Why did the Cold War begin?
In 1945 the USA and the USSR had been allies against Germany. Once the war ended, their differences came back:
- Ideas: the USA believed in private business (capitalism) and multi-party elections. The USSR believed in state control of the economy (communism) under one party.
- Security: the USSR had lost over 20 million people. It wanted friendly governments in Eastern Europe as a buffer. The West saw this as expansion.
- Distrust: at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences (1945) the Allies divided Germany into four zones but disagreed about its future. The USA's atomic bomb (1945) added to Soviet fear.
In 1946 Churchill spoke of an "Iron Curtain" across Europe. In 1947 the USA promised to help countries resist communism (Truman Doctrine) and gave billions to rebuild Western Europe (Marshall Plan). The USSR set up its own economic bloc (Comecon, 1949).
Two blocs: Germany, Berlin and the alliances
Berlin Blockade (1948–49): the USSR closed roads to West Berlin. The West flew in food and fuel for 11 months (the Berlin Airlift) until the blockade ended.
Two Germanys (1949): the Federal Republic (West) and the Democratic Republic (East).
Alliances: NATO (1949), a Western military alliance; the Warsaw Pact (1955), the Eastern one. An attack on one member meant an attack on all.
Berlin Wall (1961): East Germany built a wall across Berlin to stop people leaving for the West. It became the symbol of a divided world. Revolts in the East were put down: Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968).
Arms race, space race and propaganda
The USSR tested its first atom bomb in 1949, ending the US monopoly. Soon both had hydrogen bombs and missiles that could cross oceans. By the 1980s they held tens of thousands of warheads. Each knew an attack would destroy both: mutually assured destruction (MAD). Fear kept the war "cold".
Space race: Sputnik, the first satellite (USSR, 1957); Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space (1961); Apollo 11 lands humans on the Moon (USA, 1969).
Both sides also competed in sport, films, science and propaganda. In the USA, fear of hidden communists led to the "Red Scare" (McCarthyism) in the early 1950s.
Crises and proxy wars around the world
A proxy war is a war where the superpowers back opposite sides instead of fighting each other.
- China (1949): communists win the civil war.
- Korean War (1950–53): North (backed by USSR and China) vs South (backed by the USA and UN forces); ends in a ceasefire near the 38th parallel.
- Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Soviet missiles found in Cuba; the USA blockades the island. After 13 tense days the USSR removes them and the USA quietly removes its missiles from Turkey. A hotline is set up afterwards.
- Vietnam War (1955–75): the USA fights to stop communist North Vietnam; it withdraws in 1973 and Vietnam unites under communist rule in 1975.
- Afghanistan (1979–89): Soviet troops fight rebels backed by the USA and others.
Proxy wars caused huge loss of life in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Non-alignment, decolonisation and détente
After 1945 many colonies in Asia and Africa won independence. Most did not want to join a bloc. At Belgrade in 1961 leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Josip Broz Tito (Yugoslavia), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana) and Sukarno (Indonesia) launched the Non-Aligned Movement. Non-alignment did not mean staying silent: it meant judging each issue for oneself.
Détente (1970s) means easing of tension: arms treaties (SALT I, 1972), the Helsinki Accords (1975) and US visits to China and the USSR. It ended in 1979 when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan and a new arms build-up began.
How did the Cold War end?
- The Soviet economy was weak and the arms race cost too much.
- Mikhail Gorbachev (from 1985) allowed more openness (glasnost) and economic reform (perestroika), and signed arms-cut treaties with the USA (INF, 1987).
- In 1989 peaceful protests brought down communist governments in Eastern Europe. On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall was opened. Germany reunited in 1990.
- In December 1991 the USSR broke into 15 independent countries.
The world changed from bipolar (two poles) to one with a single superpower, and later to a multipolar world with rising powers such as China, the European Union and India.
Key formulas and definitions
- Cold war: rivalry without direct fighting between the superpowers
- Superpower: a country with huge military and economic power worldwide
- Bloc: a group of countries acting together
- Proxy war: a war where big powers back opposite local sides
- Containment: US policy of stopping communism from spreading
- Détente: easing of tension
- Non-alignment: joining neither bloc
- MAD: mutually assured destruction
Worked examples
1. Why is it called a "cold" war?
The two superpowers never fought each other directly. The rivalry was through alliances, weapons, propaganda and proxy wars.
2. Arrange: Warsaw Pact, NATO, Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis.
NATO (1949) → Warsaw Pact (1955) → Berlin Wall (1961) → Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).
3. How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end?
The USSR removed its missiles from Cuba; the USA promised not to invade Cuba and later removed its missiles from Turkey. A direct hotline was set up.
4. Give two reasons India chose non-alignment.
It had just won freedom and wanted to make its own choices, and it needed aid and trade from both blocs to build its economy while staying out of their wars.
Common mistakes
- Saying the USA and USSR fought each other directly. They fought through others (proxy wars).
- Mixing up NATO (West, 1949) and the Warsaw Pact (East, 1955).
- Thinking non-aligned meant neutral and silent. It meant independent judgement on each issue.
- Saying the Cold War ended in 1989. The Wall fell in 1989; the USSR broke up in 1991.