Why Europe Became the Principal Battleground of the Cold War

In 1955 Khrushchev wanted all allied troops to be out of West Berlin within six months, or access roads would be passed over to East Germany, as the Soviets ultimately had control over them. This left a dilemma in the minds of the West, either face the risk of confrontation or a regime that was promised not to happen to West Germany. If confrontation was to occur, then it would be of a nuclear nature. To decide this rift a summit was to be set up in Geneva, yet the USSR had shot down a reconnaissance U-2 spy plan, which led the USSR to believing that if they can not trust the West to respect privacy, there would be no way in working with them, thus boycotting the summit. However Cory Fraser said, “Nuclear weapons served to deter interstate war”11, as indeed both leaders knew that nuclear war could have been catastrophic.

The next key incident in Germany was the building of the Berlin Wall, in 1961. It became a significant symbol of the Cold War, and really split the Communists and liberalist. John F. Kennedy said, “As a free man, I take pride in the words, “Ich bin ein Berliner”, and, “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind”. These two comments suggest that Kennedy wanted to make a change to Cold War, yet he was short lived, due to his assassination. Followed by Lyndon Johnson in 1963, had his motives overcast by the proceedings of Vietnam in 1965. If Kennedy was not assassinated, then it could be argued that the Cold War could have been fixed. It is interesting to think of the consequences of Vietnam War on Europe at the time, as America was fighting against a Communists state.

Moa Tse-Tung said, “Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed”. This is particularly true about the Cold War, as it was certainly politically driven. The arguments about which ideologies should be installed into Europe where on occasions heated, and often came very close to World War III. On a positive note, I think it is fair to say that ultimately each side wanted Europe to prosper (although using very different methods), yet the suspicions from one and another led to turmoil. Who are we to blame for the Cold War? It”s a consequence of the Second World War, so we could blame Hitler. We could blame Churchill, for making his “iron curtain” speech. We could blame Truman for having a vision disembarking communism. We could blame Stalin for his aggressive behaviour in Europe. Maybe it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, but what is clear is that different events, led by different people, and at the “wrong” time, has led to the Cold War having a huge influence in the post-war world of Europe.