The Cold War ー USA vs Soviet Union | WW3 | Cuba Missile Crisis | The Fall Of Berlin Wall | Part 2

The Cold War Part 1: Click Here To Read.

And now, let's continue.

In 1960's America, two Mexicans tried to control Cuba, a country just below The USA. And America didn't like seeing a communist regime being set up in its own backyard while they were trying to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world (Cuban Revolution in 1959). So, the US immediately started training Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, who were spreading communism in Cuba.

However, as the day came closer to war, Kennedy wanted to conceal any US involvements in the invasion. So he massively scaled back the American support. And as a result, the bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) was a bad defeat for the US.

Whereas in the Soviet Union, Khrushchev had a lot of medium ranged nuclear missiles that could not reach till America. So, Castro and Khrushchev both were US enemies, and Khrushchev wanted to set up his missiles somewhere near The US. And Cuba was the best place to do so. It was the right place and the right time. The Soviet Union decided to set up its missiles in Cuba so that it would be easier for it declare a war on the US.

On October 14th, 1962, a US spy plane that was hovering over Cuba noticed something strange. It noticed the missiles set up by the Soviets. Kennedy was enraged by this. America had to do something fast otherwise the Soviet would blew them up as they were completely under the missiles range. They knew that airstrikes or invasion of Cuba would directly mean having a nuclear war with the Soviets. So, Kennedy came up with an idea. He did blocked ships from different countries to come in Cuba. It was like the US had made up an imaginary boundary around Cuba and was preventing Cuba to go outside and outsiders to come to Cuba.

The Soviet armed itself and so did the US. Things were getting more and more tensed as the two superpowers were getting ready for World War III. Kennedy demanded Khrushchev to remove the Soviet missiles.

Now, the US had its own emergency warning methods. Like we say Red Alert for something emergency, the US had "DEFCON" which means "Defense Ready Condition". This is like an alert message for the whole nation. There were 5 stages in this DEFCON. DEFCON 5, DEFCON 4, DEFCON 3, DEFCON 2 and DEFCON 1. DEFCON 5 means there is nothing to worry. DEFCON 4 means there shall be increased and strengthened security measures. DEFCON 3 means things are no longer normal. DEFCON 2 means there is a further increase in the military and people should start getting ready for a nuclear war. DEFCON 1 is the most dangerous signal which literally means, everyone is gonna die. Basically, a nuclear war. And the US, first time in its history, moved its military to DEFCON 2 after it realized World War III was about to happen.

The Soviets shot down the American Spy Plane over Cuba. And things were being heated up so much that the US decided to invade Cuba and the war was about to happen. But the twist happened right then. Just the day before the War was about to begin, Khrushchev told Kennedy to remove their missiles from Turkey (The US had also set up their missiles in Turkey) and if the US did, then The Soviet would also remove their missiles from Cuba. Kennedy agreed that and after all the complex stuff, the US missiles were out of Turkey and the Soviet missiles were out of Cuba. And the US promised not to invade Cuba again. This whole crisis was more popularly known as the Cuba Missile Crisis.

Having nearly started the World War III, both the nations signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. Then a major thing happened in the Soviet Union as well. Khrushchev was replaced by another leader named Leonid Brezhnev. Both the parties agreed to the Doctrine of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) where both knew that if they had a war, their country could be in a devastating crisis. So neither of the two wanted to start a war.

But the world was feeling the usage of nuclear bombs. In 1966, American fighter jet collided in mid air with another aircraft and released 4 hydrogen bombs near Spain. America spent months trying to search the bombs but was unsuccessful. This was the 14th time America had lost a nuclear bomb since 1950. Even the Soviets had also lost quite a lot of nuclear weapons, but nobody knows how much. And even till today, these bombs might be hidden somewhere in the world. Who knows what would happen someday!

Then, Kennedy was assassinated and was replaced by the Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. During his reign, there were several proxy wars fought between the US and the Soviets.

People of America did not like Lyndon doing all of this. So in the 1968 elections, a new President was appointed: Richard Nixon.

The US and The Soviets both were getting economic losses due to these wars. The Soviet was spending all its money in the military and the people were still hungry and poor as they compared themselves to the west. The Soviet was also not winning the space race as in 1969, America launched its Apollo 11 mission and landed 2 men on the moon for the first time. So both the nations decided to make a truce and Nixon was the first American President to visit Moscow in 1972.

Nixon resigned soon and Americans decided to keep a person as their President who wouldn't cheat on them. So they elected Jimmy Carter in 1976. But Carter was not tough on communism. So they again elected another President Ronal Reagan in 1980 elections. He was the 40th US president. Man, Americans were changing their Presidents like a game as so many came and went during the Cold War itself!

Now Reagan was very violent and tough man. He started speeding things up and was ready for a war with the Soviet. Whereas in the Soviet, Brezhnev got old and died and was replaced. And 2 more such people were replaced but got old and died. And finally came the last leader of the Soviet Union who died recently on 30 August 2022, Mikhail Gorbachev. He came into the office in 1985, and man, he was a real game changer. His philosophy differed a lot from the previous Soviet leaders. Gorbachev wanted the Soviet people to be happy and so did the previous leaders. BUT Gorbachev actually made that happen. He began the political movement for more openness and transparency. He also restructured the Soviet political and economic systems.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev changed a lot of things for good. People were now allowed to criticize the government, enjoy western culture, and were given freedom. He also knew that the arms race needed to be ended in order to rescue the Soviet economy. He also made a positive relationship with the west. He signed the INF treaty in 1987 which saw all intermediate ranged missiles being eliminated. This was a huge step for Gorbachev in making the Soviet happier than ever before. Reagan also made good relationships with the Soviet and became friends.

Now, what about the eastern bloc of Europe? Gorbachev allowed the reforms and changes and told them to set their nations as they want. Elections were held all over Europe and things were getting good. But one nation had a problem: Germany and its Berlin Wall. Remember the wall that was built in Berlin to separate east and west Berliners? The Berliners were trapped in the wall on either side. German people wanted freedom. They were demanding for a United Germany. There were mass protests all over Berlin. Finally on November 9, 1989, The Government allowed East Berliners to go to the West.

And that was the most historic and emotional day for the Berliners as on that night people were allowed to walk to the west Berlin and saw their freedom. Met their families and cried. East and West Berliners couldn't believe it and partied all night. The people started breaking down the Berlin Wall and thus The Fall Of Berlin Wall was also done. A year later in 1990, Germany was reunified. Elections and revolutions in the nearby countries bought communism to an end and all the countries were now given the freedom to life.

America decided not to interfere with the good things happening in Europe and stayed calm by changing their President again. This time it was George H.W. Bush. But wait, there is still 1 communist country remaining. Who? The Big Fat Soviet Union! Gorbachev had given the people the freedom to demonstrate. And now, the people of Soviet were demonstrating to end the communist rule itself! The Soviet Union had to be dissolved. The Soviet Union was made of several republic nations and the largest of them was Russia.

So finally finally, after all the tensions, wars and all that stuff, The Soviet Union was dissolved on 26 December 1991 where all the nations were given freedom and the democratic republic of Russia was formed.

So, that was the end of The Cold War, the biggest crisis that could've started World War III. But everything became good and this came with a nice and happy ending. Thank you for reading!

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