The Cold War: origins, escalation, and decline from 1945 to 1991

Cold War

The term cold war became famous after the end of World War II. As soon as the World War II ended the verbal bickering started among different nations. Churchill first made a speech emphasizing the superiority of Western nations and Stalin in return placed Churchill in the same league as Hitler. The term 'cold war' became popular later after it was being used in books and articles. The ideologies of Capitalism and Communism adopted by two nations in United States and Russia paved way for two different ways of life. Capitalism flourished in the U.S. while leaders advocated for democracy. Russia on the other hand under the leadership of Stalin advocated for its own security favoring communist government in countries like Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The U.S. And Russia tussle started with their difference of opinion on Germany. U.S. wanted to rebuild Germany while Russia saw a Germany capable of initiating another war.

Decade of 60s & 70s

The decade of 60s brought in its wake a situation where U.S. And Russia continued to engage in a cold war with each other. Kennedy assassination, the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War antiwar movement were some of the events that disturbed the U.S. governments during the decade but U.S. governments still remained pervasive with their anti-Russia policy. Due to its occupation with Vietnam War, U.S. could not pursue its policies as adamantly as Russia did resulting in Communist power in Southeast Asia. However by the end of Vietnam War Soviet influence declined dividing Southeast Asia in a way that China became a little closer to the United Sates as President Nixon visited China. "In March 1969, after several exchanges of gunfire between Soviet and Chinese troops on the Ussuri River, which separates Chinese Manchuria and Soviet Siberia, the prospect of a Sino-Soviet war did not seem out of the question, particularly after the Soviets massed forty divisions on the frontier facing China. The Soviets apparently were prepared to reduce tensions with the United States and its European allies if only to free themselves to deal with the seemingly unreasonable Chinese" (Powaski, 1998). Another development that took place was the influence of two super powers on the third world nations. Some nations were like Libya was heavily backed by USSR and some like Saudi Arabia was backed by the United States. The end of decade of 1970s was marked by the invasion of USSR in Afghanistan while the emergence of governments of Thatcher and Reagan made anti-USSR movement stronger.

End of Cold War

By the end of the year 1991 the super power of Russian Federation fell into pieces and the Soviet Union separated into fifteen different nations and so the cold war finally met its natural death. The new states formed had lost the connection with super power and the cold war. The new States did not have the luxury to wage a cold war rather they had new problems to face as independent states. The collapse of Soviet Union was the event that not only marked the end of cold war but the end of a century of conflict between two powers leaving only United Sates as the sole super power in the world.

Reference:

Powaski, R. (1998). The Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991. Oxford University Press: New York.