The Cold War

Day, Meredith, ed. The Cold War. Part of the Political and Diplomatic History of the Modern World series. 2017. 252p. ISBN 978-1-68048-358-1. Available at 909.82 COL on the library shelves.

The death of Adolf Hitler and the fall of Berlin in April 1945 heralded the end of the Second World War, but it also brought about the beginning of the end for a multipolar world where Great Powers were competing against other. In the wreckage of Europe emerged two Superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, with diametrically opposed goals and ideals. Whereas the Soviet Union was determined to pursue the export of Communism and the installation of a world proletariat, the United States aimed to maintain the capitalistic economic system that had allowed it to triumph over Germany and Japan.

Tensions that had arisen before the war ended, but as both side dug into their respective positions and as two blocs emerged around each Superpower, these boiled over into conflicts, both with the blockade of West-Berlin by the Soviets and North Korea's attack on South Korea. In both of these instances it became clear that the Soviet Union was willing to skirt with open warfare. The advent of nuclear weapons on both side soon insured mutual destruction, and the Superpowers became embroiled in proxy conflicts around the world and competed with each other for political and cultural prestige.

At the same time, decolonization and regional conflicts, which were only remotely linked to this Superpower competition, changed the maps of Africa and Asia. The two blocks never came into open conflict with each other, hence the period became known as the Cold War. At times, such as during the Cuban missile crisis, both seemed bound for war, but were successfully able to avoid it.

At times one side seemed to dominate over the other, while at other points both seemed equally powerful. By the mid 1980s, however, it was becoming clear that the Soviet Union's economic difficulties were about to bring changes. The sudden liberalization of Hungary, which generated a massive wave of East Germans fleeing to the West, coupled with Soviet loss of confidence following their withdrawal from Afghanistan, led in very short order to a collapse of the Berlin Wall and of the Iron Curtain, as well as German reunification and NATO expansion.

Fans of history will enjoy reading the history of the second half of the 20th century and how events that happened then affect us today.