The Cold War
The Cold War referred to the competition,
the geopolitical tensions and a series of confrontations between the United
States and the Soviet Union, backed by their respective allies.
Eastern
bloc : USSR and its satellite countries
Western
bloc : USA and its NATO allies
The world war ended when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on
the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945,
causing Japan to surrender.
Some
opinions say that the US decision to drop atomic bombs was in fact a strategy
to show the Soviet Union that US was the supreme power and stop it
from making gains in Asia and elsewhere.
The consequence of the end of the Second World War was the rise of two new powers on the global stage. With the defeat of Germany and Japan, the devastation of Europe and in many other parts of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union became the greatest powers in the world with the ability to influence events anywhere on earth.
The Cold War along with power rivalries, military alliances, and balance of power was accompanied by a real ideological conflict, a difference over the best and the most appropriate way of organizing political, economic, and social life all over the world.
The western alliance,
headed by the US, represented the ideology of liberal democracy and
capitalism while the eastern alliance, headed by the
Soviet Union, was committed to the ideology of socialism and communism.
The end of the Second World War was a major
landmark in contemporary world politics, amongst other outcomes it set the
stage for the beginning of the Cold War.
There was Arms race in cold war between USSR and USA which led them to spend high on military and weapons which made them leader in world military.
Impacts
·
Formation of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO): The western alliance was formalized into an
organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established in April
1949.
·
Warsaw Pact: The
eastern alliance, came to be known as the Warsaw Pact, established
in 1955. Its principal function was to counter NATO’s forces in
Europe. Europe
became the main arena of conflict between the superpowers.
Neutral
groups
Non-Aligned
Movement also emerged as a new organization which gave the newly
independent countries a way of staying out of the alliances.
The roots of Non-Aligned Movement went
back to the friendship between three leaders Yugoslavia’s Josip
Broz Tito, India’s Jawaharlal Nehru, and Egypt’s leader
Gamal Abdel Nasser supported by Indonesia’s Sukarno and
Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah.
These five leaders came to be known as the five
founders of Non-Aligned Movement.
As non-alignment grew into a popular
international movement, countries of various different political
systems and interests joined it.
The Cold War Timeline
Key Event:
Ø The Berlin Blockade 1948 :
USSR
wanted control over entire Berlin so Joseph
Stalin blocked supply routes to
west berlin, then USA and UK air dropped supplies to break blockade. Germany
officially split into two countries in 1948-1949.
Ø
Korean
War 1950-53 :
There was proxy war in korea. North korea which was
communist backed by USSR and south korea
was capitalist backed by USA. The was continued for 3 years. The border
was named 38th
Parallel where seize fire was
established.
Ø
Cuban
Missile Crisis 1962:
Cube underwent revolution in 1959 bringing communist
Fidel
Castro to power. USSR
benifitted and positioned ballistic missile there in 1962 threatening entire
USA. All strategically important cities came under range of USSR nuclear
missile. Hence USA blockade Cuba and not allowed any ships to pass by. Then
USSR sent its nuclear ships but Nuclear war averted in knick of time.
Ø Sino
Soviet split 1962 :
China
( Sino) and USSR split due to ideological differences. Mao Zedong president of
people’s republic of china stated that USSR has left original communalism and
they changed their policies. But both of them kept supportin north Vietnam in
war.
Ø Vietnam
War 1960s :
North
Vietnam backed by USSR and south Vietnam backed by USA. It was carried on
brutal scale. Finally USSR backed north Vietnam won war in 1975.
Ø 1970s
De-escalation:
The
geopolitical tensions of cold war decreased in 1970s. In 1972 Richard Nixon
(president of USA) visited china and established diplomatic relations, started
trade and business and gave recognition to china which improve their relations.
Realization
of Arms Control
Ø Since
the Cold War did not eliminate rivalries between the two alliances, for the
time being therefore, the US and USSR decided to collaborate in limiting or
eliminating certain kinds of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons. Thus, a system of ‘arms control’ was to
be established.
Ø They
signed many pacts and these were:
·
Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT)
Banned nuclear weapon
test in atmosphere which was signed by USSR , USA, UK in Moscow on 5th
august 1963.
·
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT)
Allows
only nuclear weapon states to hove nuclear weapon and stops others from
aquiring it.
·
Strategic Arms Limitation
Talks 1973 (SALT)
o
Reducing Nuclear missiles
o
Reducing Anti-ballistic
missiles
Areas of Cold War
Confrontations
happened in Korea (1950 – 53), Berlin (1958 – 62), the Congo (the early 1960s),
Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Many lives were lost in these areas however it
did not lead to a full-scale nuclear war.
Afghanistan
As
treaty of co-operation signed between USSR and USA but In 1979 USSR send troops
to Afghanistan to help newly formed communist government and USA supported
mujhaheedin in Afghanistan which was end of co-operation treaty.
End Of
Cold War
Many historians believes that cold war started in
1947 and ended with disintegration
of USSR into 15 countries in 1991. The cold war had seen advancement in
technology,medical,education and military weapons. This era also started space
exploration race between USSR and USA. World had seen economic growth in these
era Also, many small coutries suffered due to cold war.
By- Anuj Kanade (Team Historic Wednesday)
Refernces:
https://blogs.prepladder.com/cold-war-origin-causes-and-phases-ncert-notes-upsc/
Image Refernces:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Cold_war_europe_economic_alliances_map_en.png
https://slideplayer.com/slide/9019023/
https://quizlet.com/253530069/cold-war-map-diagram/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/50313720819628534/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_summit#/media/File:John_Kennedy,_Nikita_Khrushchev_1961.jpg
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