Cold War

Asst. Prof. Shishir Yadav

What is Cold War?
Cold War

• First used b Bernard Baruch on 16th April 1947

Let us not be deceived today. We are in the midst of a cold war
• A cold war is a state of conflict between nations
that does not involve direct military action but is
pursued primarily through economic and
political actions, acts of espionage or conflict
through surrogates.
• The surrogates are typically states that are
"satellites" of the conflicting nations, i.e., nations
allied to them or under their political influence.
Definition

• The international environment characterized by

persistent tensions and conflicts between the
free world and the communist camp in general
and between the US and the USSR in particular –
Prof. Young Hum Kim
• Not a state of armed struggle bye a state in
which the rivals while maintaining their peace-
time relations continued their hostility.
• They used all means other than war to weaken
each other.
Contd…

• An Ideological war or a propaganda war or a

diplomatic war.
• It was neither a condition of war nor a condition
of peace. It was a state of uneasy peace.
• R. Barnet calls it “hot peace”
In particular

• A continuing state of tensions between the

United States and the Soviet Union
• It was a time after WW2 when the USA and the
Soviet Union were rivals for world influence.
• Ideological Struggle between the USA and the
USSR
Ideological Struggle

• U.S. and Soviet Union had diff. goals and

ideologies, this causes a Cold War
• Soviet & Eastern Bloc Nations was a Communist
– with a goal of spreading worldwide
communism.
• US & the Western Democracies the Capitalist –
the goal of containing Communism & the
eventual collapse of the Communist world and
spread of capitalism.
Methodology

• Espionage
• Arms Race [Nuclear escalation]
• Ideological Competition for the minds and
hearts of Third World peoples [Communist govt. &
command economy vs. democratic govt. & capitalist
economy]
• Proxy wars
• Bi-Polarization of Europe [NATO vs. Warsaw
Pact]
Yalta Conference and USSR Promise

• The Yalta Conference helped to contribute to the

Cold War.
• There were several agreements made at this
conference.
• When World War II ended, the Soviet Union
didn’t follow some of them, leading to the start
of the Cold War.
Promise about the Polish Government

• One agreement that was made that wasn’t followed

dealt with the post-war government in Poland.
• US wanted to be sure that some members of the pre-
war Polish government were in the post-war Polish
government.
• The Soviet Union agreed to have this happen and to
allow for free elections.
• After the war ended, the post-war Polish government
had very few members of the pre-war Polish
government in it, and there were no signs of free
elections.
Liberal Eastern Europe

• Another agreement was known as The

Declaration of Liberated Europe.
• The agreement said that the people would be
able to determine the kind of government they
would have in their country.
• However, the King of Romania said he was
pressured by the Soviet Union to have a
communist government.
• This was another example showing US couldn’t
trust the Soviet Union.
Yalta for Cold War

• At the Yalta Conference, the United States, the

Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France
agreed to split Germany into four zones of
occupation after the war.
• Partially as a result of these events, the United
States and the Soviet Union entered into a
period of competition and confrontation known
as the Cold War.
Causes
• IDEOLOGY DIFFERENCES/HOSTILE AGAINST
USSR
– US and Western democracies had always been hostile
to the idea of a communist state. (Zero-tolerance
against communism)
– The United States had refused recognition to the
USSR for 16 years after the Bolshevik takeover.
– Domestic fears of communism erupted in a RED
SCARE in America in the early Twenties.
– On the other hand, USSR zero tolerance against the
US dominance upon the other European countries.
• ARMAMENTS RACE
– After WW II, USSR increased its military strength
– USSR Military expansion a perceived threat by the
western countries
– US engagement in Weapons of Mass Destruction
– Other European countries participation in armaments
race.
• NUCLEAR WEAPON
– US use of nuclear weapons during WW II and US
nuclear weapon program, USSR perceived the threat
– USSR followed the footprint of US in developing
nuclear weapon programs.