Source: Teahub.io
In the 2nd World War, the two rival groups, the Allied Powers and the Axis powers were in the war. The Axis power countries were Germany, Italy, and Japan whereas the Allied powers were USA, USSR, Britain, and France.
The US dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the death of the Hilter is the end of the war and the Allied powers win this war.
But after the world war ends, a new war started between two superpowers which are the USA and the Soviet Union this war is called as Cold War which started in 1945 and ended in 1991 after the disintegration of the USSR.
The Allies of the USA and USSR in the Cold War
The US thinks that if they have to counter the Soviet Union then they have to make an ally or group so the US formed NATO in 1949. NATO includes the Western European countries like France and Britain. The US provides economic aid to those European countries which have lost their money in the world war.
These decisions help the US to form an ally called NATO. The Soviet Union thinks that the US is expanding its dominance in the world by forming these alliances so it also decided to form an alliance group called Warsaw Pact which was started in 1955. The countries in this pact were Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and East Germany.
The epicenter of the cold war was Europe and it was divided into two parts, Western Europe which is on the US side and other is Eastern Europe which is on the USSR side. The ideology of the US is capitalism and the Soviet Union's ideology is socialism and the allies of particular groups are also adopting those ideologies.
India’s Stand on Cold War and Formation of NAM
When the Cold War started India had got Independence from Britain. And India and the USSR's relationship had just started. It was a very difficult situation for India to take a stand in the cold war because India does not want its relationship to be spoiled with both the US and the USSR.
So India formed a group called NAM(Non-Aligned Movement). The aim of forming this group is that if the war is fought between two superpowers then this group doesn't support any group and it becomes neutral. When this group formed a total of 5 countries were India, Egypt, Yugoslavia, Ghana, and Indonesia. But after that many countries joined NAM and in today’s world after the United Nations, it is the 2nd largest organization of countries.
Famous Epicentres For clashes of Two Superpowers
There were many situations arising in the Cold War which made it a direct war. The first is Cuba. Cuba is a country which is situated in the Caribbean sea which is closer to the United States but Cuba is an ally of the USSR. The USSR is deploying its missiles in Cuba to see the activities of the US.
When America found out about this thing, he said to the Soviet Union that he had to remove its missiles from Cuban bases. but the Soviets refused the US. Then the US warned the USSR that it is attacking Cuba if the Soviet Union does not remove its missiles. So, this was the time when the Cold War was turning into a Hot War but it didn't happen this incident is called the Cuban Missile Crisis which was in 1961.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the US Becomes Only Superpower
The cold war reached its peak in the 1980s time due to the tension arising in Middle Eastern countries, the epicenter of the cold war shifted from Europe to the Middle East. And in 1985 a new government came to power in the USSR and Mikhail Gorbachev became the new president.
He started negotiating with the US to end the cold war and they have signed many arms treaties to maintain peace in the world. And finally, in 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated into 16 countries and the US has become the only superpower in terms of military and economy.
The Bipolar world ended and the Unipolar world came into existence after the USSR disintegration. Russia has become the successor of the USSR because Russia is the strongest nation in the Soviet Union. The countries that were disintegrated, of them, have joined the NATO group and the rest of the countries are still with Russia.
Written by Saurav Sharma
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