The USA during the Cold War (from 1945 to early 70s): the US model facing crises.

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At the end of the Second World War, there were great hopes for peace, symbolized by the creation of the UN in 1945. But there was no appeasement in international relations because of the divisions between the great winners of the war: the United States and the USSR. In 1947, the Cold War between the two superpowers began. It ended in 1991. After this period, international relations became more complicated and led to the establishment of a multipolar world.

The Cold War was the long showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union after the dissolution of the anti-Hitler coalition following the surrender of the Reich.

Three fundamental features characterize it:
– the indirect nature of the confrontation, hence the adjective « cold » which qualifies this « war »; the two superpowers will never confront each other directly (fear of a nuclear war) but will do so indirectly in peripheral conflicts such as the Korean War or the Vietnam War for example.
– the dimension of its stakes, which opposed two superpowers for the domination of the world, at the risk of a general conflict;
– a bipolarization of the world, since all countries were more or less forced to choose sides.

=> How will the American model be confronted with crises and issues characteristic of the Cold War?

  • Timeline of the cold war (see here)

1. The birth of the Cold War (1947-1949)

  • A progressive opposition between the winners and the affirmation of two antagonistic models of society: the US model:
  • The bipolarization of the world:
  • The world during the 1950’s (map)
  • Stalin’s traditional paranoia led to the establishment of a communist satellite buffer zone around the USSR.
  • The world became bipolar, i.e. split in two: the Western Bloc (or Capitalist Bloc) i.e. the USA and its allies, against the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet/Communist Bloc) i.e. the USSR and its allies.
  • The spread of communism into Asian and South American countries exacerbated anticommunist feelings in the United States ((a 1938 anticommunist pamphlet; an1948 animated anti-communist film produced by a US college ; ‘The big lie’ US army anticommunist 50s propaganda) and contributed to the pressure for increased buildup of defensive forces.
  • The US set up military bases and fleets everywhere in the world and it signed many military pacts including NATO (1949), ANZUS (1951), and SEATO (1954). The USA and its allies dominated the UN Security Council. Its strategy was one of containment, i.e. of stopping the spread of communism.

2. The main crises of the Cold War (1947-1975)

Direct military confrontation between the USSR and the USA was impossible because of the nuclear capabilities of both, though there were numerous crises.

  • 1947-1962: the height of the Cold War:
    • 1950-53 Korean War 
    • The first Berlin crisis and the division of Germany, symbol of the Cold War:
    • Video: Little Berlin (written and directed by Kate McMullen;narrated by Christoph Waltz; 2021; Arte)
    • The Postdam Conference (Chronos Media History) and Berlin in july 1945.
    • Allied-occupied Germany 1945-4949 (Wikipedia)
    • The first Berlin crisis: the Berlin blockade and airlift, June 24th 1948 – May 1949 (video and explanation on the BBC website)
    • East Germany (German Democratic Republic: GDR); national anthem and flag;
    • The building of the Berlin wall (Video 1 see the 3:07 first minutes;video2)
    • Life on both sides of the Berlin wall (video)
    • Line in front of a butcher shop in East Germany (picture), and pictures of life in East Germany.
    • Promotional film (West Berlin a city to live and work in 1980s)
    • On the 9th of November, 1989, the Berlin Wall is opened (Video 1,  » The mistake that toppled the Berlin Wall » watch from 3:07 minutes; video 2: The fall of the Berlin wall)

    • Mödlareuth: The German Village Divided by The Cold War

  • 1962-1975: the Détente:
  • Détente (a French word meaning release from tension) is the name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began in 1969 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972.
  • The USA had also been involved in proxy wars because they coud not fight directly against the USSR : 1963-73 active US participation in Vietnam War.
  • => Study this article carefully, watch the videos and summarize the origins of the Vietnam War, how it unfolded and its human, economic and political consequences for Vietnam and the USA. You will then record your summary in an audio file/a podcast that should be between 5 and 10 minutes long.

3. The American culture of the Cold War

  • Science mobilized:
  • Based on deterrence theory, the superpowers entered a nuclear arms race;
  • The “balance of terror” of the nuclear arms race during the Cold War was the price the USA was willing to pay to defend the “Free World” against the spread of what it saw as the totalitarian communist system of the Soviet Union. (a poster for the civil defense)
  • Manhattan project (https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-manhattan-project)
  • Space race
  • The arts under influence.
  • Confrontation in the field of sports (for example through the Olympic Games)

To go further:

  • Ronald Reagan began his first term with hostile rhetoric and a massive arms buildup, which the Soviets knew they couldn’t match. For example, he initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) on March 23, 1983. The Strategic Defense Initiative was eventually abandoned. But during his second-term he made a conversion to detente and disarmament.
  • The USA “won” this race since the Soviet Union was, by the 1980s, no longer able to upkeep its nuclear weapons.
  • 1989: the fall of the Berlin Wall
  • 1991: collapse and dissolution of the USSR (Gorbatchev resignation)

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