Cold War: Origins, Key Events, and Global Impact
The Cold War: A Global Confrontation
The Cold War was a political, ideological, economic, technological, and military confrontation that took place during the twentieth century between the Western-capitalist blocs, led by the United States, and the Eastern-communist blocs, led by the Soviet Union. China subsequently separated to create its own sphere of influence.
The blocs did not directly engage in armed conflict. The U.S. defended capitalist politics, claiming to represent democracy and freedom. The USSR emphasized socialism and social justice in response to bourgeois rule and as a solution to social problems.
The Marshall Plan
The United States adopted a series of economic support measures for Europe. George Marshall proposed the creation of a comprehensive economic plan, known as the Marshall Plan: a series of low-cost loans and public investments to avoid hunger and misery and facilitate the end of the crisis in Western Europe, preventing the spread of Communism among an unhappy populace.
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference was a meeting held during the Second World War (from February 4 to 11, 1945) between Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as heads of government of the USSR, the UK, and the U.S., respectively. It is generally seen as the beginning of the Cold War.
Formal agreements stipulated:
- Demilitarization of Germany
- Division of Germany into 4 zones of occupation
- Supply of eastern territories of Germany and Poland
Postwar Conference Decisions:
- Denazification process
- Disarmament of the great economic cluster-state
- Creation of a council of foreign ministers to make peace with the German allies
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- A political-military alliance, both offensive and defensive, bringing together the countries of the United States.
- Established in 1950 and lasts until today.
- Includes countries like Britain, Canada, Spain, France, Norway, and Italy.
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a military cooperation agreement signed in 1955 by the Eastern bloc countries (USSR). Designed under Soviet leadership, its stated aim was to counter the threat posed by the establishment in 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), particularly the rearmament of West Germany, which the Paris agreements allowed to reorganize their armed forces.
Key Conflicts and Events
The Gulf War (a war between Iraq and a coalition of nations led by the United States in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990) saw the U.S. and the USSR working together, marking the end of their confrontation.
In Europe:
Division of Germany and Berlin: the construction of the Berlin Wall.
In Asia:
Division of Korea, the Vietnam War, and the war in Afghanistan.
In Latin America:
The Cuban Revolution and the Alliance for Progress.
China’s Role
1911: China transitioned from Monarchy to Republic, with the removal of the last emperor.
Communist Party Leader: Mao Zedong consolidated his position as a communist leader from 1934 to 1935 during the Long March.
Nationalism
Leader: Chiang Kai-shek. Politics of reconstruction and territorial reunification, preventing communist advance. Between 1939-1947, nationalists and communists made a truce to deal with the Japanese invasion.
A revolution broke out in 1947, ending in 1949 with the defeat of the Nationalists, who fled to the island of Formosa.
Reconstruction Period (1949-1958)
- Agrarian Reform: Land was expropriated and assumed by the state, then distributed to the peasants.
- A process of industrialization supported by the USSR, with machinery and money.
- Politics of the Great Leap Forward: creating self-sufficient and industrial communes, which failed because people were transferred from farming to industry.
In 1958, Mao was removed from power.
In 1960, China separated from the USSR.
In 1966, Mao started the Cultural Revolution, which involved the return of communism.
Between 1976-1990, Deng Xiaoping came to power: capitalist reforms started to save the communist project in the long term, price liberalization was allowed, foreign investment was encouraged, relations with the U.S. were re-established, and the one-child policy was established.
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine aimed to stop the advance of international Marxism by providing economic and military aid to all countries that opposed Soviet rule.