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DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY
VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA
PROJECT TITLE
HISTORY OF COLD WAR
SUBJECT: POLITICAL SCIENCE II
NAME OF THE FACULTY
MRS.NIRMALA DEVI
NAME OF THE CANDIDATE
GUTTALA SUNAND
2017031
SEMESTER 2
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teacher Nirmala mam who gave me this
opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic (HISTORY OF COLD WAR), which also
helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things about the
research I am really thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this project
within the limited time frame.
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ABSTRACT
Cold war a state of tension between countries in which each side adopts policies designed to
strengthen it and weaken the other by falling short by actual war.
In fact, Cold war is a kind of verbal war which is fought through newspapers, magazines, radio
and other propaganda methods. It is a propaganda to which a great power resorts against the
other power. It was a sort of diplomatic war.
After the Second World War, the USA and USSR became two super powers. One nation tried to
reduce the power of other nation. Indirectly the competition between the super powers led to the
cold war. However the relationship between two nations was a tense one. Americans had long
been wary of soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical,
blood-thirsty rule of his own country. For their part, the soviets resented the American’s decade’s
long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the International community as well as their
delayed entry into WORLD WAR II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians.
After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and
enmity. Postwar soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many American’s fears of a
Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent what they perceived as
American official’s bellicose rhetoric, arms buildup and interventionist approach to international
relations. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in
fact, some historians believe it was inevitable.
The cold war had far-reaching implications in the international affairs. At first, it gave to rise to a
fear psychosis which resulted in a mad race for the manufacture of more sophisticated
armaments. Various alliances like NATO, SEATO, WARSAW PACT, CENTO, ANZUS etc.
Cold War rendered the UNO ineffective because both super powers tried to oppose the actions
proposed by the opponent. It was designed against mankind. The unnecessary expenditure in the
armament production created a barrier against the progress of the world adversely affected a
country and prevented improvement in the standards of the people. The Cold War created an
atmosphere of disbelief among the countries. They questioned among themselves how unsafe
were they under Russia and America.
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Finally, the Cold War disturbed the World Peace. The alliances and counter alliances created a
disturbing atmosphere. It was a curse for the world. Though Russia and America, being super
powers, came forward to solve the international crisis, yet they could not able to establish a
perpetual peace in the world.
SYNOPSIS
Title of the project: History of Cold War
Introduction: Cold war a state of tension between countries in which each side adopts policies
designed to strengthen it and weaken the other by falling short by actual war.
In fact, Cold war is a kind of verbal war which is fought through newspapers, magazines, radio
and other propaganda methods. It is a propaganda to which a great power resorts against the
other power. It was a sort of diplomatic war.
Research question: What are the effects of cold war and its impact on world?
Literature Review: We will review various books related to cold war and various websites and
articles.
Objective of the study: The objective of the study is to find the reasons behind the evolution of
cold and negative impacts between two nations USA and USSR.
Research methodology: Analytical, Explanatory study and doctrinal study.
Scope of the study: Our scope is limited to specific areas like USSR and USA and we will
concentrate on the years from 1946 to 1987.
Significance of the study: Significance of this study is that we will know about the origin,
causes, phases of cold war and social and economic impact on world due to cold war.
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………….6
CAUSES OF WORLD WAR ……………………………………………7
BERLIN AIRLIFT………………………………………………………..8
NATO AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT…………………………….9
KOREAN WAR ………………………………………………………….9
VIETNAM WAR…………………………………………………………10
CUBAN MISSILES CRISIS………………………………………………11
COLD WAR IMPACT ON SOME COUNTRIES………………………12
IRAN AND COLD WAR ……………………………………….12
IRAQ AND COLD WAR ………………………………………..13
AFGHANISTAN AND COLD WAR ……………………………14
WARSAW PACT ………………………………………………………..15
END OF COLD WAR ……………………………………………………17
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………...18
BIBILIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………19
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INTRODUCTION
The Cold War was a lengthy struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union that began
in the aftermath of the surrender of Hitler’s Germany. In 1941, Nazi aggression against the
USSR turned the Soviet regime into an ally of the Western democracies. But in the post-war
world, increasingly divergent viewpoints created rifts between those who had once been allies.
The United States and the USSR gradually built up their own zones of influence, dividing the
world into two opposing camps. The Cold War was therefore not exclusively a struggle between
the US and the USSR but a global conflict that affected many countries, particularly the
continent of Europe. Indeed, Europe, divided into two blocs, became one of the main theatres of
the war. In Western Europe, the European integration process began with the support of the
United States, while the countries of Eastern Europe became satellites of the USSR.
From 1947 onwards, the two adversaries, employing all the resources at their disposal for
intimidation and subversion, clashed in a lengthy strategic and ideological conflict punctuated by
crises of varying intensity. Although the two Great Powers never fought directly, they pushed the
world to the brink of nuclear war on several occasions. Nuclear deterrence was the only effective
means of preventing a military confrontation. Ironically, this ‘balance of terror’ nevertheless
served as a stimulus for the arms race. Periods of tension alternated between moments of détente
or improved relations between the two camps. Political expert Raymond Aron perfectly defined
the Cold War system with a phrase that hits the nail on the head: ‘impossible peace, improbable
war’.
The cold war was a prolonged period of strive and tension between the United States and Soviet
union, as well as allies of those countries, that began shortly after the end of world war II. After
WWII, both the US and Soviet Union considered themselves global superpowers. This put the
two countries in direct competition with each other. Differences between economic ideals also
created tension between the two countries. The United States was distrustful and often fearful of
communism. This perspective caused the US to enter a strategy of containment that would
prevent communism from spreading to other countries while simultaneously blocking trade that
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would allow the Soviet Union to prosper. This containment lead to numerous conflicts around
the world including the following: Korean War, Vietnam war, Cuban missiles crisis1.
CAUSES OF COLD WAR
American fear of communist attack - Historically, many Americans have feared
communism. This fear skyrocketed during World War I. As this war was ending, a fear-
driven movement known as the first Red Scare began to spread across the United States.
In 1917, Russia had undergone the Bolshevik Revolution. As a result of this event, that
country tried to establish a communist government and withdrew its troops from the war
effort. Americans believed that Russia had let down its allies, including the United States,
by pulling out of the war. In addition, communism was, in theory, an expansionist
ideology, spread through revolution. Many Americans feared that the communists in
Russia, known as the Soviet Union following the Bolshevik Revolution, hoped to spread
their ideology all over the world. Americans feared that the Soviet Union hoped to spread
communism all over the world, overthrowing both democratic and capitalist institutions
as it went. With the Soviet Union occupying much of Eastern and Central Europe
following World War II, many Americans believed that this nation would continue
militarily to spread communism.
USSR’s fear of the American’s atomic bomb (America had harnessed the power of the
Atomic Bomb and used it on two Japanese cities at the end of the war in 1945)
USSR’s dislike of capitalism - The Soviet communist party evolved from the Russian
social democratic labor party’s Bolshevik wing formed by Vladimir Lenin in 1903. Lenin
believed that a well-disciplined, hierarchically organized party was necessary to lead the
working class in overthrowing capitalism in Russia and the world.
USSR’s actions in the Soviet zone of Germany.
America’s refusal to share nuclear secrets.
USSR’s expansion west into Eastern + broken election promises
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WWW.BRITANICA.ORG origin of cold war (accessed on 05-04-18)
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USSR’s fear of American attack
USSR’s need for a secure western border (Russia sought to create a secure western
border that would prevent future attacks)
USSR’s aim of spreading world communism
The above given are the main and important factors that led to the outbreak of the Cold War in
1945, immediately following the end of World War II.
The greatest contributing factor to all this was the ideological, political, and economic
differences between the society and government of the west and that of the Communist system
used in the Soviet Union. This difference would lead to dramatic foreign policy positions that
would shape world affairs for the next four decades.
Americans, on the whole, were afraid of Communism. As a capitalist, democratic society, they
did not understand how a government could restrict free market enterprise and be governed by
one political party. As the Soviet Union became increasingly powerful, Americans were afraid of
the continued spread of this system, ultimately fearing that it would become a direct threat to the
way of life that we as a society held dear. Further, in the treaties that brought an end to World
War II, freedom was promised to the nations of Eastern Europe, giving them the opportunity to
democratically choose what system of government they wanted to have. Stalin, however, as
leader of the Soviet Union, broke these treaties and did not allow for fair and accurate elections,
installing Communist governments regardless of the people’s wishes.
BERLIN AIRLIFT (1948 TO 1948)
After the Second World War, Germany was divided into four zones and occupied by Britain,
France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Between 1947 and 1948, cooperation between
these powers broke down.
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The west decided to create a separate government in their zones. To prevent this, the Soviets
increasingly harassed the western traffic to and from Berlin. It intensified into the Berlin
Blockade on June 24, 1948.
To counter the blockade, the western powers organized and airlifted a total of 2,326,406 tons of
food, coal, passengers, and other items into the city in a total of 278,228 flights. The mission
nicknamed “Operation Vittles” by the United States and “Plain Fare” by the British, was a
success. The Soviets did not respond to the airlift by trying to stop it, mainly because they
believed that they would have failed or triggered a war. At the height of the airlift, planes flew
around the clock in four hour blocks taking off and landing every 90 seconds. At any given time
there were thirty-two aircraft in the air2.
NATO AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACT
As tensions raged in Europe, the United States realized that long-lasting peace was not going to
follow on the heels of World War II. When Britain, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg asked
the United States to join its defensive alliance in 1948, the US broke its longstanding aversion
toward entangling alliances abroad and signed on.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as the pact was named, started with twelve
member nations (today, it has twenty-eight). NATO promised that an attack on one of its
members would provoke a response from all of its members. NATO became the major
international body opposing communism in the twentieth century.
The US also strengthened its commitment to defense at home. In 1947 Congress passed
the National Security Act, which united the branches of the armed services under the new
Department of Defense. It also created the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security
Council to gather intelligence and advise the president on foreign policy. In addition, Congress
reinstituted the Selective Service military draft for young men in 1948. If any hope remained that
the world would be tranquil after Hitler's defeat, by the end of the 1940s it had gone
KOREAN WAR:
The Korean War was the 1950 to 1953 conflict between the Republic of Korea (South Korea)
and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea). Because South Korea was aided
by the United Nations and North Korea aided by China and the USSR, it became a localized
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http://www.coldwar.org, article on berlin airlift (accessed on 6-04-18)
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proxy fight for the Cold War. Despite an armistice that ended the fighting, no formal peace treaty
was ever signed.
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was occupied by Japan. Following World War II, the peninsula was
divided between American and Soviet spheres at the 38th Parallel. On June 25, 1950, North
Korean forces invaded the South. With the USSR boycotting the UN Security Council, President
Harry Truman was able to secure UN support for the South.
Eventually, the United States provided almost 90 percent of the military assistance sent into
South Korea. Rather quickly, UN forces, led by US Marines, repelled the North Koreans all the
way to the Yalu River, North Korea’s border with China.
Chinese intervention pushed the UN forces back to the 38th Parallel, and much of the rest of the
war was a stalemate characterized by static trench warfare. Negotiations led to the signing of an
armistice on July 27, 1953. This agreement reestablished the border between the two Koreas at
the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the most heavily fortified
border in the world3.
VIETNAM WAR:
America entered the Vietnam War because of the Domino Theory belief. This theory invented by
Dwight Eisenhower predicted that if one country fell into communism, more noncommunist
countries would fall as well. So when the Soviet Union bribed Vietnam to turn communist the
US feared for the worse and decided to enter the war. One way the Vietnam War affected cold
war.
The US went into war with Vietnam. This affected the cold war because at the time the Soviets
were allies with the Vietnamese so it was their duty to protect them. The Soviets were playing
the big brother role to Vietnam and they were not too happy that the States decided to pick a
fight on them. - The Soviets were supplying Vietnam with ammunition, weapons, food, and
support. This had an effect on the Cold War because it angered the states that the Soviets were
helping their enemy. It also affected the Cold War because. How the "Tv War" affected the Cold
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https://www.papermasters.com/iraq-cold-war ( accessed on 07-04-18)
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War - The Vietnam War was the first war that was shown on tv. When America got to see their
own troops lose on national television it angered them, and their anger was towards the Soviets
for helping the country who was publicly humiliating our troops. They also lost hope, and started
saying that the US had no chance of winning. This made our soldiers not put 100% effort into
what they were doing in Vietnam. Another way the Vietnam War impacts the Cold war.
CUBAN MISSILES CRISIS:
Threatened acts of war have occurred throughout history to almost every country in existence.
Many of these have involved a show of arms or verbal threats. In some cases, these acts have
been successfully diverted with negotiation or by more intense threats. The United States has
had numerous encounters such as these throughout its short history. However, only one threat
involved the potential of a nuclear war occurring within the confines of
continental America. This potential holocaust was referred to as the Cuban Missile Crisis and
took place during the Kennedy Administration during the 1960's. Essentially, the Soviet
Union led by Nikita Krushchev attempted to place nuclear missiles in the tiny island Communist
country of Cuba, a short distance of only ninety miles from the United States. The purpose of
your research paper may want to be to examine the Soviet reasoning behind this event.
To fully understand the Soviet mission of placing nuclear warheads in Cuba, one must begin by
examining the presidency of John F. Kennedy beginning with his election campaign.
1. Kennedy's election platform consisted of concern over the number of missiles that the
Soviet Union had as compared to the number possessed by the United States.
2. Kennedy suggested that America was on the lower end of the “missile gap” between the
two countries.
3. Capitalizing on the concern of the threat of Communism generated by
the McCarthy hearings, he persuaded the American people that the United States had a
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weakness in their ability to protect themselves from the Russians with regard to nuclear
weapons.
Interestingly, after Kennedy became president, he found out that America’s nuclear capabilities
far exceeded those of the Soviet Union and that Krushchev’s claims of missile superiority were
bluff.
Kennedy also campaigned on the platform of disarmament. He soundly complained that the
Republicans had no plan for such action that would lead to peace. Thus, Krushchev knew from
the moment that Kennedy was elected that the new President was committed to an eventual
reduction of nuclear arms.
Another realization that was made when Kennedy took office was the fact that the CIA had
already been instructed to engage in a covert operation against Communist Cuba.
Approximately fifteen hundred Cubans who were anti-communist were being trained for an
invasion to remove power from Castro. It was hoped that once this invasion began other Cubans
who were disgruntled by the activities of Castro would join the rebels in their efforts.
Unfortunately, this invasion was not planned well and failed two days after it began with most of
the invaders being captured. Even though the Bay of Pigs Operation was not Kennedy’s goal or
plan, it made the new President look weak to both allies and foes and a failure in terms of foreign
policy4.
COLD WAR IMPACTS ON SOME COUNTRIES
IRAN AND COLD WAR:
Cold War had a distinct impact on the social and political development of Iran however not to
the degree that it effected its economic position within the global market. This condition created
an increasingly confident Iran, which is demonstrated by the fact that Afrasiabi maintains it was
not the pawn of the super-powers to the same degree as were Iraq and Afghanistan.
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https://www.papermasters.com/iraq-cold-war (accessed on 07-04-18)
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In fact, during a major portion of the Cold War, Iran had significant control of its own political
and economic environments because of its role as an OPEC member. Tehran and Moscow
maintained frequent communications primarily because the Soviet Union depended greatly on
Iran as its source of gas.
In essence, Iran was less affected by the Cold War in the context of economic policies and
although the country was sensitive to politics on a geographic level, the Cold War did not have
any major influence on the external priorities that Iran had cultivated. For example, neither the
Soviet Union nor the United States made any move to discourage the British withdrawal from
the Persian Gulf, a move that placed Iran at the top of the oil cartel.
Iran did have to regroup its political objectives after the Cold War in the following ways:
Iran had to determine what it would chose as the “dominant form of conflict and
antagonism” once the contentions between communism and capitalism had resulted in a
conclusion that was obviously in favor of capitalism.
This reevaluation would ultimately lead to one of the greatest Islamic revolutions against
capitalism and its flagship nations, including the United States.
The Muslim world with its rigid ideology, looked at other capitalist nations with disdain,
however it would focus on the most prolific and the strongest of them all – the United
States5.
IRAQ AND COLD WAR
Although Iraq may have been the least affected by the Cold War itself, it was especially
influenced by the Western super-power, the United States at the time as well as similar
civilizations throughout history. Iraq is no stranger to the effects of the Western World, with
some of its earliest and most influential and contentious experiences marked by the humiliation,
exploitation and misery delivered at the hands of Western Christians. The Islamic world, for
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https://www.papermasters.com/iran-cold-war (accessed on 07-04-18)
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example, is generally opposed to the concept of both capitalism and communism however; it has
a much greater contention with capitalism and those countries that symbolize it.
Saddam Hussein grew up under the influences of the Cold War between the USSR and the U.S.
Hussein was representative of the Iraqi sentiment for the United States and many of Hussein’s
contemporaries must have been similarly influenced against the United States during the period6.
AFGHANISTAN AND COLD WAR:
The most obvious effects of the Cold War on Afghanistan are the characteristics of political
indifference and incompetence that it has demonstrated throughout. Afghanistan was more than
willing to take advantage of the Cold War by using its strategic, geographic and political position
to obtain foreign aid whenever it needed.
Unfortunately this also worked to distort Afghanistan’s’ economy and ultimately created major
economic problems for which Griffiths suggests the super-powers and especially the Soviet
Union are largely responsible. At the same time, Afghanistan has demonstrated a pattern of
blaming other countries for its problems to which many of the accused have responded by
coming immediately to its aid.
Afghanistan’s problems have come full circle and its tenuous state throughout the Cold War is
manifested now in the conflict between the United States and the Al-Q’aida. Again, Afghanistan
becomes what could fairly be considered the purposefully placed pawn in the war between the
Muslim world and the powerhouse and beacon of capitalism, the United States.
The post Cold-War effects on the Muslim world are especially evident in today’s society. It is
clear that each country examined has reacted at some point, either during, after or throughout the
Cold War, with revolutionary behavior that was largely directed at the super-powers that had
taken advantage of them and that symbolized the exploitation of predominantly Muslims
nations. More recently, at least one major faction of the Muslim world has demonstrated the
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https://www.papermasters.com/iraq-cold-war (07-04-18)
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most revolutionary and destructive reaction to what it considers symbolic of the scourge of
capitalism by attacking the United States through terrorist measures7.
WARSAW PACT:
The Soviet Union and seven of its European satellites sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw
Pact, a mutual defense organization that put the Soviets in command of the armed forces of the
member states.
The Warsaw Pact, so named because the treaty was signed in Warsaw, included the Soviet
Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria as
members. The treaty called on the member states to come to the defense of any member
attacked by an outside force and it set up a unified military command under Marshal Ivan S.
Konev of the Soviet Union. The introduction to the treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact
indicated the reason for its existence. This revolved around “Western Germany, which is being
remilitarized, and her inclusion in the North Atlantic bloc, which increases the danger of a new
war and creates a threat to the national security of peace-loving states.” This passage referred to
the decision by the United States and the other members of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) on May 9, 1955 to make West Germany a member of NATO and allow
that nation to remilitarize. The Soviets obviously saw this as a direct threat and responded with
the Warsaw Pact.
The Warsaw Pact remained intact until 1991. Albania was expelled in 1962 because, believing
that Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev was deviating too much from strict Marxist orthodoxy,
the country turned to communist China for aid and trade. In 1990, East Germany left the Pact
and reunited with West Germany; the reunified Germany then became a member of NATO. The
rise of non-communist governments in other eastern bloc nations, such as Poland and
Czechoslovakia, throughout 1990 and 1991 marked an effective end of the power of the
Warsaw Pact. In March 1991, the military alliance component of the pact was dissolved and in
July 1991, the last meeting of the political consultative body took place.
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https://www.papermasters.com/afganistan-cold-war (accessed on 07-04-18)
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After 36 years in existence, the Warsaw Pact—the military alliance between the Soviet
Union and its eastern European satellites—comes to an end. The action was yet another sign
that the Soviet Union was losing control over its former allies and that the Cold War was falling
apart.
The Warsaw Pact was formed in 1955, primarily as a response to the decision by the United
States and its western European allies to include a rearmed West Germany in the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). NATO had begun in 1949 as a defensive military alliance
between the United States, Canada, and several European nations to thwart possible Soviet
expansion into Western Europe. In 1954, NATO nations voted to allow a rearmed West
Germany into the organization. The Soviets responded with the establishment of the Warsaw
Pact. The original members included the Soviet Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary,
Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Albania. Although the Soviets claimed that the
organization was a defensive alliance, it soon became clear that the primary purpose of the pact
was to reinforce communist dominance in Eastern Europe. In Hungary in 1956, and then again
in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Soviets invoked the pact to legitimize its interventions in
squelching anticommunist revolutions.
By the late-1980s, however, anti-Soviet and anticommunist movements throughout Eastern
Europe began to crack the Warsaw Pact. In 1990, East Germany left the Warsaw Pact in
preparation for its reunification with West Germany. Poland and Czechoslovakia also indicated
their strong desire to withdraw. Faced with these protests—and suffering from a faltering
economy and unstable political situation—the Soviet Union bowed to the inevitable. In March
1991, Soviet military commanders relinquished their control of Warsaw Pact forces. A few
months later, the pact’s Political Consultative Committee met for one final time and formally
recognized what had already effectively occurred—the Warsaw Pact was no more8.
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https://www.history.com, warsaw pact (accessed on 7-04-18)
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END OF COLD WAR:
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan and his advisers created a doctrine that would put increased
military and financial pressure on the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachov made numerous changes
to the soviet system in an attempt to keep the country strong, but these changes were largely
ineffective. The two countries continued to face each other on a global scale with the threat of a
global nuclear war. Each side continued to amass more weapons, ensuring mutual destruction in
the event of war.
This dysfunctional Soviet mind-set was exacerbated by an ideological element. Here Western
behavior was not all it might have been. The West may have over-estimated the threat posed
to capitalism by communism. The fact that the Soviets attempted to foment revolution abroad
may have been given too much weight. A bunker mentality settled in on both sides. Both were
animated by ideologies that regarded the other as being, in Brand’s words, “heretical” (The Devil
We Knew, 4) both sides had their grievances. In the West the Soviets were seen as brutal,
illiberal, totalitarian, and armed to the teeth; Kennedy’s running against Nixon on the basis of a
totally fictional “missile gap” was but one of many symptoms of a western paranoia concerning
Soviet capabilities. In the Soviet Union the West was perceived as hegemonic and utterly
committed to the destruction of communism. Underlying all of this was the real fact that
capitalism and communism were economic ideologies that did not, because they could not, admit
that the other had a right to exist.
The Cold War ended in the Gorbachev years when the Warsaw Pact abruptly dissolved. The
Soviet Empire collapsed of its own weight. It had always been a garrison state. Overly
bureaucratic, centrally managed in an economically inefficient way, and engaged in an arms race
with the richest nation on earth, the Soviet Union reached a point where the internal
disillusionment was so profound that it collapsed. The Soviet Union spent itself into the ground
in maintaining huge nuclear and conventional forces. The former gave it superpower status; the
latter enabled it to keep its hold on Eastern Europe; neither did anything to provide its people
with a decent standard of living. Eventually that proved to matter.
The Cold War officially ended in 1991 when the Soviet Union announced that it had dissolved.
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CONCLUSION
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world’s strongest nations.
They were called superpowers. They had different ideas about economics and government. They
fought a war of ideas called the Cold War. The Soviet Union was a communist country. In
communism, the government controls production and resources. It decides where people live and
work. The United States is a capitalist country. In capitalism, people and businesses control the
production of goods. People decide where they live and work. The Cold War began in Europe
after World War II. The Soviet Union won control of Eastern Europe. It controlled half of
Germany and half of Germany’s capital, Berlin. The United States, Britain, and France
controlled western Germany and West Berlin. In June 1948, the Soviet Union blocked roads and
railroads that led to West Berlin. The United States, Great Britain, and France flew in supplies.
This was called the Berlin Airlift.
Cold War Conflicts - after World War II, Korea was divided into North and South Korea. North
Korea became communist. South Korea was a capitalist country. North Korean army invaded
South Korea. The United Nations sent soldiers to help South Korea. China sent soldiers to help
North Korea. The war ended in 1953. Neither side won. Korea is still divided. The United States
and the Soviet Union were in a nuclear arms race. In 1959, Cuba became a communist country
and the Soviets secretly put missiles there. President Kennedy was afraid the Soviet Union would
attack the United States. He sent warships to surround Cuba. He hoped a blockade would force
the Soviet Union to remove its missiles. This conflict was called the Cuban Missile Crisis. For
six days, nuclear war seemed possible. Then the Soviet Union removed the missiles.
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BIBILIOGRAPHY
www.britanica.org
https://www.history.com
https://www.papermasters.com/cold-war
http://www.coldwar.org
