20. It’s impossible to assess an accurate number of casualties caused by the Cold War
World War II remains the most devastating war in human history, though an accurate count of the number of civilian deaths in that conflict remains elusive. The same is true of the Cold War. Throughout the Cold War civilians perished at the hands of military police, of insurgents, and of governments and their agencies and weapons. People were displaced to die of exposure, or in resettlement camps, or reeducation camps. People perished trying to escape to freedom, or were executed by authorities for helping others to do the same. Aboard ships and aircraft, or in military units on the ground, men and women on both sides of the conflict passed away in accidents, during training, or while deployed on dangerous missions. The conflict between western democracy and communism may have been a Cold War, but it was a devastating war.
Its end left us with the world we live in today. Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and China remain communist states. Though China and Vietnam are major trading partners with the United States, Cuba remains mainly isolated, and North Korea entirely so. NATO, formed to confront the Soviet Union with the Truman Doctrine policy of containment, continues to stand as a barrier between the former “republics” of the USSR and Western Europe. Indeed, NATO has grown larger since the end of the Cold War, admitting former Eastern Bloc nations to its membership. And nuclear weapons continue to dominate military planning among the nations possessing them, causing fears among the remaining nations of the world. Today, the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, India, Pakistan, China, South Africa, and according to many experts Israel, all possess nuclear weapons. North Korea may as well. The policy of MAD preventing nuclear war continues.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Atom Spy Case/Rosenbergs”. Article, History, FBI.gov. Online
“The Truman Doctrine, 1947”. Article, Office of the Historian, US Department of State. Online
“Marshall Plan”. Article, The Editors, History.com. June 5, 2020.
“Why Was The Suez Crisis So Important?”. Article, Imperial War Museum (UK). Online
“U-2 Incident”. Article, The American Experience. National Public Broadcasting. Online
“Russia’s K-19: The Submarine Called ‘Hiroshima'”. Caleb Larson, The National Interest. Online
“Why was the Berlin Wall built?” Article, Gale Primary Sources. Online
“Cuban Missile Crisis”. Article, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Online
“Our History: The USS Hobson, a Low Country Ship”. Article, City of North Charleston. Online
“The “Reagan Doctrine” is announced”. Article, History.com. Online