The Cold War and international relations

Origins

Ideological conflict between capitalism (USA) and communism (USSR), wartime disagreements (Yalta and Potsdam, 1945), Soviet control of Eastern Europe, the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan (1947), and the Berlin Blockade (1948–49).

Key crises

NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955); the Korean War (1950–53); the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962); the Vietnam War; the building of the Berlin Wall (1961).

The Cold War in Africa

Superpowers backed rival movements: in Angola (MPLA backed by the USSR and Cuba; UNITA backed by the USA and South Africa), the Congo crisis (1960), the Horn of Africa, and Mozambique. Liberation movements received support from the socialist bloc.

Détente and the end of the Cold War

Arms control (SALT), Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost and perestroika), the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989) and the collapse of the USSR (1991).

The United Nations

Peacekeeping, decolonisation support and sanctions; limitations due to the Security Council veto.

The Non-Aligned Movement

Founded in 1961 by countries avoiding alignment with either bloc (Zimbabwe hosted its summit in Harare in 1986).

Check yourself

1. Name the two military alliances of the Cold War.
2. Give one example of Cold War involvement in Africa.
3. In what year did the Soviet Union collapse?