Context: Recently, the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day was observed on 8th May in England this year.
History

• It was the most destructive war observed by the world which started in earnest on September 1, 1939 with the attack of Poland by Nazi Germany, and concluded on September 2, 1945, with the official surrender of the last Axis nation, Japan.
• War was fought between: Axis nations – Nazi Germany, Facist Italy, Imperial Japan and their smaller allies.
• Against: Allied nations, led by Britain (and its Commonwealth nations), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America. (Allied Nations were Victors, but in such a destructive war, nobody really wins except death and destruction).

Impact

• Even after 8 May, many soldiers, sailors and pilots were sent to the east to fight against the Japanese, who had not yet surrendered.
• Two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August).
• On 15 August 1945, the allies had officially defeated Japan.
• This date is known as Victory over Japan Day when World War Two was finally over.
• After that Two world power, the USA and USSR, arisen from World War II to instigate a Cold War with each other that would define much of the rest of the century.
• However, in current scenario the world must draw lessons from the past and work together to beat the coronavirus pandemic.

About Cold War

• The Cold War was a period (1945-1991) of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and its satellite states (the Eastern European countries), and the United States with its allies (the Western European countries) after World War II.
• Post World War II, the world got divided into two power blocs dominated by two superpowers viz. the Soviet Union and the US.
• The two superpowers were primarily engaged in an ideological war between the capitalist USA and the communist Soviet Union.
• The term "Cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides.
• The Cold War was between Allied countries (UK, France etc. who were led by the US) and Soviet Union.

About Soviet Union

• The Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
• It is the world’s first Communist state that was established in 1922.

Reasons of Cold War

• Durning the World War Allied countries (US, UK and France) and Soviet Union fought together against the Axis powers (Nazi Germany, Japan, Austria). However, this wartime alliance could not workout after World War II, due to multiple factors.

Potsdam conference

It was held at Berlin in 1945 among US, UK and Soviet Union to discuss:

• Immediate administration of defeated Germany.
• Demarcation of boundary of Poland.
• Occupation of Austria.
• Role of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.
• Soviet Union wanted some portion of Poland (bordering Soviet Union) to be maintained as a buffer zone. However, the USA and UK didn't agree to this demand.
• Also, the USA did not inform the Soviet Union about the exact nature of the atomic bomb, dropped on Japan. This created suspicion in Soviet Union about the intentions of western countries, embittering of the alliance.
• This created suspicion in the Soviet leadership.

Truman's Doctrine

• Truman Doctrine was announced on March 12, 1947,by US President Harry S. Truman.
• The Truman Doctrine was a US policy to stop the Soviet Union’s communist and imperialist endeavors, through various ways like providing economic aid to other countries.
• For example, US appropriated financial aid to support the economies and militaries of Greece and Turkey.
• Historians believe that the announcement of this doctrine marked the official declaration of the Cold War.

Iron Curtain

• Iron Curtain is the political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas.
• On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union, while on the west side were the countries that were allies of the US, UK or nominally neutral.

Important Events of the Cold War

Berlin Blockade 1948

• As the tension between Soviet Union and Allied countries grew, Soviet Union applied Berlin Blockade in 1948.
• The Berlin Blockade was an attempt by the Soviet Union to limit the ability of Allied countries to travel to their sectors of Berlin.
• Further, on August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall (Berlin Wall) between East and West Berlin.
• It primarily served the objective of stemming mass emigration from East Berlin to West Berlin.
• Except under special circumstances, travelers from East and West Berlin were rarely allowed across the border.
• This Berlin Wall served as a symbol of the Cold War (US and Soviet Union), until its fall in 1989.

The Marshall Plan

• In 1947, American Secretary of State George Marshall, unveiled European Recovery Programme (ERP), which offered economic and financial help wherever it was needed.
• One of the aims of the ERP was to promote the economic recovery of Europe. However, this was an economic extension of the Truman Doctrine.

NATO vs Warsaw Pact

About NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

• The Berlin blockade showed the West's military unreadiness and frightened them into making definite preparations.
• Therefore, in 1948, mainly the countries of western Europe signed the Brussels Defence Treaty, promising military collaboration in case of war.
• Later on Brussels Defence Treaty was joined by the USA, Canada, Portugal, Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Norway. This led to the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949.
• NATO countries agreed to regard an attack on any one of them as an attack on all of them, and placing their defence forces under a joint command.

About Warsaw Pact

• The Warsaw Pact ( 1955) was signed between Russia and her satellite states shortly after West Germany was admitted to NATO.
• The Pact was a mutual defense agreement, which the Western countries perceived as a reaction against West Germany's membership of NATO.

Space Race

• Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition.
• In 1957, Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit.
• In 1958, the U.S. launched its own satellite called Explorer I.
• However, this space race was won by the US, when it successfully landed, the first man (Neil Armstrong) on the surface of the moon in 1969.
• Outer Space Treaty of 1967: The treaty prohibits countries from placing into orbit around the Earth “any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction”. It also prohibits the stationing of such weapons on celestial bodies, like the moon, or in outer space.

Arms Race

• The containment strategy of US provided the rationale for an unprecedented arms buildup in the United States, reciprocated by Soviet Union.
• Development of nuclear weapons took place on a massive scale and the world entered into the age of nuclear age.

Cuban Missiles Crisis, 1962

• The Cuba got involved in the Cold War when US broke off its diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961, and Soviet Union increased their economic aid to Cuba.
• In 1961, the USA planned Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, intending to overthrow the head of Cuban state (Fidel Castro), who was backed by the Soviet Union . However, the operation failed.
• Fidel Castro then appealed to the Soviet Union for military help, to which Soviet Union decided to set up a nuclear missile launchers in Cuba aimed at the USA.
• Cuban Missile Crisis, brought two superpowers on the brink of a nuclear war. However, the crisis was averted diplomatically.

End of the Cold War: In 1991, Soviet Union collapsed due to multiple factors which marked the end of the Cold War, as one of the superpowers was weakened.

Reasons of the collapse of the Soviet Union

• Military reasons: The space race and the arms race drained a considerable proportion of Soviet Union's resources for military needs.
• Policies of Mikhail Gorbachev: In order to kick start Soviet economy, Gorbachev instituted the policies of glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”). Also, there was growing disenchantment in the public due to falling economy, poverty, unemployment, etc. This made the people of the Soviet Union attracted to western ideology and way of life.
• Afghanistan War: The Soviet-Afghan (1979–89) was another key factor in the breakup of the Soviet Union, as it drained the economic and military resources of Soviet Union.
• Bureaucratic and authoritarian system, Lack of democracy, Lack of freedom of speech, One party system (communist) – unaccountable to the people.
• Dominance of Russia; neglect of the interests of other republics.
• High expenditure on defense, low on infrastructure and technology.