The Real Cold War: A High-Stakes Chess Match of Global Proportions

No missiles were launched and no guns were fired between the two superpowers,
but The Cold War was a war nonetheless: a battle of indirect aggression, of politics, of
economics and propaganda. The term "Cold War" was originally coined by presidential
adviser Bernard Baruch during a !"# congressional debate. That term would come to
signify decades of tension and hostility between the $nited %tates and the $nited %oviet
%ocialist &epublic.
The conflict would ta'e many forms, from the chess game of ever(shifting global
alliances to an escalating arms race that would spar' worldwide fears of a nuclear
holocaust. )ften thought to refer solely to the strained relations between the $.%. and
$.%.%.&., the Cold War, in fact, involved the whole world. *f the $nited %tates and the
%oviet $nion were the main players, then lesser countries were their pawns.
Fall of Hitler rise of R!ssia
+t the end of World War ** in !",, the clear(cut relationships between the +llies
began to unravel. Their common enemy, -itler, was done away with. ideologies and
agendas set aside during the war were ta'en up again. The victors of WW**, surveying
the altered landscape of global power relations, also began to eye one another warily.
By !"/, the %oviets had already established leftist governments in the liberated
0astern(bloc countries as a bulwar' against any renewed 1erman threat. +merica and
1reat Britain feared that %oviet influence, if not curbed, would spread to Western 0urope.
*n !"#("/, the $.%. was building its own bulwar', sending aid to Western 0urope under
the 2arshall 3lan. With the %oviets having installed openly communist regimes in the
0ast, the Cold War had begun.
The ne4t five years would mar' the height of the Cold War, with the %oviets and
the $.%. dividing 0urope with their military forces and ideologies. The subse5uent years
unfolded in an unnerving match of maneuver and counter(maneuver: +fter the %oviets
unsuccessfully bloc'aded Western(held sectors of West Berlin in !"/("!, the $.%. and
its 0uropean allies formed the North +tlantic Treaty )rgani6ation 7N+T)8, a military
presence that served to 'eep %oviet influence in chec'. But the %oviets were advancing in
other 5uarters nonetheless, e4ploding their first atomic warhead in !"!, ending the
$.%.9s primacy in weapons technology. +lso, in !"!, the %oviet(bac'ed North :orean
government penetrated the border into %outh :orea, which was supported by the $.%.
The ensuing :orean War would last until !,;.
Hot points
That same year, %oviet dictator <oseph %talin died, easing the standoff somewhat.
But two years later, relations were strained anew as the two superpowers9 military
organi6ations (( the West9s N+T) and the %oviet $nion9s newly formed Warsaw 3act ((
scrambled in a sort of larger(than(life membership drive.
The race was for technology as well as allies: the $.%. and $.%.%.&. began
developing intercontinental ballistic missiles in !,/, touching off another intense period.
When the %oviets were discovered to be secretly installing missiles in Cuba (( well within
range of $.%. cities (( the superpowers were poised at the brin' of war. =ortunately, this
episode, 'nown as the Cuban 2issile Crisis, was defused when an agreement was
reached to withdraw the weapons.
The outcome was strangely hopeful: it showed that even top defense leaders of
both superpowers feared the awesome destructive power of these new weapons. With the
signing of the Nuclear Test(Ban Treaty in !>;, both sides agreed not to engage in above(
ground nuclear weapons tests.
But hostilities still ran high. The %oviets considered the outcome of the Cuban
2issile crisis nothing less than a humiliation to them. they vowed to never again be
shamed by their rival in the west. The %oviet $nion thus began a buildup of conventional
and strategic forces over the ne4t ?, years (( and the $.%. would be forced to 'eep pace.
This escalating arms race would be one of the definitive aspects of the Cold War,
inspiring civilian peace movements and deep fears of The Bomb.
The Cold War had its hot points, battles carried out in allied and enemy countries.
The %oviet $nion fortified member countries such as 0ast 1ermany, -ungary and
+fghanistan. The $.%., meanwhile, tried to stanch communist influence closer to home,
overthrowing a leftist regime in 1uatemala, invading the @ominican &epublic and
1renada, and bac'ing a failed invasion of Cuba in !>. 2ost infamously, it fought from
!>"(!#, to stop North Aietnam from bringing %outh Aietnam under communist rule.
The tha"
But crac's were forming in the Communist bloc. Countries that were once of
middling conse5uence showed signs of autonomy and political strength, and the globe
wasn9t so easily defined in terms of $.%. or %oviet influence. China had largely distanced
itself from the %oviet $nion, creating a rift in what was formerly considered a unified
Communist front. 2eanwhile, Western 0urope and <apan were developing at an
e4plosive rate.
Tensions were eased further with the %+BT * and ** agreements, which limited the
development of antiballistic and strategic missiles. %till, tensions spi'ed in the !/Cs with
a flurry of mutual arms buildup. -owever, the administration of %oviet leader 2i'hail
1orbachev, the Cold War wound down, as he attempted to democrati6e the $.%.%.&.9s
political machine. With the fall of the %oviet bloc of 0astern 0urope in !/!(!C, the rise
of democratic governments in its place and, most notably, the unification of 0ast and
West 1ermany under N+T) oversight, the tensions of Cold War were finally
disappearing.
*n late !!, the final stubborn bastion of Communism, the %oviet $nion,
collapsed, creating , newly independent nations. &ussia itself saw a democratically
elected leader come to power, and the world sighed with relief: it was the surest sign that
the Cold War had thawed at last.