The Global Cold War refers to the period between 1955 and 1963, during which Cold War conflicts occurred in many different arenas. This was an eventful period of the Cold War, as it saw an overall ‘thaw’ in relations between the Soviet Union and the United States and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Let’s look at what happened during this period and why.
The Global Cold War summary
This section will explain the key events and developments of the Global Cold War. We’ll first look at areas of improved relations before looking at the opposite.
Nikita Khrushchev and peaceful coexistence
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died in 1953 after ruling the Soviet Union for around a quarter of a century. Stalin’s death allowed new Soviet leaders to take a different approach to relations with the West. Before Khrushchev came to power, Georgy Malenkov was briefly the leader of the USSR.
Malenkov promoted a ‘New Course’. He believed there was no need to engage in a war, which was increasingly dangerous given the advancement of nuclear weapons. Malenkov directed resources away from arms developments to improve the living standards of Soviet citizens, as he did not think a war with capitalism was likely.
Khrushchev entered into a power struggle with Malenkov, who was subsequently removed from the Prime Minister position in 1955 and leadership entirely in 1957. Khrushchev developed Malenkov’s ‘New Course’ into a policy known as peaceful coexistence.
Khrushchev, too, argued that peaceful coexistence was the best policy to undertake in the meantime.
Fig. 1 - Nikita Khrushchev.
Diplomacy between the US and the USSR
A new era of diplomacy began between the two superpowers, characterised by summits (face-to-face meetings between leaders) and treaties. We will outline the four critical diplomatic interactions of this period below.
The Austrian State Treaty
Austria had been divided into zones of occupation after World War Two until this treaty in 1955 reunified Austria. The Austrian government, the US, the UK, the USSR and France signed the treaty.
The Soviet Union agreed to the reunification as long as Austria remained neutral, contributing to an atmosphere of increasing cooperation.
The Geneva Summit
In July 1955, the leaders of the US, the USSR, the UK, and France leaders met in Geneva. The summit was almost entirely unsuccessful in terms of agreements, but the peaceful and diplomatic atmosphere with which talks occurred was crucial and referred to as the ‘Geneva Spirit’.
There was no agreement about German unification, and Khruschev rejected President Eisenhower’s ‘open skies’ proposal, which would allow the US and the USSR to observe each other’s military developments from the air. They only agreed on enabling cultural exchanges of scientists, musicians, and artists.
The Camp David Summit
In September 1959, Khrushchev visited the US, which showed respect between himself and President Eisenhower. The summit eased tensions over the Berlin Crisis, which we will discuss in the next section, but did not reach any agreement.
The Paris Summit
The Paris Summit in 1960 failed before it began. On 1st May 1960, an American U2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, violating Khruschev’s rejection of the open skies proposal. Khrushchev demanded an apology from Eisenhower at the Paris Summit, but he left the summit when Eisenhower refused.
Crises in Europe
As well as the U2-crisis at the Paris Summit described above, several events intensified tensions in Europe.
The Polish Crisis
As well as changing course in foreign policy, Khrushchev also introduced de-Stalinisation, a political reform policy condemning Stalin’s crimes and ending his image as an infallible leader. An unintended effect of de-Stalinisation was a call for liberalisation in Eastern Europe.
Infallible
Incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.
De-Stalinisation
De-Stalinisation was first articulated in Khrushchev’s secret speech in 1956. During this speech, he denounced Stalin and his personality cult and condemned his purges and deportations of nationality groups. The speech was never made public, but its ripples made their way through the Soviet bloc in the form of new liberal reforms known as the ‘Khrushchev thaw’. Political prisoners were released, and there was widespread disillusionment for the party that had allowed such an abuse of power. The speech has also contributed to the revolts in Poland and Hungary below.
The regime in Poland had relaxed some of its policies after Stalin’s death. Still, the leadership primarily consisted of conservative officials who were reluctant to introduce more radical reforms. Industrial workers in Poznań went on strike in June 1956, and then riots began.
Polish military crushed the uprising, killing 60 people and wounding over 200. Although the order was restored, a need for reform in Poland was clear.
In October 1956, Khruschev visited Poland to ensure it did not remove pro-Soviet members from government and remained loyal. There was a real threat of invasion as Soviet forces advanced on Warsaw. Nevertheless, the liberal Władysław Gomulka came to power and diffuse tensions with the USSR by reassuring Khruschev that all reforms would be internal and Poland would not abandon communism.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Fighting also broke out in Hungary in October 1956, calling for liberalisation, and in response, the liberal Imre Nagy was appointed as the new premier. Nagy abolished one-party rule and announced Hungarian neutrality.
On 4th November, the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and crushed the revolution, resulting in thousands of deaths and around a quarter of a million Hungarians fleeing the country. The more conservative János Kádár replaced Nagy.
The Hungarian Crisis again illustrated that the Soviet Union was determined to maintain its influence despite liberalisation at home. In response to the crisis, the West did little except issue statements of condemnation. President Eisenhower had previously talked of intervening to liberate people under communism, but when the opportunity arose, the US did nothing.
Fig. 2 - Destruction of the head of Stalin's statue during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
The Berlin crisis
Ever since Germany and Berlin had been divided after World War Two, there had been tensions, and the differences between Germany’s capitalist and communist regimes soon became evident.
West Germany underwent substantial economic growth under capitalism and benefitted from US aid through the Marshall Plan. East Germany, however, was struggling in comparison, even struggling to present itself as an independent state. Berlin, although divided, was deep in East Germany, making it a key source of tension.
West Berlin existed as a prosperous capitalist zone surrounded by communism, and increasingly people began to move from the East to West Berlin. To stop this, Khruschev wanted the US to leave the city and demanded such in 1958. There was no agreement between Khruschev and President Eisenhower or his successor, President Kennedy. The US was determined not to give up Berlin due to its propaganda value – it showed the differences between communism and capitalism.
Unable to reach an agreement and unwilling to risk nuclear war, Khruschev approved the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961. The wall would prevent the flow of people from East to West Berlin and diffuse tensions. It became one of the most iconic representations of the Cold War, symbolising the desperation of the Soviet Union to maintain its sphere of influence. The West once again condemned it but took no action.
The Global Cold War Third World interventions
As well as areas in Europe, which had been areas of tension since the end of World War Two, the Global Cold War period saw new areas of Cold War tensions.
What do we mean by ‘Third World’?
The term ‘third world’ is now regarded as an outdated phrase that people have often used to describe what we would now call ‘developing countries’ or ‘low and lower-middle-income countries’. However, its origins lie in the Cold War and the geopolitical division of the world. The French demographer (scientist of populations) Alfred Sauvy first coined the term in his article ‘Three Worlds, One Planet’ in 1952. He stated that the First World was the United States and its capitalist allies within the article. The Second World was the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellites. The Third World consisted of all countries that did not actively align with the US or Soviet Union.
The Suez Crisis
In 1956, the President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal after the US and Britain backed out of funding a major project – the building of the Aswan Dam. This move was due to Egypt increasingly appearing friendly to communism as they made an arms deal with communist Czechoslovakia and recognised the communist Chinese government.
The Suez Canal was a vital trade route and was at that one by the French and the British. Britain, France, and Israel launched military action against Egypt in response to its nationalisation. Both the Soviet Union and the US opposed this but responded differently.
Khrushchev threatened to use nuclear weapons on Western Europe if the troops did not withdraw. On the other hand, Eisenhower warned him against direct action and threatened the three nations with economic sanctions if they continued to attack. The threats worked, and the crisis ended in 1957. Although Eisenhower’s reputation increased in the Middle East, Khruschev’s support for Egypt painted the USSR as a friend to the Arab nations and increased Soviet influence in the region. It was the USSR that ended up funding the Aswan Dam.
Indochina
Indochina refers to the three countries of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos the French previously controlled. The Indochina War from 1946 to 1954 eventually ended in French defeat, the division of Vietnam, and the independence of Cambodia and Laos.
Vietnam was divided into the communist-controlled North under Ho Chi Minh and the capitalist South under Ngo Dinh Diem. The US supported Diem’s regime to develop a viable alternative to communism. Aid was given for Diem to introduce social reform and develop the economy.
However, Diem instead used the aid to strengthen his power and failed to win popular support. Communist guerilla warfare began in 1957 in South Vietnam, threatening Diem’s regime, and North Vietnam forces began invading the South via the Ho Chi Minh Trail that went through Cambodia and Laos.
US support to Diem increased, and military advisors became directly involved in the war. When it became clear that Diem was detrimental to the South Vietnamese cause, the US supported a military coup to overthrow him.
Elsewhere, the US had been giving aid to Laos to prevent it from being taken over by communism in the conflict that emerged, but it proved unsuccessful. President Kennedy could either intervene militarily or negotiate neutrality – he chose the latter. An agreement was made between Kennedy and Khrushchev to arrange neutrality; Kennedy saw this as a test case for cooperation.
They reached an accord, but conflict soon resumed, and Laos continued to be used as a supply route for Vietnamese communists. US intervention in the region only increased throughout the 1960s.
Cuba
Relations between the US and Cuba deteriorated after communist Fidel Castro took over in 1959. Whilst relations with the US worsened, relations with the Soviet Union improved.
President Kennedy supported the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, sending CIA-trained Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro, which ultimately failed and only worsened US-Cuban relations.
In October 1962, the US discovered the Soviet Union had nuclear missiles in Cuba. This was seen as a huge threat to the US as Cuba is so close, referred to as in its ‘backyard’. President Kennedy blockaded the island and threatened to use nuclear weapons if the missiles were not removed. The world was on the brink of nuclear war for thirteen days, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
When the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles, the powers promptly set up a hotline telephone link between Washington and Moscow. They signed the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which banned all nuclear tests except those underground.
The Arms Race contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis in two ways: Khruschev installed nuclear bases in Cuba in response to US missiles in Turkey (that were also removed after the Crisis but less publicly). The large numbers of nuclear missiles that each power possessed meant conflict would cause devastation. We’ll look some more at the arms race in the next section, as well as the space race.
Science and technology in the Global Cold War
Science and technology played a vital role in the Cold War, in particular in the arms and the space race. Since the US monopoly on nuclear weapons had ended in 1949 when the USSR developed its own atomic bomb, the two powers had entered into an arms race. Below is a table of developments in the arms and the space race, and we can see how it intensified in the Global Cold War period.
The Arms Race
Competition between the US and the USSR for superiority in developing and producing weapons continued throughout the Cold War.
The Space Race
Competition between the US and the USSR for superiority in space exploration, beginning in 1957 and continuing until the mid-1970s.
The USA leads | The USSR leads |
August 1945: The US dropped the first-ever atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | |
| August 1949: The USSR detonated their first atomic bomb. US intelligence had predicted this wouldn’t happen until 1953. |
1951: The US developed a policy of constant readiness for war. 6000 targets in the USSR were identified. | |
November 1952: The US detonated the first Hydrogen-bomb. Hydrogen bombs can be a thousand times more powerful than atomic bombs. | |
| August 1953: The USSR detonated its Hydrogen-bomb. |
March 1954: The US developed a Hydrogen-bomb small enough to be dropped from a bomber plane. | |
| September 1954: The USSR dropped a test Hydrogen-bomb from a bomber plane. |
July 1956: The US developed a U-2 spy plane to spy on Soviet weapons developments. | |
| May 1957: The USSR developed the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). |
| October 1957: The USSR launched the Sputnik satellite into space. This meant it also had the technology to launch and guide nuclear missiles. |
January 1958: The US put a satellite into space. | |
1959: The US developed sophisticated ICBMS and missiles that could be fired from submarines. The American public thought the US was losing the arms race. | |
| April 1961: Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. |
| October 1961: The USSR detonated the largest Hydrogen-bomb ever. |
As seen in the table, the balance of perceived superiority constantly shifted between the powers. The emergence of Soviet dominance in the space race led many Americans to believe the USSR had more missiles than the US, heightening tensions.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was an awakening, which led to a slight improvement in relations post-1963 in order to avoid a similar crisis.
Global Cold War - Key takeaways
- During this period, relations ‘thawed’ in the sense that the US and the USSR entered a period of diplomacy, and Khruschev favoured peaceful coexistence over Stalin’s hostile approach.
- Despite increasing diplomacy, the summits achieved little to ease tensions other than creating a ‘spirit of Geneva’.
- Khrushchev’s criticism of Stalin and de-Stalinisation ultimately worked against him, leading to uprisings in Poland and Hungary. These events demonstrated Soviet determination to maintain its sphere of influence whilst also showing that the Western promise to liberate people under communism was empty rhetoric.
- New areas of confrontation opened, with US involvement in Vietnam and Laos where they were desperate to prevent communism from spreading.
- The Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated the level of tension between the US and the USSR and threatened the world with nuclear war.
References
- Fig. 2 - Destruction of the head of Stalin's statue during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1956_Gabor_B._Racz_Hungarian_Revolution.jpg) by Gabor B. Racz (no profile) Licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
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