The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1941–90

The Origins and Development of the Cold War, 1941–90

Origins of the Cold War, 1941–49

  • The Cold War is generally expressed as a period of ideological, geopolitical, and economic strife between the United States and the Soviet Union after the end of World War II.
  • The tensions were rooted in the clashing ideologies of capitalism (USA) and communism (USSR), unfurling to a global scale due to the superpower status of the two nations.
  • The Yalta Conference in 1945 saw the US, Britain and the Soviet Union agree on the division of Germany and on Polish borders, but it was controversial, especially in relation to liberated Eastern Europe.
  • The Soviets established pro-Soviet governments in Eastern Europe creating a buffer zone to prevent future invasions, leading to the term Iron Curtain.

Escalations of the Cold War, 1949–62

  • The creation of NATO in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955 symbolized the split of Europe into two military blocs.
  • The Korean War (1950-53) demonstrated the willingness of both superpowers to fight (though not directly against each other) to uphold their preferred ideologies in other nations.
  • The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 saw tensions reaching an unprecedented peak, as the world came the closest it ever had to nuclear war.

Détente and Continued Rivalry, 1962–80

  • Détente, a period of relaxed tensions and increased diplomacy, occurred in the 1970s with key events including the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and II).
  • Despite détente, flashpoints like the Vietnam War and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 continued to perpetuate rivalry.

The End of the Cold War, 1980–90

  • The appointment of more liberal Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his implementation of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) sparked changes within the USSR.
  • The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolized the end of the Cold War division in Europe.
  • The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 marked the end of the Cold War, with the United States remaining as the sole global superpower.

Impact and Legacy of the Cold War

  • The Cold War fostered massive technological, economic, and military developments including the Space Race, and the arms race leading to the creation of large stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
  • The period influenced global alignments, with most nations aligning with either the US or USSR leading to several proxy wars.
  • The end of the Cold War marked a new era in global politics, one characterised by US hegemony and the spread of neoliberal capitalism.