The Major Features And Key Events Of The Cold War

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Introduction

The term Cold War was used to describe a series of intensities, hostilities and suspicions that started from 1945 and ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed between two groups of nations that shared different or confronting ideologies and national interests. One side of this was the United States and its allies, which were referred to as the Western Bloc. The other side was the Soviet Union and its allies, the Eastern Bloc. The reason that this period of confrontation was referred to as the Cold war was that no direct military actions were involved. During this period of time, a series of events happened and they formed the current international order. Though the Cold War was officially ended in 1991, some ideologies that dominate the Cold War still influence the current national relations.

The major features of the Cold War

One feature of the Cold war is that it involved what were believed as the two most powerful countries in the world. Under the two countries, the world was divided into two. The two sides shared different political and economic institutions. The Soviet Union and its allies which included countries in Asia, Western Europe and South America developed under what was called the socialist institution. (Coates, 2000) The United States and its allies which mainly included countries in Western Europe developed under the capitalist institution. In this way, the Cold war practically dominated the whole world.

The relations among the countries were built on mistrust and strong suspicion. Under the theory developed by Marx and Lenin, the Eastern Bloc believed the existence of capitalist should be eradicated. (McMahon, 2003) The Western Bloc saw the existence of socialist as a big threat. The western bloc and the eastern bloc did whatever they could to compete with each other. One prominent aspect of the competition reflected on military. (Pipes, 1990) Both sides were living under the strong threat of war. And they devoted much of the national capital and human source into developing weapons and in building up their military forces. The threat of nuclear war caused strong insecurities upon all the countries. In response, the work to develop nuclear weapons was hastened. (Miller, 2001) It was regarded by most countries that the key to national security lied in the possessing of nuclear weapons. The competition in national strength also can be found in the development of aerospace technologies. It was deemed of supreme significance for national security to develop outer space aircrafts, satellites and other technologies. Though the development was initiated for arm race, it did have the effect to propel the overall development of human society. The struggles were carried on in all dimensions. (Joll, 1992) In addition to military competition, confrontation also reflected on other sides. Secret agents were used to spy the information of the other.

During the latter part of Cold War, the less powerful countries that were dominated by the Soviet Union and the United States began to seek independence and to develop on its own. The relations between the Soviet Union and its allies such as China and some eastern European countries worsened. This created the chance for the development of diplomacy between them and some western countries. In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the cold war ended. However, despite constant disputes and conflicts such as regional military confrontation, no world war was ever carried on and this was reason that it was referred to as the cold war.

3.0The key events of the Cold War

After the WWII, Korea went under the control of US and Russian which was divided by the 38th parallel after colonization was ended with the defeat of Japan. In 1950, North Korea attacked the South with the aim to unify the country under the support of the Soviet Union. The United Stated responded by encouraging the involvement of UN to curb the spread of socialism in east-Asian. The North Korean backed off under the attacks of UN troops. This trend was stopped with the involvement of China. China sent over a million solders to fight in the war. In 1953, the war ceased when the new US president threatened the use of nuclear weapons. Through this event, China showed its military power and it got involved in the cold war.

In 1956, the Suez crisis erupted. The president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, wanted to nationalize the Suez Canal, which is one of the most important links in the word. On October 29, 1956, Israeli army which was later joined by the UK and France intended to retake the canal. This nearly involved the Soviet Union into this. The United States condemned the joint evasion into Egypt and the attack was finally withdrawn under heavy diplomatic pressures from the US. Suez Crisis damaged the relationship between the United States and its allies. (Roberts, no date)

In 1961, the Berlin Wall began to build which divided the east and West Berlin. This wall was constructed in the purpose to stop talents from escaping from the east into the west. 1n 1989, with the fall of communist government of East Germany, the wall was torn down by east and West Germans with hammers. Now, the wall which stood as the symbol of the domination of the Soviet Union was turned as a souvenir.

The Vietnam War which began in 1954 and ended in 1957 showed the intention of the United Stated in curbing potential spread of communism. Vietnam was a French colony until with withdrawal in 1954 and it was divided into the North and South regions by a peace conference in Geneva. The northern part was controlled by Russia and the southern part controlled by US. With the escalation of conflicts between the North and South, the US utilized its policy of containment and provided the South with weapons and troops. The war went on for years, and both sides encountered countless losses. Under the mounting pressure domestically, the US backed out of the war in 1973.

The Cuba Crisis happened in 1962. This event put the world in the risk of nuclear war as the US and Soviet Union disputed upon the stationing of intermediate range ballistic missiles in Cuba. This event happened due to the efforts to overthrow the communist revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, by President Kennedy. Under his authorization, an arm of more than 1,000 Cuban exiles was sent to invade Cuba in 1961. After this failed, more attempts to assassinate Castro were made. This propelled Castro into seeking help and protection from the Soviet Union. When the missile launching sites and soviet technicians were discovered and national security was threatened, the president of US decided to block Cuba over the decision to initiate a war with Soviet Union. Days later, Khrushchev decided to withdraw missiles away from Cuba on the condition to end the blockage and that US missile be removed from Turkey. Cuba Crisis played a big role in causing Khrushchev loses his power two years after this.

The war of Afghanistan took place in 1979. This country caught the attention from the US and Russian due to its oil. Russia felt the need to control this region when a civil war took place between anticommunist Muslim guerrillas and the government. On 25th December 1979, the Soviet initiated the invasion into Afghanistan with the aim to help the pro-Soviet government. (Service, 1998) In response, the US protested by the boycott of the Moscow Olympics, imposing economic sanctions on the USSR and sending weapons and other resources to aid the Afghanistan rebels. The Soviet Union finally withdrew from Afghanistan in 1990 defeated this was regarded as a disgrace to Moscow. The Afghanistan crisis ultimately contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the chaos in Afghanistan continued and the Taliban was formed.

The last event worth discussing is the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This signaled the end of the cold war. The reasons of the collapse lied in many factors. (White, 1994) Of which, the leader, Mikhial Dorbachev, who was appointed as the general secretary in 1985, played a vital role. After the economic and political reforms that he recommended in the aim to rescue the national economy, USSR became even more unstable and many of its problems were unresolved. (Zubok, 2008) In the end, the reform went out of control and the Soviet Union collapsed.

4.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, the main features of the cold war are it is world-wide, almost all the continents on this planet have been affected and despite constant disputes and confrontations in some regions, no world war was initiated. The key events which happened during the cold war largely determined the general flow of this period. Some regional military confrontations did not ended as expected such as the Vietnam War and Afghanistan crisis. In the end, arm race along with other crisis contributed the downfall of the Soviet Union and terminated the Cold War altogether.