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The Cold War
The Cold War
 A period of heightened tension between the US and the
USSR without actual war
 Lasted four decades, from 1947 to 1989
 Ended once Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe
collapsed in 1989
 Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991
 After the Cold War a period of economic liberalization
and political democratization followed
The Cold War: The Onset
 The gradual onset was between 1945 and 1947
 Soviets were not willing to let free elections in Poland
 The US terminated its lend-lease program in 1945
 The US refused Soviet requests for loans in 1946
 Divisions heightened about how to re-construct Germany
 The American and the Soviet disagreement over the Far
East
 The atomic bomb
How to explain the spiral of
hostility?
 Bipolar structure of the postwar balance of power
 European states emerged weak after the war
 Both were bound to expand because of the security
dilemma of states in an anarchic system: neither the
Americans nor the Soviets could allow the other to
dominate Europe
The Cold War:
Declaration
 Truman Doctrine &
Marshall Plan of 1947
 Soviet Union exploded its
first atomic bomb
 Chinese Communist Party
took control in China
 The Korean War was the
last blow to turn mutual
suspicions into an
ideological war between
the US and the USSR
Germany: Microcosm
of the Cold War
politics
 The US, France, Britain and
Soviet Union were the
occupying forces in Germany
 In 1948, Western occupying
forces issued a single
currency
 Soviets blockaded the city of
Berlin in response
 The blockade lasted until
spring of 1949
 Two separate German states
were established by 1949:
Federal Republic of
Germany & The German
Democratic Republic
A differentiating
feature: Nuclear
Arms Race
 After atomic bomb, both
countries developed
hydrogen bomb in 1953
 Space exploration became
important: Soviets launched
the first satellite, Sputnik I, in
1957
 Intercontinental ballistic
missiles followed
 The “nuclear club” was
extended further by 1974 as
Britain, France, People’s
Republic of China and India
also developed the nuclear
arms
Growing importance of
international & regional
organizations
 International Monetary
Fund (1944)
 The International Bank for
Re-Construction and
Development (1944)
 General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (1947)
 North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (1949)
 Council for Mutual
Economic Assistance
(1949)
 Warsaw Pact (1955)
 Closest call to a nuclear war
Cuban Missile
Crisis
in 1962
 In response to US’s
installation of ballistic
missiles in the UK and
Turkey, Soviets started
installation in Cuba
 US asked Soviets to
dismantle the operation
 In the end, Soviets
dismantled the operation, the
US declared that it would not
invade Cuba
 Also the US dismantled
missiles deployed in Europe
and Turkey
 Hotline established
Détente throughout
60s & 70s
between the Soviet and
American leaders
 A number of arms control
treaties were signed,
started with the Limited
Test Ban in 1963
 The Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty (SALT I)
in 1972
 Communism as an ideology
Towards the end
lost its appeal since Soviet’s
reliance on brute force
resulted in deep currents of
suspicions especially across
Central and Eastern Europe
 Soviet Union could not sustain
its economic development
levels by late 70s and 80s
 Lack of consumer goods
resulted in public discontent;
the economy lost its
competitiveness
 The US initiated “Strategic
Defense Initiative” under
Reagan administration
 Balance between two superpowers was upset by 1980s
End of the Cold
War
 Soviet leadership under
Gorbachev tried to restructure its political and
economic system:
perestroika
 His strategy was
glastnost, or open
discussion and
transparency
 Failed coup in August
1991
 Disintegration of the
Soviet Union by
December 1991
Fukuyama: End of history? (1989)
 Mass liberalization and democratization movements
unfolded after the fall of communism
 IMF & World Bank played significant roles in postcommunist re-structuring
 Political scientist Fukuyama argued that “the end of
history” has come with the triumph of liberalism
Challenge to Fukuyama’s thesis