Emergence of two Power Blocs

The World Divided (1945-1975)

● After Second World War ended, two superpowers emerged: USA

and USSR.

● Both established their spheres of influence creating a bipolar

system, and making two blocs in the world.

● Since the world was now divided into two superpowers,

smaller states also allied with one of the superpowers. Both
used this as an opportunity to fulfill their own desires and
hence benefited each other mutually.
 Smaller states and the superpowers

● The motives of the smaller states was to get promise of

protection, weapons and economic aid against their local
rivals, mostly regional neighbours.

● The entire world was divided into two camps or two alliance
system i.e., the Western and the Eastern alliance. These are
called the ‘Western’ and the ‘Eastern’ because the western
Europe sided with the US and the eastern Europe sided with
Soviet Union.
 Why did the superpowers have military alliances with
smaller states?

● Superpowers had military alliances with smaller states

because they were helpful for them in gaining access
to:

➢ Vital resources.
➢ Territory for launching weapons and troops.
➢ Locations for spying.
➢ Economic support to pay military expenses.
 Two Opposing Blocs

Western Bloc:
● Capitalist democracies, led by USA, the major world
economy.
● Formalised into an organisation, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO).

Eastern Bloc:
● Communist regimes, led by the Soviet Union, the main
Communist regime.
● Known as Warsaw Pact.
 A Third bloc

●Colonies in Africa and Asia during this period

demanded and gained independence.

●These new nations formed a third bloc which was

known during the Cold War, as the Third World.
 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)

● Also called the (North) Atlantic Alliance, is an

intergovernmental military alliance based on the North
Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.

● The Organisation constitutes a system of collective

defence whereby its member states agree to mutual
defense in response to an attack by any external party.
● United States ● Luxembourg
● Belgium ● Netherlands
● Britain ● Norway
● Canada ● Portugal
● Denmark ● 1952: Greece and
● France Turkey
● Iceland ● 1955: West Germany
● Italy ● 1983: Spain
 Warsaw Pact

● The Warsaw Treaty Organisation of Friendship, Cooperation

and Mutual Assistance (1955-1991), more commonly referred
to as the Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense treaty between
eight communist states of Central and Eastern Europe in
existence during the Cold War.

● The founding treaty was established under the initiative of

the Soviet Union and signed on 14 May 1955, in Warsaw.
● USSR ● East Germany
● Albania ● Hungary
● Bulgaria ● Poland
● Czechoslovakia ● Romania
 SEATO AND CENTO

● In East, South East and West Asia the USA built an

alliance system to make its hold in these regions.

● South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO) in 1954.

Members were Australia, France, Britain, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Thailand as well as the US.

● The Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) in 1955.

Members were Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and UK.
 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)

● The Non-Aligned Movement was formed during the Cold War as an

organization of States that did not seek to formally align
themselves with either the United States or the Soviet Union, but
sought to remain independent or neutral.

● The first NAM Summit Conference took place in Belgrade,

Yugoslavia, in September 1961.

● The movement became automatically a part of the Cold War, even

if its members did not want to be formally allied with one or the
other superpower.
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