The Cold War is remembered for being one of the most turbulent times in world politics ever. Even by 21st century standards. This got me thinking, what are some cool facts about the Cold War everybody should know?
Spanning from the mid-to-late 1940’s (either 1946, 1947 or 1948 depending on who you ask) to 1989 (when the Berlin Wall – pictured above – came down) or 1991 (when the USSR collapsed) chances are that you lived through at least part of the Cold War!
15. Anglo-American Relations
Today, the UK and US are the closest of allies.
However, before WWI, both countries had quite a bit of animosity towards one another. WWI would see the two countries unite against their common enemy: Imperial Germany – which would see the pair become more friendly to one another.
Three decades later, WWII would erupt, soon seeing the UK and US on the same side once again. Fighting Germany… again. Here, Churchill and FDR would cement the Anglo-American friendship we see today.
However, the Cold War would nearly destroy it.
In 1956, Egyptian troops took control of the Suez Canal, then-partly owned by Britain. Hoping US President Eisenhower would back them, Britain told the Egyptians to leave or else. Eisenhower wouldn’t back the British.
Instead, Eisenhower (and the UN as a whole) put pressure on the British to surrender the Suez Canal to the Egyptian government, which they were later forced to do. Understandably, Anglo-American relations sank to an all-time low.
Although Anglo-American relations would later recover, they’d be put to the test once again during Vietnam. Here, President Johnson asked Harold Wilson (then the Prime Minister) to support him on Vietnam.
Still reeling from the Suez Canal fiasco, Wilson would refuse, infuriating Johnson to no end, especially so when Wilson later asked the US for economic aid.
Once again, friendship would prevail, especially under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher and presidency of Ronald Reagan, with the pair bonding over their shared ideologies.
Although there have been rough patches since, both countries have still been great friends since!
14. The True Meaning of “First World Country”
If you grew up during the Cold War, you were probably taught that the US and their allies (eg. France, Canada, the UK etc.) were called “first world countries” because they were the most economically developed.
Below “first world countries” were “second world countries” – in other words those countries that were communist and thus aligned with the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact – as they were less developed economically.
Below “second world countries” were the “third world countries” – or those countries that were neutral, and thus not aligned with either the capitalist west or the communist east, and thus perceived to be even less economically developed.
Under the first/second/third world system, Switzerland was considered third world, whilst Somalia was second world and Namibia was first world! To our modern eyes, that’s quite strange to say the least…
Perhaps not surprisingly, since the end of the Cold War in 1991 (with the collapse of the USSR in December that year) many have been slowly trying to end the first/second/world system as it has very little perceived value.
In its place, they are lobbying for a three-category classification system based on GDP, with developed nations at the top (eg. the US), developing nations (eg. Brazil) in the middle and least developed countries (eg. Sudan) at the bottom.
13. Soviet Interference in US Elections
In recent years, both sides of the aisle have accused the other of having only won the presidency due to foreign powers (namely Russia) meddling in the election.
Regardless of whether you want to believe that or not, Russia (or at least, the Soviet Union) did actually interfere in US elections during the Cold War!
Mainly, this was through the Communist Party USA (the US’s main communist party at the time), with the Soviets giving the CPUSA millions of dollars in funding, in the hopes that they could gain enough votes to take the White House.
Seeing the racial inequalities in the US at the time, as the African-American population’s preference for the left over the right, the Soviets would encourage the CPUSA to have a white presidential candidate, and an African-American vice-presidential candidate.
This was done in the hopes of encouraging the entire African-American population to vote for the CPUSA, whilst also appealing to white college students and those communists already in the US, who the Soviets thought would then make a majority.
As you probably recall from history class, this didn’t succeed. The Soviets vastly overestimated how much the African-American community wanted communism, as well as the number of college students who’d vote for a communist party.
This all meant that no openly communist candidate ever got into the White House (often coming third, fourth or not at all, instead).
12. American Interference in Foreign Elections
Whilst the Soviets were famous in the West for trying (albeit unsuccessfully… or so we think anyway) to influence the outcome of US elections, the US were not blameless. After all, they did it too…
Sadly, rigging USSR elections was not only pointless, but also impossible. After all, the communists were the only party on the ballot, and the communists falsified their numbers anyway, so the US interfering would’ve been a complete waste of time.
However, South America proved to be the US’s southern playground.
Over the course of the Cold War, the US would interfere in South American elections on a regular basis, backing US-friendly candidates over pro-Soviet ones. This was most famously done during the 1964 and 1970 Chilean elections.
If this failed (often due to Soviet intervention in the same election) the US would back right-wing groups by giving them financial aid or by training them, thus allowing them to stage a coup and a form a US-friendly government.
During the Cold War, almost every South American country would experience a US-backed coup, the overwhelming majority of whom were successful (until Soviet-backed agents performed their own left-wing coups a few years later).
On the rare occasion that doing all this failed, the US would just invade the country and install its own government there, such as the 1983 invasion of Grenada, which was authorized by then-President Ronald Reagan personally!
Although most famously done in South America, the US would interfere in the elections of non-South American countries too, such as Italy (1948), Korea (1948), Japan (1950’s/1960’s), Nepal (1959), Mauritius (1982).
Officially, this was done to protect the mainland US from another Cuban Missile Crisis, however, many have noted that this did also aid American corporate interests too…
11. The Rosenbergs Kickstarted The Soviet Nuclear Program
In 1942, the US Army launched the Manhattan Project, which hoped to produce a working atomic bomb. By 1945, the US not only had two working a-bombs (Little Boy and Fat Man), but had demonstrated their effectiveness at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Worried that the Americans would use their atomic weapons against the Soviets, or at least their interests, Joseph Stalin would task his scientists (and captured German ones) to build him a Soviet a-bomb in 1942.
Piggybacking off the American’s work, Soviet agents would recruit Manhattan Project engineers with communist sympathies with the hopes that they’d be able to provide Soviet engineers with detailed plans on the American a-bomb.
Using their agents in the CPUSA, Soviet spymasters would recruit several Americans working on the Manhattan Project, including Julius Rosenberg and his wife, Ethel Rosenberg.
From 1942 until 1950, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (alongside Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass) would pass along US atomic secrets to the Soviets, before being caught in 1950 after fellow Soviet informant, Klaus Fuchs, gave them up.
The Rosenbergs would then be arrested, charged with espionage and sentenced to death by the electric chair for helping the Soviets.
Although it’s not known how much the Rosenbergs helped the Soviet nuclear program (with some claiming it didn’t help whatsoever) Nikita Khrushchev once claimed that without the Rosenbergs, the Soviets wouldn’t have the bomb for many more years!
10. Sexpionage
Speaking of Cold War-era espionage, whilst most of the Soviet spies acquired their information thanks to their jobs, or recruited Westerners sympathetic to the USSR and communism, the USSR had another way of gather information. Through sexpionage.
You see, the Soviets realized that if they could get good-looking, young Russian women, loyal to the KGB, to seduce Western diplomats, world and trade leaders, they could record it and use it to blackmail the westerner.
Although we don’t know the full extent of the Soviet sexpionage program, we do know that it gave the Soviets lots of valuable information, that the Soviets couldn’t get through other methods…
Proving to be so successful, the Soviets would introduce sexpionage to the Stasi of East Germany. Sending several male agents (nicknamed “Romeos”) into the West, they’d begin romantic relationships with West German women to get information from them.
All in all, 40 women in West Germany would be prosecuted for espionage due to giving up information to East German “Romeos”.
Beyond the East Germans, the Chinese would also learn it from the Soviets. Whilst they didn’t use it that often during the Cold War (that we know of anyway), the Chinese have continued to do it into the modern-day, with frightening success!
9. The Height of Propaganda
When we hear the word “propaganda” we probably think of the patriotic posters used during WWI and WWII that both sides used to raise the country’s morale and/or encourage the population to help with the war effort (eg. enlisting).
However, what if I told you that the Cold War was actually the golden age of propaganda? You probably don’t believe me…
Chances are that you’re now picturing one of the many Soviet propaganda posters showing communism in all its “greatness” that you were shown at school, that are so biased they make you wonder how anyone ever believed them.
And whilst the Soviets were indeed masters of propaganda, so were the West. They just went about it in a completely different way.
You see, the 1950’s and 1960’s saw a huge increase in the number of people with television sets in their home. With this came an opportunity for TV shows that had sublime anti-communist, and even anti-socialist plots and storylines.
Many of these TV shows (but not all) would often feature an American/Western hero, facing off against a Soviet/communist villain, whose goal was something like: “Kill the hero and destroy the western capitalist system”.
The plot would then see the Soviet/communist villain almost succeed, only to have his inferior technology defeated by superior American/Western technology, or fall prey to an obvious blunder (like getting his cape stuck on a lever that foils his villainous plot).
Whilst only subliminal, most TV shows and films of the era had this. Seeing this over and over, created negative views of the East in the eyes of the West. Likewise, the East would be exposed to the opposite, thus gaining a negative view of the West.
8. “Communist” Became a Buzz Word
Having given nuclear secrets to the Soviets, the American government wanted to make an example of the Rosenbergs, with their trial and later execution being highly publicized, with everybody in the country knowing who they were and what they did.
Seeing this, and believing that there were “communists everywhere” Wisconsin Senator, Joe McCarthy, would begin holding Senate hearing about the widespread presence of communists in certain areas of everyday life.
Although there’s very little evidence that there was a widespread presence of communists in the military or Hollywood, these trials would be televised and would be reported on fervently in the press.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the term “communist” soon became a buzz word used to describe anything that you didn’t like.
You didn’t like your math teacher? They’re communist. Your brother keeps on wearing that ugly shirt? That shirt’s communist. It’s raining and you’re wearing shorts? The weather is communist.
It may seem like I’m over-exaggerating, but ask anyone who lived during the McCarthy Era, and they’ll tell you that whilst not everybody did it, many people did!
7. North Korea Was Still a Hermit Kingdom
Today, we picture North Korea as being a hermit kingdom – a country that acts as though the Cold War is still ongoing, even when it ended over 30 years ago, with the communists having lost that one.
Hearing about North Korea in today’s day and age, we’re often told that North Korea only became the isolate country it is today due to the collapse of the USSR. And whilst true, it’s not the entire picture…
In the mid-1950’s, the Soviets and Chinese began to disagree on how best to adapt communism. The Chinese wanted to modernize communism for a new age, whilst the Soviets wanted to keep it exactly as Karl Marx wrote it (in the 1880’s).
This disagreement led to the Sino-Soviet split.
Whilst most communist countries (at the time) sided with the Soviets, Somalia would side with the Chinese. Only two countries would abstain from picking a side: Tito’s Yugoslavia and Kim Il-Sung’s North Korea.
For Tito, this was because he had no love for the Soviets, nor the Chinese. For Kim, it was the complete opposite. Without China, North Korea would crumble, and without the USSR, North Korea would also crumble.
Although necessary for North Korea’s continued survival as a communist country, this isolated North Korea from the Soviets, who took it as a grave insult that Kim didn’t side with them, causing Kim to begin relying on Chinese more and more.
North Korea’s reliance on Chinese trade continues to this day, with China still being North Korea’s largest trading partner, even in spite of UN sanctions!
6. Kennedy And The Mob
Upon becoming president in 1961, JFK set out to oust Castro from Cuba (which had just recently joined the Soviet sphere of influence).
Hoping to oust Castro through invading the Bay of Pigs, the CIA would arm and train Cuban exiles who were pro-USA. Launching the invasion only a few months into his presidency, it would be a disaster, and a national embarrassment for Kennedy.
Still wanting rid of Castro, JFK would begin dealings with the mob, through his mistress Judith Campbell (otherwise known as Judith Exner, or occasionally Judith Exner Campbell) who was also the mistress of mobster Sam Giancana.
You see, prior to Castro’s rise to power, Cuba (particularly Havana) had been the casino hub of North America, which the mob used to launder their money. However, when Castro took over, he took the casinos from the mob.
Wanting their casinos back, the mob tried to kill Castro on several occasions, all to no success.
Realizing that the enemy of their enemy was their friend, the mob and the CIA joined forces, hoping that their combined might, insight and knowledge would give them the edge they needed to get rid of Castro.
Using Judith Campbell as a messenger, the mob and Kennedy (and thus the CIA) would pass along some incredibly wacky plans to kill Castro. Among the craziest plans the mob/CIA came up with were:
- An exploding cigar (as Castro loved to smoke)
- A poisoned cigar (for the same reasons as before)
- A bacteria-infested scuba suit (as Castro loved to scuba dive)
- A ballpoint pen that was actually a syringe (which would be loaded with a deadly compound called Blackleaf 40)
- Several mafia-style hits (including blowing up a museum that Castro frequented)
5. The Communist in The Palace
When it comes to the Cold War, we tend to focus exclusively on the US and the USSR. Whilst the two major players in the conflict, they weren’t the only ones, with both sides eagerly trying to gain more information about their enemies.
As the US’s largest Cold War ally, the UK and US often collaborated on military, scientific and other projects.
Hoping to gather at least some information on these projects, the Soviets would recruit young Brits as spies, especially those impressionable minds at highly liberal universities, with the intention that they’d climb the ranks of the British civil service, military, political system etc.
Whilst the most famous of the Soviet spy groups was the Cambridge Five, who the Soviets recruited in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the Soviets also managed to recruit another man at this time – Anthony Blunt.
As one of Britain’s leading art historians, Blunt would soon become the Surveyor of the King’s Pictures – the overseer of the British Royal Family’s art collection, rumored to be worth billions of dollars.
As the Surveyor of the King’s Pictures, Blunt resided in Buckingham Palace, and was often in close contact with the Queen, with whom he had a special friendship with (owing to their shared love of art).
Eventually, Blunt would receive a knighthood, and for a brief time, would be the largest name in the British art scene during the early 1950’s.
This would not last, however, as he was soon arrested, before confessing to be a Soviet spy. In exchange for immunity, Blunt was asked to give up other Soviet spies in Britain, which he duly did.
Although this would be kept from the British press, Blunt treachery would be revealed by Margaret Thatcher in 1979, resulting in Blunt’s knighthood being revoked.
4. Star Wars Was Based on Vietnam
When American filmmaker, George Lucas, released Star Wars (later Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope) in 1977, it was an instant hit, most people didn’t think much about it. Those that did, often thought it was a great movie!
Several years later (and a few films further into the franchise!) George Lucas would give and interview, explaining what inspired the storyline for Episode IV and the Star Wars trilogy as a whole: The Vietnam War and the Cold War in general.
Thinking about the plot, it does actually make sense.
You’ve got the disorganized rebels (based on the Viet Cong), who are constantly moving from base to base, made up of people who have been treated as sub-human their entire life, and are now putting up a fight, however weak that fight may be.
On the other side, you’ve got the large, well-equipped, uniformed Empire (based on the American military) who routinely inflict devastating losses on the Rebels (Viet Cong), even if in doing so they also massacre their own people (the Vietnamese population).
Beyond that, we also see the Empire develop even more devastating weapons to help exterminate the Rebels, not caring how many civilians they kill in the process (eg. the Death Star destroying Alderaan and the American military’s use of napalm).
Delving even deeper in Episodes V and VI, we also see the Empire’s willingness to partner with criminals (eg. Jabba the Hutt) to hurt the Rebels even more. Just like the Americans did with their drug trade during Vietnam…
Giving an interview a few years ago, Lucas would elaborate that the message behind the whole Star Wars trilogy was how a democracy could quite easily go to a dictatorship (eg. the Republic to the Empire) and how the everyday Joe would know until it’s too late.
3. The CIA Trained Al-Qaeda
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, setting off what’s now called the Soviet-Afghan War.
Fearing that if Afghanistan fell to communism, they’d be next, Pakistan’s ISI began training and funding Afghani mujahedeen fighters, in the hopes that they’d push back the Soviets and keep Afghanistan out of the Soviet sphere of influence.
Eventually joined by the British (through MI6) and the Americans (through the CIA), the three countries would train and supply Afghani Arabs (local Afghanis and Muslims from across the Middle East) with the firepower they needed to beat the Soviets.
Although not Afghani, a young Osama bin Laden would be angered by what he saw as an injustice against the people of Afghanistan, traveling to the country and using his immense wealth (as the son of a Saudi billionaire) to fund the mujahedeen.
Whilst the British and American governments claim that they only trained and armed indigenous Afghanis to fight the Soviets, many believe that bin Laden received training and funding from the CIA to beat the Soviets.
Regardless, once the war ended in 1989, bin Laden would form Al-Qaeda whose ranks were filled with many mujahedeen fighters, who’d later go on to fight another jihad – this time against the US, culminating in 9/11.
2. The American VIP in The USSR
As a communist country, the USSR was incredibly hostile to Americans as a whole, and American businessmen even more. Yet, there was one American businessman, a billionaire no less, who was treated like royalty in the USSR.
His name was Armand Hammer (you may have heard of his great-grandson, actor Armie Hammer of The Man from U.N.C.L.E fame) who was the only Westerner (who wasn’t a diplomat) to have residences on both sides of the Iron Curtain!
Growing up as the son of a New York communist, Hammer would soon travel to the USSR, personally befriending Lenin before choosing to live in the Soviet Union from 1923 until early 1930. Willingly.
Returning to New York, Hammer would take over his father’s medical business before getting into oil business, soon having an oil empire to rival J. Paul Getty’s! All whilst making annual visits to the USSR, and meeting with the Soviet premier!
Hammer’s private jet, a Boeing 727 nicknamed “Oxy 1” (after Occidental Petroleum which he owned) was one of a few Western aircraft allowed in Soviet airspace, with Hammer even having a spacious apartment a stone’s throw away from the Kremlin.
On the other side of the Iron Curtain, Hammer would be a close friend of every president from Hoover until Bush Sr.
Thanks to this, he’d often use his personal friendships with the Soviet Premier and US President to act as an unofficial arbiter between the two nations at a time when official channels remained closed, almost certainly helping to avoid Nuclear Armageddon!
1. One of The Deadliest Wars in Human History
The Cold War was called the “Cold War” because it never got “hot” eg. there was never any direct fighting between the East and West. Despite this, you could argue that the Cold War was one of the deadliest wars in history!
Although the East and West never openly fought one another, they fought a series of proxy wars, notably Korea (1950-1953) and Vietnam (1955-1975) which killed 5 and 3.8 million people on both sides respectively.
Beyond that, the Cold War saw increased tensions in Europe, leading to the Greek Civil War, which killed at least 158,000 people. Not to mention the 250,000 people killed under communist rule in Eastern Europe (that we know of!)
Due to US and Soviet backing, the Chinese Civil War would restart after WWII (although it likely would’ve regardless) resulting in the deaths of around 6 million people on both sides, including civilians.
Beyond the Chinese Civil War, the US and Soviets would also back players in the Laotian Civil War, Cambodian Civil War and Dominican Civil War. This would result in the combined deaths of 565,000 people.
The Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) would similarly be quite deadly, resulting in at least 2 million deaths.
Hoping to flee the fighting, an estimated one million people would die attempting to flee their country, either by being killed by their own countrymen for fleeing or through drowning (as they often piled onto boats that later sank under the pressure)
All in all, the Cold War caused the deaths of between 18 and 20 million (estimates differ). By comparison, conservative estimates put the death toll of WWII at between 16 and 20 million, and 50 and 85 million for WWII!
Which are your favorite facts about the Cold War? Tell me in the comments!