Cold War [1945-1989]

The end of the Second World War is a landmark in

contemporary world politics.
In 1945, the Allied Forces, led by the US, Soviet
Union, Britain and France defeated the Axis Powers
led by Germany, Italy and Japan, ending the Second
World War (1939- 1945).
It was expected that the scourge of the war would be
overcome by a new atmosphere of peace and
cooperation. Unfortunately, that did not happen .

[fig : USA raising flag in Iwo Jimo [Japan] , Feb 1945 ]

[fig : Soviet soldiers raising the USSR flag on the

Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, in May 1945 ]
There started the hostility between two major
victors, the United States and the then Soviet Union.
It was of unique nature .
They fought it diplomatically, and tried for oneupmanship. There was acute tension, which came to be
known as the Cold War .

Emergence of Blocs :
Both the Super Powers had constructed their blocs,
mostly on ideological basis.
Most countries of western Europe sided with the US :
Western Alliance [W.A]; those of eastern Europe
joined the Soviet camp :Eastern Alliance [E.A].
WA : organised into NATO [North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation] , 1949.

NATO : It was an association of twelve states which

declared that armed attack on any one of them in
Europe or North America would be regarded as an
attack on all of them .The term used for this concept
is casus foderis [Latin]. Each of these states
would be obliged to help the other.

[fig : Harry S.Truman[US,Prez] signing NATO treaty ,

1949]
EA : the Warsaw Pact, was led by the Soviet Union. It
was created in 1955 and its principal function was to
counter NATOs forces in Europe .

[fig : Soviet delegates during Warsaw pact sign , 1955]

The two Super Powers tried to weaken the other block,
to generate defections, and to strengthen their own
position.
Both gave liberal economic aid and established
military bases in the territories of smaller allies.
Propaganda, espionage, military intervention,
military alliances, regional organisations and supply
of armaments were some of the tools used to promote
the bloc interests.
Attempts were mado to encourage inclustrial unrest,
ethnic conflicts, and feelings of narrow nationalism
to weaken the opposite bloc.

Thus, as Louis Halle [a member of the U.S. Policy

Planning Staff ] said, the Cold War was even worse
than a regular-armed conflict.

Timeline of Cold War :

a)

American President Harry Trumans Doctrine

about the containment of communism ,1947

Truman supported British Govt's policy that it would
no longer provide military and economic assistance to
Greek Govt in its civil war against Greek Communist
Party .
Truman also urge support from US Congress to provide
assistance to Turkey who too had dependent on British
aid .
So inorder to stop Soviet expansion in both these
nations , a containment doctrine was created .
Truman's doctrine pledged military and economic aid
if its stability was threatened by communism or
Soviet Union.

b)

It placed US in the role of global policeman

Marshall Plan : US aid for the reconstruction of

the Western Europe , 1948.

Officially known as European Recovery Program , named
after US State Secretary George Marshall , to aid and
rebuild European economies after the end of WW 2 .
Offered the same to Soviet and its allies , but they
denied the offer .
The Marshall Plan generated a resurgence of European
industrialization and brought extensive investment
into the region.

[fig : Marshall signing the plan in 1948]

c)

Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union and the

airlift of supplies to the citizens of West

Berlin by the US and its allies , 1948-49

Berlin's[Germany] western portion of the city ,at the

end of WW2 ,was controlled by The United States,
United Kingdom, and France . While Soviet troops
controlled the eastern sector.

As the wartime alliance between the Western Allies

and the Soviet Union ended and friendly relations
turned hostile

led to the first Berlin crisis of the

Cold War.
Soviet forces blockaded rail, road, and water access
to Allied-controlled areas of Berlin.

The United States and United Kingdom responded by

airlifting food and fuel to Berlin from Allied
airbases in western Germany.

The crisis ended on May 12, 1949, when Soviet forces

lifted the blockade on land access to western Berlin.

[fig : U.S. Navy and Air Force aircrafts unload at

Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift.]

Korean War; division of Korea along the 38th

d)

Parallel ,1950-53

The Korean War began as a civil war between North

and South Korea, but the conflict soon became
international when, under U.S. leadership, the United
Nations joined to support South Korea and the
Peoples Republic of China (PRC) entered to aid North
Korea.

The war left Korea divided and brought the Cold War

to Asia.

The Korean War served to encourage the U.S. Cold War

policies of containment and militarization, setting
the stage for the further enlargement of the U.S.
defense perimeter in Asia .

Though it failed to unify the country[North & South],

the United States achieved its larger goals,
including preserving and promoting NATO interests and
defending Japan.

e) Signing of the Geneva Accords , 1954

Its a collection of documents relating to IndoChina

[here its referred as

penisula in South East Asia ,

not relation between India & China] and issued from

Geneva[Switzerland]

Attended by representatives of Cambodia , People's

Republic of China (PRC)[Republic of China includes
Taiwan but in PRC its not],France , Laos , UK, USA,
Soviet Union, Viet Minh(North Viatnamese) and State
of Vietnam (South Vietnam)

None of the treaties were binding the participants.

Beginning on May 8, 1954, the day after the fall of

the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu(North Western
region of Vietnam), agreements were finally signed on
July 22 between the French and Vietnamese, Laotian,
and Cambodian representatives.

Main provisions of the Accord :

1) Cease-fire line along the 17th parallel (effectively

dividing Vietnam in two)

2) 300 days for each side to withdraw its troops to its

side of the line.

3) Communist troops and guerrillas to evacuate Laos and

Cambodia, where free elections would be held in 1955

and where French troops could be stationed if the
Laotian or Cambodian governments should so request.
It was stipulated explicitly that the partition line

should not in any way be interpreted as constituting

a political or territorial boundary.
Most of the nine participating countries pledged

themselves to guarantee the agreements, but the

United States made it clear that it was not bound by
them.
The South Vietnamese also withheld approval, and the

Final Declaration[all-Vietnamese elections were to

be held under the supervision of the committee

(India , Poland and Canada the members) before July
1956 to reunify the country] was left unsigned by all
parties.
The U.S. government undertook to build a separate

anticommunist state in South Vietnam and in 1956

supported South Vietnams refusal to hold nationwide
elections in consultation with North Vietnam.