Lesson 16 Cold War

The Occurrence of the Cold War

The Cold War refers to the state of confrontation and competition between the two blocs, led by the United States and the Soviet Union, that was neither war nor peace during the 40 years or so after World War II.

After World War II, the United States became the most powerful country in the world in terms of military and economic power, establishing hundreds of military bases around the world and building up a capitalist monetary system centered on the U.S. dollar and a capitalist international trade system centered on the United States, with a strong desire for hegemony. The United States believed that its system and concepts were the most superior and that the whole world should practice the same system as it. After World War II, the western borders of the Soviet Union were pushed considerably westward. The Soviet Union also established a socialist system similar to the Soviet Union in Eastern European countries. The Soviet Union saw war as a product of capitalist monopoly and competition, and the United States, as the most powerful capitalist country, was a natural target for potential Soviet defense.

The opposing national strategies of the U.S. and the Soviet Union and the great differences in their social systems led to increasing confrontation and conflict between the two sides.

In March 1947, U.S. President Harry S. Truman addressed Congress, claiming that Greece and Turkey were threatened by communism. Truman asked Congress to allocate funds to aid these two countries. In his speech, he divided the world into two opposing camps of "free nations" and "totalitarian regimes," declaring that the United States would lead and help all those who chose "free institutions" and resisted totalitarian rule. The policy set forth in this speech was adopted by the United States. The policy proposed in this speech became known as the "Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine marked the formal breakup of the wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union and the beginning of the Cold War.

In 1947, U.S. Secretary of State Marshall proposed the "European Recovery Plan", or Marshall Plan, which attempted to stabilize the capitalist system by assisting Western Europe to recover its economy. The Marshall Plan was a large-scale application of the Truman Doctrine and another important step in the implementation of the U.S. Cold War policy.

The division of Germany

  After the collapse of the fascist regime in Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France partitioned and occupied Germany and its capital Berlin. With the introduction of the Truman Doctrine, the differences between the U.S., Britain and France and the Soviet Union over the handling of Germany grew.

In February 1948, the U.S., Britain and France planned to merge the occupied areas and prepare for the issuance of currency and the establishment of a regime, which aroused the protest of the Soviet Union. in June, the Soviet Union cut off the land and water transportation between the West Berlin and the West Berlin and stopped supplying coal, electricity, food and other living materials to the West Berlin. The "Berlin Crisis" broke out.

At that time, the Soviet Union did not block the air route, and the U.S. and Britain supplied supplies to West Berlin by air. The U.S. also did not use force to lift the Soviet blockade of land and water transportation. Both sides left room for maneuver. About 11 months later, the U.S. and Soviet Union reached an agreement through secret negotiations to lift the blockade simultaneously.

In September 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany, also known as the "Federal Republic of Germany" or "West Germany," was established in the U.S.-, British-, and French-occupied zones. "or "East Germany". From then on, the Cold War confrontation in Europe was basically formed.

NATO confronted with the Warsaw Pact

The United States regarded Europe as the focus of global strategy and the first line to contain the expansion of the Soviet Union, while the Western European countries, which had not yet recovered, also needed the assistance of the United States. After more than two years of gestation and consultation, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, Britain and France, signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington in 1949. "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established, referred to as

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established, with its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The North Atlantic Treaty stipulated that the contracting parties would respond collectively if any of the member states were subject to armed attack, and that the contracting parties were determined to preserve their common social systems and cultural traditions.

In 1955, the Soviet Union concluded the Warsaw Pact with seven Eastern European socialist states. "The Warsaw Pact Organization, or the Warsaw Pact, was established. The Warsaw Pact stipulated that if any of the member states was subject to armed attack, the other parties would provide assistance by all means. The Warsaw Pact was effectively under the control of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. and the Soviet Union became hostile to each other, which developed into a full-scale Cold War confrontation between the two blocs, and a bipolar pattern was formed.

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