The Cold War Era

The competition, tensions, and a series of confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union, backed by their respective allies, were referred to as the Cold War.

Along with power rivalries, military alliances, and balance of power, the Cold War was accompanied by a genuine ideological conflict, a disagreement over the best and most appropriate way to organize political, economic, and social life around the world.

The western alliance, led by the United States, stood for liberal democracy and capitalism, while the eastern alliance, led by the Soviet Union, stood for socialism and communism.

The end of World War II was a defining moment in modern world politics, setting the stage for the beginning of the Cold War, among other things.

The End of Second World War: 

• The war had involved almost all of the world’s major powers and had spread to regions outside of Europe, including Southeast Asia, China, Burma (now Myanmar), and parts of India’s northeast
• The US launched two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, forcing Japan to surrender
• The Allied Forces, led by the United States and the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France, declared victory over the Axis Powers, led by Germany, Japan and Italy, bringing the Second World War to a close (1939 – 1945)
• Some argue that the decision to drop atomic bombs was a strategy to demonstrate to the Soviet Union that the US was the supreme power and to prevent it from making gains in Asia and elsewhere
• Others, however, have argued that supporters argued that it was necessary to prevent further casualties and to end the war as soon as possible

Results after the end of the Second World War: 

Following the end of World War II, two new powers emerged in the global arena. With the defeat of Germany and Japan, as well as the destruction of Europe and most of the rest of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s most powerful nations, able to influence events anywhere on the planet.

Deterrence concept: The destruction caused by the use of atomic bombs is too expensive for any country to bear. A full-fledged conflict is improbable when two hostile states have nuclear weapons capable of inflicting death and destruction on each other.

• In this sense, the concept of deterrence was also one of the reasons for the Cold War era rather than a full-fledged war
• Despite being a ferocious form of competition among big powers, the Cold War era remained a ‘cold’ and not a hot or shooting war
• War is avoided by the deterrent relationship, but power rivalry is not

The Emergence of Two Power Blocs: 

• Following World War II, two world concepts of power blocs emerged, led by the United States and the Soviet Union
• Power Blocs: The two superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union) were eager to expand their spheres of influence in various parts of the world
• They devised the alliance system, according to which a state was supposed to remain linked to its protective superpower in order to limit the influence of the other superpower and its allies in the surrounding regions
• The smaller states were promised economic assistance, weapons, and protection against their local rivals, who were mostly regional neighbors with whom they had feuds
• The two superpowers’ alliance systems threatened to divide the entire world into two camps. This division took place first in Europe
• The majority of Western European countries supported the United States, while the majority of Eastern European countries supported the Soviet Union. That is why these alliances were also known as the ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ alliances

Reasons for establishment of Alliance System: 

• Material Reasons: Superpowers could gain access to vital resources such as oil and minerals, territory to establish military bases, and economic support in the form of many small allies pooling their resources to help pay for military expenses
• Ideological Reasons: The allegiance of allies to a particular ideology, whether communism or capitalism, demonstrated that one ideology was superior and thus the superpower was winning

Impacts: 

• The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): The Western Alliance was formalized into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949
• NATO was a group of twelve countries that agreed that any armed attack on any of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack on all of them

Warsaw Pact:

The eastern alliance, known as the Warsaw Pact, was formed in 1955

• Its primary mission was to counter NATO forces in Europe
• Europe became the primary battleground for the world’s superpowers
• The United States established an alliance system known as the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and the Central Treaty Organization (CTO) in East and Southeast Asia, as well as West Asia (Middle East) (CENTO)
• In response, the Soviet Union and communist China maintained close ties with regional countries such as North Vietnam, North Korea, and Iraq

Conclusion:

The Cold War was fought mostly on political, economic, and media fronts, with weapons used sparingly. It arose from the open but restrained competition and animosity that evolved between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as their respective allies, following World War II.