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COLD WAR 8 DEFINITIONS

What is the Cold War?
"Cold War" is the name given to the sustained conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union for
much of the twentieth century. It is a global, political, ideological and cultural conflicts of economic nature
between two antagonistic blocs, led by US and the USSR.
When did it start? Who are responsible for the origin and persistence of this conflict? What are the main
features of this war? When will it end? Here are some questions you can answer from reading the excerpts
that follow. You can see that the answers to the above questions are multiple and sometimes contradictory. In
view of this we propose to elucidate the reasons for such contradictions and synthesize the main features of
this particular conflict.
KEY QUESTIONS:
1. What is the meaning of the Cold War conflict?
2. Who are the players in this conflict?
3. Between what years the Cold War develop?
4. What are the main characteristics dela Cold War?
I. No. 1 Document "The Cold War is the way from the aggressive world communism, the political and spiritual
and psychological-propaganda confrontation with the non-communist world. In the Cold War, world
communism wants, first, to dominate the consciousness of the masses. Therefore, it is their influence
penetrates all the vital areas of society in non-communist states. The ultimate goal of the Cold War is in full
control, discovered or hidden, the non-Communist world. For this purpose non-military means are
preferably used. However, occasionally you can also resort to military means. Communist successes in the
Cold War can lead to revolutionary situations "
Source: Manual of Military Issues of the German Federal Republic, West Germany, 1963. (In:.. Pereira
Castaneda, Juan, op cit, Page 13)

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II. .Document No. 2 "The Cold War is an aggressive political course taken by the reactionary circles of the
imperialist powers, led by the US and Britain in the wake of World War II from 1939 to 1945 (...) The Cold
War is aimed at not allowing peaceful coexistence between states with different social systems, to sharpen
international tensions and create conditions for the outbreak of a new world war (...) In practice the politics
of the Cold War has become evident in the creation of political block aggressive-military, in the arms race,
the establishment of military bases on the territory of other states, in the hysteria of war, intimidation of
peace loving people (...) in the disruption of relationships peaceful economic, in attempts to replace
violence and dictatorship generally recognized norms of diplomatic relations between States ".
Source: Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow 1970. (In Pereira Castaneda, Juan, op cit, page 16..)

III. .Document No. 3 The Cold War is the confrontation between Soviets and Americans motivated by their
ambitions and interests, by the clash between two ideologies of universal claim, ingrown each in a state
powerful enough to make him a candidate hegemony. The Cold War is the greatest war of all time. There
certainly has cost more lives, thank God, although its alleged coldness should not dazzle, is the first in
which it has staked the domain of the world and even the surrounding space, the first he has faced, for
interests and passions above two recipes automatic and universal goodness. It would be ridiculous to ask it
as a struggle between good and evil. ... Everyone has become accustomed to seeing in the opponent an
out-law against whom all the blows were allowed. The miracle is that has been established between these
two worlds and faced a sort of coexistence and dialogue gradually and the effort of understanding have
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been impersonating the attack. Admittedly the merit corresponds especially to nuclear weapons. The cold
war has cut it in two cities and countries, it has created and destroyed nations, has put weapons in the
hands of tens of millions of men, has killed hundreds of thousands of them, has aroused enthusiasm,
sufferings and fears ... definitely It could not have been avoided.
Source: Andre Fontaine, History of the Cold War, Editorial Luis Caralt, Barcelona 1970. Page 8. (The author of
the work is French and the first publication of this work was conducted in France in 1970)

IV. .Document No. 4 "The Cold War concept is of US origin. It was invented in 1947 the journalist Herbert B.
Swope for use in a speech by Senator Barnard Baruch. We picked up another journalist Walter Lipman that
popularized in a collection of his essays entitled The Cold War. Study of the foreign policy of the United
States. In the late forties expression he had gained an identity and was used to designate the complex
system of international relations after the war, the struggle between the two superpowers for world
hegemony and the emergence of an abyss of hostility and fear among two large geopolitical blocs "
Source: Gil, Julio, The Cold War: NATO versus Warsaw Pact, Editorial Siglo XXI Madrid 1998. Page 7

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V. .Document 5: The Cold War forty five years between the explosion of the atomic bomb (1945) and the end of
the Soviet Union (1991) does not constitute a period of homogeneous and unique history ... However, the
history of this period as a whole followed a unique pattern marked by the peculiar international situation
that dominated it until the fall of the USSR: The constant confrontation of the two superpowers emerged
from the Second World War, the so-called Cold War. "War is not just battles, or action to fight but a period
of time that will go into battle is sufficiently known" (Hobbes, chapter 13) The Cold War between the US
and the USSR It was a period of time with those characteristics. Entire generations grew up under the
threat of a global nuclear conflict, as many believed, could erupt at any time and wipe out humanity. The
uniqueness of the Cold War was that, objectively speaking, there was no imminent danger of world war.
Moreover, despite the apocalyptic rhetoric from both sides, especially on the US side, the governments of
both superpowers accepted the overall distribution of forces established at the end of the Second World
War. The USSR dominated or exercised a preponderant influence in a part of the globe: the area occupied
by the Red Army and other armed forces Communists at the end of the war, without trying to extend
beyond its sphere of influence by force of arms. The United States controlled and dominated the rest of the
capitalist world and the Western Hemisphere and the oceans, taking the remains of the old imperial
hegemony of the former colonial powers. In return, did not intervene in the area accepted as Soviet
hegemony The delimitation influences was clear in Europe and in Japan ... The contest for influence is
manifested in the old colonial empires, which para1945, in the case of Asia already signs of avizoraban
disintegration. As the future direction of the new post-colonial states was unclear, it was in this area where
the two superpowers continued to compete for support and influence throughout the cold war, was where
armed conflict that eventually burst were more likely (Korea and Vietnam are the most characteristic) ...
Peace was maintained during the Cold War because despite the rhetoric used by both parties, none of
them was willing to go to direct confrontation, therefore, one of the premises during this period was that
peaceful coexistence between the two powers was possible. ... As examples of this situation we have the
Korean War in 1950-53 and the missile crisis in Cuba in 1962. In both cases, the parties risked start direct
confrontation because they knew the risks it meant. In the case of Korea, the United States entered
directly, whereas the USSR did covertly through the Chinese. That situation did the Americans, but was
kept secret because it appeared that the last thing Moscow wanted was an open confrontation. In the
missile crisis in 1962 and both sides retreated get out of the problem without being directly involved in the
war. ... The USSR learned during the Cold War that the US calls a "rolling back communism" were nothing
more than propaganda, and that what prevailed was actually respect the sphere of influence Soviet Once
the USSR seized nuclear, atomic 1949 Hydrogen 1953, both superpowers stopped using the war as a
political weapon in their mutual relations, as it was the equivalent of a suicide pact. However, both
superpowers were served the nuclear threat ... confident that would not be used seemed justified, but at

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the price of unhinge the nerves of several generations. The most significant example is the Cuban missile
crisis.
Source Book: Hobsbawm, Eric, History of the Twentieth Century, Editorial Critics, Buenos Aires, 1998. Page
229-233

VI. .Document No. 6 "The Cold War was a struggle for global influence between the United States and the Soviet
Union. The two countries used different methods, but were never launch a direct and all-out attack against
their territory. The creation of guilds, the presentation of military and economic aid to states that were his
clients and those who aspired to be a massive and expensive arms race, propaganda campaigns,
espionage, guerrilla warfare, fighting subversion and political assassinations were the methods they used.
The Cold War was one of the longest conflicts in the history of humanity, which lasted more than seventy
years (1917-1991), with some periods of decreased hostility. War was also greater scope than it has been
in the world was in all continents of the globe, and given the space race, also took over them. He was also
one of the most costly conflicts, not only by the number of lives lost, but also for the resources consumed.
In the end, the Soviet Union collapsed and communism expired, at least the form of communism that
existed in that country. But as Mikhail Gorbachev says, both sides suffered heavy losses. America lost
many lives and also consumed enormous economic resources, and democratic principles on which the
American nation was based were at risk. "
Source: Ronald Powaski, The Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991, Editorial Critica,
Barcelona 2000. Page 9. (The author of the work is English)
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VII. .Document No. 7 "The Cold War has three main features: total incompatibility between two towns grouped
around two systems, the US shield Western world and the USSR defender of socialist communities; an
inability to develop up to the logic of conflict, from the moment that the two central systems are equipped
with nuclear weapons; a propensity to use indirect strategies to destabilize the other. The Cold War does
not lead, as previous conflicts, eliminating the adversary (...) "
Source: J. Gonzales, Contemporary history, Edebe Editorial, Barcelona 2001, page 235. (The author is
Spnish)
VIII. .Document 8: The Cold War was a long and complex period, between 1947 and 1991, which changed the
face of much of the planet. It is a global, political, ideological and cultural conflicts of economic nature
between two antagonistic blocs, led respectively by the United States and the USSR. The Cold War
remained a permanent state of international relations; East-West confrontation was not direct, but is done
through third countries close to the boundaries of the two blocs areas.
Source: Joaqun Prats, Contemporary World History, Editorial Anaya, Barcelona 2002. Page 303. (The author
is Spanish)
.CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COLD WAR:
1. A rigid bipolar system was organized, in which intermediate positions did not fit that aligned two blocs
clustered around two imperial powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The post-war world had
been prepared to contemplate the hegemony of the big three, but depletion of the UK and the serious
problems that led to the decolonization process will gradually forced to unload its international
responsibilities in the US that became the Western gendarmes against the bloc led by the USSR.
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2. The permanent tension between the two poles, motivated by the pursuit of strategic equilibrium in a world
deeply affected by World War II and subjected to continuous changes in the postwar period. The need for a
permanent reaffirmation of the leadership of the two superpowers, forced alignment of other nations and
the continued military and ideological rearmament, are the most important consequences of the search for
balance, which in the nuclear race has its best.
3. A calculated risk policy intended at first to the containment of the progress of the adversary and then to
deter any hostile act is established, avoiding a conflict of global. This policy led to the continuous
emergence of hot spots (Korea, Berlin, Cuba, et.), Where the blocks measured their forces, prepared to
return to negotiations when the stakes were too high for both. The uncertainty about the intentions and the
resilience of the enemy forced to a continuous increase in the offensive capability of the blocks, as the
ultimate risk to assume, present plans of the largest states, would be World War III.
4. Assigned to the United Nations (UN) as a forum for discussion between the blocks, the last resort to the
crisis and, simultaneously, the scene of the propaganda of the opponents role. Despite the negative effects
of the veto, the World Board representing the permanent members of the Security Council and the
increasing role of the General Assembly and the Secretary, the UN became a vital platform for dialogue in
a few years when language international war seemed laden connotations.
Source: July Pecharramn, The Cold War, NATO front of the Warsaw Pact, Editorial Siglo XXI, Madrid 1998.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

July Pecharromn, The Cold War, NATO front of the Warsaw Pact, Editorial Siglo XXI, Madrid 1998
Joaqun Prats, Contemporary World History, Editorial Anaya, Barcelona 2002.
J. Gonzales, Contemporary history, Edebe Editorial, Barcelona 2001
Ronald Powaski, The Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991, Editorial Critica,

Barcelona 2000
Hobsbawm, Eric, History of the Twentieth Century, Editorial Critics, Buenos Aires, 1998.
Gil, Julio, The Cold War: NATO versus Warsaw Pact, Madrid 1998 Editorial Siglo XXI.
Andre Fontaine, History of the Cold War, Luis Caralt Editorial, Barcelona 1970.
Manual for Military Issues of the German Federal Republic, West Germany, 1963.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow 1970.

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