5/16/2023 0 Comments Ancient space war factsresponded by creating a defensive alliance of its own. signed a treaty agreeing that “an armed attack against one or more…shall be considered an attack against them all.” On April 4, 1949, the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the U.K. and its allies formed a transatlantic mutual defense alliance known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. backed a communist coup in Czechoslovakia and launched a blockade of west Berlin, which had been divided into occupation zones controlled by communists in the east and capitalists in the west. wasn’t alone in worrying about Stalin’s push to extend Soviet influence westward and bring other states under communist rule. American journalist Walter Lippmann popularized the term in a series of articles in 1947 as nations chose sides in the standoff. The term “Cold War” became a shorthand to describe the ideological struggle between capitalism in the West and communism in the East. Stalin saw the move as the opening shot of a shadow war. should support countries or people threatened by Soviet forces or communist insurrection. President Harry Truman seized the occasion to ask Congress for funds to assist both countries, establishing what became known as the Truman Doctrine-the principle that the U.S. In 1947, Britain announced it would withdraw aid from Greece and Turkey, which were both battling communist uprisings. soon got an opportunity to flex its new policy. In response, Washington began to pursue a policy of “containment” to prevent the spread of Soviet ideology and influence. was illogical and insecure and would not cooperate with the West in the long-term. In the U.S., diplomat George Kennan outlined the Soviet Union’s growing distrust in the 1946 “Long Telegram,” as it is now known. Soviet leader Josef Stalin was dissatisfied with the postwar division of Europe, which he felt didn’t fairly reflect his nation’s contribution. had borne the highest number of military and civilian casualties in the war- an estimated 24 million-while liberating huge swaths of Eastern Europe from Nazi control. Orwell’s prediction of a “peace that is no peace” came true as seeds of distrust between the former allies grew. The atom bombs killed more than 100,000 Japanese citizens, unveiling a destructive power so terrifying that Orwell predicted it would discourage open warfare among great powers, creating instead “a state which was at once unconquerable and in a permanent state of ‘cold war’ with its neighbours.” In 1945, shortly after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, British writer George Orwell used the term in an essay that explored what the atom bomb meant for international relations. The term “cold war” had existed since the 1930s, when guerre froide was used in France to describe increasingly fraught relationships between European countries. Here’s a look at why it began, how it escalated, its legacy today-and why some analysts think another Cold War is already underway. The Cold War lasted nearly half a century. Though the two nations were technically at peace, the period was characterized by an aggressive and costly arms race bloody proxy wars fought across Latin America, Africa, and Asia and competing bids for world dominance between U.S.-led capitalist governments and the Soviet-led communist bloc. and the U.S.S.R., that lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. What followed was a dangerous struggle for supremacy between two superpowers, the U.S. suddenly had the upper hand among the powers who were allies in the war. With a devastating and proven weapon in its armory, the U.S. used the atomic bomb to force Japan’s surrender. ( Subscriber exclusive: For Hiroshima's survivors, memories of the bomb are impossible to forget.) had just successfully tested a weapon of “unusual destructive force.” It was a nuclear weapon capable of destroying entire cities, the most dangerous and powerful armament the world had ever seen. President Harry Truman took aside Soviet premier Joseph Stalin to share some explosive news: The U.S. One of the most important moments at Potsdam was not captured in a memo or proclaimed at a press conference. The talks were meant to forge a lasting peace, but within 18 months, a Cold War began that lasted more than four decades. The great powers split Germany into occupation zones, recognized a Soviet-backed government in Poland, and partitioned Vietnam, monumental decisions that shaped the postwar global order. As World War II dragged to an end in 1945, the leaders of the “Big Three” allied powers-the United States, Soviet Union, and Great Britain-met in Potsdam, Germany, to hash out terms to conclude the bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen.
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