opposed and forced UK abandon the
operation and support of French and Israel.
 In those days, US compromised their commitment democracy and

national self-determination because of Cold War.
 Supported Dictators instead of democrats, e.g. Gen. Ayub and

Gen. Zia in Pakistan and Arab Monarchs.
Cuban missile Crisis, 1962
 In October 1962 the world was about to witness a nuclear

Armageddon.
 Soviets has deployed Nuclear missiles in Cuba aiming at US
cities.
 Britain in 1952, France in 1960, and China in 1964 became

nuclear powers.
 Concerns about the spread or nuclear proliferation led to the

negotiation of the NPT in 1968.
Détente - Loose Bipolarity, 1969 - 1979
 Easing of tensions between US and USSR, tentatively started

from Nixon/Kissinger initiative in 1972/1973.
 A shift from animosity to a flexible diplomacy.
 Change was being observed in post WWII super power relations.
 Causes – communist China, and consensus b/w USA & USSR to

keep the status quo in Europe.
Détente Loose Bipolarity. 1969 - 1979
 America was stuck in Vietnam, China-Soviet war in 1969.

 Détente helped reconciliation between China & US.
 Both Washington and Moscow also looked towards Beijing

while making their calculations.
The question of how far the superpowers could control their

friends.
Détente - Loose Bipolarity. 1969 - 1979
 After 1973 Arab-Israel war both USA and USSR helped create
Egyptian-Israeli rapprochement.
 Egypt switched its allegiance from Moscow to Washington.
 For Israel, fear of a war was lifted.

Détente - Loose Bipolarity. 1969 - 1979
 Americans viewed Moscow’s support for communists in
Ethiopia in 1975 and in Angola in 1978 killed détente.
 The overthrow of the Shah of Iran in 1979 resulted in the loss

of an important US ally in the region.
 Dec. 1979, USSR invaded Afghanistan, US supported

Mujahideen.
Revival of the Cold War 1980 - 1988
Carter Doctrine ( January 1980)
 “Any attempt by outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf
will be regarded as an assault on vital US interests and such an
assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including
military force”.
 Doctrine was a response to Iranian Revolution and Soviet

invasion of Afghanistan.
 It was a mini Monroe Doctrine in its essence.

After 1980
 Reagan was not in favour of arms control agreements.
 He initiated ‘Star Wars’, a research programme for space -based

defence against ballistic missiles.
 Reagan claimed to regain the nuclear monopoly of the 1950s.
 In Western Europe and the Soviet Union, there was real fear of
nuclear war.
Reagan Doctrine 1980-1988
 Reagan viewed Détente as a bad policy, that strengthened

USSR.
 The essence of the doctrine is – the active destabilization of

selected target states following soviet ideologies.
 Reagan called Détente period as “decade of neglect”.

Reagan Doctrine
 Its purpose was to stop the expansion of USSR.
 This was reflected in Afghanistan & Nicaragua to suck Soviet

military in Vietnam style.
 Reagan’s policy lost its relevance as in last years both

superpowers moved towards better relations.
Conclusion
 There are disagreements about when and why the cold war began,
and who was responsible.
 Distinct phases can be seen in East-West relations, during which
tension and the risk of direct confrontation grew and receded.
 Some civil and regional wars were intensified and prolonged by
superpower involvement; others may have been prevented or
shortened.
 The end of the cold war has not resulted in the abolition of
nuclear weapons.
Conclusion
 Nuclear weapons were an important factor in the cold war. How

far the arms race had a momentum of its own is a matter of
debate.
 Various international crises occurred in which there was the risk

of nuclear war.
 Judging how close world came to nuclear war at these times

remains open to speculation.
Questions
 Throughout the history of the Cold War the US used and
manipulated the soviet threat to secure its leadership over the
Western world. Discuss.
 To what extent was US foreign economic policy of a case of

‘containment by other means’?
 What impact did the end of Cold War have on US foreign

policy?

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Cold War;

Rise of United States and Soviet Union,

 Emergence of Two Superpowers – USA & USSR

 Incompatibilities b/w two Ideologies.

 Containment policy of USA Vs. USSR

 Marshall Plan (13 $Bil. 16 European countries)– first move

 Great power rivalry stopped short of war.

 Arms race, ally-seeking, ideological antagonism, interventionism

 Communist Revolution of November 1917 was viewed as

 Therefore, USA had also tried to prevent the revolution in

 First ‘red-scare’ 1919-1920 in USA.

 “Soviet states would not co-exist with capitalist states”, Lenin

 After WWII USSR & USA became super powers.

 During WWII, Stalin, Roosevelt, & Churchill discussed the

1. East Germany under USSR

 Berlin into four sectors – USA, France, UK and USSR.

 Germany was also to be de-militarized & de-nazify.

 FDR wanted economic supremacy through – Bretton Wood

 Churchill wanted to maintain colonies.

 Stalin wanted to keep Germany divided and retain East

 These Soviet goals brought mutual suspicions.

 Overall world was also transforming – decolonization, Chinese

 It dominated the FPs of the whole world – by affecting their

 Education, literature, and philosophy as well.

 Creeping sovietisation of the region b/w 1945-1948 was the

 Josef Stalin was an evil dictator, guided by evil Communist

 Economic expansionist policies of US was the cause of Cold

 “Stalin was more interested in protecting the Soviet Union than

 American efforts to contain Soviet influence, soviet

Iron Curtain (1946)

 Effectively requested and welcomed US diplomatic and

 The cold war in Europe reflected the failure to implement the

 The future of Germany and Poland were issues of growing

 Truman requested congress 400 million US$ for Turkey and

 The largest US aid program in peace time history.

 Under this doctrine, US was committed to oppose the spread of

 NATO & Marshall Plan - two elements of containment strategy,

 Whoever was in communist camp - fell into the category of

 In East, nationalists and socialists were also considered as

 First confrontation between US and USSR came when in June

 West Berlin’s population was kept alive by a massive airlift.

 US consolidated its military commitment by forming NATO in

 USA took the responsibility of the protection of the Europe.

 USSR also broke the nuclear monopoly of USA in 1949.

 1950 North Korea attacked SK, USA intervened so did

 By the 1960s, there were some 7,000 nuclear weapons in

 NATO deployed nuclear weapons to balance Soviet

 Israel came into being in 1948 - Nazi genocide.

 Both USSR and USA supported the creation of a Jewish state on

 But, in 1950s, Soviets supported Arabs Vs. Pro US Israel.

 Though Jamal Nasser was a nationalist not communist.

 On July 26, 1956 Jamal Nasser announced to nationalize Suez

 Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt.

 This brought a serious rift in the ‘special relationship’ between

 In those days, US compromised their commitment democracy and

 Supported Dictators instead of democrats, e.g. Gen. Ayub and

 In October 1962 the world was about to witness a nuclear

 Britain in 1952, France in 1960, and China in 1964 became

 Concerns about the spread or nuclear proliferation led to the