The Development of the Cold War and its Most Important Facts

He Development of the cold war Had as protagonists to the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR), being a conflict that began shortly after the end of World War II.

It was not a war proper but a geopolitical, ideological and economic conflict between these two superpowers.

Cold war development

As a background, in September 1939, German troops invaded Poland, thus giving rise to World War II and at the same time England and France declared war on Germany. For their part, Italy and Japan declared themselves in favor of Germany to form the Axis together. As a curious fact, the Soviet Union declared itself neutral.

In 1941 the German troops invaded the Soviet territory at the same time that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor (the United States), being that the latter declared the war to the Axis. In this way, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States united to form the Allies.

Four years later, in 1945, the Soviet and American armies invaded Berlin and occupied the countries of Eastern Europe. Shortly afterwards, the Allied representatives ( Franklin Roosevelt , USA; Winston Churchill , Britain; Joseph Stalin , Soviet Union) would meet in Yalta (USSR) and accept the installation of Soviet governments in the countries of Eastern Europe, as long as elections were held.

At that time, in April 1945, President Roosevelt died and was replaced by Harry Truman , to Yes the Allied leaders met again but this time to ensure that Germany would not pose a threat in the future.

In this way, it was agreed to divide the German territory into four zones that would be controlled by France, Great Britain, USA. And the USSR.

In August, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender. In this way, the Soviets considered that this action was an attempt of intimidation on the part of the Americans.

After the end of World War II, the main objective of the USSR was to expand to the east of the continent while protecting the western borders of the nation.

Truman, whose ideology was diverse from that of his predecessor, feared that Soviet expansion eastward would be one of the first steps towards the conquest of western Europe, so he decided not to withdraw US troops from European territory. In this way, tensions began between the two countries that had previously been allies.

World War II culminated in the defeat of Germany and Japan. On the other hand, Great Britain and France, despite having been part of the winning side, were destroyed economically.

In this sense, there were two nations whose stability was not affected by the war: the United States and the Soviet Union.

Broadly speaking, the Cold War was a struggle of ideologies and not of an armed conflict between the nations involved that left important facts for history.

Main ideological conflicts of the Cold War

Financial aid: Marshall Plan

In April 1948, the United States Congress created a program to provide economic aid to European countries, including Germany and those occupied by the Soviets. This program, known as the Marshall Plan, had two objectives:

  • Promoting the economic recovery of European countries.
  • Strengthen European governments and increase US influence. On the continent to avoid the spread of communism.

The Soviet Union rejected this program and persuaded the countries under its control not to accept the aid offered by the United States. This action strengthened the division between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, capitalist and communist respectively.

Berlin Wall

During World War II, Germany was divided between France, Great Britain, the United States and the USSR, giving rise to two countries: the Federal Republic of Germany (dominated by the Americans, the French and the British) and the Democratic Republic of Germany (Dominated by the Soviets). In the same way, Berlin was divided in two.

The western part of the city was considered an escape for the East Germans who wanted to flee.

Between 1953 and 1960, there was a massive exodus of East Germans to the west, which affected the country's economy. To avoid this, the Soviet government took drastic measures and, in August 1961, a wall was built that divided Berlin into two, tangible symbol of the separation of Europe.

Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1959, Fidel Castro Led a successful communist revolution in Cuba. Subsequently, the US government Trained Cuban exiles to return to Cuba and overthrow Castro, an operation that failed.

Nikita Khrushchev , Soviet leader, took the American strategy as an attempt to weaken the communism, reason why it decided to counterattack positioning missiles in the Cuban territory, which pointed to the USA. President Kennedy Demanded that the missiles be removed and, finally, in October 1962, Khrushchev withdrew the missiles.

The Space Race

In 1960, the space race began, one of the most peaceful and beneficial"battles"of the Cold War. This one had as objective the conquest of the space to prove the technological superiority.

The Soviets took the first step by launching Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. Subsequently, they sent the first man into space, Yuri Gaerin (1961) and the first woman, Valentina Tereshkova (1963).

The space race culminated in 1969, when the Americans launched the Apollo 11, ship that landed on the moon on July 20 of this year.

Other conflicts in the US And the USSR participated were:

  • The Vietnam War
  • The Korean War

However, neither the Americans nor the Soviets became directly involved in these wars, but supported third parties involved in the wars.

End of the Cold War

In 1984, the president of the USA, Reagan , Expressed his desire to negotiate with the USSR and in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev , The Soviet prime minister, acknowledged that the nation's economy had been weakened by the excesses of the Cold War.

In 1986, the two leaders met to discuss the end of the conflict. These negotiations were not entirely successful; However, shortly afterwards both countries began to withdraw and dismantle their missiles. The fall of the Berlin Wall (9 November 1989) marked the end of the Cold War.

References

  1. The Cold War. Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from todayifoundout.com.
  2. The Origins of the Cold War. Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from learner.org.
  3. The Cold War: How did it star? How did it end? Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from crf.usa.org.
  4. Todd, Allan (2010). The Cold War. Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from education.cambridge.org.
  5. The Cold War. Recovered on February 27, 2017, from Www.rose-hulam.edu.
  6. The Cold War (1945-1989). Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from cvce.eu.
  7. Lewis, John (2005). The Cold War: A new history. Retrieved on February 27, 2017, from images.pcmac.org.


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