The Cold War Period
The post-WWII time period was one that was,
uneasy socially and unstable politically and economically. These social,
political and economic issues were due mainly to the tensions between the two
superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union, whom were allies during
WWII, relating to the systemic differences between economics and politics.
There were two main groups during the Cold
War period – the Eastern Bloc under the Soviet Union and the Free World under
the USA. The eastern bloc adopted a socialist economic system and a communist
political system. The free world went in an opposite direction, adopting a
laissez-faire, capitalist economic system and a political system of
constitutional democracy. Essentially, the two divisions were on opposite sides
of both political and economic ideologies.
These oppositions led to distrust between
the two superpowers and this created an uneasy social context. The west feared
the eastern powers would spread communistic ideologies which would lead to their
freedoms and rights being oppressed, whilst the east feared the west perpetuating
what they deemed were evil and corrupt political and economic systems. These
fears were exemplified by the propaganda that was present in both divisions.
The free world played on the xenophobic and oppression fears of the west and
the east played on fears of laziness, exploitation and inequality, where it is
noted that the Soviet Union described the United States as warmongers in the
General Assembly of the United Nations. These
divisions, specifically in Europe, lead to the former British Prime minister
calling it the “Iron Curtain”.
These fears translated much into the lives
of the everyday individual. Spy movies became a predominant genre with many
films such as James Bond and others with references to the secret service and
M15/16, becoming best-sellers, normalising such a culture. Similarly, other
forms of literature were influenced with the rise of superheroes such as
Captain America exemplifying the distrust of the east by the west. It can be
seen that the root cause and motif of this proliferation of post-war culture
was warfare and devastation from warfare. Governments on either side of the
political and economic spectrum did not aid in the downplaying of these fears,
rather they exacerbated them with the creation of organisations such as the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) – which is also now popularly
features in movies such as G.I Joe – as well as other military treaties like
ANZUS (Australian, New Zealand and United States military treaty)Both sides
also had numerous references to nuclear warfare and biological warfare, two
exaggerated fears that were brought about by the bombing of Nagasaki and
Hiroshima, ultimately signifying the uneasy social context.
The bombing of Hiroshima was noted to be
both a display of power from the United States towards their opposing
superpower, USSR, as well as a way to show the rest of the world the political,
economic and military finesse that the USA were eager to raise following the
embarrassing bombing of Pearl Harbour and to shift the global view that the
USSR was the elite military power to that America was still the elite military
power.
The governments of both sides were eager to
dominate each other with both believing that it was impossible for their
ideologies to co-exist with one another. This can be seen through the efforts
to gain political allegiance from new and emerging third-world counties. As the
United Nations became the platform for international dispute resolution, having
such allegiance was critical.
The United Nations was in first in action
in 1945 following the 1943 war conference in Tehran that all three leaders,
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt attended and the Atlantic Charter of 1941, as
well as the creation of international organisations such as the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank – known then as the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development – in 1944. It brought cohesively the
international community together and allowed international law to be debated
and put in place with every member country allowed having its say on a global
platform. This was a ‘popularity system’ and as such, allegiances were crucial
in determining international law.
These political allegiances were costly
though. Following the disaster of WWII, Europe was in an economic crisis. The
time period before the start of the war is commonly known as the Great
Depression and this economic instability was exacerbated by the war. Europe needed
to recover and trade would benefit such a recovery. However, due to these
political tensions, trade and economic agreements were thrown out the window,
further delaying the return to economic stability for Europe until the 1980’s.
Europe finally had the economic power to trade with the Soviet Union, which at
the time was also in economic instability, which not only led to proliferation
in international trade but marked the beginning of a reduction in tensions
between the two divisions.
If you have a burning question, or would like to featured in some way in the "Ask them from me" segment, email me at: cc3493@gmail.com. If you do not want to be featured in the "Ask them from me" featured post, please let me know in the email :)
Visit Particular Interest for more content like this!
Comments
Post a Comment