"He who ignores the lessons of history is doomed to repeat it."
- George Santayana
It was a war that lasted forty years, which had many periods without any shooting at all. It was fought between two nuclear states, whose nuclear weapons were never fired against the other even once. And it was called the "Cold War" because of its periods without shooting, but had many "hot wars" within its complicated history, where shots were actually exchanged between the two sides.
How is the war remembered today? (Depends on where you live, and when you lived ... )
There are many alive today who remember the Cold War, but there are also many who don't. Even many of those who lived through it fail to comprehend its true nature. Many in the communist countries only saw their government's version of things, and were forbidden to hear anything else. Many in the capitalist countries were deceived by their own side's pacifists and communist sympathizers, who could never see the deterrence capabilities of nuclear weapons (or military power generally). Many of them had their heads in the sand about both the failures of communism, and its threat to the free world's way of life.
Interviews with eyewitnesses from all over the world
Many fail to learn the lessons of these times, but the lessons are there, for those who care to hear them. Moreover, they can be obtained even from liberal stations like CNN. From the makers of "The World at War" came the classic series about the Cold War, which spent 18 hours explaining both the complicated politics and geography of the Cold War, and showing interviews with the top personnel in the governments and military of both sides. (From the regular soldiers, airmen, civilians, and diplomatic personnel to the generals, admirals, presidents, prime ministers, and communist dictators; you hear from virtually every major player alive when the series was made. You also see the real footage of the events, with a narration to help make sense out of the complicated events of this time.
The Cold War has roots in World War II (including the atomic bombings at the war's end)
The series opens by showing the wreckage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, shortly after their being devastated by atomic bombs in 1945. After a brief introduction to their topic, they mention how the shadow of the bombs dropped here would hang over every conflict, every negotiation, and every interaction between the two superpowers during the Cold War period. After this introduction, they backtrack to discuss the communist revolution in Russia in 1917 (with the resultant formation of the Soviet Union), and the failed American attempts to intervene in their civil war (which ended in 1922). There is also coverage of the between-the-wars period, followed by depicting the uneasy alliance between the two nations during World War II, against their mutual enemy of Nazi Germany. Special attention is paid to the negotiations between the two sides, with footage of an interview with the American ambassador to Russia during World War II (filmed during the 1970's). There are also several other eyewitnesses to tell the story of how the battle lines of the Cold War were drawn. The first episode concludes by revisiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and reviewing how its shadow hung over the entire forty years of the Cold War. With the groundwork laid, their series' introduction to the topic is thus complete.
The Soviets wouldn't leave Eastern Europe like they promised to when the war was over ...
Other episodes cover the breakdown in relations between the two sides after the war, with the Soviets refusing to leave the conquered countries of Eastern Europe after the war was over (as they had earlier promised in treaties). Moreover, they imposed their communist system of government and economics on the countries that they had earlier claimed to liberate. An episode is spent on the first major crisis of the Cold War, which was the Berlin Blockade - an attempt by the Soviets to cut off West Berlin from the rest of West Germany, so that it would not tempt the Soviets' East German subjects with the "dangerous" ideas of democracy and free markets. The conflict began over economics, was fought with economics, and was decided by economics - with a counter-blockade by the Allies, and a daring airlift to bring in supplies to the isolated West Berliners, despite the risk of all-out war with the Soviets. There was some risk that the Soviets would fire on the British and American planes bringing supplies to the isolated West Berliners, but the Soviets dared not do so, even though it meant the West Berliners would have supplies after all. (More to the point, they could not withstand the severe economic damage from the Allies' counter-blockade on all trade between them and the West, as they were dependent upon supplies from the West, and could not stand having those supplies denied to them.) Thus, the Soviets lifted the blockade and backed down, and the first crisis of the Cold War was averted.
Some of the diverse topics that are covered in this series
Other episodes include one on the Marshall Plan (the plan to rebuild Western Europe, so feared by the Soviets), one on the Korean War (an underrated success for the free world), one on Sputnik (with the general arms race between the two sides), and an episode on the Cuban Missile Crisis (the closest that the world has ever come to nuclear war). There is an episode on the Vietnam War through 1968 (with the rest of the war covered in later episodes), as well as an episode on the Soviet war in Afghanistan (sometimes called the "Soviets' Vietnam" - which from the point of view of military strategy is certainly true, but in terms of moral equivalence is not true). The most biased and factually inaccurate episode is the one called "Backyard," in which those resisting the communists in Latin America are painted as being worse than the communists (which was not necessarily true). Although there are some fine episodes about the building of the Berlin Wall (which showed the Soviet system was inferior), the heightened arms race during Reagan's "Star Wars" program (one of the real drivers of American victory in the Cold War), and the final fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which was a propaganda victory for the West if ever there was one. (This is one of those series where some episodes are more interesting than others.)
Interviews with presidents, prime ministers, and communist dictators from the time
And in the later episodes, the people interviewed include three American presidents, which are Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush - every surviving Cold War president at that time but Ronald Reagan, who was unable to be interviewed at that time due to his Alzheimer's disease. On the communist side, they even interview Mikhail Gorbachev (the only Soviet leader still alive at that time), and Fidel Castro (whose opinions are especially interesting during the Cuban Missile Crisis episode). This is not to say that I recommend everything that these people say (I don't), as even on the American side, people like Jimmy Carter are not the most trustworthy sources. Nonetheless, it is good to get people like Carter, Castro, and Gorbachev on the record just the same, as future generations will be unable to do so themselves.
Learning the lessons of the Cold War: How Marxism has fared since the conflict ended
In an ironic twist of fate, the Marxist philosophy that had caused the Soviets to lose in the Cold War (and which had failed so miserably) began to be embraced by many Americans and other Westerners. None of them seemed to have learned anything from communism's dismal record, the dramatic difference in prosperity between West and East Germany (or between North and South Korea), or even from the need to stay strong as a deterrent to future communist (and other) aggression. The election of Joe Biden was a symptom of this historical ignorance ... and amnesia. Marxism has (fortunately) declined in the countries who lost the war, but has spread like a plague through the countries that won it, causing them to make many of the same mistakes that had caused their enemies to lose the Cold War to begin with. As George Santayana once said, "He who ignores the lessons of history is doomed to repeat it," and the Democratic Party of today makes historical amnesia its bread and butter, and its political platform.
Throwing communism onto "the ash-heap of history"
And it does not need to be this way - we can learn from the lessons of the Cold War, and allow the free market to defend and prosper us, and protect us from aggression. We can adopt the philosophies that worked, and discard the ones that didn't, allowing communism to be put on "the ash-heap of history" and relegated to a museum (as Ronald Reagan once advocated). The free markets of democracy work much better than the communist systems ever have, and have prospered this country for over 200 years. There is no need to discard them now, after all that they've done for us. They are as relevant as ever. They can fight our wars, and stop many a war before it starts.
All this free markets have done, and all this free markets will do; if we learn from the lessons of history, and allow the memory of the Cold War to inform us about prosperity, and about peace.
Some quotes from the Cold War:
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in - to prevent them from leaving us." - President John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (June 26, 1963)
"What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term - the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people." - President Ronald Reagan's address to the British House of Commons (July 8, 1982)
DVD at Amazon
If you liked this post, you might also like:
World War II miniseries "The World at War" (also by these filmmakers)
Why we allied with Soviet Russia during World War II, and then fought against it later on
The Berlin Blockade: The first crisis after World War II
Behind the Iron Curtain: Occupation by the Soviet Union
Cuban Missile Crisis movies (made by Hollywood)
Spying during the Cold War was a risky business
Bedtime stories about Armageddon: The lessons of the Cold War about nuclear weapons
Nixon's visit to China: Driving a wedge between China and the Soviet Union
Reagan and "Star Wars": Bringing the fall of the Wall and the end of the Cold War
Cold War crises: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 and "Able Archer 83"
Soviets' first atomic bomb test, 1949
It was a war that lasted forty years, which had many periods without any shooting at all. It was fought between two nuclear states, whose nuclear weapons were never fired against the other even once. And it was called the "Cold War" because of its periods without shooting, but had many "hot wars" within its complicated history, where shots were actually exchanged between the two sides.
Battle of Seoul, 1950 (during Korean War)
How is the war remembered today? (Depends on where you live, and when you lived ... )
There are many alive today who remember the Cold War, but there are also many who don't. Even many of those who lived through it fail to comprehend its true nature. Many in the communist countries only saw their government's version of things, and were forbidden to hear anything else. Many in the capitalist countries were deceived by their own side's pacifists and communist sympathizers, who could never see the deterrence capabilities of nuclear weapons (or military power generally). Many of them had their heads in the sand about both the failures of communism, and its threat to the free world's way of life.
Interviews with eyewitnesses from all over the world
Many fail to learn the lessons of these times, but the lessons are there, for those who care to hear them. Moreover, they can be obtained even from liberal stations like CNN. From the makers of "The World at War" came the classic series about the Cold War, which spent 18 hours explaining both the complicated politics and geography of the Cold War, and showing interviews with the top personnel in the governments and military of both sides. (From the regular soldiers, airmen, civilians, and diplomatic personnel to the generals, admirals, presidents, prime ministers, and communist dictators; you hear from virtually every major player alive when the series was made. You also see the real footage of the events, with a narration to help make sense out of the complicated events of this time.
Allied troops intervene in Russian Civil War - Vladivostok, Russia 1918
Aftermath of atomic bomb - Hiroshima, Japan 1945
The Cold War has roots in World War II (including the atomic bombings at the war's end)
The series opens by showing the wreckage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, shortly after their being devastated by atomic bombs in 1945. After a brief introduction to their topic, they mention how the shadow of the bombs dropped here would hang over every conflict, every negotiation, and every interaction between the two superpowers during the Cold War period. After this introduction, they backtrack to discuss the communist revolution in Russia in 1917 (with the resultant formation of the Soviet Union), and the failed American attempts to intervene in their civil war (which ended in 1922). There is also coverage of the between-the-wars period, followed by depicting the uneasy alliance between the two nations during World War II, against their mutual enemy of Nazi Germany. Special attention is paid to the negotiations between the two sides, with footage of an interview with the American ambassador to Russia during World War II (filmed during the 1970's). There are also several other eyewitnesses to tell the story of how the battle lines of the Cold War were drawn. The first episode concludes by revisiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and reviewing how its shadow hung over the entire forty years of the Cold War. With the groundwork laid, their series' introduction to the topic is thus complete.
Harry Truman and Winston Churchill meet with Joseph Stalin, Potsdam Conference 1945
Berlin Airlift, 1948
The Soviets wouldn't leave Eastern Europe like they promised to when the war was over ...
Other episodes cover the breakdown in relations between the two sides after the war, with the Soviets refusing to leave the conquered countries of Eastern Europe after the war was over (as they had earlier promised in treaties). Moreover, they imposed their communist system of government and economics on the countries that they had earlier claimed to liberate. An episode is spent on the first major crisis of the Cold War, which was the Berlin Blockade - an attempt by the Soviets to cut off West Berlin from the rest of West Germany, so that it would not tempt the Soviets' East German subjects with the "dangerous" ideas of democracy and free markets. The conflict began over economics, was fought with economics, and was decided by economics - with a counter-blockade by the Allies, and a daring airlift to bring in supplies to the isolated West Berliners, despite the risk of all-out war with the Soviets. There was some risk that the Soviets would fire on the British and American planes bringing supplies to the isolated West Berliners, but the Soviets dared not do so, even though it meant the West Berliners would have supplies after all. (More to the point, they could not withstand the severe economic damage from the Allies' counter-blockade on all trade between them and the West, as they were dependent upon supplies from the West, and could not stand having those supplies denied to them.) Thus, the Soviets lifted the blockade and backed down, and the first crisis of the Cold War was averted.
US blockade (or "quarantine") of Cuba, 1961 (during Cuban Missile Crisis)
Fall of Saigon, 1975 (end of the Vietnam War)
Some of the diverse topics that are covered in this series
Other episodes include one on the Marshall Plan (the plan to rebuild Western Europe, so feared by the Soviets), one on the Korean War (an underrated success for the free world), one on Sputnik (with the general arms race between the two sides), and an episode on the Cuban Missile Crisis (the closest that the world has ever come to nuclear war). There is an episode on the Vietnam War through 1968 (with the rest of the war covered in later episodes), as well as an episode on the Soviet war in Afghanistan (sometimes called the "Soviets' Vietnam" - which from the point of view of military strategy is certainly true, but in terms of moral equivalence is not true). The most biased and factually inaccurate episode is the one called "Backyard," in which those resisting the communists in Latin America are painted as being worse than the communists (which was not necessarily true). Although there are some fine episodes about the building of the Berlin Wall (which showed the Soviet system was inferior), the heightened arms race during Reagan's "Star Wars" program (one of the real drivers of American victory in the Cold War), and the final fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which was a propaganda victory for the West if ever there was one. (This is one of those series where some episodes are more interesting than others.)
Soviet troops interrogate captured mujahideen, Afghanistan 1986
Checkpoint Charlie - Berlin Wall, 1989 (the day after it fell)
Interviews with presidents, prime ministers, and communist dictators from the time
And in the later episodes, the people interviewed include three American presidents, which are Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush - every surviving Cold War president at that time but Ronald Reagan, who was unable to be interviewed at that time due to his Alzheimer's disease. On the communist side, they even interview Mikhail Gorbachev (the only Soviet leader still alive at that time), and Fidel Castro (whose opinions are especially interesting during the Cuban Missile Crisis episode). This is not to say that I recommend everything that these people say (I don't), as even on the American side, people like Jimmy Carter are not the most trustworthy sources. Nonetheless, it is good to get people like Carter, Castro, and Gorbachev on the record just the same, as future generations will be unable to do so themselves.
Body of Peter Fechter, an East German who tried to escape to the West,
only to be shot by the Soviets at the Berlin Wall (1962)
A soldier who successfully escaped to the West by leaping over barbed wire - Berlin Wall, 1961
Learning the lessons of the Cold War: How Marxism has fared since the conflict ended
In an ironic twist of fate, the Marxist philosophy that had caused the Soviets to lose in the Cold War (and which had failed so miserably) began to be embraced by many Americans and other Westerners. None of them seemed to have learned anything from communism's dismal record, the dramatic difference in prosperity between West and East Germany (or between North and South Korea), or even from the need to stay strong as a deterrent to future communist (and other) aggression. The election of Joe Biden was a symptom of this historical ignorance ... and amnesia. Marxism has (fortunately) declined in the countries who lost the war, but has spread like a plague through the countries that won it, causing them to make many of the same mistakes that had caused their enemies to lose the Cold War to begin with. As George Santayana once said, "He who ignores the lessons of history is doomed to repeat it," and the Democratic Party of today makes historical amnesia its bread and butter, and its political platform.
President Ronald Reagan meets with British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, London 1989
Throwing communism onto "the ash-heap of history"
And it does not need to be this way - we can learn from the lessons of the Cold War, and allow the free market to defend and prosper us, and protect us from aggression. We can adopt the philosophies that worked, and discard the ones that didn't, allowing communism to be put on "the ash-heap of history" and relegated to a museum (as Ronald Reagan once advocated). The free markets of democracy work much better than the communist systems ever have, and have prospered this country for over 200 years. There is no need to discard them now, after all that they've done for us. They are as relevant as ever. They can fight our wars, and stop many a war before it starts.
All this free markets have done, and all this free markets will do; if we learn from the lessons of history, and allow the memory of the Cold War to inform us about prosperity, and about peace.
Some quotes from the Cold War:
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in - to prevent them from leaving us." - President John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (June 26, 1963)
"What I am describing now is a plan and a hope for the long term - the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people." - President Ronald Reagan's address to the British House of Commons (July 8, 1982)
DVD at Amazon
If you liked this post, you might also like:
World War II miniseries "The World at War" (also by these filmmakers)
Why we allied with Soviet Russia during World War II, and then fought against it later on
The Berlin Blockade: The first crisis after World War II
Behind the Iron Curtain: Occupation by the Soviet Union
Cuban Missile Crisis movies (made by Hollywood)
Spying during the Cold War was a risky business
Bedtime stories about Armageddon: The lessons of the Cold War about nuclear weapons
Nixon's visit to China: Driving a wedge between China and the Soviet Union
Reagan and "Star Wars": Bringing the fall of the Wall and the end of the Cold War
Cold War crises: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 and "Able Archer 83"
Part of a series about
The Cold War
Berlin Blockade 1948-1949
Marshall Plan 1948-1951
Korean War 1950-1953
McCarthyism 1947-1956 (see “Espionage” post)
Cuban Revolution 1953-1959
Bay of Pigs 1961
Building of the Berlin Wall 1961-1962 (see “Eastern Europe” post)
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Nixon’s visit to China 1972
Vietnam War 1955-1975
Angolan Civil War 1975-2002
Soviet war in Afghanistan 1979-1989
“Able Archer 83” 1983
Reagan’s “Star Wars” program 1983-1993
Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 (see “Star Wars” post)
Dissolution of the Soviet Union 1990-1991 (see “Star Wars” post)
Latin America in the Cold War
Marshall Plan 1948-1951
Korean War 1950-1953
McCarthyism 1947-1956 (see “Espionage” post)
Cuban Revolution 1953-1959
Bay of Pigs 1961
Building of the Berlin Wall 1961-1962 (see “Eastern Europe” post)
Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Nixon’s visit to China 1972
Vietnam War 1955-1975
Angolan Civil War 1975-2002
Soviet war in Afghanistan 1979-1989
“Able Archer 83” 1983
Reagan’s “Star Wars” program 1983-1993
Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 (see “Star Wars” post)
Dissolution of the Soviet Union 1990-1991 (see “Star Wars” post)
Latin America in the Cold War
Part of another series about
Modern Europe
This list is about post-Renaissance Europe. For things before that, click here.
Overview of the Cold War
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