The Cold War was an indirect conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that began at the end of the Second World War and it spread throughout almost half of the 20th century.
This confrontation took place in the fields of politics, science and technology, sports, the military and the social. The phenomenon was named Cold War because his opponents never got to attack directly.
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The end of the Second World War placed in evidence the two great powers that were rising in the world: the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
Not only were their political and military capabilities manifested, but also the economic and ideological currents that governed both societies: capitalism on the American side, and communism on the Soviet side.
This conflict had a global reach, since it not only involved the most powerful nations by then, but it also evidenced the alliances and commitments that smaller nations owed to both powers.
Some European countries had to lean in support of the United States, while the USSR absorbed the poor and devastated nations of Eastern Europe.
Latin America it was a key point in the development of the Cold War. The military dictatorships imposed in some countries with the help of the United States were constantly facing the rise of communist dissidence, whose actions were seen by the Soviets with good eyes.
The Cuban Revolution it was an event of great weight in the development of this phenomenon.
Causes of the Cold War
The ideological struggle
Broadly speaking, the ideological differences between the main powers that arose after the Second World War began to generate the tension that would last for decades.
The consolidation of communism as a system of the Soviet Union, and its rise in nations with great potential such as China, provided the security to propagate their ideas in Latin America, territory susceptible to new orders.
For the United States, communism was a doctrine destined to failure, and that was based on collective misery.
To prevent the Soviet Union from gaining strength in territories of the American continent, it was proposed to intervene in an evident way in the political scenarios of Latin American nations, promoting military dictatorships as the only way to prevent communism.
The development of nuclear weapons
The power shown by the United States with the launch of two atomic bombs on Japan alerted the Soviets; they could not be incapacitated to face such a force, therefore they had to develop an own arsenal capable of facing any nuclear eventuality.
The development of nuclear weapons by its rivals kept the United States always on guard, increasing its own arsenal gradually and reinforcing its defensive capabilities located outside its own national territory. They could not find themselves as an easy target of the opposing armament.
Europe's alliance with the United States
Due to its participation in the Second World War and the weight it had in the struggle of the Allies, European countries such as France and England were in debt to the American nation, and had to respond to any threat thrown against it.
The Soviets saw this position of Western European countries as an opportunity to be attacked more easily within their own continental territory.
Development and technological career
Neither of the two blocks wanted to find themselves at a disadvantage, so the scientific and technological field was another where there was a confrontation between the two.
From both sides emerged discoveries that would change in the world scientific and technological scenario. The powers had the suspicion that each advance of its counterpart would provide greater opportunity for attack.
The space race was one of the results of this technological confrontation, in which the greatest nations did their best to gain the greatest advantage in space exploration.
With the arrival of man Moon , driven by the United States, this race would come to an end, giving it the definitive lead.
Consequences of the Cold War
Economic destabilization in other nations
The international decisions made by both the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of their benefits had a serious impact on the internal political and economic systems of smaller nations, both in Latin America and in Western European regions.
The deterioration of the economic system that would lead to the end of the Soviet Union also affected all the countries that had officially adopted its guidelines, and which were now orphaned, without a proper apparatus on which to sustain themselves, such as Cuba.
Civil and military wars
Wars like Korea's, Vietnam and Afghanistan are some of the examples of collateral conflicts generated by the Cold War.
To prevent the spread of communism, the United States became involved and took part in the conflicts of the Asian nations, either directly or by arming the resistance forces against the Soviets.
These conflicts are considered one of the most negative consequences of the Cold War.
The repercussions and sequels of suffering left by these war phenomena, as well as internal tensions, continued until the beginning of the 21st century
Greater nuclear presence in the world
The tension of an eventual attack did nothing but strengthen the nuclear and military arsenals of many nations.
It would no longer be the United States and Russia alone capable of developing and using nuclear weapons; smaller nations of Europe Y Asia They would seek to arm themselves at the same level as the larger ones for their own defense.
The fall of the Soviet Union
The internal imbalance of the Soviets and their inability to maintain efficient productive systems within their territories, added to the amount of resources allocated to the support of the communist movements of other nations, and to military and internal nuclear investment, began to leave the nation without an economic base on which to sustain itself.
The internal inequality of conditions, the independence search of their regions and the fall of communism around the world, were the main factors that brought down the Soviet Union, consolidating nations as sovereign territories, with Russia remaining the country with the best conditions to recover.
References
- Gaddis, J. L. (s.f.). The Cold War. Spain: RBA.
- Powaski, R. E. (2000). The Cold War: United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Barcelona: Criticism
- Russett, B. (1993). Grasping the Democratic Peace. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Veiga, F., Cal, E. U., & Duarte, Á. (1998). The simulated peace: a history of the cold war, 1941-1991. Editorial Alliance.