Factors responsible for emergence of Cold War and end of the Cold War

The Cold War (approx. 19451991) was a continuing state of political and military tension between the powers of the Western world, led by the United States and its NATO allies, and the communist world, led by the Soviet Union, its satellite states and allies. This began after the success of their temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and the US as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. The Cold War was so named as it never featured direct military action, since both sides possessed nuclear weapons. Cycles of relative calm would be followed by high tension which could have led to war. The most tense involved the, 1-The Berlin Blockade (19481949), 2-The Korean War (19501953), 3-The Berlin Crisis of 1961, 4-The Vietnam War (19591975), 5-The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), 6-The Soviet war in Afghanistan (19791989), and 7-The Able Archer 83 NATO exercises in November 1983

Factors responsible for emergence of Cold War (Evolution up to Korean crisis 1950)
After WW2 there was strong difference of Idealism occurred in the world of Capitalism and Socialism. There were two leading blocs namely American bloc and Soviet bloc. Some developments of 1945-47 period added fuel to the fire and the net result was the emergence of Cold War. The stage between 1945- 47 was called the preparation stage of Cold War and there are many reasons which were responsible for the emergence of Cold War. 1- Competition between the two superpowers; There was a competition between the two superpowers for gaining the support of the neutral countries. Because of bipolar aims of each nation both the Soviet Union and the United States had several objectives to achieve after the Central Powers were neutralized during WWII and when the two agendas conflicted, tensions arose. And it was this competition that gave rise to the Cold War. 2- Truman Doctrine; The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Historians often consider it as the start of the Cold War. 3- Marshall Plan; The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet communism. 4- The developments in Germany; The developments in Germany further aggravated the difference between the Soviet Union and the western countries. 5- Formation of military alliances by the two Superpowers;

The Cold War was intensified due to formation of military alliances by the two Superpowers. While United States and most of the countries of Western Europe formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the USSR consolidated its position by the formation of Warsaw Pact. Above are some of the important causes responsible for the Cold War. 6- Comecon plan by USSR against USA The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, 19491991, was an economic organization under the organization of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world. The Comecon was the Eastern Bloc's reply to the formation of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation in Western Europe. 7- Churchill's Fulton speech In one of the most famous orations of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent." Churchill's speech is considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War. 8- Perceptions of a military threat US has the monopoly on atomic weapons, continues nuclear testing, and targets Russian cities while Soviets maintain largest army in the world, occupying Eastern Europe. 9- Agreements were very difficult (1) Yalta agreement (Feb. 1945) divided Germany into occupied zones, intended to be temporary, but became permanent. (2) Sharp disagreements over selection of post-war government in Poland (3) Failure of 1946 foreign minister's conference.

Korean War (1950-1953) a. Governments in northern Korea (a Soviet client), and in southern Korea (a U.S. client), both tried to re-unite Korea under their leadership. Agitation by both sides against each other led to war. b. North Koreans were well-supplied militarily by the Soviets. The U.S. had not built up the South Korean army. Northerners invaded the south in June 1950. c. U.S. intervened militarily and sought UN Security Council resolution condemning North Korea. d. Soviets were boycotting Security Council over the issue of admitting the mainland Chinese government as the representative of China in the UN. Soviets were not present to exercise a veto. U.S. effort in Korea gained UN support.

e. U.S. went to war without a Congressional Declaration of War as required by the U.S. Constitution. President Truman called it a police action. f. U.S. turned the tide of war, advanced into North Korea and approached the Chinese border. g. China intervened. U.S. thrown back to vicinity of 38th parallel, where the fighting continued. h. A war of attrition, with U.S firepower pitted against Chinese manpower, was ended by a cease fire in 1953. 5. Consequences of the Korean War: a. A permanent peace settlement was not achieve. U.S. military and South Korean army have manned a fortified cease fire line to this date (2001). b. Korea was devastated by war. Millions of lives were lost. Unification of Korea was postponed indefinitely. c. A global arms race and military buildup by the U.S. bloc and the Soviet bloc was greatly stimulated. d. U.S. changed its policy towards Vietnam, beginning to give aid to the French.

Factors responsible for the end of the Cold War

The Cold War came to an end with the collapse of communism in various East European Countries. The pace of collapse was very fast and ultimately communism collapsed in its birth place i.e., the USSR. The process began in Poland in 1988 when the Solidarity trade union organised huge anti-government strikes forcing the government to allow free elections in which the communists were comprehensively defeated. The same happened in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Czechoslovakia. The demise of the Cold War is commonly associated with the collapse of the Soviet empire in East Europe in late 1989 or with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and of Communism in 1991. In 1985, Gorbachev, part of a new generation of Soviet leaders, became the Soviet Premier. 1- The USSR economy was on the decline Gorbachevs rise to power prepared an atmosphere for compromise and understanding between the two world powers, The USA and The USSR. Understanding the bad state of the Soviet economic and financial affairs, he brought a message of reform and change. He announced two new policies- Glasnost and Perestroika-which he thought would save the communist system. However, these new policies would ultimately overturn the Soviet system. Glasnost Glasnost did away with the strict censorship, which the government had practiced for decades. Russian for "openness," glasnost allowed Soviet citizens to speak openly about their

society's problems. Banned books were made available, and jamming of foreign radio broadcasts was stopped.

Perestroika Glasnost was only the first step. Next came perestroika, Russian for "restructuring." Perestroika was not an attempt by Gorbachev to destroy communism, but an attempt to end the inefficiency and corruption that were so common. Some features of private enterprise returned under perestroika. Product prices would rise when production costs rose. Local factories had more power of their decisions as planning was decentralized. Finally, multicandidate elections would be held, although each candidate had to be a member of the communist party. 2- Both the blocs realized that there would be no winner in a nuclear war. 3- The popular anti-war movements in every part of the world had positive effect on the warring camps. The European Peace Movement pressed hard for disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament. 4- The NAM played an important role in diminishing tension and promoting peace between the two powers. The members of NAM remained neutral and did not align themselves to any of the super-powers. They advised the newly independent countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America to keep away from the superpowers rivalry. 5- The rigid military alliances also showed signs of breaking down. France withdraw her troops from NATO in 1966, Pakistan went out of SEATO in 1973. The Warsaw Pact completely broke down after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In facts, Russia itself has been linking itself with NATO and probably might become a regular member of NATO. 6- The break up between Russia and China further destroyed the fear of the spread of Communism. 7- The collapse of the U.S.S.R. has further facilitated the end of the cold war after December 1991. 8- The USSR was not able to match the US in matters of weapons. 9- The Washington Summit (May 30-June 2, 1990) The Washington Summit further contributed to the easing of cold war. At this summit president Bush and President Gorbachev con-cluded a number of agreements on nuclear, chemical and conventional arms. The two sides agreed to de-stroy thousands of tons of chemical weapons and reduce their stockpiles. They agreed to start destruc-tion of these weapons in 1992 and finish it by 2002. They also agreed to cease further production of these weapons with immediate effect. 10- Strategic Armed Reduction Treaty (START) This was important outcome of The Washington Summit where the two leaders agreed on principles regarding the strategic Armed Reduction Treaty (START) which was finally signed on 21 July, 1991. Under this treaty the two superpow-ers agreed to effect reduction to

equal levels in de-fined strategic offensive arm over a period of seven years. They also agreed to set up a joint commission on certification and inspection.

The Cold War started immediately after the Second World War, though signs of it had started appearing during the war. In the early phase of the Cold War, there were attempts by the USA and the USSR to spread their areas of influence and ideology. There was suspicion and distrust against each other. During the second phase there was some relaxation in the tension between the two countries. The suspicion and distrust, however, persisted. Immediately after the Detente, a New Cold War started. A new power bloc i.e. the PRC emerged during this period. Only with the collapse of communism in East European countries and in the USSR did the Cold War come to an end.