Communist regimes began to collapse in eastern Europe, and democratic governments rose in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, followed by the reunification of West and East Germany under NATO auspices. Khrushchev was gone within three years, however, replaced by a collective headed by Leonid Brezhnev. In the late 1950s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were developing intercontinental ballistic missiles. Steve Wiegand is an award-winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35-year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Sacramento Bee. Space was an important arena for the Cold War and even led to the creation of NASA. . When the Soviet Union dissolved, its 15 former Communist Party-controlled republics gained independence, leaving the United … But the tensions made both sides realize that there would be no easy solution to reestablishing a new Germany. The Cold War had solidified by 1947–48, when U.S. aid provided under the Marshall Plan to western Europe had brought those countries under American influence and the Soviets had installed openly communist regimes in eastern Europe. The two superpowers soon signed the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty of 1963, which banned aboveground nuclear weapons testing. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. For fifty years the Soviet Union stood in the eyes of the West as a terrifying enigma bent on imperial and ideological expansion. this cold war ran upto 45 year and these two states were the soviet union with its … Great recounting of 5 key episodes of the Cold War, where the United States and the Soviet Union tried to come to terms and resolve their differences. The Soviet Union’s Burya Cruise Missile Was A Cold War Monster The Soviet Union’s Burya Cruise Missile Was A Little-Known Cold War Monster The ramjet-powered, thermonuclear-tipped beast of a … For its part, the United States helped overthrow a left-wing government in Guatemala (1954), supported an unsuccessful invasion of Cuba (1961), invaded the Dominican Republic (1965) and Grenada (1983), and undertook a long (1964–75) and unsuccessful effort to prevent communist North Vietnam from bringing South Vietnam under its rule (see Vietnam War). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Aerial photograph of Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) Launch Site 1 near San Cristóbal, Cuba, taken on October 25, 1962. In 1961, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev told a party congress that the USSR would achieve full communism within 20 years. The Soviet Union comprised of Russia among other 14 countries that had overthrown the old Romanov monarchy from the civil war in 1921. 1 drawing. This signaled the end of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Thus, the Soviet Union sent troops to preserve communist rule in East Germany (1953), Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), and Afghanistan (1979). Czechs confronting Soviet troops in Prague, August 21, 1968. Science and technology in the Soviet Union served as an important part of national politics, practices, and identity.From the time of Lenin until the dissolution of the USSR in the early 1990s, both science and technology were intimately linked to the ideology and practical functioning of the Soviet state, and were pursued along paths both similar and distinct from models in other countries. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet…, Cashing In on Chips: Gordon Moore, U.S. Meanwhile, Japan and certain Western countries were becoming more economically independent. Soviet leaders feared and distrusted the United States, which was the only country with the atomic bomb — and which had used it. So Harry Truman went to Congress. The Cold War truly began to break down during the administration of Mikhail Gorbachev, who changed the more totalitarian aspects of the Soviet government and tried to democratize its political system. Each of the permanent members could veto council actions, which meant it was impossible for the UN to do anything that any one of the top powers didn’t like. Under this new leadership, the Soviet government implemented decentralised, market-based reforms aimed at improving growth. Inventor, Having Fun, American Style: Baseball and U.S. History, 10 Pre-21st Century U.S. Inventions That Changed Life as We…. Throughout the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union avoided direct military confrontation in Europe and engaged in actual combat operations only to keep allies from defecting to the other side or to overthrow them after they had done so. The conflict showed that both superpowers were wary of using their nuclear weapons against each other for fear of mutual atomic annihilation. The foundations of the Cold War were broader than just the ideological struggle between capitalism and communism. Proposed by Truman in 1949, it provided about $400 million to underdeveloped countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa for developing industry, communications, and technological systems. Although, the United States had much better dominance over the Navy and Air forces, due to its technological superiority. The Cold War was solidified by 1947–48, when U.S. aid had brought certain Western countries under American influence and the Soviets had established openly communist regimes. The Cold War most directly originates from the relations between the Soviet Union and the allies (the United States, Great Britain, and France) in the years 1945–1947. In this period the Soviets unsuccessfully blockaded the Western-held sectors of West Berlin (1948–49); the United States and its European allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a unified military command to resist the Soviet presence in Europe (1949); the Soviets exploded their first atomic warhead (1949), thus ending the American monopoly on the atomic bomb; the Chinese communists came to power in mainland China (1949); and the Soviet-supported communist government of North Korea invaded U.S.-supported South Korea in 1950, setting off an indecisive Korean War that lasted until 1953. Congress went along, sending more than $600 million to the two countries by 1950. The Soviet Union began to establish left-wing governments in the countries of eastern Europe, determined to safeguard against a possible renewed threat from Germany. The Americans and the British worried that Soviet domination in eastern Europe might be permanent. Omissions? Or at the very least, could the USSR have survived until today and remained a viable competitor with the United States? In May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade. U.S. Pres. The Soviet Union had suffered terribly during World War II and was hungry to recover. But the crisis also hardened the Soviets’ determination never again to be humiliated by their military inferiority, and they began a buildup of both conventional and strategic forces that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years. An excellent combination of old and new, offering both a synthetic interpretation of Soviet foreign policy in the latter half of the twentieth century and fresh new material to … Orwell understood it as a nuclear stalemate between “super-states”: each possessed weapons of mass destruction and was capable of annihilating the other. But most of the time he wasn’t shy about doing it — and to hell with anyone who didn’t like the way he did it. While the United Nations did have some success in international cooperation when it came to subjects like health and education, it could do little to slow down the nuclear arms race or prevent the Super Powers from interfering in other countries. Suggests the skepticism of the West at the protestations of peace coming from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The first big test of wills between the United States and the Soviet Union came in the Mediterranean. Cold War, the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The foundations of the Cold War were broader than just the ideological struggle between capitalism and communism. The plan was a rousing success, and by 1952, much of Western Europe was well on its way to economic recovery. These opposing systems of ideology created a rift between the two, once allied countries. Five Ways the Soviet Union Could Have Won the Cold War. The UN’s two main bodies were the General Assembly, where every member nation had a seat, and the Security Council, which had five permanent members — the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, and China — and six seats that rotated among other countries. The "hot" parts of the Cold War included the Korean War, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion into Cuba, and the Vietnam War. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The second time around, however, it jumped at the chance to join the League’s successor. The Cold War began after the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, when the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other started to fall apart. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The fall of the Soviet Union was a decades-in-the-making outcome of Cold War politics, but it happened quite suddenly in the late 80s and early 90s, primarily at the level of … East Germany and West Germany would not be united again for more than 40 years. Still, after the crisis, the Soviets were determined not to be humiliated by their military inferiority again, and they began a buildup of conventional and strategic forces that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years. Mikhail Gorbachev Becomes General Secretary The Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 25, 1991, effectively ending the 40-year-long Cold War with the United States. According to Washington, it was a threatening state that needed to be confronted and contained. The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II. The collapse of the Soviet Union started in the late 1980s and was complete when the country broke up into 15 independent states on December 25, 1991. From Berlin to Hanoi and Cairo to Havana, the United States and the Soviet Union clashed in an era known as the Cold War. The Cold War was an ideological War that happened between the Soviet Union and the United States, and it started after the Second World War. George Blake, the former MI6 officer and one of the Cold War's most infamous double agents, has died aged 98, Russian media has reported. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War - Kindle edition by Leffler, Melvyn P.. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. The final nails in the Soviet coffin came in 1990 and the forms of the reunification of Germany and the successful secession (try to say that 5 times fast) of Lithuania from the USSR, and so on Christmas Day in 1991, the USSR finally croaked, and thus a new age has begun. The countries agreed to come to the aid of any member nation that was attacked, and to develop an international security force that would help discourage aggression by non-NATO countries. What if. Gorbachev’s reforms meanwhile weakened his own communist party and allowed power to shift to the constituent governments of the Soviet bloc. The Marshall Plan: Named after General George C. Marshall, who became Truman’s secretary of state, the plan provided about $12 billion in U.S. aid to 16 countries in Western Europe to help them recover from the ravages of the war. By 1948 the Soviets had installed left-wing governments in the countries of eastern Europe that had been liberated by the Red Army. Communist-backed rebels in Greece and Turkey were trying to overthrow the governments in those two countries. The Soviets desire to forcibly impose itself on other counties was unacceptable. Another intense stage of the Cold War was in 1958–62. The conflic… Over nine years, the Soviet … Learn about the last successful escape from East Germany via the Baltic Sea. The Soviets, on the other hand, were determined to maintain control of eastern Europe in order to safeguard against any possible renewed threat from Germany, and they were intent on spreading communism worldwide, largely for ideological reasons. A brief treatment of the Cold War follows. So when the Soviets became irritated at all the containment in 1948, they blockaded Berlin, hoping to force the Western countries out of the city completely. The city of Berlin was deep in the Russian sector but run by all four nations. Updates? So the Western powers agreed to create one country out of their half and the Soviets created another country out of the other half. The signing of the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty followed in 1963, which banned aboveground nuclear weapons testing. Both relied on a wide variety of military and civilian agencies in this pursuit. | Cartoon shows a puzzled Soviet leader Joseph Stalin dressed as Santa Claus with a long white beard, carrying a pistol and a rifle, as well as a knife stuck in the top of his boot. But America saw its former ally as a nation led by men who were as duplicitous and dangerous as those the Allies had just defeated. For full treatment, see international relations. The first major cause of the Cold War was the increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. The Cold War (1962–1979) refers to the phase within the Cold War that spanned the period between the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis in late October 1962, through the détente period beginning in 1969, to the end of détente in the late 1970s.. This sparked the Cuban missile crisis (1962), a confrontation that brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles. In what became known as the “Truman Doctrine,” Truman drew a sharp distinction between the communist way of life and the Free World. It was waged mainly on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and lasted until 1991. A ROYAL NAVY submarine "carried a war-load of torpedoes" and was "ready" to defend itself while on a top-secret mission to spy on the Soviet Union. The Cuban missile crisis showed that neither the United States nor the Soviet Union were ready to use nuclear weapons for fear of the other’s retaliation (and thus of mutual atomic annihilation). Learn about an unsuccessful escape attempt from East Germany during the Cold War. Gorbachev was a revolutionary leader for the USSR, as he was the first to promote liberalization of the political landscape (Glasnost) and the economy (Perestroika); prior to this, the USSR had been strictly prohibiting liberal reform and maintained an inefficient command economy. The idea was to make other countries prosperous enough that they wouldn’t be tempted to go red. Western bloc comprised of the United States and its NATO Allies. The USSR, despite facing massive economic difficulties, was involved in a costly arms racew… He often complained about what a tough job it was to be president. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II. Although World War II brought the two countries into alliance, based on the common aim of defeating Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union's aggressive, antidemocratic policy toward Eastern Europe had created tensions even before the war ended. The Soviet Union had suffered terribly during World War II and was hungry to recover. By … While several organizations such as the CIA and KGB … During World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States worked as Allied forces to stop Hitler and his assaults on other nations. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cold War involved countries competing for the accumulation of resources alongside building arms and military alliances (Mason, 2019). The term was first used by the English writer George Orwell in an article published in 1945 to refer to what he predicted would be a nuclear stalemate between “two or three monstrous super-states, each possessed of a weapon by which millions of people can be wiped out in a few seconds.” It was first used in the United States by the American financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch in a speech at the State House in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1947. On July 28, 1945, senators voted 89 to 2 in favor of joining the United Nations (UN), which had its first meeting in 1946 in London and then moved to its permanent home in New York City. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The capital was Moscow, then and now the capital of Russia. A unified military organization among the Soviet-bloc countries, the Warsaw Pact, was formed in 1955; and West Germany was admitted into NATO that same year. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but the period is generally considered to span the 1947 Truman Doctrine to the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. Soviet forces had invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the reform movement known as the Prague Spring. After the conquest, the Soviet Union became the first and largest ever Marxist-Communist state rated as most powerful worldwide. Cold War espionage describes the intelligence gathering activities during the Cold War (circa 1947-1991) between the Western allies (primarily the US, UK and NATO) and the Eastern Bloc (primarily the Soviet Union and allied countries of the Warsaw Pact). The Cold War reached its peak in 1948–53. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States and their respective allies, the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc, after World War II. Ranks as the new standard work on the Soviet Union's Cold War--for scholars and students alike. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership. Truman’s doctrine was part of an overall strategy to “contain” communism. The Cold War was a fifty year long conflict between the Soviet Union’s communism and the United States’ capitalism. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. NATO: In 1949, the United States and 11 Western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). John F. Kennedy signing the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, October 7, 1963. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). After World War I, the U.S. Senate voted against joining the League of Nations. Truman was blunt, honest, and outspoken. Millions of people were killed in the proxy wars between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. The Americans and the British feared the permanent Soviet domination of eastern Europe and the threat of Soviet-influenced communist parties coming to power in the democracies of western Europe. After the conquest, the Soviet Union became the first and largest ever Marxist-Communist state rated as most powerful worldwide. Eastern bloc comprised of the Soviet Union and its satellite states. The United States and the Soviet Union began developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and in 1962 the Soviets began secretly installing missiles in Cuba that could be used to launch nuclear attacks on U.S. cities. Truman was a former U.S. senator from Missouri who had been made vice president in 1944 and succeeded Franklin Roosevelt as president when Roosevelt died in 1945. 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