Cold War: Origins, Key Events, and Impact
The Dawn of a New Era: Capitalism vs. Socialism
After the removal of fascist ideologies, the world’s major ideological choices were reduced to two: capitalism and socialism. The capitalist bloc, led by the United States, encompassed a wide range of countries. Its basic principles were freedom of trade and industry, the dominance of the market, private property, and limited government intervention in the economy. The political system was liberal-democratic, with parliaments, elections, governments elected through political parties, and freedoms guaranteed by a constitution.
Real socialism, or communism, had its headquarters in the USSR. It advocated for the disappearance of private property and the market. The economy was to be planned and controlled by the state. The aim was the elimination of social classes, inequality, and exploitation. Politically, though presented as a democracy, socialism proposed a system without free elections or free speech.
Both options were clearly antagonistic. The leaders of both blocs knew that it was necessary to secure the support or control of the largest number of countries. The term “Cold War” defined the situation. The U.S. and the USSR began an arms race and adopted a belligerent attitude of ideological confrontation.
The Origins of the Break
The Yalta Conference had divided Europe into two zones of influence, and both Americans and Soviets were determined to maintain their respective spheres. The Soviet Union was determined to keep all the gains made during World War II. Therefore, it led to the breakdown of coalition governments or national unity and urged the formation of so-called “people’s democracies,” with a socialized economy and a foreign policy aligned with the Soviet Union. The Communist Party ended up assuming exclusive control of power, completely marginalizing other political forces (Prague coup, 1948).
To strengthen their rule, between 1946 and 1948, the U.S. forced the expulsion of Communists from coalition governments. In addition, the Western powers struggled to prevent communist advances in Europe. In Greece in 1946, fearing the triumph of the communist guerrillas, British forces intervened to halt their advance. President Truman sent warships to the eastern Mediterranean to show their determination to defend the region and prevent more countries from falling into the communist bloc.
The Marshall Plan and the Soviet Response
Tension between the blocs led to a rupture in 1947. Truman offered political and military support to countries threatened by communism and created an information agency, the CIA, to serve this cause. The American Secretary of State, George Marshall, stated in 1947 that European reconstruction would be the best weapon against the spread of communism, and he introduced the Marshall Plan.
The Marshall Plan was rejected by the USSR. Poland convened a meeting of leaders of European communist parties, which approved a report that divided the world into two irreconcilable sectors led by the U.S. and the USSR. The Cominform was created, which dictated the strategy to be followed by the communist parties of Europe at all times.
The German Crisis and the Berlin Blockade
The first stage of the confrontation between the two blocs took place in Germany. This country had been divided into four zones of military occupation. The Potsdam agreements provided for the reconstruction of Germany under a democratic regime and the unification of its territories. Berlin was located within Soviet territory.
The Soviet Union decided to close the borders and isolate the western sector of the city. The Berlin Blockade lasted almost a year. While this was happening, a constitution was being prepared that would give rise to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in May 1949, with its capital in Bonn. The Soviets pushed in their zone to create the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Thus, the division between West and East was sealed. In 1961, East German authorities decided to erect a wall that divided the city in two, and it became the symbol of the Cold War.