Cold War, 1947 To 1991

By André Geraque Kiffer

The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The Cold War marked the heyday of peacetime military industrial complexes, especially in the United States, and large-scale military funding of science. In the war simulation I used the hypotheses that I raised for application by the students of the first class of the graduation course “International Relations” at Mackenzie University in its Campus Botafogo in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 2, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Cold  War,  1947  to  1991. A  historical  simulation

Author’s  Edition Rio  de  Janeiro

2023

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Cold  War,  1947  to  1991.  A  historical  simulation.  André Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  2023. Bibliography:  208  p.  81  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  War Games.  I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-76568-7

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3 PROLOGUE

As  a  Military  Historian  I  rely  on  a  summary  of  the historical  fact,  I  analyze  and  highlight  the  decisive factors,  before  simulating  hypotheses  what  if… hypotheses  through  a  board  game.  In  the simulation,  all  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed,  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the  present  and projected  for  similar  situations  in  the  future.  Since 2010  I  have  published  the  following  series  of simulations:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of the  First  Empires;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece;  III.  Historical  Simulation of  the  Roman  Wars;  IV.  Historical  Simulation  of Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era;  V.  Historical  Simulation of  Wars  in  the  Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774);  VI. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Age  of Revolutions  (1775  to  1860);  VII.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Industrial  Age  (1861  to 1913);  "VIII.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  World

War;  IX.  Historical  Simulation  of  World  War  II;  X.

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Historical  Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917  to 1991);  and  XI.  Historical  Simulation  of Contemporary  Wars  (1991  to  ...)". Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.  War

Games.

5 SUMMARY

HISTORICAL  FACT…………..…….….……………6 HISTORICALANALYSIS….……………..…………13 HISTORICAL  SIMULATION….……………………18 ABBREVIATIONS………………………………….206

REFERENCES....………………………………….207

6 HISTORICAL  FACT

The  Cold  War  is  a  term  commonly  used  to  refer to  a  period  of  geopolitical  tension  between  the United  States  of  America  (USA)  and  the  Union  of Soviet  Socialist  Republics  (USSR)  and  their respective  allies.

Im  1:  The  superpowers.

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Historians  do  not  fully  agree  on  its  starting  and ending  points,  but  the  period  is  generally  considered to  be  from  the  announcement  of  the  Truman Doctrine  by  the  United  States  on  March  12,  1947,  to the  dissolution  of  the  Soviet  Union  on  December  26, 1991.

The  term  cold  war  is  used  because  there  was no  large-scale  fighting  directly  between  the  two superpowers,  but  each  supported  large  regional conflicts  known  as  proxy  wars.

The  conflict  was  based  on  the  ideological  and geopolitical  struggle  for  the  global  influence  of  these two  superpowers,  following  their  temporary  alliance and  victory  against  Nazi  fascist  Germany  and Imperial  Japan  in  1945.

In  addition  to  nuclear  arsenal  development  and conventional  military  deployment,  the  struggle  for dominance  was  expressed  through  indirect  means such  as  psychological  warfare,  media  propaganda campaigns,  espionage,  far-reaching  trade embargoes,  rivalry  at  sporting  events,  and

technological  competitions  such  as  the  Space  race.

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Im  2:  The  blocs.

A  more  Western  Bloc  –  though  not  all  of  this hemisphere  –  was  led  by  the  United  States,  as  well as  a  number  of  other  First  World  nations  that  were generally  liberal  democratic,  but  linked  to  a  network of  authoritarian  states,  most  of  which  were  their former  colonies.

The  Eastern  Bloc  –  ditto  –  was  led  by  the  Soviet

Union  and  its  Communist  Party,  which  had  influence

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throughout  the  Second  World  and  was  also  linked  to a  network  of  authoritarian  states.

The  US  government  supported  anti-communist and  right-wing  governments  and  revolts  around  the world,  while  the  Soviet  government  funded  left-wing parties  and  revolutions  around  the  world.  As  nearly all  colonial  states  achieved  independence  in  the period  1945  to  1960,  they  became  Third  World battlegrounds  in  the  Cold  War.

The  first  phase  of  the  Cold  War  began  shortly after  the  end  of  World  War  II.  The  United  States  and its  allies  created  the  North  Atlantic  Treaty Organization  (NATO)  military  alliance  in  1949  in anticipation  of  an  attack  or  to  contain  Soviet influence.  The  Soviet  Union  formed  the  Warsaw Pact  in  1955  in  response  to  NATO.

Major  crises  of  this  phase  included  the  Chinese Communist  Revolution  of  1945-1949,  the  Berlin Blockade  of  1948-1949,  the  Korean  War  of  1950- 1953,  the  Hungarian  Revolution  of  1956,  the  Suez Crisis  of  1956,  the  Berlin  Crisis  of  1961  and  the

Cuban  Missile  Crisis  of  1962.  The  USA  and  the

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USSR  competed  for  influence  in  Latin  America,  the Middle  East  and  the  decolonized  states  of  Africa, Asia  and  Oceania.

Im  3:  The  crises.

After  the  Cuban  missile  crisis,  a  new  phase began  which  saw  the  division  between  China  and the  Soviet  Union  complicate  relations  within  the communist  sphere  leading  to  a  series  of  border clashes,  while  France,  a  western  bloc  state,  passed demanding  greater  autonomy  of  action. The  USSR  invaded  Czechoslovakia  to  quell  the Prague  Spring  of  1968,  while  the  US  experienced internal  turmoil  from  the  civil  rights  movement  and

opposition  to  the  Vietnam  War.

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In  the  1960s  and  1970s  an  international  peace movement  took  root  among  citizens  around  the world.  Movements  against  nuclear  weapons  testing and  for  general  nuclear  disarmament  took  place, with  large  protests  against  the  war.

In  the  1970s  both  sides  began  to  make concessions  for  peace  and  security,  ushering  in  a period  of  détente  that  saw  the  Strategic  Arms Limitation  Talks  and  opening  US  relations  with  the People's  Republic  of  China  (PRC)  as  a  strategic counterweight  to  the  USSR.

This  détente  (improving  relations)  collapsed towards  the  end  of  the  decade  with  the  outbreak  of the  Soviet  Afghan  War  in  1979.  The  early  1980s was  another  period  of  heightened  tension.  The United  States  increased  diplomatic,  military,  and economic  pressures  on  the  Soviet  Union,  at  a  time when  it  was  already  suffering  from  economic stagnation.

In  the  mid-1980s,  new  Soviet  leader  Mikhail Gorbachev  introduced  the  liberalizing  reforms  of

glasnost  (political  openness,  c.  1985)  and

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perestroika  (economic  reorganization,  1987)  and ended  Soviet  involvement  in  Afghanistan  in  1989. Pressures  for  national  sovereignty  grew  in  Eastern Europe,  and  Gorbachev  refused  to  support  his governments  militarily  any  longer.

Im  4:  The  end  of  the  USSR.

In  1989,  the  fall  of  the  Iron  Curtain  and  a peaceful  wave  (with  the  exception  of  Romania  and Afghanistan)  of  revolutions  overthrew  almost  all  the Communist  governments  of  the  Eastern  Bloc (European).  The  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet Union  itself  lost  control  in  the  country  and  was banned  after  an  unsuccessful  coup  attempt  in

August  1991.

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This,  in  turn,  led  to  the  formal  dissolution  of  the USSR  in  December  1991,  the  declaration  of independence  of  its  constituent  republics,  and  the collapse  of  communist  governments  in  much  of Africa  and  Asia.  The  United  States  remained  the only  superpower  in  the  world.

HISTORICAL  ANALYSIS

Scientific  and  Technological

The  Space  Race  was  a  competition  between the  two  Cold  War  rivals,  the  United  States  and  the Soviet  Union,  to  achieve  superior  capability  in spaceflight.  It  had  its  origins  in  the  nuclear  arms race  based  on  ballistic  missiles  between  the  two nations  after  World  War  II.

The  technological  advantage  demonstrated  by the  achievement  of  spaceflight  was  seen  as necessary  for  national  security  and  became  part  of the  symbolism  and  ideology  of  the  time.  The  Space Race  brought  pioneering  launches  of  artificial satellites;  robotic  space  probes  to  the  Moon,  Venus and  Mars;  human  spaceflight  into  low  Earth  orbit

and  ultimately  to  the  Moon.

14 Cultural

It  referred  to  propaganda  campaigns  waged  by the  United  States  and  the  Soviet  Union  during  the Cold  War,  with  each  country  promoting  its  own culture,  arts,  literature,  and  music.  Also,  less  openly, their  political  choices  and  opposing  ideologies  to  the detriment  of  the  other.

Many  of  the  battles  were  fought  at  European universities,  with  Communist  Party  leaders describing  the  United  States  as  a  cultural  black  hole while  pointing  to  their  own  cultural  heritage  as  proof that  they  were  the  heirs  of  the  European Enlightenment.

The  US  responded  by  accusing  the  Soviets  of disregarding  the  inherent  value  of  culture  and subjugating  art  to  the  controlling  policies  of  a totalitarian  political  system,  and  yet  felt  burdened with  the  responsibility  of  preserving  and  promoting the  best  cultural  traditions  of  Western  civilization, through  of  many  European  artists  who  took  refuge in  the  United  States  before,  during  and  after  World

War  II.

15 Diplomatic

Although  the  main  mandate  of  the  United Nations  (UN)  was  peacekeeping,  the  division between  the  US  and  the  USSR  often  paralyzed  the organization,  usually  allowing  it  to  intervene  only  in conflicts  far  from  Cold  War  spheres  of  influence.

Im  5:  Decolonization  in  the  Cold  War.

Two  notable  exceptions  were  a  Security  Council resolution  on  7  July  1950  authorizing  a  US-led