The Cold War
Following the Second World War, we had a period in history called the Cold War. The Soviet Union and the United States had been on the same side during the war, but after the war they became rivals. Both countries wanted to rule the world in their own way, and had opposing ideologies. This resulted in a war between East and West where the authorities resorted to espionage in an attempt to find out what their rivals were doing. The United States and the Soviet Union have never used weapons against each other, but have come close on several occasions.
The Cold War
The Cold War was between the United States and the Soviet Union. They got help from other countries that supported them. They tried to buy as many weapons as possible to scare the other. The goal was to be the biggest and best.
Stor russisk kanon foran en blå himmel med hvite skyer.
Communism versus capitalism
The United States and the Soviet Union did not agree on how the world should be ruled. The US and other Western countries wanted democracy and capitalism. The capitalists owned a lot and hired a lot of people to work for them. The money they earned went to the owners. The state’s task was to give social services like health, schools and defence, but they did not have control of the money. The gap between the owners and the workers was big.
Communism was the opposite of capitalism. They believed that no one should own too much and everyone should have the same opportunities for work. Communist countries were often ruled by one party that harmed other political opponents. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union began to spread communism around the world.
1 / 2
En sort silhouette står med ryggen til oss og ser på et amerikansk og et sovjetisk flagg.
The Berlin Wall
Germany was split into two parts after World War II: East Germany and West Germany. A tall wall in Berlin was built to split the city into two parts. The wall was a symbol of the Cold War.
📷 The Berlin Wall in the 1960s
Sort hvitt bilde av en person som går langs Berlinmuren
A balance of terror
A balance of terror means that countries threaten each other to wipe out the other, in this case, the US and the Soviet Union. Both countries gained weapons including atomic bombs.
The Iron Curtain spreads across Europe
Both the USA and the Soviet Union entered a pact with countries that supported them to be stronger. These were the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact. The result was that Europe was split in two, the Western part that supported democracy and capitalism and the Eastern part that was ruled by the Soviet Union and communism.
Kjettinger som henger som et teppe.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
The US and Western countries created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. Turkey became a member in 1952. After that, NATO was able to block a fleet owned by the Soviet Union. This led to an escalation of the Cold War. NATO still plays an important role in the world.
📷 Finland’s foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde
Finlands utenriksminister Pekka Haavisto, Natos generalsekretær Jens Stoltenberg og Sveriges utenriksminister Ann Linde
The Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact was a security and military alliance between the Soviet Union and the communist countries in Europe. This pact was very different from NATO. The Warsaw Pact ended in 1991.
Kart med medlemslandene til Warszawapakten.
The Korean War
Korea was divided between the United States and the Soviet Union after the Second World War. The Soviet Union ruled the North of the country and the United States the South.
Fear of communism
The Soviet Union wanted North Korea to become a communist state. It became very tense between South and North Korea. North Korea’s dictator Kim Il Sung got support to attack South Korea from Stalin in the Soviet Union and Mao in China.
Truce
The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended in a truce. There was still tension between the countries. Today, North Korea is the most closed-off country in the world and still ruled by a dictator.
1 / 3
To soldater står på hvert sitt koreanske flagg og ser på hverandre med kikkert på hver sin side av grensen mellom Nord- og Sør-Korea.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuba is an island close to the United States in the Caribbean Sea. Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba in 1959. He was a communist and made sure that the state took control over banks and industries. The US didn’t like this and blocked Cuba so that no Americans could sell to or buy goods from Cuba.
The Soviet Union provides support
Cuba started a partnership with the Soviet Union. Since Cuba was so close to the American harbours, they became nervous that the Soviet Union would use the island as a base for war.
Almost a nuclear war
The Americans placed missiles in Turkey and Italy. When the Soviet Union discovered this, they sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. This led to anger from the US, who threatened war. This conflict is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The whole world held its breath because they were afraid of a nuclear war. The missiles were removed, and it all went well for now …
📷 American spy photo of the Soviet missile base in Cuba
1 / 3
Sort hvitt flyfoto av sovjetiske rakettbaser på Cuba på 1960-tallet.
The Vietnam War
Vietnam had been a French colony but was occupied by Japan during the Second World War. After the war, Vietnam was split into two parts in 1954. France ruled the South, and North Vietnam became communist. The United States sent soldiers to South Vietnam to support anti-communists.
The Vietnam War was one of the worst wars since the Second World War. America lost this war in the end, and over a million people on both sides lost their lives.
1 / 2
Tre amerikanske helikoptere flyr over vietnamesisk jungel i solnedgang.
China
Mao Zedong was the leader of China. China was a communist country. In 1950, China created a friendship and a defence pact with the Soviet Union. The pact ended in 1961 because of bad relations between the two countries.
Statue av Mao Zedong der han løfter høyre arm opp mot den blå himmelen.
Disarmament
Disarmament means the removal of military and weapons. This happened between the United States and the Soviet Union around 1980. At the time, Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union, and Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States.
📷 President Ronald Regan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev sign the INF Treaty, the first real disarmament treaty, at the White House in 1987.
Countries leave the Soviet Union
Germany became one country after the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989. At the same time, several countries that were part of the Soviet Union wanted to leave and become their own countries. The Soviet Union became smaller and Russia took on the role as the superpower.
Is the Cold War really over?
The original Cold War was over in 1990, but with the war in Ukraine, we may have a new Cold War.
1 / 3
Den amerikanske president Ronald Reagen og den sovjetiske generalsekretær Mikhail Gorbatsjov underskriver en nedrustningsavtale i 1987.
Sources:
- Tvedt, Knut Are; Tjelmeland, Hallvard: den kalde krigen i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/den_kalde_krigen
- Goplen, Ådne; Tønnesson, Øyvind: Warszawapakten i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/Warszawapakten
- Stoltz, Gerhard; Thorsen, Dag Einar: kapitalisme i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/kapitalisme
- Egge, Åsmund: kommunisme i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/kommunisme
- Dypvik, Astrid Sverresdotter: Berlinmuren i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/Berlinmuren
- Civita (25.08.2022): Den kalde krigen https://civita.no/politisk-ordbok/den-kalde-krigen/
- Dalen, Marit; Allkunne: jernteppet i Store norske leksikon på snl.no. Hentet 25. august 2022 fra https://snl.no/jernteppet
Media Rights:
-
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
NATO
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Getty Images
-
Reagan Foundation/White House Photographic Office.
-
