Cold War Alliances

Why would the US have intervened if the Soviet Union invaded Luxembourg, a small country almost 5000 miles away? As the Cold War developed, both of the superpowers (the USA and the USSR) extended their influence throughout the world by forming alliances in Europe and Asia.

Why were Cold War Alliances needed?

Alliances gave countries and states assurance that if they were attacked, allies would be obligated to intervene and defend them. This was imperative to more vulnerable states, whose defensive mechanisms had been ravaged during the Second World War. The establishment of these alliances was also important to the superpowers, who wanted to prevent the opposition from invading countries and extending their sphere of influence.

During this time, the world was essentially split into three factions:

• Capitalist countries allied with the US (often referred to as the West).

• Communist countries allied with the USSR (often referred to as the East).

• Neutral countries (referred to as the non-aligned movement).

These alliances created clear divisions across the world, particularly in Europe and Asia where differences were stark and some countries were even split down the middle.

How did the global alliances evolve?

Global alliances evolved throughout the twentieth century as common enemies disappeared and ideological differences between allies strengthened. The former allies that emerged victorious from the Second World War would soon be engaged in bitter disputes, leading to splits. Even throughout the Cold War, new alliances formed and old ones dissolved as countries’ motives changed. Below we will look at an outline of the evolution of alliances during the Second World War and throughout the Cold War.

Military alliances in the Second World War

During the Second World War, the two main alliances were the offensive Axis alliance (Germany, Italy and Japan) and the defensive alliance of the United Nations, led by Great Britain, France, and China (which were joined by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1941).

These countries had very different ideologies. The US was staunchly anti-communist whilst the Soviet Union had been communist since 1922. China had been embroiled in a civil war between the Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese Communists so faced internal struggles between the two ideologies. A common enemy, in the form of the Axis alliance, temporarily united these powers, including the warring sides in China.

Military alliances during the Cold War

Once the Second World War was over and these countries no longer had a common enemy, tensions between the US and the USSR resulted in the formation of new alliances.

In 1948, Britain, Canada, and the US discussed forming a collective defence organisation in Europe to improve security and promote capitalist democratic values. The US was concerned about the Soviet Union’s power in Europe, especially as the last remaining democracy in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia, had just fallen to communism after a coup d’état in February 1948.

US fears of communist expansionism and disputes over Berlin (the Berlin Blockade) led to the formation of the Western military alliance, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which promised mutual defence to its member states in the event of an attack.

In 1955, West Germany’s admission into NATO encouraged the USSR to create their own defensive alliance, The Warsaw Pact. This alliance was like a communist recreation of NATO and aimed to protect Soviet European states from potential attacks from the West.

Cold War Alliances of Europe Map

Map of the Cold War military alliances in Europe created with mapchart.net.

In Asia, several defensive alliances with similar aims to NATO were formed due to the fear of China’s expanding influence and power after the Communist Revolution led to the formation of the communist People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The South Atlantic Trade Organisation (SEATO), formed in 1954, was essentially an Asian version of NATO to protect the capitalist states in Asia and assert America’s influence there.

The Soviet Union also set up strong alliances with China in Asia, hoping to maintain a presence there and potentially urge more states towards communism. Asia was a crucial region due to trade, and asserting dominance there could shift the power balance between the USA and the USSR.

Sino-Soviet Split

A major development in Cold War alliances was the Sino-Soviet split between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the USSR that began in 1956 and was finalised in 1966. Whilst both countries shared the same ideology of communism, the major differences that emerged between the two made collaboration impossible.

Photo of Mao Zedong with Joseph Stalin in Moscow 1949, Wikimedia Commons.

A build-up of the following small conflicts eventually evolved into the split:

• When Mao Zedong, leader of the PRC, visited the USSR in 1949, he felt Stalin treated him as a subordinate rather than an important partner.

• During the Korean War in the mid-1950s, Mao expected Soviet forces to come to China’s aid and the USSR to provide machinery and weapons. Stalin did not want to be drawn into a conflict with the US and only provided air support and weapons (which he charged the PRC full price for). The Korean War was costly for the PRC and Mao felt let down by the USSR.

• Stalin died in 1953 and the new leader of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, came into power, denouncing Stalin’s personality cult and despotism in his ‘Secret Speech’ of February 1956. This was potentially humiliating for Mao, who had always publicly given Stalin his full backing. Mao also utilised many of Stalin’s (now denounced) techniques, such as the cult of personality to run the PRC.

• Khrushchev also differed from Stalin, as he took a softer approach to the West, supporting the idea of ‘peaceful coexistence.' Mao’s foreign policy contrasted enormously as it was based on anti-Western and anti-American propaganda.

• Khrushchev visited China in July 1958 but was subjected to poor accommodation and treated with disdain (in a similar fashion to how Stalin had treated Mao in 1949). Mao refused Khrushchev’s proposals of joint defence projects and Khrushchev responded by pulling Soviet advisors out of China.

• In 1959, Khrushchev visited China again and delivered a speech praising the foreign policy of Eisenhower (the US President). This infuriated Mao and the trip was so bitter, it had to be cut short from seven days to three.

• The USSR repudiated key terms of the 1949 alliance, pulled out technical advisors from China, and essentially delivered the final blow to the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance.

The Sino-Soviet split resulted in a tri-polar Cold War, in which alliances between the PRC and the USSR had completely broken down and turned potentially dangerous. Arguments continued between the two powers and almost resulted in a war breaking out between the two over disputed territories in China. Anti-Soviet propaganda flooded China and fights broke out about a disputed border in the Xinjian province.

Whilst these skirmishes never evolved into a war, the alliance and relationship between the two powers were destroyed. Relations would remain frosty and their power diminished by the split.

Cold War Alliances List

There were two big alliances in Europe that divided the continent during the Cold War. As we saw before, these alliances also divided Asia.

Cold War alliances in Europe

Cold War alliances in Asia

How did the alliances affect the Cold War?

These alliances played a large role in the Cold War, not necessarily through their actions, but instead through the threat of action. The knowledge that invading one country would result in several others intervening prevented both sides from trying to acquire more power.

Cooperation

An important consequence of the Cold War alliances was the cooperation and relationship-building across states. Member states could collaborate more easily and focus on economic growth rather than building large armies, knowing they would be supported by other states. This led to countries working together on scientific (such as the Space Race) and political cooperation. In Asia, SEATO provided research funding and grants in agriculture and medicine, leading to cholera research in Bangkok and Pakistan.

Uprisings

The Warsaw Pact proved valuable to the USSR in quelling any internal uprising within the Eastern Bloc. When, for example, Czechoslovakia started to threaten Soviet stability with the Prague Spring and a relaxation of restrictions in 1968, the USSR sent in troops from the Warsaw Pact countries to reestablish control.

This action demonstrated to other countries how quickly and brutally the Warsaw Pact forces could potentially crush any internal opposition and prevented future protests in the Eastern Bloc until the late 80s.

The Vietnam War

Whilst North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were prevented from taking part in the SEATO, they were given protection under the SEATO agreement. This protection came to be one of the main justifications for US involvement in the Vietnam War. The US sent in troops and Australia and Thailand sent in airforces as part of their commitment to the alliance.