Emergence of Two Blocs

Origin of Cold War

• The term Cold War refers to the unprecedented state of tension between the USA and the USSR after World War II.

• By August 1945, with Japan’s surrender, the victory of the Allies was certain, but tensions between the Allies suddenly erupted.

• Initially, the German attack on the USSR (June 1941) and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor (December 1941) brought the USSR and USA, despite opposing ideologies, together.

• Soviet Communism and American Capitalism allied to defeat Fascist dictatorship during the war.

• This friendship soon changed into the Cold War, a strange conflict without direct fighting.

• Differences between the Allied nations started to appear as the war ended.

• President Roosevelt wanted the USSR to attack Japan immediately, but Stalin agreed only to do so three months after the war ended in Europe.

• At the Malta Conference, the atmosphere was cordial, and Churchill declared on February 27, 1945, that Soviet leaders sought friendly ties with Western democracies for mutual cooperation.

• American diplomat Harry Hopkins also believed in Soviet prudence and hoped for lasting friendship between the USSR and democratic countries.

• However, these hopes soon fizzled out as tensions increased.

Cold War: Meaning and Definition

• The term Cold War refers to hostile and tense international relations between the USA and the USSR as a result of post-World War II politics.

• It manifested through ideological hatred, political distrust, diplomatic maneuvering, military competition, espionage, psychological warfare, and bitter relations.

• Walter Lippmann called the Cold War a pseudo-war, fought in the minds of men.

• For John Foster Dulles, it was a moral crusade: good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, religion vs. atheism.

• Louis Hall described it as a bitter state of tension between two blocs, more dangerous than armed conflict.

• The countries involved maintained diplomatic relations but used diplomacy to instigate distrust between peoples and their governments.

• It was a peace-time war fought without weapons, based on ideological hatred and political distrust.

• Both sides tried to humiliate each other and reduce the other’s sphere of influence without direct military confrontation.

• The Cold War blocs were led by the USA and the USSR respectively.

• The USA portrayed the USSR as the enemy of world peace and communism as a destroyer of individual freedom.

• The USA criticized the USSR’s expansionist policies.

• The USSR presented communism as a solution for problems in Asia and Africa, encouraging nationalization of projects involving Anglo-American capital.

• The American bloc included Britain, France, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Australia, Netherlands, Greece, Pakistan, Turkey, etc.

• The Soviet bloc included Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.

• Yugoslavia broke away from the Soviet bloc in 1948, became non-aligned but still professed communism.

• Both blocs used propaganda, espionage, military intervention, and arms supply to increase power and secure interests.

• Each bloc viewed problems from its own perspective and sought to weaken the opponent.

• The situation was considered worse than armed conflict.

• America played a powerful political role, having dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, forcing its surrender.

• The USA’s nuclear dominance was challenged when the USSR conducted its first nuclear test in 1949, establishing both as great powers.

Nature of Cold War

• Cold War is a diplomatic war that, when intense, can lead to armed conflict.

• It is characterized by the absence of direct conflict between the two great powers.

• Rivalry between the great powers caused several fatal skirmishes in third world countries.

• The Cold War was neither war nor peace, but it prepared the ground for war.

Causes of Cold War

• The great powers aimed to consolidate their position and safeguard their interests, leading to clashes and tension that caused the Cold War.

• Historical causes: Some trace Cold War origins to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917; Western nations sought to end the USSR because communism threatened capitalism worldwide.

• Britain recognized USSR in 1924 and America in 1933, but Western nations encouraged Hitler to attack the USSR out of greater fear of Soviet communism than Nazi Germany.

• Russia violated the Yalta Agreement (1945) by imposing a pro-Soviet government in Poland and setting up pro-U.S.S.R. regimes in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Czechoslovakia.

• Soviet hesitation to grant the Allies bases in Siberia raised suspicions.

• Soviet troops in Manchuria handed over Japanese war materials to communist forces in early 1946.

• Russia infringed the Balkan Agreement by disregarding the division of influence agreed with Britain, establishing communist dictatorships in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, angering Western nations.

• The concept of vacuum: Defeat of Germany and Japan created a power vacuum; instead of cooperating, Russia and America tried to weaken German power, paving the way for Cold War.

• Mutual suspicion persisted despite joint war efforts; Russia remembered Western opposition to Bolshevik Revolution and Western nations knew Russia aimed to end capitalism.

• At the Munich Conference, Russia was excluded and slighted by Britain and France, who followed appeasement policies toward dictators.

• Russia’s non-aggression pact with Germany was viewed as treachery by the West.

• In 1942, Russia insisted on a second front against Germany, but Churchill delayed it until Italy’s defeat, fueling Soviet distrust that the West wanted to prolong German aggression to weaken the USSR.

• The U.S.A. kept its nuclear bomb project secret from Russia.

• Western nations claimed their aid to the USSR was generous and sufficient, but the USSR saw it as inadequate.

• Attempts to resolve these mutual suspicions during the late war period failed.