What was the Cold War?

World War II destroyed much of Europe. World leaders sought new ways to protect against future attacks. During the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had worked together. However, that partnership turned to a 50-year-long conflict. This conflict is called the “Cold War” since the two powers never directly engaged in combat (“hot war”). Instead, they increased their military capabilities, tried to expand their global influence, and undermined the other’s way of life in the eyes of the world. The United States believed in a capitalist system of free markets and multiple political parties. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union was founded on a communist system. It was controlled by a centralized state and a single political party.

The Cold War came down to some basic differences in world views. Communist societies believed in taking from the rich and giving to the poor. They promoted workers and state-run economies. These resulted in low unemployment rates but sometimes led to the unequal distribution of consumer goods. They also viewed organized religion as dangerous. The US promoted freedom of religion. The American capitalist system let free markets determine the production and distribution of goods. This led to more productivity, but it often created massive economic inequalities. Both sides also used propaganda to paint a negative picture of their enemies.

Three key features defined the Cold War:

1. The threat of nuclear war

2. Competition over the loyalty of newly independent nations

3. The military and economic support of each other’s enemies around the world.

The United States showed its global military dominance when it dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. This act prompted the USSR to seek nuclear technology to discourage American aggression. The US had other advantages as well. America entered World War II later than the Soviets. The US lost far fewer soldiers and civilians. The USSR lost 8-10 million soldiers (25 million including civilians). The US lost 300,000 in the war. The US economy expanded during the war, making profits from selling weapons and supplies to the Allied forces.

A divided Europe

After a long history of enemy invasions, Soviet leader Josef Stalin wanted to expand Soviet territory and build a buffer between the Soviet Union and Europe. He also wanted control in Central and Eastern European countries that the Soviets had helped to liberate. As a result, Stalin quickly established strong communist loyalists that took power in Central and Eastern Europe (the Eastern Bloc). They took orders from the USSR. Meanwhile, the United States provided more than $12 billion in aid to rebuild Western European nations.

This divided Europe into East and West. The nations were divided along an imaginary line called the Iron Curtain. Travel and cultural exchange across the Iron Curtain became increasingly difficult.

Germany became a Cold War battleground. East and West Germany had separate governments and capital cities. Families were separated based solely on where the lines were drawn. The city of Berlin became a microcosm (small-scale representation) of the Cold War. The British, French, and Americans controlled West Berlin. The Soviets controlled East Berlin. To prevent people from leaving one side for another, the communists built the Berlin Wall in 1961. It physically divided the city. Checkpoints were set up with armed guards to control border crossings. The wall became the most important symbol of the Cold War.

The Cold War heats up around the world

From 1945 to 1953, the USSR expanded its influence by creating the Eastern Bloc across states such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Stalin set up communist governments that he could control. He repressed anyone who resisted. The United States likewise began to meddle in the affairs of foreign nations where it feared communist regimes would gain control. This became known as a policy of containment.

In the 1950s, the competition had spread to the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. By the 1960s, the Cold War reached Africa. Many former colonies had achieved independence from European empires (decolonization). These new nations sided with the Americans or Soviets to receive economic and military aid. Both superpowers supported violent dictatorships—all to gain an edge in the Cold War.

Some of the major Cold War conflicts took place in Asia. Communists took power in China in 1949. The Americans feared other countries would soon follow. In 1953, Korea had been divided into two zones, with a communist government in the North and an American-leaning government in the South. To contain the spread of communism to South Korea, the United States sent troops. The Chinese responded by sending their own troops to the border. The war saw nearly 5 million people killed and ended in a stalemate, leaving a divided Korea that remains today.

Perhaps no conflict illustrates the policy of containment better than Vietnam. Like Korea, Vietnam was divided into a communist north and pro-West south. To contain the communist north, the United States invaded in the 1960s. The Soviet Union sent money and weapons to the communist forces. By 1975, with the help of the Soviets and China, a small, poor nation defeated the strongest military superpower in the world. More than 58,000 Americans died in the conflict.

After the Vietnam War, Cold War tensions briefly decreased. The Americans’ defeat in Vietnam, the threat of nuclear war, and new Soviet leadership led to open discussions between the two sides. But much like the Americans had in Vietnam, the USSR intervened in Afghanistan in the 1980s. It wanted to ensure the victory of a communist-leaning group and sent troops to assist them. Just as North Vietnam received aid and military assistance from the USSR, the United States backed Soviet enemies in Afghanistan with money and weapons. Ultimately, the USSR was equally unsuccessful, and US-backed forces emerged victorious. After much infighting, an extremist group called the Taliban claimed power in the region

The end of the Cold War

The Cold War finally ended in the 1990s. The USSR could no longer keep up with US military spending. Meanwhile, economic problems in the Eastern Bloc meant that goods were in short supply. To keep citizens from revolting, the new Soviet leader, Mikhael Gorbachev, proposed reforms to stimulate communist economies. The economic reforms were known as perestroika, or “restructuring.” He also relaxed restrictions on freedom of expression, a policy called glasnost, or “openness.” These reforms were too little too late.

In 1989, the most iconic symbol of the Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall, which had divided the German city, was torn down by Germans on both sides seeking to unify their nation. The USSR broke up into more than a dozen independent nations.

Fear of a nuclear war likely prevented direct combat. Though they did not engage in all-out warfare, the two superpowers supported many of each other’s enemies in combat. They created a bi-polar system of global power that forced other nations to choose sides. The economic troubles created by the Soviet war in Afghanistan left the USSR unable to maintain control of the Eastern Bloc. Many Eastern European countries chose a different path. They elected non- communist parties and joined the European Union.

Outside of Europe, communists in places such as Cuba and China have remained in power. Whichever path nations have chosen since the collapse of the USSR, the Cold War has left behind a major imprint on the world.