Cold War in Europe

How did the Cold War in Europe develop in the first place? It was an ideological and technological conflict that arose between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union – so what did Europe have to do with it? After the Second World War, Europe was in dire need of recovery and yet, these two global superpowers formed rivalrous alliances and generated tension in the competition for power and dominance, making Europe yet another battleground for international conflict. Economic crises, political turmoil, and civil unrest erupted throughout the continent during the 20th century – let’s take a closer look at the causes and major events of the Cold War in Europe and find out what went on!

Cold War in Europe Summary

The Cold War in Europe began with the end of World War II in 1945. It arose out of deep ideological divides between the capitalist countries of Western Europe and the United States and communist Russia, known as the Soviet Union.

They had radically different visions of postwar Europe. The US hoped to build a network of allies and trade partners based on capitalism. The USSR sought to expand communism and ensure a strategic and defensive buffer to protect themselves from future invasion.

These differing goals resulted in the division of Europe into two competing blocs. While the two sides never went to war with each other, there were several flash points of conflict in Europe, and in Eastern Europe, the USSR intervened to repress anti-government protests.

The Cold War ended in the early 1990s with the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Learn more details of this brief Cold War in Europe summary by consulting the Cold War in Europe timeline and the major causes and events of the Cold War below.

Cold War in Europe Timeline

See some of the major events of the Cold War in Europe in the Cold War in Europe timeline below.

Fig. 1 - Cold War in Europe Timeline

Causes of the Cold War in Europe

The main cause of the Cold War in Europe was the continent being caught in the middle of the ideological divide between the US and USSR, however there were other causes of the Cold War in Europe.

Long Term Causes of the Cold War in Europe

• Communism vs Capitalism: Since the rise of communism in the Russian Revolution in 1917, the United States, Britain, France, and other countries in Western Europe feared its expansion.
• The World Wars: Germany had invaded Russia twice in less than 30 years. Russian goals were guided by a desire for security.

Short Term Causes of the Cold War in Europe

• Super Power Status of the US and USSR: The Second World War left much of Europe devastated. The US and USSR emerged as the two global superpowers. They now engaged in a struggle for influence during the Cold War in Europe and around the world.
• Spread of Communism in Eastern Europe: The Soviet Union occupied the states of Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War. Hoping to both spread their ideology and create a defensive buffer, they imposed communist governments in these states.
• Future of Germany: The Allies jointly occupied Germany. The US, Britain, and France wanted to rebuild it into a strong and stable counter to Soviet power, while the Soviets hoped to keep it weak.

From Allies to Enemies: Beginnings of the Cold War in Europe

As the Soviet Union occupied the countries of Eastern Europe, the Western Allies US looked on with fear. The 1945 Yalta Agreement had established that the region would be a Soviet sphere of influence but also that free and fair elections would be held.

It quickly became clear that the two sides interpreted this agreement differently. The Soviets established political and economic domination over the region and helped communist governments aligned to them come to power.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared that an "iron curtain" had descended across Europe. Meanwhile, the US program for economic aid to Europe known as the Marshall Plan, instituted in part to prevent the further spread of communism, was criticized by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin as imperialist "dollar diplomacy."

US President Harry Truman called for the US to adopt a policy of containment, or stopping the spread of communism to new countries. This idea, known as the Truman Doctrine, influenced US policy throughout the Cold War. It was first used to support governments fighting communist rebels in Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid.

Stalin saw the policy of containment as a threat and became even more entrenched in his belief that the Soviet Union must maintain the defensive buffer of Eastern Europe under their control.

Germany became a major flashpoint in the early Cold War in Europe. The country was divided into 4 zones of occupation between the French, British, US, and USSR. They disagreed on the postwar direction for the country. Berlin became a further source of tension. It was located inside the Soviet occupation zone but had also been divided into 4 zones of occupation.

Fig. 3 - Map showing the division of Germany and Berlin after the war²

In 1948, the Soviet Union set up the Berlin Blockade, cutting off supplies into the western half of the city in a hope to push the Western Allies out entirely. Support for West Berlin via an airlift of supplies made it a major symbol of the Cold War, and eventually the Soviets lifted the blockade.

The 3 western zones unified into the Federal Republic of Germany (commonly called West Germany) and the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (commonly called East Germany). This division of Germany confirmed that the tensions between the two sides were irreconcilable and its division served as a reminder of the larger division into East and West that characterized the Cold War in Europe.

Consequences of the Cold War in Europe

The main consequence of the Cold War in Europe was its semi-permanent division into two rival blocs, or camps of countries.

Defining Western and Eastern Europe in the Cold War

The countries of Western Europe became economically and diplomatically aligned with the US, receiving Marshall Aid and joining the defensive alliance of NATO.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union strengthened its control over Eastern Europe. These countries were often referred to as Soviet satellites since they all had limited independence under the strong influence of Moscow. They created their own military alliance with the Warsaw Pact and economic union with COMECON.

Fig. 4 - Map of Europe showing the division into Cold War economic and military alliances³

Important Events of the Cold War in Europe

There were a number of significant events of the Cold War in Europe after the Berlin Blockade.

1956 Hungarian Revolution

New Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had instituted a policy of de-Stalinization, renouncing Stalin's brand of hardline repression in the Secret Speech of 1956. Some limited reforms were made in Poland the same year.

Hungarians hoped for the reforms in their country too. On October 23, 1956, 20,000 protestors took to the streets, demanding reforms and full Hungarian independence. They destroyed a statue of Stalin, and violence broke out between protestors and police.

Prime Minister Imre Nagy announced Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact and diplomatic neutrality. This was a step too far for the USSR. Warsaw Pact forces invaded and reestablished firm communist control.

More than 26,000 Hungarians were arrested and many more fled into exile. Nagy was executed. The US and Western Allies condemned the invasion but were distracted by the Suez Crisis in Egypt and did not intervene.

Fig. 5 - The destroyed statue of Stalin in Budapest

1961 Berlin Crisis

With its status as a divided city, Berlin was a powerful symbol of the Cold War in Europe for both sides. The US saw it as a beacon of freedom inside communist East Germany. The Soviet Union saw it as a cancer of capitalist perversion.

More problematic for the Soviets was the presence of US military personnel in Berlin and the escape of defectors via West Berlin. As much as 20% of the East German population is thought to have fled by 1961, many of them by crossing into West Berlin.

At midnight on the night of August 12, 1961, the communists closed the border. East German authorities quickly erected barriers around the borders of West Berlin and along the line that divided the eastern and western halves of the city.

On October 27, 1961 Soviet and American tanks loaded with live ammunition were in a stare down just 100 yards apart at the border crossing known as Checkpoint Charlie. The two nuclear armed superpowers were on the brink of war.

Fig. 6 - US troops look across the border at Checkpoint Charlie at Soviet tanks

After a 24-hour standoff, the Soviet tanks withdrew, followed by the American tanks, averting war. This crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year were the closest the two superpowers ever came to direct war.

The communists expanded the barriers into a massive wall that divided Berlin. The Berlin Wall became a powerful symbol of the Cold War division of not only Berlin and Germany but also Europe and the world.

1968 Prague Spring

Despite the earlier failure of reform in Hungary, Czechoslovakia attempted its own set of reforms in 1968. Alexander Dubcek, leader of the Czechoslovakian communist party, stated his goal was to create "communism with a human face."

He allowed more freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and made economic reforms. They were widely popular within Czechoslovakia and this period became known as the Prague Spring.

However, hardline leaders within the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact countries feared they would inspire calls for reform in their own countries. So, like in Hungary before, force was used to crush this challenge.

Over 600,000 Warsaw Pact troops occupied Czechoslovakia. Protestors responded with mostly peaceful protests, preventing the large scale violence that had occurred in Hungary. Dubcek was forced to resign and his reforms were canceled.

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev justified the invasion by arguing that any threat to communist rule in one country was a threat to all of them and should be stopped by collective action. This idea became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine. It was also used to justify the 1979 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

Fig. 7 - Warsaw Pact tanks on the streets of Prague in 1968

End of the Cold War in Europe

By the 1980s, it was clear the cracks in the system of Cold War Eastern Europe were becoming more severe. Despite attempts at reform, the communist governments ultimately came crashing down, paving the way for the end of the Cold War in Europe.

Towards Reform?

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new leader of the Soviet Union. Struggling with the costly war in Afghanistan, keeping up with US arms spending, and the stagnation of the communist bloc's economies, he announced several reforms.

Glasnost, Russian for opening, allowed more freedom of expression and democratization. Perestroika, Russian for restructuring, decentralized economic planning.

While these reforms did lead to some improvements, many people remained frustrated with the slow pace of change. The allowance of greater dissent promoted more criticism of the government, amplifying calls for change. The reforms ultimately opened a space for the fall of the communist governments.

Poland is the First Domino to Fall

In Poland, the workers union known as Solidarity began protests in the 1980s. Gorbachev rejected the Braznhev Doctrine and said he would not intervene to save the Polish communist government.

This led to a rapid and mostly peaceful transition away from communism first in Poland and then the rest of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.