In general, the term «Cold War» describes a serious conflict between two (or more) states, which is only carried out with the threat of military means. The guns stay cold, so to speak. However, «the Cold War» explicitly refers to the situation after the Second World War.
Of the Cold War describes the conflict situation between the Soviet Union and the United States in the Connection to the Second World Warlocated between the March 12, 1947 to December 26, 1991 has happened. Although an arms race was being run and a constant threat of war standing in the room there was no actual attack. As major military powers, an escalation of the situation would have had a global impact.
Cold War background
From the Second World War they went allies – the USA, France, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union – emerged as the victorious powers. Together they were responsible for creating a new, peace-keeping order after the war. Tensions arose between the Soviet Union and the USA due to differing ideas about this very system.
Because the two states each represented opposing ideologies, which were incompatible with each other. While the United States capitalism promoted, operated the Soviet Union communist system. This ideological conflict was exaggerated through propagandistic means. From the US perspective, the communist, totalitarian dictatorship of the Soviet Union faced the defense of freedom. From the perspective of the East, the goal of a classless society could not be achieved by US «exploitative and imperialist» capitalism.
The different levels of the Cold War
The fact that the potential for conflict between the two countries grew so much was also due to the fact that the Cold War took place on different levels. In order to spread their supposedly better ideology, the USA and the Soviet Union took up economic, scientific and military Middle.
ideological level
The ideological level was considered the basis of hostility. This was linked to the fact that both states wanted to consolidate and expand their place in world politics. The USA and the Western powers that had won the war feared that the Soviet Union wanted to expand its influence in Europe. However, since communism is considered by the US to be a threat to a peaceful post-war order was considered, the Soviet Union should be contained. The Soviet Union, in turn, wanted to reduce American and Western influence on Europe.
Economic and economic level
On the economic level, the two countries differed fundamentally. In the case of the United States, market economy operated, in the case of the Soviet Union the planned economy. During the course of the Cold War, mutual attempts were made to limit each other’s economic room for manoeuvre. Both great powers tried to secure economic allies in order to bind them to themselves. So they could sanctions register for an allied state as soon as it wanted to establish contact with the other great power.
scientific level
A kind of competition also took place on a scientific level. Space travel in particular played a role in this. The two states engaged in the so-called «Space Race«, the race for space. They wanted to prove their superiority through advances in space travel. As soon as one nation reached a milestone, such as the first satellite in space or the first moon landing, the other nation tried to trump this success.
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik, which could orbit the earth for 98 minutes. The United States, however, ignited a rocket on July 16, 1969, which landed on the moon five days later along with Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. On April 19, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the first space station and on April 12, 1981, the first mission of the US space shuttle began.
You can find more information about the process of the «Space Race» in the associated explanation here on .
arms race
With the dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, the United States set the tone of the Cold War military plane. In the decades of the arms race, which took place sometimes more, sometimes less between the two states, a total of around 70,000 nuclear warheads were developed. At the height of the nuclear arms race, both countries possessed the weapons to bring about human annihilation should the conflict escalate.
So not only the opposing state and its territory would have been affected, but the whole of the world. This state of military power was called overkill and symbolized the futility of the arms race. Because it was less about being better prepared in the event of an attack than about driving the other state into economic ruin through permanent rearmament.
Cold War History – Proxy Wars
The Cold War proceeded mainly through proxy wars.
One strategy used by the US and Soviet Union to find allies was to shut down development aid in developing countries. This is how so-called proxy wars were fought in conflicts in these very developing countries.
as Proxy war is a military conflict between two parties in a third country. The two parties do not carry out their conflict directly, but use the war in the third country to clarify their respective positions.
The two major powers were not directly involved, but got involved in civil wars in third countries Developing countries to push back the influence of the other great power. Because, with the so-called Truman Doctrine, on March 12, 1947, the USA formulated the goal of combating the influence of communist states such as the Soviet Union. Therefore, the Truman Doctrine can also be dated as the beginning of the Cold War.
For more information on the Truman Doctrine, you can view the statement here on .
Even before the publication of the Truman Doctrine, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke of one in a speech in 1946 «Iron Curtain» between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Ultimately, the conflict potential of the Cold War developed through the proxy wars. Because it was only through these wars that situations arose in which the two states came closer to each other in a warlike manner.
The Korean War at the beginning of the Cold War
After World War II, Korean territory was 38th degree of latitude divided into two states. After that, South Korea was under US occupation and North Korea was under Soviet occupation. Both states saw each other as the real Korea and mutual border violations began. On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched an offensive against South Korea, after which the United States rushed to South Korea’s aid with its military forces. When the communist People’s Republic of China intervened to stand by North Korea, the national war became an international one, representative of the West-East conflict.
For more information on the Korean War, you can check out the explanation on .
The Vietnam War and the Cold War
Shortly after the Korean War, which began on November 1, 1955 a war between South and North Vietnam, which lasted until April 30, 1975. After the French colonial war failed, Vietnam was divided into South Vietnam and communist North Vietnam at the Geneva Conference on the 17th parallel. The head of South Vietnam, with the help of American military advisors and armaments resources, was to act against North Vietnam, which was supported by the Soviet Union and China.
After two North Vietnamese speedboats fired on American warships in the Gulf of Tonking on August 2 and 4, 1964, then US President Lyndon B. Johnson sent ground troops into the war zone and had North Vietnam bombed. He also justified the increased military intervention by saying that South Vietnam would not be the last Southeast Asian country to go communist. The Vietnam War lasted almost 20 years and caused worldwide controversy. With around 58,000 US soldiers killed in action and one million soldiers and two million civilians on both North and South Vietnamese sides, the Vietnam War was not considered a win despite actual victory and deepened the division between the US Republicans and Democrats.
In the late 1960s, Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies were met with protests and demonstrations.
You can also find an explanation of the Vietnam War on .
The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War
On January 1st, 1959, the Cuban government was overthrown by insurgent communist units under Fidel Castro. The US, however, opposed this transfer of power and began to support the Cuban opposition. The Soviet Union then established diplomatic relations with Cuba and offered its help in gaining independence. From the American side, this was seen as an attempt to subject South America to communism.
In the course of the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the Cold War reached a new dimension. For within the thirteen days that the crisis lasted, the two superpowers came as close as possible to nuclear war. Previously, the US had already placed medium-range missiles in both Italy and Turkey, aimed at the Soviet Union. On October 14, 1962, two US reconnaissance planes flew over Cuba and discovered it Soviet medium-range missiles. Due to the geographical proximity to the USA, the positioning of the weapons was seen as the greatest danger and provocation, which is why there was a high risk that a nuclear war could have broken out.
A medium-range missile describes a military type of missile, which is mainly used as a carrier for nuclear, i.e. nuclear weapons. You can find out more about the Cuban Missile Crisis in the accompanying statement.
Germany’s role in the Cold War
The situation in Germany after the Second World War also resembled a proxy conflict. The USA and the Soviet Union wanted to determine the future of Germany in their interest.
After the Second World War, Germany was originally divided into four occupation zones, each under one of the four Allies. Thus the Soviet Union and the USA also had a zone of Germany under their control. Due to the differences between the two states, difficulties and disagreements arose as to the extent to which Germany should be rebuilt. So the head of state of the USSR Josef Stalin forbade the Soviet occupation zone himself at the marshall plan to participate, which was decided on June 5, 1947. As early as 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill expressed concern…