Full Detailed History of the Cold War

INTRO

At the end of the second world war, the cold war had begun. The wordly divided
between two great superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union. It would not be a
conventional war with the two sides never directly fighting instead it would be an
ideological battle between communism and capitalism, the east versus the west and
the resulting struggle for ideological influence and power. this struggle would be seen
throughout the world with small regional conflicts being turned into proxy wars where
the two sides would back opposing groups to advance their own agendas both sides
would stockpile nuclear weapons with questions over how to use control and
eliminate them. Becoming central to the conflict, propaganda, espionage and
psychological warfare would become the norm with a rivalry for technological
superiority culminating in the space race. From stalin to reagan, from the CIA to the
KGB, from the berlin wall to hiroshima and chernobyl. This is the story of the Cold
War

MARX

In the 19th century, a great industrial revolution had swept over the world. Introducing
machine tools, steam power, and new manufacturing processes that would transform
western nations into the most powerful on Earth. For those able to control these
technological breakhroughs, wealth and prosperity awaited but it would often come at
the expense of the workers who face poor health, terrible working conditions and
poverty. Taking note of the growing divide between rich and poor was German-born
philospher Karl Max, who believed that this economic inequality could only lead to
revolution. The workers long exploited by the rich would rise up to replace capitalism
with communism . A system where the means of production would be commonly
owned and the extremes of wealth and poverty would disappear. His theories would
become known as Marxism.

THE RISE OF COMMUNISM

Communism would eventually appear in Russia where decades of discontent and

horrendous failures in the first world war would lead to the bolshevik revolution of
1917. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the bolsheviks would establish a one-party state or
dictatorship of the proletariat. With Lenin at its head, this dictatorship would safeguard
the revolution with any means possible including propaganda, military action, and
terror. The economy was nationalized, political opponents were outlawed and the
communist party soon had absolute control over the country. In 1922, the union of
soviet socialist republics was created from the remnants of the russian empire and
would be commonly known as the USSR or Soviet Union. Communism would find an
ideological opponent in the west where capitalism was still the dominant system but
capitalism was failing, markets were hindered by price fixing and protectionism, great
empries were denying their subjects political freedom, and the worst conflict the world
has ever experienced, the great war had just been fought amonst the world's leading
capitalist powers. American president, Woodrow Wilson would see these flaws and
attempt to fix them, encouraging political self-determination, economic liberalization,
and creating a collective security organization. The league of nations that could deter
agrressors and prevent the outbreak of another war, but Wilson's grand vision would
soon fall to ruin with his own nation, the US refusing to join the league. Colonial
empires continued undettered, the world economy fell into turmoil during the great
depression and the league of nations failied to stop the aggression of fascist regimes
in Italy, Germany, and Japan. With the second world war breaking out in 1939. In
contrast, the soviet union appeared have been much more succesful in its goals.
Lenin's successor Joseph Stalin had secured his role by purging political rivals and
had successfully transformed the nation from a backwards agricultural society into a
modern industrial superpower. The human cost of this was great, with a massive
expansion of the gulag labor camps, the use of slave labor, the murder of dissidents,
and a largely man-made famine the would kill over 10 million people but little of this
was known to the outside world. What was seen was state that had maintained full
employment throughout the great depression. Industrialized quickly enough to push
back against a nazi invasion and end the second world war with control over almost
half of Europe. Communist support was growing throughout the Western world and to
many a future built on democracy and capitalism was anything but certain

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Despite their differences the soviet union would be forced to ally with both the british
and the americans duting the second world war. To fight against the axis powers, but
as the war progressed highly different wartime experiences would lay the foundations
of future conflict. The USSR would fight a largely defensive war with a brutal nazi
invasion wiping out entire villages, infrastructure and industry were destroyed, vast
portions of agricultural land were ravaged, and soviet casualties amounted to almost
27 million. Stalin would press his british and american allies to open a second front in
Europe but they would continually delay doing so leaving the red army to hold down
up to 80% of germany's divisions until the invasions of normandy in 1944. For Stalin,
it was evidence that the west cared little for soviet lives. The US would have a very
different experience of the war. Only 400,000 americans would die less than 2% of
soviet losses. With the only major attack on US territory being the Japanese assault
on Pearl Harbor. The US Economy would thrive during the war with the
unemployment dropping to 2% and GDP nearly doubling but the attack on Pearl
Harbor had cause a significant shift in the American psyche. As a traditionally
isolationist nation, the attack had shown that they were no longer safe from hostile
states armed with modern technology. A greater international presences was
therefore needed to protect America and her interest

A NEW WORLD

As the war drew to a close, both powers would seek to increase their own security
against future attacks. For the US, this meant establishing a collective security
organization. The United Nations, to deter future aggressors. The revival of global
economy was also a key to creating a more stable future. With the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund being established, president Franklin D. Roosevelt would
invite Stalin to all three of these organizations but the soviet leader would only accept
membership to the United Nations, seeing the other two as attempts to preserve and
promote capitalism. For the Soviet Union, post-war security could only be gained by
installing pro-soviet governments across eastern europe creating a buffer zone
against the west. It is also required stripping Germany of its military and autonomy as
well as forcing it to pay massive reparations so they would be too weak to start
another war but when Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945 he would be succeeded by his
vice president Harry S. Truman who was far less willing to give in to soviet demands.
Stalin's actions in Europe had shown him to be a tyrant, particularly his occupation of
Poland. He had encouraged the polish home army a potential rival, to rise up in
warsaw against the nazis only to sit by and watch them be slaughtered, only then he
allow the red army to attack ensuring there was little political opposition left. At the
postdam conference of July 1945. Germany would be divided into four zones of
occupation with the capital Berlin being divided in the same way. Each occupier would
be entitled to reparations from their own zone, giving Stalin the funds he needed while
protecting the valuable industrail areas of western Germany but in resorting to such a
blatant division of the country instead of agreeing on one unified approach, the allies
had ensured the future division of Europe itself. As British Prime Minister Winston
churchill would state, "An iron curtain has descended across the continent."

THE ATOMIC BOMB

During the postdam conference, truman had recieved word that american scientiests
working on the manhattan project, had been able to carry out the first succesful test of
a nuclear bomb. Truman revealed the news to Stalin attempting to intimidate him into
giving further concessions but the soviet dictator was undeterred. Unknown to
Truman, Stalin had known about the manhattan project since the early 1940s thanks
to an extensive spy network within the US. Still the bomb presented truman with a
unique opportunity, he could know bring the war with Japan to a quick end, denying
stalin the opportunity to expand his influence in the east. The decision was made to
bomb the Japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki, with the Japanese surrendering
shortly afterwards. While Stalin made some gains in east asia, he was denied any
role in the occupation of Japan unlike Germany, this meant Japan's future would be
exclusively shaped by the US. For now it appeared that the growth of communism
had been stopped in Asia

THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE

After the war ended attempt to cooperation would quickly stop. Stalin had tried to
secure his southern border by delaying the removal of soviet troops from Iran and
pressuring Turkey into giving him control over the turkish straits. But with the war
over, truman had no reason to give in to soviet demands. The United Nations were
called in to deal with the crisis and truman sent the american sixth fleet to the eastern
mediterranean as a warning. Stalin backed down but truman was now keen to take
pre-emptive action against future soviet expansionism. He would now announce the
truman doctrine sending military aid to Greece and Turkey. It was based on the policy
of containment, the idea that if soviet expansionism could be contained for long
enough then the inherent flaws of the soviet system would cause it to fall apart, the
Cold War had begun.
MCCARTHYISM (McCarthyism)
Since the end of the second world war, communist idelogy had gained millions of
supporters in the western world. In Britain, communists had won two seats in the
1945 general election and the Italian communist party reached 2.3 million members in
1947. Even the american communist party saw success boasting 32,000 members in
1950. Communism was seen as posing a very credible threat to the western world,
with it seeming possible that Stalin could win control through popular support alone.
Paranoia began to spread in the US especially after several high-profile soviet spies
were uncovered in the west. Winconsin senator Joseph McCarthy would begin an
anti-communist crusade in the 1950s claiming that there were spies and traitors within
the US Government itself. In the trials that followedm hundreds were investigated and
interrogated on weak evidence with the accused often losing their jobs and blacklisted
from future employment. Along with McCarthy, many would use anti-communists
crusades to launch their political careers including future president Richard Nixon.
McCarthyism soon became a nationwide phenomenon with american institutions
including hollywood blacklisting suspected communists. It was here that another
future president Ronal Reagan would take a leading role, providing names of potential
communists as an FBI informant.

THE CIA

To help stop the spread of communism, the CIA was set up in september 1947 and
would work on the basis of plausible deniability. This meant operations could be
carried out in a way which top officials could deny all involvement, allowing the US to
carry out actions abroad that would be deemed unacceptable at home. One of the
CIA's first missions was to prevent the election of the highly popular Italian communist
party. In 1948, they would secretly fund the christians democrats and other non-
communist parties while also organizing a massive anti-communist propaganda
campaign involving 10 million letters, books, and radio broadcasts. The communists
were wiped out at the polls with the CIA continuing to influence Italian politics for the
next 24 years

THE MARSHALL PLAN

To address the growth of communism in Europe, the marshall plan was introduced in
1948 sending financial aid to help post-war reconstruction. It was thought that by
improving the economic situation in Europe, people would be less likely to adopt
communism. The plan provided almost 13 billion dollars of financial aid the equivalent
of 130 billion dollars today, encouraging economic integration and the promotion of
free markets. Stalin fearful that the aid would loosen his control over Easter Europe,
forbid his satellite states from taking part. American policy makers quickly realized
that the revival of Germany was key to sustaining economic growth in Europe but this
directly contrasted with soviet goals as they had make it clear that Germany was to be
kept weak and divided so that it could never pose another threat, knowing that the
soviets would never all German rehabilitation. In early 1948, the US, UK, and France
began making plans for an independent west german state.

THE BERLIN BLOCKADE

With the west rallying against communism, stalin would make attempts to secure
control in eastern europe an area soon to be known as the eastern bloc. He would set
up the communisgt information bureau or common form. In September 1947, this
organization would give him greater control over the satellite states as well as the
ability to enforce compliance and uniformity within the international communist
movement. In 1948, Stalin would also sponsor a communist coup in Czechoslovakia
eliminating the last non-communist government in eastern europe. It was the first of
many times that soviet union would resort to force in order to maintain control over the
eastern bloc, retaliating against western plans to create an independent west german
state. Stalin would begin the berlin blockade on June 24 1948, stopping all ground
access to the city in an attempt to drive out the americans, british and french but
truman quickly responded beginning the berlin airlift, delivering supplies to the cities
for 15 months, and forcing stalin to end the blockade. With tensions high, the US and
its allies established an independent west german state. The federal republic of
Germany with the soviets responding the following month by creating the german
democratic republic in the east. To create a united front againist soviet expansionism,
NATO (Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization) was created in 1949 bringing together
the US, Canada and most of Western Europe in a defensive pact againsit the soviet
union.

THE COLD WAR COMES TO ASIA

The second world war had fundamentally changed the power dynamics in Asia. The
European colonial powers economically exhausted and militarily weakened by the
Japanese had lost all prestige and credibility in the region leading to a surge of
nationalist movements, Japan itself underwent drastic changes during its seven years
of american occupation. Under the supervision of General Douglas McArthur, a new
japanese constitution was made that formally renounced war, forbid the maintenance
of an armed forces, and lay the foundations of parliamentary democracy. The
economy was put under a programme of rapid recovery in the hopes that it would
reduce the appeal of communism. Education was improved, women were granted
equal rights, and labor laws were enacted. All stimulating economic growth in the
region but the situation would change drastically when Chinese Communist
Revolutionary Mao Zedong took power in 1949 establishing the people's republic of
China. Mao would soon sign a defensive pact with Stalin, the Sino-Soviet Treaty. The
communist victory had come as a complete surprise to both superpowers and would
quickly bring the cold war to southeast asia with various post-colonial independence
movements soon to feel the consequences. Initially, Truman had worked to support
these movements in line with american ideals of self-determination. Truman had
granted independence to the US own colonial possession, the Philippines in 1946,
Truman would encourage his European allies to do the same, with Britain granting
independence India, Pakistan, Burma, and salon modern-day Sri Lanka in the late
1940s. Although reluctant the dutch would also bow to American pressure, granting
independence to Indonedia in 1949 but the french colony of indochina would be a
problem for the US. The French refused to surrender the colony and the leader of the
vietnamese independence movement, one of the principial regions of indochina was a
communist veteran named Ho Chi Minh. After attempts at neutrality, Truman would
pledge military aid to the french puppet regime in Vietnam hoping that this would
allow france to spend more on their domestic post-war recovery. Faced with the
daunting prospect of american military intervention, Ho Chi Minh traveled to Beijing
and Moscow and recieved recognition from both communist powers. Mao had been
especially keen to help, sending weapons and providing advice so that he could be
seen taking a leading role in the anti-colonial struggle.

THE KOREAN WAR

As a former Japanese colony, Korea had been divided along the 38th parallel since
the end of the second world war, with the soviets occupying the North and the
americans occupying the South. While both sides had pledged to work toward an
independent unified career any attempt at cooperation had been stopped once the
cold war had begun to escalate. Both sides had oppressive dictators in power, Kim il
Sung to the North and Syngman Rhee to the South. Both of whom were desperate for
Korean reunification, but Korea was simply to strategically unimportant for either side
to devote significant attention on resources with the US withdrawing their forces in the
late 1940s to reinforce their position in Japan and the Philippines. But things would
suddenly change in January 1950 when Stalin encouraged by the victory of the
Chinese communists gave his approval for Kim il Sung to invade the South. The
atteck was taken as a major challenge to US authority. It completely disregarded the
38th parallel, a boundary established by the United Nations and it was correctly
suspected that the soviets were behind the attack and while the term domino theory
would not be popularized for another few years. American politicians were already
worried that Asia would experience a string of communist revolutions if they failed to
halt the spead of communism in Korea. After initial defeats for the south koreans, a
united nations task force led by American General Douglas McArthur managed to
push the north koreans all the way back to the chinese border but this would draw a
response from Mao who sent 300 000 chinese troops to assist the north driving
McArthur's forces back and leading to a stalemate that would last for the rest of the
war. The conflict would drag on for three years, with the armistice of July 1953 leaving
it so that there was no clear victory for either side. The border between the two koreas
had hardly shifted at all, with the loss of life totaling over 2 million but importantly the
korean war would prove that communism could be contained, the thinking behind
future conflicts especially Vietnam. It also established an important precedent that no
matter how bad proxy conflicts became the use of nuclear weapons would never be
justified. Despite pressure from the army, Truman refused to consider their use and
when it became apparrent that General McArthur had different ideas Truman fired
him. This precedent would become especially important as the size and number of
nuclear weapons began to grow

THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE

The cold war was a war unlike any other as both sides possessed the the destructive
power to wipe out humanity. The US began the cold war with a nuclear monopoly and
Harry Truman remains to this day the only man to have ever ordered a nucler attack.
Despite this Truman was keen to regulate the use of nuclear weapons and in 1946 he
would propose that all such weapons along with their means of production should be
turned over to the United Nations. But this plan soon fell through and on August 29
1949, the soviet union managed to test its own atomic bomb using research stolen
from the west. Truman responded by accelrating the production of atomic weapons as
letting the soviet nuclear program catch up would be a massive psychological blow.
On January 31st 1950, he announced the development of a super bomb later known
as a thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb. It would be theoretically be a thousand times
more powerful than those dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki but it would soon
become obvious that there could never be a rational use for such weapons. This was
made clear on March 1 1954, when the most powerful american nuclear device ever
tested codenamed Castle Bravo was detonated in the Pacific. The yield of the blast
was 15 megatons, triple what was predicted with radioactive fallout spreading for
hundreds of miles contaminating 23 members of a Japanese fishing boat. The blast
set off radiation detectors around the globe, raising serious questions over the
ecological impact of nuclear war. While the test was shocking to leaders all over the
world, the new american president war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower was keen to make
good use of the american nuclear arsenal. Unlike Truman, he had looked for ways to
use nuclear weapon during the final months of the korean war and when Mao began
attacking the islands of kamot and matsu in 1954, Eisenhower used nuclear threats to
end the conflict. In 1955 he would state, "In any combat when these things can be
used on strictly on military targets for strictly military purposes, I can see no reason
why they shouldn't be used just exactly as you would use a bullet or anything else".
Throughout his presidency Eisenhower would insist on preparing only for all-out
nuclear war. As for him, ths was the best way to ensure that a nuclear war would
never occur. Limited wars could escalate but no rational person would ever initiate
total destruction but it was a disturbing view to many including his successor John F.
Kennedy, who was shocked to discover that the only war plan Eisenhower had left
him consisted of the simultaneous use of over 3000 nuclear weapons against all
communist countries.

KHRUSHCHEV

Eisenhower would find his match in Nikita Khrushchev, the new soviet leader who had
gained power after Stalin's death in 1953. He soon created the warsaw pact to
counter the growing power of NATO, an alliance between the USSR and its eastern
european satellites. The secret police little more than organized thugs were brought
under the control of a new and professional intelligence agency, the KGB whose role
was to manage internal security as well as conduct espionage abroad but is soon
appeared as if khrushchev would be a more progressive leader than his predecessor.
In February 1956, he made revolutionary speech at the 20th party congress in which
he revealed and denounce Stalin's crimes. He would implement a policy of De-
Stalinization in which he vowed to decentralize power and reduce the use of terror.
Statues of Stalin were torn down across the empire giving hope to reformers in
eastern europe who believed that their voices would be finally be heard. Nationalist
riots would break out in Poland with Khrushchev allowing Wladyslaw Gomulka, a
victim of Stalin's purges to return to power and would grant the Polish government
greater autonomy. Inspired by this success riots soon broke out in hungary with their
prime minister announcing hungary's plans to leave the warsaw pact become a
neutral country and appeal to the united nations for help but this was too much for
khrushchev who would prove he was not as progressive as he appeared sending the
red army to crush the rebels. Twenty thousand hungarians would be wounded or
killed with the prime minister and other rebel leaders arrested and then executed.
Khrushchev would soon prove to be a provocative and unpredictable leader. He
would claim that the ussr were turning out missiles like sausages and he was known
for his emotional outbursts allegedly banging his shoe on a table uring the 1960
united nations general assembly. His reign would see continued advancement of the
soviet nuclear arsenal despite being far behind the united behind the united states in
military technology. The USSR would manage to launch the world's first
intercontinental ballistic missile or icbm on august 21 1957. Later that year on October
4th, they would use a modified ICBM to launch sputnik the world's first artificial
satellite. It was a massive psychological victory and would cause a panic in the United
States leading to the creation of NASA the following year and kick-starting a decade-
long space race to land a man on the moon. Feeling confident Khrushchev would
attempt to resolve the problem of Berlin having a capitalist city deep within soviet
territory was a significant issue as the highest standards of living it was showcasing
was causing discontent in the east. In 1958, Khrushchev would issue an ultimatum to
the western powers demanding that they withdraw their forces from west berlin
allowing the german capital to become a demilitarized free city if they failed to do so
within six months he would allow the east german government to control access to
the city potentially forcing the americans out completely. Khrushchev was certain that
the US would not risk nuclear war over the city and neither did many of america's
NATO allies with british Prime Minister Harold Macmillan warning that the british were
not prepared to face obliteration for the sake of two million berlin germans but the city
had great symbolic importance and Eisenhower was prepared to fight for it reading a
response should west germany be attacked. Khrushchev saw no option but to let his
deadlines pass
but in the negotiations that followed he managed to win a personal victory an
invitation to visit the United States in september 1959 the trip was a bizarre spectacle
with
Khrushchev flying in on his massive new aircraft the tu-114 in an attempt to impress
and intimidate the americans he would visit hollywood meet with the likes of frank
sinatra and marilyn monroe discuss politics with Eisenhower argue with hecklers on
the street and sulk when his trip to disneyland was cancelled. While no substantial
agreements came out of the visit it did give hope of a future of cooperation but the
feelings of optimism were not to last. On may 1st 1960, russian air defenses shot
down an american u2 spy plane flying over soviet territory. The u.s tried to cover up
the incident claiming that the plane had been on a nasa weather research mission but
the lie would be embarrassingly exposed when Khrushchev revealed that he had
captured the pilot alive along with surveillance equipment and photographs of soviet
military bases. Eisenhower was forced to admit his involvement leading khrushchev to
dramatically withdraw from a paris summit later that year where the two leaders had
been scheduled to discuss berlin. When eisenhower left office the following year
soviet american relations had reached an all-time low

THE THIRD WORLD

Starting in the 1950s western observerswould begin to categorize the world into three
groups the united states and its allies would comprise the first world with the Soviet
Union, China and their allies making up the second world. The third world would refer
to non-aligned countries although it quickly became a catch-all term for any country
that was poor undeveloped or a former colony. With the cold war reaching a
stalemate in europe both powers would look to the third world to expand their
influence and power often with disastrous results for those caught in the crossfire. For
america it was important to keep these developing nations friendly for their resources
especially in the middle east where oil was needed to fuel economic and military
needs to deny america these resources Khrushchev began campaigns of diplomacy
and trade to gain support in the developing world and to make matters worse for the
united states he would be helped by a deep-seated hatred of the west in many
countries which had been subject to centuries of western colonialism. The CIA would
play a significant role in aligning these countries with american interests. The
organization had grown rapidly after its establishment from 1949 to 1952 CIA
personnel had increased tenfold their overseas bases from 7 to 47 and their annual
budget from 4.7 million to 82 million dollars, they would often be used to depose or kill
left-leaning leaders who threatened american interests or looked like they could fall
under soviet influence. In 1953, the CIA would orchestrate a coup against the prime
minister of iran who had nationalized the british-owned anglo-iranian oil company a
Pro-Western Autocrat Shah Mohamed Reza Pallavi would be installed in his place
with the prime minister imprisoned for three years and then put under house arrest
until his death being buried in his living room to avoid public outcry but this would
come back to haunt the united states as their continued support for the shah would
enforce anti-western sentiment in the region the shah would be overthrown in 1979
and replaced with a radical islamic anti-western government with 52 american
hostages being taken during the chaos. A similar story would play out in guatemala
where President Jacob Arbenz had attempted to nationalize the US owned united fruit
company the CIA would initiate a coup in 1954 toppling our benz from power and
installing a highly unpopular military dictatorship in his place. The CIA were so
paranoid that they would sometimes target leaders who pose no threat to american
interests. In the republic of congo a Former Belgian Colony Prime Minister Patrice
Lumumba would be targeted for assassination in 1960 after accepting soviet
assistance in suppressing a mutiny while the assassination would fail pro-american
forces would depose and murder Lumumba in 1961 installing a pro-western military
dictator in his place. Despite the obvious contradiction with american ideals of
democracy and self-determination the CIA would continue to support
pro-western dictators around the world. For US officials the containment of
communism was important enough to suspend these ideals with the CIA continuing to
operate with an almost complete lack of congressional oversight until the 1970s.

THE SUEZ CRISIS

But despite the overwhelming power of the two cold war giants, some third world
leaders found ways to profit by playing the first and second worlds against each other.
Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser was able to do this in the mid-1950s,
convincing the americans to fund the construction of the aswan high dam project
while also buying weapons from pro-soviet czechoslovakia but the czechoslovakian
arms deal would trigger american anxieties as did nasser's recognition of the people's
republic of china with the US deciding to cease funding the dam entirely but nasser
was quickly able to secure funding from the soviet union with him retaliating against
the west by nationalizing the suez canal an internationally owned waterway that
allowed travel from the mediterranean to the indian ocean. Fearful that they would
lose access to the middle east, britain and france joined with israel to launch a military
invasion of egypt but much to their surprise Eisenhower would condemn the attack
and threaten economic sanctions as he had not been consulted and the attack risked
offending the entire arab world. Khrushchev also condemned the invasion threatening
the invaders with rocket weapons, under pressure from both sides britain and france
were forced into an embarrassing retreat bringing an end to their roles as major world
powers. In the end the only winner was Nasser he managed to keep the canal protect
his country from the colonial powers and secure his place as leader of arab
nationalism all while having both superpowers fight for his approval. The suez crisis
would spur america to take a greater role in the middle east with the Eisenhower
doctrine being established the following year it would formalize what had already
been happening for years promising military and economic aid to anti-communist
regimes in the middle east. It legitimized the dispatch of u.s troops to Lebanon in
1958 with both powers continuing to interfere around the world

THE BERLIN WALL

In 1961 a new president John F. Kennedy would come to power wanting to take
advantage of kennedy's inexperience Khrushchev would meet him in vienna that
same year and yet another attempt to gain control of berlin. He reissued his 1958
ultimatum giving the president six months to vacate the city but just like his
predecessor kennedy was unwilling to let american credibility be challenged. He
refused the demands asking congress to increase the defense budget by 3.2 billion
dollars and for a further 207 million dollars to create fallout shelters in preparation for
a nuclear attack but the meeting with khrushchev would be tough for the new
president with him later recalling that, "It was the worst thing in my life, he savaged
me", but Khrushchev's provado was masking his own insecurities there had been a
staggering number of defections from east germany since 1949. Around 2.7 million
most of which had escaped through west berlin securing the city was therefore vital to
the survival of the german democratic republic with defections usually of the highly
trained and educated growing by the day. With the americans unwilling to budge
Khrushchev saw no option but to authorize the construction of the berlin wall on
august 12 1961 creating a physical barrier between east and west berlin starting as a
barbed wire fence it soon turned into a massive concrete block wall, 12 feet high and
nearly 100 miles long complete with armed guards and minefields. It was an
embarrassment for communists everywhere as kennedy would state in 1963,
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect but we have never had
to put a wall up to keep our people in to prevent them from leaving us"

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

But kennedy was having difficulties of his own cuba, had been taken over by
communist revolutionaries in 1959 led by fidel castro the revolutionaries began to free
cuba of its economic and political reliance on the us. Nationalizing american-owned
banks, oil refineries as well as coffee, and sugar plantations but they would eventually
turn to the soviet union for help. Khrushchev was quick to offer his assistance much to
the distress of the then president Eisenhower who placed a trade embargo on Cuba
set up cia plots to kill castro and began training a group of Cuban exiles to use as an
invasion force. The cia-trained exiles would be used by Kennedy in the bay of pigs
invasion which aimed at toppling castro from power, but it would turn out to be a
disaster with the invaders surrendering after just three days. It was an embarrassment
for kennedy and convinced khrushchev that he needed to protect castro with him
sending nuclear missiles to the island in 1962. Khrushchev thought the americans
would have little ground to oppose him as they had sent jupiter missiles to italy and
turkey in the late 1950s all of which were aimed at the soviet union. They would learn
khrushchev stated just what it feels like to have enemy missiles pointing at you we'd
be doing nothing more than giving them a little taste of their own medicine. But to
kennedy the move was a dangerous and unacceptable provocation it at least doubled
the number of soviet missiles able to hit the United States and were estimated to be
able to cause 80 million US casualties. When american reconnaissance aircraft
spotted the missiles in october 1962, Kennedy was quick to respond setting up a
special security council x-com to deal with the crisis. There were calls for an
immediate invasion of cuba but kennedy was reluctant to do so. It was later
discovered that Khrushchev had covertly stationed 42 000 soviet troops on the island
equipped with short-range nuclear weapons to use in the event of a u.s invasion. If
kennedy had invaded a full-scale nuclear war would have almost certainly followed.
The president instead authorized a naval blockade of cuba to prevent any further
soviet shipments from arriving. Two days later on october 24th, soviet ships
approaching the blockade would turn back the first sign that kennedy's plan had paid
off but the crisis would continue. As the missile sites neared completion 140 000 US
invasion troops were stationed in florida and for the first time in history the us alert
system was raised to defcon 2 preparation for nuclear war. US bombers were put on
continuous high alert and almost 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles were prepped
to fire. 23 nuclear armed b-52 bombers were deployed from where they could strike
the soviet union directly with the threat of utter destruction hanging over the USSR.
Kennedy began to gain the upper hand in negotiations with the help of his brother
Robert F. Kennedy the president was able to come up with an offer for Khrushchev if
the soviet missiles were removed the us would pledge not to invade cuba with the
jupiter missiles in italy and turkey being voluntarily removed afterwards but later that
same day a confrontation in the atlantic almost kick-started nuclear war. US ships had
used signaling depth charges to alert a soviet submarine that had it strayed too close
to the blockade thinking they were under attack. The submarine's captain ordered
nuclear torpedoes to be launched but the decision required the approval of all three
onboard officers one of the officers Vasily Arkipov refused to go through with the
launch single-handedly preventing the outbreak of nuclear war. The very next day on
October 28th, Khrushchev accepted Kennedy's terms bringing an end to the crisis, it
was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war and it significantly impacted
the outlook of both powers with a hotline being installed between the white house and
the kremlin to provide better communication if another crisis occurred. Having come
so close to nuclear war Secretary Of Defense Robert Mcnamara would reach the
same conclusion that Eisenhower had planning only for total war was the safest way
to ensure that no war broke out at all Mcnamara would develop the policy of mutually
assured destruction or mad. Each side would ignore the targeting of military facilities,
instead planning to cause the maximum number of casualties possible by targeting
enemy cities directly. The policy required both sides to ban missile defenses so that
each were equally as vulnerable. The Soviet Union would eventually agree to this and
in 1972 both powers would sign the anti-ballistic missile treaty banning defenses
against long-range missiles. Although the united states had pledged not to invade
cuba the CIA would continue to try and topple Fidel Castro launching over 600
assassination attempts with the last taking place in the year 2000. The plots would
become more ridiculous as time went on, using exploding cigars a tuberculosis
infected scuba diving suit and numerous attempts at poisoning. One plot even
attempted to destroy castro's public image by using thallium to destroy his beard. If
surviving assassination attempts were an olympic event castro once said, "I would win
the gold medal".

THE VIETNAM WAR

The next major crisis would occur in Vietnam where the US had been supporting the
south in their struggle against the communist north for almost a decade. The country
had been divided along the 17th parallel after the french had surrendered in 1954 with
the u.s sending increasing amounts of aid to the southern regime of president Ngô
Đình Diệm but Ngô Đình Diệm would quickly become an embarrassment for the US
he was an incompetent and oppressive dictator with a north vietnamese-backed
insurgency soon emerging. The CIA would arrange the removal of Ngô Đình Diệm in
1963 an operation that ended with his assassination. Kennedy himself would be
assassinated three weeks later leaving his vice president Lyndon B. Johnson to deal
with the rapidly declining situation in vietnam. Domino theory was now an accepted
fact for american politicians with johnson choosing to rapidly increase u.s military
involvement but still the americans failed to crush the insurgency as the war began to
drag on. Its critics grew in number both in the u.s and abroad. The tet offensive of
1968 was a particularly low point during which over a hundred south vietnamese
towns and cities were attacked, as well as the u.s embassy in saigon showing that the
north vietnamese were much stronger than the american public had been led to
believe. The vietnam war was the first television war in which on-site coverage from
the front lines was brought into the american living room. The public had been told up
to the tet offensive the war was nearly over, the north vietnamese were so ground
down that victory was in sight. So when the offensive was launched it contradicted
what the american people had been told and it broke their trust in the government.
The term credibility gap soon developed the difference between what was actually
going on and what the government told the public. In 1968, protests would break out
across the western world the largest would be seen in america where a politicized
youth demonstrated against a war they thought unjust and unwinnable. The scale of
discontent proved too much for Johnson who decided not to seek re-election but the
political situation would continue to decline within a week Martin Luther King jr. was
assassinated and protesters again took to the streets. The nation hadn't been this
divided since the civil war. To make matters worse as Robert Kennedy ran for
president and campaigned to bring the war to an end he too just like his brother was
assassinated, the nation was torn apart. Johnson's successor richard nixon came into
power facing an unwinnable war and his government's authority was being challenged
at every turn. Desperate to make advances in vietnam, Nixon would announce the
invasion of neighbouring cambodia on april 30th 1970 but this would spark a new
wave of protests and on may 4th the loss of life when ohio national guardsmen shot
and killed four students at kent state university. Nixon would eventually decide to
withdraw US forces with the last leaving the country in 1973, but the conflict soon
resumed and within just two years the communist north had taken over the south. By
the end of the war more than 58 000 americans had died as well as 250 000 south
vietnamese soldiers. Over one million north vietnamese soldiers and vietcong gorillas
had also perished, as well as over 2 million civilians from both the north and the south
while containment had worked in korea it had proven ineffective in vietnam.
Neighbouring laos and cambodia would also be taken over by communists with
thousands dying in the conflict Pol Pot the communist leader of cambodia would carry
out numerous atrocities over the next four years, a period known as the Cambodian
Genocide. Pot would force hundreds of thousands into prisons and labor camps
where they would be tortured, experimented on, and executed. Up to two million
people are thought to have died in the genocide almost a quarter of cambodia's
population

MAO'S CHINA

Khrushchev's policy of destalinization had severely strained relations with China. Mao
had been appalled by Khrushchev's speech branding it as dangerous revisionism.
The chinese dictator was modeled in his own rule after Stalin's, carrying out
industrialization and collectivization drives, purging political opponents, and creating a
cult of personality centered around himself. Mao would continue on his stalin inspired
path launching the hundred flowers campaign in 1957 to purge intellectuals. Let a
hundred flowers bloom he said let a hundred schools of thought contend but in reality
anyone who dared to speak their mind was arrested. Mao's attempts to rush the
process of industrialization and collectivization would produce disastrous results. He
had poor knowledge of agricultural techniques and relied heavily on the ideas of the
later discredited russian agricultural expert Trophy Lysenko. He would announce the
four pests campaign in 1958 which encouraged people to kill sparrows and a number
of other wild birds. While the campaign saw massive success it led to the rapid growth
of fermin who ate through much of the crop. Mao also launched the backyard furnace
campaign which encouraged citizens to melt down their possessions to create as
much steel as possible. The campaign was extremely popular and by october 1958
nearly a quarter of the population had abandoned their jobs to take part but the steel
produced was often of an unusable quality and it put unsustainable strain on food
production with many fields being left untended. These policies combined with a
period of drought and flooding produced the greatest famine in recorded history with
deaths estimated between 30 and 50 million people. Lasting between 1958 and 1962,
Mao only made the situation worse by continuing to requisition grain from the starving
peasants during this period. He would deliberately make the situation worse in Tibet
whose cultural identity he had been trying to destroy since 1950 leading to the death
of a quarter of the Tibetan population. The famine was kept hidden from the outside
world only acknowledged by the chinese government in 1980, but relations with the
soviet union had continued to deteriorate and would reach a low point in march 1969
when a massive border conflict broke out amongst the two. Lasting seven months it
looked possible that the two communist superpowers might actually go to war with
each other. Seeing an opportunity to gain leverage over the soviet union. Nixon would
visit china in february 1972, meeting with mao and promising future cooperation the
united states and china would slowly stabilize relations with the soviet union as
predicted becoming deeply unsettled

DÉTENTE

By 1964 the soviet union had been going through several

Khrushchev had been deposed and replaced by Leonard Brezhnev who immediately
began reversing the more radical aspects of destalinization, power was recentralized
and Khrushchev's limits on tenure of office were dropped. The bureaucracy grew
substantially as did corruption and nepotism. Party members were kept in their posts
indefinitely with many dying of old age while in office brezhnev's 18 year old rule
became known as the era of stagnation with the economy suffering under a complete
lack of innovation. In eastern europe the soviet command economies were failing to
fulfill some of the basic needs of its citizens. Living standards were deteriorating with
many losing faith in the communist system dissidents were spied on by the kgb with
house searches and arrests becoming far more frequent. When attempts at reform
did come they were quickly crushed by the soviet military. In Czechoslovakia, a brief
period in 1968 known as the Prague Spring saw a series of liberal reforms take place
under the leadership of Alexander Dubček but Brezhnev was fearful of change and
would respond by sending 250 000 warsaw pact troops to put an end to the reforms.
He would announce the brezhnev doctrine which vowed to intervene in any socialist
country believed to be falling to capitalism but the invasion of Czechoslovakia had
gone poorly with it taking the red army eight months to break the czech resistance.
The invasion had also received international condemnation even from communist
countries including Yugoslavia, Romania and China. Discontent was so great that
there had even been a demonstration in front of lenin's tomb the cold war had the
opposite effect on western society. Europe had experienced an unprecedented time
of peace and prosperity thanks to the marshall plan the revitalization of west germany
and continued economic integration. The european coal and steel community had
been formed in 1951 bringing together France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands,
Luxembourg, and West Germany in an economic alliance. These six countries would
lead europe's economic boom which saw higher wages, better education, improved
health care, and low levels of unemployment with the alliance becoming the
foundation of the european union. The difference in living standards between the east
and the west became increasingly obvious and unlike the start of the cold war support
for western europe's communist parties was almost non-existent. Many began
questioning whether communism was still a threat that needed containing and began
considering the morality of proxy conflicts leading to the anti-war protests of 1968.
Facing these protests a severely overstretched defence budget and the seemingly
unwinnable vietnam war President Nixon would look for a more stable soviet
american relationship. In 1969 he would begin talks with Brezhnev about a strategic
arms limitation treaty or salt. Brezhnev was receptive to the idea as he believed that
the easing of cold war tensions could allow him to focus on the numerous issues in
the eastern bloc. The salt 1 treaty would be signed in may 1972, freezing the existing
number of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles on both sides. A
basic agreement would also be reached outlining superpower relations going forward
both promised to show restraint and agreed to do their utmost to avoid military
confrontations and to prevent the outbreak of nuclear war. It was the beginning of a
period of DÉTENTE a french term that refers to the easing of tensions between
nations

THE SPACE RACE

The intense competition of the cold war would lead to some of the 20th century's most
important technologicalb reakthroughs. The space race would begin on october 4th
1957 after the soviets used a modified ballistic missile the r7 to launch sputnik the
world's first artificial satellite but this tiny metal ball only 23 inches in diameter would
cause panic in the united states. It was not sputnik itself that was worrying but rather
the technology behind it which could be used to launch nuclear missiles at targets in
the United States. It was also feared that a technology gap was opening between the
two superpowers with america on the losing side. These fears were seemingly
confirmed when just one month later sputnik 2 was launched on board was a dog
named Leica the first animal to be sent into orbit. Four months after the launch of
sputnik 1 america would respond by sending explorer 1 into orbit. Eisenhower would
then pass the national aeronautics and space act creating nasa. With the organization
beginning a serious effort to catch up with the ussr but the soviets would win another
victory when they sent Yuri Gagarin into space on the 12th of April 1961. He would
become the first human to orbit the earth and was hailed as a hero in the soviet union.
The following month the united states was able to send their own man into space Alan
Shepard although it would take a further nine months until they could achieve orbit
with the launch of John Glenn. Realizing the significance of the space race Kennedy
would make a pledge to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade but the
soviets would continue to stay ahead. On June 16 1963, Valentina Tereshkova would
become the first woman in space and two years later Alexei Leonov would complete
the first ever space walk but the tide would soon turn with nasa investing heavily in
the apollo programme. In 1968 the crew of apollo 8 would become the first humans to
make a lunar orbit and on july 20th 1969 Neil Armstrong would become the first man
to step foot on the moon with the american lag planted on the moon the space race
would quickly die down. The soviets would cancel their own plans for lunar landing
and instead focus on creating the first ever space station "Salyut 1" but with soviet
american relations at an all-time high the two sides would decide to cooperate on the
apollo soyuz test project which saw an american and soviet spacecraft docked
together. The crew would shake hands and exchange gifts the ultimate symbol of
DÉTENTE and a definitive end to the space race

NIXON

Political scandal would also shape the course of the cold war. Nixon was still acting
as if communism had to be contained at all costs even though the public had begun to
think otherwise. He would authorize the bombing of cambodia while it was still neutral
in 1969 attempting to destroy north vietnamese bases and supply lines but he would
hide the truth from the public by fabricating air force records. In october 1970 the
marxist government of Salvador Allende would be democratically elected in chile.
Nixon publicly stated that he would not interfere in this free election while secretly
using the CIA to support Allende's opponents stage a failed coup to prevent his
inauguration and destabilize his government over the next three years. A successful
military coup would finally take place in september 1973 leaving Alende dead and
General Augusto Pinochet in power. While direct CIA involvement was never
established, nixon welcomed pinochet with open arms an oppressive dictator who
would carry out thousands of killings and numerous human rights abuses. In june
1971 classified documents on the vietnam war known as the pentagon papers would
be leaked to the new york times. In response, nixon created a group known as the
plumbers consisting of retired detectives and former cia and fbi agents. Their goal
was to prevent the release of further classified information undertaking a series of
illegal burglaries, wiretaps, and surveillance operations over the coming year but on
the morning of june 17 1972 several of the plumbers would be arrested after men
working for them were caught breaking into the headquarters of the democratic
national committee in the watergate building. Nixon tried desperately to cover up his
own involvement but the truth was soon exposed and his credibility was all but
destroyed. facing conviction and removal from office Nixon decided to resign on
august 9 1974 the only president to ever do so. The consequences of nixon's conduct
would be significant with congress moving to reclaim its powers over national security
spurred on by nixon's secret bombing of Cambodia congress passed the war powers
act in 1973 which imposed a 60-day limit on all military deployments enacted without
congressional consent nixon's successor Gerald Ford would suffer the consequences
being unable to act when north vietnam invaded and conquered south vietnam in
1975. The cia were also brought under intense scrutiny three commissions were set
up to investigate the cia's abuses with many of their secrets being exposed. Of these
secrets their repeated attempts to remove chile's democratically elected government
sparked the most outrage, combined with the recent failure in vietnam it was have
significant repercussions in Angola. A former portuguese colony angola had been
granted independence and was in the midst of a three-way power struggle in 1975,
with the united states, the soviet union, and china being approached for help but with
the recent failure in vietnam there was no chance of congress approving american
military intervention. The cia wanted to secretly fund the two anti-communist parties
but once this was discovered it was met with significant resistance with congress
eventually voting to ban the secret use of funds in angola. It was a significant shift in
american cold war policy unlike earlier decades the public were taking a critical view
on measures to contain communism with u.s officials beginning to be held
accountable .

THE END OF DÉTENTE

As the 70s went on tatant would begin to suffer, in 1973 a war broke out in the middle
east after egypt and syria launched a surprise attack on israel in an attempt to win
back land that they had previously lost. The conflict soon attracted the cold war
powers with the us supporting israel and the soviets supporting the arab states.
Brezhnev would call for the deployment of a joint soviet american peacekeeping force
threatening to act independently if they refused but nixon who was in the middle of the
watergate scandal did not take the threat well stating that independent soviet action
would have incalculable consequences and placing us nuclear forces on worldwide
alert. While the conflict was resolved within a month both sides began questioning the
future of DÉTENTE but the soviet union was still suffering from internal discontent
with Brezhnev keen for DÉTENTE to continue. On august 1st 1975 he would sign the
helsinki accords with the US and 33 other nations. He gained western
acknowledgement of his existing european boundaries but would have to agree to
respect human rights but the accords would turn out to be a political disaster.
Brezhnev thought that he could continue to ignore human rights but reformers within
the soviet camp would not let him forget his commitment. In the summer of 1976 the
moscow helsinki group was established for this purpose with several similar
organizations appearing throughout eastern europe. The helsinki accords had
provided the platform by which soviet citizens could oppose the communist regime.
President Ford would also be criticized as by signing the accords it was thought that
he was ignoring soviet injustices in eastern europe the term DÉTENTE would become
so unpopular that ford would ban his administration from using the word during his
1976 presidential campaign but it was too late with the democratic candidate Jimmy
Carter assuming the presidency in 1977 carter would initially attempt to revive
DÉTENTE but a series of contradictory actions would confuse and alienate the soviet
leadership. He called for cooperation while also meeting with soviet's dissidents and
suggesting that further limits should be placed on nuclear weapons but by this point
Brezhnev had developed serious health problems with the soviet military gaining
power. They would begin to jeopardize the arms control process and in 1977 would
begin deploying ss-20 missiles against targets in western europe. This would draw a
response from NATO who began counter-deploying pershing 2 and cruise missiles in
1979. Despite these setbacks a second soviet american arms treaty salt 2 was signed
that year, but the treaty's critics were widespread especially in america where it was
argued that the treaty did nothing to reduce the nuclear danger and that the soviets
would continue to act as they pleased. But it was to be a series of events in the
middle east that finally bought an end to DÉTENTE. In february 1979, islamic
revolutionaries took power in iran deposing long-time US ally Mohammed Reza
Palavi. The situation would escalate when militants stormed the u.s embassy in
tehran that november taking 52 americans hostage. The crisis would last for 444 days
during which negotiations failed. As did operation eagle claw a military rescue mission
while the hostages were eventually released in January 1981 the situation had hurt
america's international prestige and destroyed any chances of Jimmy Carter's re-
election. Meanwhile in neighbouring afghanistan a marxist coup had taken place with
the ussr immediately sending aid but in march a violent rebellion would break out in
Herat near the Iranian border leaving thousands dead including 50 soviet advisers
and their families. The pro-soviet prime minister of afghanistan was also arrested and
executed with the country descending into near civil war. Fearing that washington
would take advantage the soviets decided to launch a full-scale invasion. It was the
nail in the coffin for DÉTENTE with Carter calling Brezhnev on the moscow
washington hotline to tell him that the invasion could mark a fundamental and long
lasting turning point in our relations, he would back up his words with action. In
january 1980 he would withdraw the salt 2 treaty from consideration in the senate.
Embargo grain and technology shipments to the ussr announce a boycott of the
moscow olympics and ask for a drastic increase in defense spending. Fearing the
invasion was an attempt to cut america off from middle east oil the president would
also announce the Carter Doctrine that would use force if necessary to prevent any
outside power from gaining control over the oil-rich persian gulf. The cold war had
heated up again.

REAGAN

In november 1980 former actor Ronald Reagan would win in a landslide victory over
Jimmy Carter reagan was a fierce opponent of the taunt which he saw as prolonging
the cold war indefinitely. To break the stalemate, reagan sought to reassert american
strategic dominance over the soviet union. To do so reagan needed to convince the
american public that the USSR was no longer in position to keep fighting beginning a
campaign of public speeches to discredit the soviet union's status as a superpower in
the modern world, "Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the
state, declare its omnipotence over individual man and predict its eventual domination
of all peoples on the earth. They are the focus of evil in the modern world", but
despite his provocative speeches reagan's view on nuclear weapons was clear he
wanted to see a world in which they did not exist and where nations were free from
the threat of total annihilation. The only way he saw to achieve this was to force the
soviets into a new arms race they would lose pressuring them to accept an arms
reduction agreement. As reagan stated their choice is to break their backs to keep up
or to agree to reductions this policy would be called peace through strength. He would
begin by increasing carter's defense spending even further with the pentagon's
budget almost doubling between 1980 and 1985. 100 new intercontinental range
missiles were made, new aircraft carriers were deployed, as well as new trident
nuclear submarines equipped with improved missiles. Reagan also managed to
convince Saudi Arabia to triple their production of oil causing its price to plummet on
the international market. As oil made up a significant amount of soviet exports they
would experience a massive drop in revenue destabilizing their already fragile
economy, but the cornerstone of reagan's strategy would be the strategic defense
initiative or SDI nicknamed star wars by the media the project aimed at creating a
radical new missile defense system using lasers and space-based missile systems
that could defend against a nuclear attack. While reagan was aware that the US was
possibly decades away from developing such technology he knew that the soviets
were lagging far behind in computer technology and a convincing bluff could force
them to the negotiating table. The bluff worked but would produce some unexpected
results as the soviet leadership went into a panic fearing that the US were preparing
for a first strike the new soviet leader Yuri Andropov would begin a two-year
intelligence alert with soviet agents across the globe looking for evidence of US attack
preparations the USSR was on such high alert that when a south korean civilian
airliner accidentally flew into soviet airspace on September 1st 1983 it would be shot
down. All 269 passengers were killed including 62 americans. The situation was
made worse by a complete lack of remorse on the soviet side with Andropov first
denying the incident and then claiming that the plane had been on an american spy
mission. Negotiations were brought to a temporary halt with Reagan denouncing the
event as an act of barbarism. An even more dangerous crisis would begin that
november when NATO carried out one of its regularly scheduled military exercises in
western europe codenamed abel archer 83 but this time the exercise would involve
several heads of government and radio silence to simulate realism still in a state of
high alert these developments led Andropov to believe that the US were using the
exercise as a front for a nuclear attack. Soviet nuclear forces were prepared and air
units were placed on high alert in Eastern Europe while the soviets soon realized their
mistake and backed down it was one of the most dangerous situations since the
cuban missile crisis. But reagan's aggressive anti-soviet policies would also bring him
into conflict with his nato allies DÉTENTE was still alive and well in much of Europe
the two sides of the continent had benefited greatly through mutual contact with
almost half a million West German jobs tied to trade with the east in the early 1980s.
In response to heightened tensions and the deployment of missiles by both sides
large peace movements would be organized in Europe in the US the nuclear freeze
movement was born calling for a freeze to the nuclear arsenals of both superpowers
the movement was incredibly popular with a million supporters gathering in central
park on june 12 1982 in one of the largest political demonstrations in u.s history.
Reagan would call 1984 a year of opportunities for peace stating that he would be
willing to resume negotiations with Moscow after his re-election that november the
soviet leadership would agree to negotiate but as the talks began in 1985 an
incredibly significant change of soviet leadership would take place.

GORBACHEV

Andropov had died in february 1984 after only 15 months in office. He was replaced
by Constantin Chinenko a 72 year old heavy smoker who had succumbed to his
illnesses after just 13 months in his post realizing they were in desperate need of
change. The soviet politburo would elect Mikhail Gorbachev as general secretary at
54 gorbachev was a fresh new face amongst the aging soviet leadership. He as
willing to acknowledge the failures of the soviet system embrace reform and openly
negotiate with the west unlike his predecessors he had a high amount of personal
charisma with reagan taking an immediate liking to him but after years of
mismanagement, discontent, and economic stagnation gorbachev was facing a nearly
impossible task. To make matters worse china had begun to adopt capitalist elements
after Mao's death in 1976 Deng Xiaoping had emerged as leader a chinese dissident
who had been purged from the party twice for his capitalist sympathies. One of these
times Mao even tortured Deng's son and threw him out of a three-story building
permanently paralyzing him but Deng would get his revenge declaring that Mao had
been right seventy percent of the time and wrong 30 percent he criticized Mao's
terrible implementation of a command economy and began experimenting with
capitalism the introduction of these capitalist elements worked wonders for china's
economy with per capita income tripling between 1978 and 1994. GDP would
quadruple and by the time Deng died in 1997 the chinese economy was one of the
largest in the world this would only put further pressure on the failing soviet economy
which had stagnated through the 1970s and had actually shrunk during the early
1980s. To revive the soviet economy Gorbachev would introduce perestroika or
restructuring it allowed for the introduction of limited market mechanisms with
moscow's first mcdonald's opening in 1990 Gorbachev also realized that the ongoing
arms race was crippling the soviet economy and was drawing resources away from
his reforms, negotiation with the west was the only option. Gorbachev would meet
with reagan five separate times between 1985 and 1988 with each meeting building a
level of trust and respect between the two. Gorbachev was more open and
conciliatory than his predecessors had ever been willing to participate in arms
agreements offer unilateral concessions on armed forces and was prepared to
remove soviet troops from afghanistan. In the face of such a cooperative soviet leader
reagan happily negotiated with the two signing the intermediate nuclear forces treaty
on December 8 1987 banning all short and intermediate range missiles. Within three
years the treaty had led to the destruction of over two and a half thousand nuclear
weapons with each side allowing access to their nuclear sites to check compliance. It
was a momentous agreement being the first time both sides have pledged to
eliminate an entire class of nuclear missile .

FAILED REFORMS

It would soon become apparent that perestroika was not working with the economy
continuing to stagnate Gorbachev's other main policy glasnost or openness would
also cause issues. The policy attempted to address the corruption of the Brezhnevias
and re-establish a connection between the party and the people the party would be
more honest about its mistakes and encourage open debate paving the way for
reform. It was largely inspired by the chernobyl disaster of 1986 that April an
explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant had released a large amount of
radioactive fallout which began to drift over the USSR and Western Europe the soviet
government would attempt to cover up the incident delaying the evacuation of those
living in toxic areas this would lead to more cases of leukemia and birth deformities.
Gorbachev would later state that, "The disaster revealed the sickness of our system,
the concealing or hushing up of accidents and other bad news. Irresponsibility and
carelessness, slip shot work, wholesale drunkenness. Chernobyl made me and my
colleagues rethink a great many things but glasnost would not work as intended open
debate soon turned into widespread criticism of the party and Gorbachev himself with
uprisings soon breaking out across eastern europe

THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION

Gorbachev had also begun the move towards democratization allowing multi-
candidate elections and announcing that he would reduce the soviet military presence
in eastern europe by half a million men signaling that the Brezhnev doctrine would no
longer be enforced. Realizing they would not be crushed by the soviet military
reformers would emerge across eastern europe and in 1989 a string of democratic
revolutions would break out seeing nearly every communist government ousted from
power while most would happen peacefully some would be met with violence
romania's leader Nicolae Ceaușescu ordered the army to fire on demonstrators with
hundreds being killed in the chaos Ceaușescu would soon be hunted down and
executed on Christmas Day bringing a violent end to communism in romania. On
november 9th the most symbolic monument of the cold war the Berlin Wall would
come down and Germany itself would be reunited the following year/ Gorbachev
would gain admiration abroad receiving the nobel peace prize in 1990 but he would
be met with a much colder reception at home despite his best efforts the soviet
economy had remained stagnant and his actions had led to the dissolution of all
soviet power abroad. In march 1990 he had also abolished article 6 ending the
communist party's monopoly on power allowing opposition to become formalized.
Soon the individual states that formed the USSR were ready to make their own bid for
independence even russia the home of the revolution was hit by a wave of
nationalism with Boris Yeltsin being elected President Yeltsin began a mission to
dissolve the soviet union quickly becoming Gorbachev's chief rival but Gorbachev
would also have to face opposition from within the communist party itself, b elieving
his reforms were tearing the union apart high-ranking officials in the government army
and KGB would stage a coup in august 1991. Gorbachev was placed under house
arrest and tanks were sent to the streets of moscow but the coup would be widely
denounced even by Boris Yeltsin whose opposition would help bring it to an end in
just three days while Gorbachev would return to power it was now clear that the
USSR could not be saved. On December 25th 1991, 74 years after the Bolshevik
revolution. Gorbachev would resign and officially terminate the existence of the soviet
union. That evening at 7:32 pm the soviet flag would be lowered from the Kremlin for
the last time. The USSR would resolve into 15 independent states bringing a definitive
end to the cold war a conflict that had dominated international relations for over 40
years