Cold War crises

Berlin Crisis

The Berlin Crisis happened in 1948-49 when the Soviet Union blocked all ground access to West Berlin.
This was an attempt to force the Allies to abandon their posts in West Berlin.
The Berlin Airlift was the West’s response to the Soviet blockade, where they continuously flew supplies into West Berlin for almost a year.
The Crisis ended in May 1949 when the Soviet Union lifted the blockade. The city remained divided until 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Korean War (1950-53) was a conflict between North Korea (supported by the Soviet Union and China) and South Korea (supported by the United Nations with the United States as the principal force).
It represented the first major military clash of the Cold War.
The Armistice in 1953 ended open hostilities but the war is technically ongoing as a peace treaty has not been signed.
The Korean War ended in a stalemate, with Korea divided into North and South along the 38th Parallel.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba.
Considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war, the crisis is usually considered the tensest moment of the Cold War.
Resolved when the Kennedy administration agreed not to invade Cuba (JFK’s secret agreement) and the USSR removed their missiles from Cuba.
Following the crisis, the Hot Line was established between Soviet and US leaders to communicate directly and prevent similar crises in the future.

The Vietnam War (1955-75) saw the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, backed by the USSR and China, fighting against the South Vietnamese, backed by the US.
Known as America’s ‘longest war’, it ended in a North Vietnamese victory and the unification of Vietnam under Communist rule.
The Tet Offensive in 1968 was a key turning point, leading to the US public turning against their involvement in the conflict.
The war is an example of a ‘proxy war’, a war instigated by a major power that does not itself participate.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan began in December 1979.
It was triggered by fears of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism and the Afghan government’s inability to quell rebellion.
The war led to high casualties and was dubbed as the Soviet’s ‘Vietnam’.
The invasion was criticised internationally, leading to the Boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 by the United States and other countries.
The Soviets withdrew in 1989, resulting in a mujahideen victory but left Afghanistan in a state of civil war. This contributed to the fall of the USSR and the end of the Cold War.