{"id":3461,"date":"2023-10-05T14:25:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T18:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ces\/eulearning\/?page_id=3461"},"modified":"2023-10-05T14:50:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T18:50:01","slug":"europe-in-the-cold-war","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/ces\/eulearning\/history\/europe-after-wwii\/europe-in-the-cold-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe in the Cold War"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another factor in the decision to integrate Europe were the external pressures on Western European states immediately following the war. The United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) played important roles in creating an atmosphere where European integration could take place. Western Europe was now bordered by satellite states of the USSR and chose to rely heavily on the United States for security and aid.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Soviet Leader Josef Stalin<\/p><\/div>\n

The Cold War<\/strong>
\nThe Cold War began almost immediately after the end of the Second World War. It was a conflict between the only two superpowers in the world, Soviet Russia and its satellite states and the United States and its allies. It was in many ways an ideological conflict between communist and capitalist countries which had an important impact on Europe.<\/p>\n

Once the Allied Armies attacking from the West and the East defeated Germany, Europe was divided into spheres of influence with the Americans, British and French in Western Europe and the Soviets in Eastern Europe. Once Germany was defeated, a fault- line was created that split the European continent in half. In the East was the Soviet sphere of influence, comprising states such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany, while Western Europe was in the American sphere of influence.<\/p>\n

The timeline below highlights key events after the end of World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
A Brief Timeline of the Cold War in Europe<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1945<\/td>\nThe Yalta Conference<\/a> | La conf\u00e9rence de Yalta<\/a>
\nBritain, the U.S., and the U.S.S.R. sign an agreement to create the United Nations.
\nThe Allies acknowledge the Soviet Union’s influence over Eastern Europe.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1946<\/td>\nWinston Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain Speech<\/a> outlining the conflicts between liberal democracies and authoritarian communists. Click here<\/a> to listen to it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1947<\/td>\nThe Division of Germany<\/strong>
\nIn 1947, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.\u00a0reached an impasse concerning the future of Germany. Two separate states were created:<\/p>\n
    \n
  • East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union;<\/li>\n
  • and West Germany becomes a democracy with American support and aid.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1948<\/td>\nThe Berlin Blockade<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia
\nThe democratic Czechoslovakian state is overthrown by the Communist party in a bloodless coup.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

1949<\/td>\nThe U.S.S.R. detonates its first atomic bomb. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)<\/a> is established.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1953<\/td>\nA worker’s protest<\/a> occurs in East Berlin, resulting in over a million people protesting and rioting against the communist government across East Germany. Western countries did not step in to help the East Germans, further cementing the East-West divide. It is eventually suppressed by Soviet tanks.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1956<\/td>\nPopular unrest and discontent turns into a popular uprising in Hungary<\/a>. Rebels declared Hungarian neutrality in the Cold War and appealed to the United Nations for help. It was eventually crushed by the Soviet military.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1961<\/td>\nConstruction of the Berlin Wall<\/a> begins. The Wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain in Europe because it was a physical barrier between communist East Berlin and capitalist West Berlin. Its purpose was to prevent East Germans from defecting to the West. Anyone caught trying to cross the barrier was imprisoned or killed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1962<\/td>\nThe Cuban Missile Crisis<\/a> brings the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation. The crisis occurred because the Soviet Union placed nuclear weapons on Cuba, extremely close to the United States mainland. However, after 13 days of tense negotiations, the Soviet Union agreed to remove the missiles if the United States promised not to invade Cuba, thus ending the crisis.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1968<\/td>\nThe Prague Spring<\/a>,\u00a0a period of reforms and democratization in Czechoslovakia under Alexander\u00a0Dub\u010dek, is abruptly ended by Soviet forces invading and occupying the country. Hard-line communists were put into key positions while Dub\u010dek and his reforms were deposed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1979<\/td>\nThe Soviet Union invades Afghanistan<\/a> in order to support a communist government and prevent an anti-communist Muslim regime. The war would last until 1989 when the Soviet Union eventually pulled out of the conflict. The invasion was extremely unpopular both in the Soviet Union and around the world and led to a mass boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1985<\/td>\nMikhail Gorbachev<\/a> assumes power in the Soviet Union. He enacts reforms known as\u00a0perestroika\u00a0<\/em>(“restructuring”) and\u00a0glasnost<\/em> (“openness”) which were aimed at modernizing the Soviet Union and allowing for more freedom and democracy in the country. He was a very popular leader in the West, where both United States President Ronald Reagan and United Kingdom Prime Minister Margarent Tatcher viewed Gorbachev as a man they could negotiate and do business with.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1989<\/td>\nAfter Hungary opens its western border with Austria, allowing for citizens of communist countries to escape to the West, the Berlin Wall finally falls. For the first time in 30 years, East Germans can freely travel to West Germany. Communist regimes fall in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1990<\/td>\nThe reunification of Germany<\/a><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1991<\/td>\nOne by one, states within the Soviet Union begin declaring independence. On December 25 Gorbachev officially dissolves the Soviet Union<\/a> and the country ceases to exist, thus ending the Cold War in Europe.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Click here<\/a> to proceed to Europe’s move towards integration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another factor in the decision to integrate Europe were the external pressures on Western European states immediately following the war. The United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) played important roles in creating an atmosphere where European integration could take place. Western Europe was now bordered by satellite states of the USSR […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"parent":83,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"\nEurope in the Cold War - EU Learning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Another factor in the decision to integrate Europe were the external pressures on Western European states immediately following the war. 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