Chapter – 1

The Cold War Era

In this post we have given the detailed notes of class 12 Political Science Chapter 1 (The Cold War Era) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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World War II (1939 – 1945)

• It is believed that the background of the Second World War began to form with the First World War. After the defeat of Germany in World War I, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany suffered heavy losses, lost large tracts of land and was forced to limit its army.
• World War II was fought from September 1939 to 1945. In this war that lasted for 6 years, there was loss of property amounted millions and innocent people were killed.
• About 70 countries participated in this war and the whole world was divided into two parts. Which came to be called by the name of the Allies and the Axis.

Allied Nations

• America
• Soviet Union
• Britain
• France

Axis Nation

• Germany
• Japan
• Italy

Note:- World War II ended with the US dropping atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Reasons Of World War II

• Bad Treatment with Germany : –

  • The Allies treated Germany badly in the First World War, due to which Germany was eager to take revenge, at the same time Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy came to power and sowed the seeds of the Second World War.

• Birth of Dictatorship Powers :-

  • At that time all the countries were engaged in increasing their power, then both Hitler and Mussolini emerged as staunch dictators. Both ended democracy and refused to become members of the League of Nations.

• Global Recession : –

  • In 1930, the global economic recession shook the economy of the whole world which was a major cause of world war II.

Beginning of world war II 

• On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and occupied it.
• On the other hand, France and England attacked Germany. This was the beginning of World War II.

End of world war II  

• Germany failed to defeat England
• In 1944, Italy conceded defeat.
• In 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on the two cities of Japan named Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Then Hitler also bowed down, with which the Second World War ended.

Atomic Bomb and America

• In 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Both the bombs had a capacity of 15 to 21 kilotons and were named Little Boy and Fat Man.
• The dropping of the bomb by America was supported by some scholars and opposed by others.

Critics

• Critics said that the bombing was not necessary because Japan was about to lose and the bombing only caused destruction. 
• They also added that the main purpose of this attack was a show of power by America.

Supporter  

• Supporters said the bombs had to be dropped to prevent further damage.

Results of World War II

• Huge loss of people and money.
• America and the Soviet Union emerged as powers.
• Establishment of the United Nations.
• Increase in communist tendencies.
• Beginning of the Cold War.
• Fall of Colonialism.
• Changes in the political map of Europe.

Conclusion

• World War II caused great devastation which can still be seen in Japan.
• The traces of the atomic bomb that fell in Japan have not been erased.
• This war has decided that it is necessary to have talks between the countries time to time.
• Many new inventions also took place in this war like jet engine, radar, etc.
• Its biggest achievement is the establishment of the United Nations, which is still working today.

Cold War  (1945 – 91)

As mentioned above, after the end of the Second World War, two superpowers America and the Soviet Union emerged and this caused the Cold War.

What is Cold War ?

• Cold war refers to a situation in which there is only an ideological war between two countries, not a millitary war.
• In other words, the two superpowers try to prove themselves better than each other in different ways (by forming alliances, by building weapons) other than war and do not risk war due to the logic of deterrence.

Main reason for the start of cold war

• The ideologies of the Soviet Union and America were completely different, due to which the Cold War started. 

Ideologies

• America

  • Capitalism:- Under capitalism, the right to take all the production related decisions of a country is in the hands of the general public. In other words, the private sector in the country is completely free.
  • Liberalism:- Under this idea, efforts are made to provide maximum freedom in the country.
  • Democracy:- In a democratic system, the general public chooses its rulers on its own.

• Soviet Union

  • Socialism :- In this system, the right to take all the production related decisions of a country is mainly in the hands of the government.
  • Communism :- The communist system is based on equality. Where all people are given equal rights.

Why didn’t the Cold War turn into World War III ?

• Deterrence theory

  • The theory of deterrence is a situation in which both the countries do not take the risk of war between themselves because both the countries are very powerful and do not want to bear the loss after the war. 

• Beginning of bipolar world

  • The situation when there are two centers of power in the world is called bipolarity and such a world is called bipolar world.
  • The period of the Cold War was such a time when there were only two super powers in the world, the first was the Soviet Union and the second was America. 

Superpowers and Small Countries

Alliences of Superpowers

During the Cold War, both the super powers began to include other countries with them and both the super powers formed their own alliences.

• America

  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
    • Establised on 4  April  1949
      • Objective
        • All member countries of NATO will help each other.
        • All the members will live together.
        • armed attack on any one of them would be regarded as an attack on all of them.
  • South East Asian Treaty Organisation ( SEATO)
    • Establised in 1954
      • Objective
        • To protect Southeast Asian countries from the expansion policies of USSR.
  • Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO)
    • Established in 1955
      • Objective
        • Keeping the Soviet Union away from the Middle East.
        • Stopping the influence of communism.

• Soviet Union

  • Warsaw Pact 
    • Established in 1955
    • Objective
      • Its purpose was to compete with the countries involved in NATO. 

Why did the Superpowers form Alliances with Smaller Countries ?

• Critical Resource
• Military Base
• Land Area
• Financial Aid

Why did Small Countries Join the Alliance of Super Powers ?

• Promise of Security
• Logistical Support
• Weapon
• Financial Aid

Arena of Cold War

• By the Arena of the Cold War, we mean those situations in which it seemed that there would be a war between the two superpowers but the war did not take place.

• Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

  • Cuba was a socialist country on the edge of America.
  • The biggest problem was that there was a socialist government, but it was situated on the edge of America.
  • For this reason, the Soviet Union began to fear that America might topple the socialist government of Cuba and establish its own government there.
  • Therefore the Soviet Union decided to deploy missiles on Cuba.
  • The deployment of missiles on Cuba has now made the US a close target of the Soviet Union.
  • The US knew about it 3 weeks later that the Soviet Union was deploying its missiles on Cuba.
  • In view of this, America took strong steps and put forward its war fleet and for the first time the millitries of both the super powers came face to face.
  • It seemed that this time a war would happen and the Cold War would turn into World War III, but it did not happen.
  • This event is said to be the climax of the Cold War, because for the first time the two super powers came face to face and it seemed that there would be a war between the two. 

• Berlin Blockade ( 1948 )

  • In 1948, the Soviet Union started the Siege of Berlin so that it could take full control of Berlin and protect it from the influence of other countries, this is called the Siege of Berlin.

• Korea Crisis (1950)

  • In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, while on the one hand the Soviet Union was supporting North Korea, on the other hand, South Korea was being supported by the US, thus indirectly the two superpowers were at war.

• US intervention in Vietnam ( 1954–1975)  

  • In 1954, a war broke out between North Vietnam which was supported by the Soviet Union and South Vietnam which was supported by the US, this is called the Vietnam Crisis.

• Soviet intervention in Hungary ( 1956 )

  • Relations between the US and the Soviet Union further deteriorated due to the intervention of the Soviet Union in Hungary in 1956.

Cold War and Peace

ARMS CONTROL TREATIES

• Due to the Cold War, the military expenditure of both the super powers began to increase as more and more weapons were being made to compete with each other.
• For this reason, both the super powers decided that they would compromise and stop the production of these weapons.
• During this, the superpowers made three main treaties. 

• SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talk)

  • Through these negotiations, the US and the Soviet Union made an effort to stop the production of weapons, both of them made an agreement on some special weapons and decided that their production would either be stopped or limited.

• LTBT (Limited Test Ban Treaty)

  • This treaty prohibits testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater. It was signed by the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union in Moscow on 5 August 1963 and is effective from 10 October 1963.

• NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty)

  • According to this treaty, a nuclear weapon state is one which has manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device prior to 1 January 1967.  So there are only five nuclear weapon states: US, USSR (later Russia), Britain, France and China.
  • The treaty was signed in 1968 in Washington, London and Moscow and came into force on 5 March 1970.

Non-Aligned Movement

• During the Cold War, between the tension of the two superpowers, a new movement arose, which was to keep itself apart from the countries that were divided into two alliences. The aim of this movement was world peace and it was called the Non-Aligned Movement.
• The Non-Aligned Movement was a movement not to join the superpower alliences. But it was not isolated from international affairs.

Established ( in 1955 )

• Joseph Bronze Tito – Yugoslavia
• Jawaharlal Nehru – India
• Gamal Abdul Nasser – Egypt

held a successful meeting in Bandung, which led to the rise of the ideology of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The First Conference

• The first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement was held in Belgrade in 1961. In which 25 countries participated. In its 14th conference, 166 member countries and 15 observer countries were present.

Founding Leaders

• Josip Broz Tito – Yugoslavia
• Jawaharlal Nehru – India
• Gamal Abdel Nasser – Egypt
• Sukarno – Indonesia
• Kwame Nkrumah – Ghana

Separatism

• By separatism, we mean such a policy in which a country keeps itself separate from international affairs. 

Is Non – Aligned movement Separatism ?

• Non-aligned movement is not separatism because separatism refers to a policy in which a country keeps itself separate from international affairs. While non-alignment was only related to staying away from the alliences of both the superpowers, the non-aligned countries had good relations with all other countries.

Neutrality

• Neutrality means to stay away from war. The neutral countries neither participate in the war nor take any steps to end it.

Is non – Aligned Movement Neutralism ?

Non-aligned movement is not neutralism because a neutral country is a country that does not care whether there is war or not, neither it takes part in the war nor does any step to end it. If we talk about non-alignment, then all the countries involved in it did not take part in the war but took continuous steps to pacify it. Non-aligned countries supported every right move of the superpowers and also opposed every wrong move which shows their role in pacifying the war.

Non-alignment and India

• India was one of the founding memebers of Non aligned movement
• Being the member of non aligned movement helped India as well it faced criticism.

Advantages

• Independent foreign policy
• support of both superpowers
• International Recognisation
• Support of another superpower when opposed by one superpower
• Cooperation with other developing countries

Criticism

• No stability in India’s policy
• India’s policy is without principle
• Trying to avoid taking international decisions
• Assistance taken by Soviet Union in 1971 was considered as the violation of non-alignment
• trying to get profit from both superpowers

Relevance of Non- Alignment

• By the relevance of non-alignment, we mean the need of non-alignment in today’s time.
• Many scholars believe that there is no need for non-alignment at present because non-alignment was born due to cold war and now the cold war is over, so now non-alignment is irrelevant.
• But the countries which are involved in non-alignment have a different view on this.

Usefulness of Non- Alignment in Today ‘s Time

• To promote peace
• To promote development
• To Create awareness for international problems
• To protect the freedom of small countries
• To combat problems like environment and terrorism.

The New International Economic Order

• Almost all the countries involved in the Third World were those who had just become independent and were poor and underdeveloped. The biggest challenge before them at that time was to make economic development and bring the country out of poverty.
• For this reason, the third world countries raised their voice at the international level and demanded that they should also get equal opportunities to develop.
• In view of this demand, in 1972, a report titled Towards a “New Trade Policy for Development” was presented at UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development). It mainly contained proposals to reform the system of international trade.
• It had these four major changes.
  • Underdeveloped countries must have complete control over their resources.
  • Underdeveloped countries should get an opportunity to trade in the market of developed countries.
  • The cost of technology imported from developed countries should be low.
  • underdeveloped countries should also be given equal importance in international institutions as developed countries.

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