NCERT Class 12 Political Science The Cold War Era

Chapter 1

The Cold War Era

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

In April 1961, the leaders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were worried that the United States of America (USA) would invade communist-ruled Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro, the president of the small island nation off the coast of the United States. Cuba was an ally of the Soviet Union and received both diplomatic and financial aid from it. Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, decided to convert Cuba into a Russian base. In 1962, he placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The installation of these weapons put the US, for the first time, under fire from close range and nearly doubled the number of  bases or cities in the American mainland which could be threatened by the USSR. Three weeks after the Soviet Union had placed the nuclear weapons in Cuba, the Americans became aware of it. The US President, John F. Kennedy, and his advisers were reluctant to do anything that might lead to full-scale nuclear war between the two countries, but they were determined to get Khrushchev to remove the missiles and nuclear weapons from Cuba. Kennedy ordered American warships to intercept any Soviet ships heading to Cuba as a way of warning the USSR of his seriousness. A clash seemed imminent in what came to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

WHAT IS THE COLD WAR?

The end of the Second World War is a landmark in contemporary world politics. In 1945, the Allied Forces, led by the US, Soviet Union, Britain and France defeated the Axis Powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan, ending the Second World War (1939- 1945). The war had involved almost all the major powers of the world and spread out to regions outside Europe including Southeast Asia, China, Burma (now Myanmar) and parts of India’s northeast. The war devastated the world in terms of loss of human lives and civilian property. The First World War had earlier shaken the world between 1914 and 1918. The end of the Second World

War was also the beginning of the Cold War. The world war ended when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, causing Japan to surrender. Critics of the US decision to drop the bombs have argued that the US knew that Japan was about to surrender and that it was unnecessary to drop the bombs. They suggest that the US action was intended to stop the Soviet Union from making military and political gains in Asia and elsewhere and to show Moscow that the United States was supreme. US supporters have argued that the dropping of the atomic bombs was necessary to end the war quickly and to stop further loss of American and Allied lives. Whatever the motives, the consequence of the end of the Second World War was the rise oftwo new powers on the global stage. With the defeat of Germany and Japan, the devastation of Europe and in many other parts of the world, the United States and the Soviet Union became the greatest powers in the world with the ability to influence events anywhere on earth.

While the Cold War was a outcome of the emergence of the US and the USSR as two superpowers rival to each other, it was also rooted in the understanding that the destruction caused by the use of atom bombs is too costly for any country to bear. The logic is simple yet powerful. When two rival powers are in possession of nuclear weapons capable of inflicting death and destruction unacceptable to each other, a full-fledged war is unlikely. In spite of provocations, neither side would want to risk war since no political gains would justify the destruction of their societies.

In the event of a nuclear war, both sides will be so badly harmed that it will be impossible to declare one side or the other as the winner. Even if one of them tries to attack and disable the nuclear weapons of its rival, the other would still be left with enough nuclear weapons to inflict unacceptable destruction. This is called the logic of ‘deterrence’: both sides have the capacity to retaliate against an attack and to cause so much destruction that neither can afford to initiate war. Thus, the Cold War — in spite of being an intense form of rivalry between great powers — remained a ‘cold’ and not hot or shooting war. The deterrence relationship prevents war but not the rivalry between powers. Note the main military features of the Cold War. The two superpowers and the countries in the rival blocs led by the superpowers were expected to behave as rational and responsible actors. They were to be rational and responsible in the sense that they understood the risks in fighting wars that might involve the two superpowers.When two superpowers and the blocs led by them are in a deterrence relationship, fighting wars will be massively destructive.

QUESTION

1. Which among the following statements about the Cold War is wrong?

a) It was a competition between the US and Soviet Union and their respective allies.

b) It was an ideological war between the superpowers.

c) It triggered off an arms race.

d) the US and USSR were engaged in direct wars.

2. Which among the following statements does not reflect the objectives of NAM

a) Enabling newly decolonised countries to pursue independent policies

b) No to joining any military alliances

c) Following a policy of ‘neutrality’ on global issues

d) Focus on elimination of global economic inequalities

3. Mark correct or wrong against each of the following statements that describe the features of the military alliances formed by the superpowers.

a) Member countries of the alliance are to provide bases in their respective lands for the superpowers.

b) Member countries to support the superpower both in terms of ideology and military strategy.

c) When a nation attacks any member country, it is considered as an attack on all the member countries.

d) Superpowers assist all the member countries to develop their own nuclear weapons.

4. Here is a list of countries. Write against each of these the bloc they belonged to during the Cold War.

a) Poland

b) France

c) Japan

d) Nigeria

e) North Korea

f) Sri Lanka

5. The Cold War produced an arms race as well as arms control. What were the reasons for both these developments?

6. Why did the superpowers have military alliances with smaller countries? Give three reasons.

7. Sometimes it is said that the Cold War was a simple struggle for power and that ideology had nothing to do with it. Do you agree with this? Give one example to support your position.

8. What was India’s foreign policy towards the US and USSR during the Cold War era? Do you think that this policy helped India’s interests?

9. NAM was considered a ‘third option’ by Third World countries. How did this option benefit their growth during the peak of the Cold War?

10. What do you think about the statement that NAM has become irrelevant today. Give reasons to support your opinion.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Political Science The Cold War Era