The History of~The Cold War (Part 7: Inner turmoils)

As we last left off, we were talking about the \*scary\* times when World War 3 broke out (click here).

On this page, we will cover the struggles both the USA and the USSR had to face.

Eventhough they were considered *"Superpowers"* after World War 2, but both the USA and the USSR had their own problems within their own borders, whether it be political, racial or even economical.

## USA Problems

Though the USA had created the Atomic Bomb first. But it was far from being perfect. The economy went stagnant after the War.

### McCarthyism/The Red Scare

As you may know earlier in this series that by the 1950s, the Americans have developed what is known as the *"Domino Theory"*. As Communism triumphed in both Russia and China, the Americans feared that Communism would envelop the entire 3rd world.

But, in the '50s, there was one man that would take the Domino Theory and take it way up to 11. This man was named *"Joe McCarthy"*, a politician and a staunch anti-communist. In fact, so staunch in his own anti-communist ways that he made it his very own ideology called *"McCarthyism"* which he also used to inadvertently create what is known as the

Which is to not just fear, but also hate anything that has to do with the USSR as people always believed that the USSR would invade and destroy democracy. However, McCarthy also used his ideology to make the people think that "anything" and "everything" that is considered to either clash with the free-thinking of the American people or anything *"Un-American"* to be communist.

It wouldn't be long before there was pro-democracy, anti-communist propaganda on everything from Magazines to Billboards. The fear of Communism would spread like wildfire and would continue throughout the '50s.

### Hippie Counter-Culture Movement

In 1965, the USA approved to aid South Vietnam with not just supplies, but also ground troops as well as air and sea support as they try to help South Vietnam fight a decade-long conflict.

But, the USA didn't have much success. When operation Rolling Thunder and the Tet Offensive failed to beat back the North Vietnamese Army, the failures were widely covered by the US media companies, and the US public looked at the war in a very negative light. In fact, that generation even made several of their own counter-culture movements in hopes to get the US Troops out of Vietnam, these *"Hippies"* were also subjects of drug abuse and free-thinking. But their goal was the same, get the US Troops home.

### Civil Rights Movement

The movement for African-Americans to have the same rights as White Americans were something that African-Americans were trying to champion even before the US Civil War in 1860. But a century after, and African-Americans are still finding it difficult to do the same things as White Americans, especially in the Southern US where segregation is still rampant, in fact, there were *"Jim Crow"* laws put in place where it keeps African-Americans something like.....less than white Americans as they're kept from having the same rights as white Americans.

But the Civil Rights Movement wouldn't become mainstream for the masses until December 1, 1955, when an activist *Rosa Parks* refused to give up her seat on a public transport bus to a white person, which not only got more African-Americans to become Civil Rights Activists such as *Malcolm X, Medgar Evers,*and *Martin Luther King Jr.*

In 1965, a group of African-American Civil Rights Activists got together in a town in Alabama called *"Selma"*. Though, a non-violent protest, it was suppressed violently. However, the event at Selma was then captured and broadcasted all over the US which gave the Civil Rights movement a brand new light to the masses.

The Civil Rights Movement would be given a hard blow on May 4, 1968, when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. But this would also give the Civil Rights Movement some justice as well as Civil Rights for African-Americans as some states begin to pass laws giving African-Americans equal rights. But it wouldn't be until 1983 when these laws became national.

### 1970s Oil Crisis

During the 1970s, a Middle East Organization known as the *"Organization of  Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries"*(OPEC) had put Oil Embargoes (as a result of the *Yom Kippur War*) on a number of nations which included the USA. The OPEC had lifted the embargo in 1974, but the price of Oil skyrocketed to around $15 per barrel (or around $78 adjusted for inflation).

This would have a huge effect in the USA, which even has to go the extent of rationing its oil supply. This would lead to a truck driver strike which occurred in December of 1973. Nixon also established a short-term political office called the *"Federal Energy Office"*which is supposed to deal with the effects of the OPEC embargo. The *"American Automobile Association"* (BKA "Triple A" or "AAA") even made a report in February if 1974 that around a quarter of all gas stations in the nation had no gas. This would lead to a law that would have speed limit zones in the US to be reduced to around 55 MPH to help conserve on gas, Daylight Savings Time was established all-year-round, advertisements telling people to conserve oil were also established. Though the crisis would see a lull around 1976 and 1977, another would come in 1979 due to a revolution in Iran.

## Soviet Problems

Now, what about the USSR? Well, it had problems of its own, dating from before Stalin died in 1953.

Even when Stalin died and Khrushchev became the new premier and despite Khrushchev's move for *"De-Stalinization"* he kept a lot of Stalin's oppressive laws such as collectivization and brutally put down any rebellion.

### Soviet Conservatism

It also didn't help that by the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Government took on a more "Conservative" stance (not talking about "American Conservatism") where members of the Soviet Politburo lived a life of luxury (e.g., living in fancy homes/apartments, eat at fancy restaurants, drive around in fancy cars, take exotic vacations, and whatnot) where those of the lower classes struggle to make ends meet, and when it came to the poor class, some people had to choice but to starve to death. So, life in the USSR became more and more like old-world empires where the nobility cared not for the peasants, this was also in the puppet members of the Warsaw Pact.

### Soviet-Afghan War

In 1978, a communist government was established in the nation of Afghanistan during a revolution there. But, fighting continued when a group called the *"Mujahideen"* (with help from Pakistan, China and eventually the west) staged a rebellion. In 1979, the Soviets would help out the communist Afghan Government by sending troops and supplies.

Fighting would continue and have worldwide consequences, the USA would lead a Boycott on the 1980 Summer Olympic Events (supposedly taking place in Moscow) and disregard the second SALT agreements.

But for 10 years, the war would rage on. Eventually, in 1989, the USSR would fully withdraw from Afghanistan, though the Afghan Civil War itself would continue.

## Same Problems

It's also during the Cold War where both Superpowers would face some of the same problems as well (in their own fashion, of course).

By the 1960s and 1970s, both sides have spent immensely on defense and military, and their economies were stagnant as well, especially the USSR which spent the most on home defense.

Both nations also had their own nuclear accidents. In 1979, a Nuclear Power Plant called *"3-Mile Island"*In Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown when the plant's Reactor 2 suffered a substantial leak of radiation this would be the most recent nuclear disaster for the USA.

The USSR, however, would have their own Nuclear disaster around 7 years later in 1986 when the V.I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station's Reactor 4 would not just leak radiation, but explode radioactive particles into the atmosphere. This destroyed the immediate environment around the plant (rendering the towns of Pripyat and Chernobyl uninhabitable), it would be known as the worst nuclear disaster to date.

Not even the recent Nuclear Disaster at Fukushima-Daichi in 2011 was nearly as bad as the Chernobyl disaster.

Well, we now know that both superpowers weren't perfect, nor invincible. They had their own problems that they had to deal with. The only difference, however, is that the USA was able to assess and fix their problems, whereas the USSR wasn't so fortunate. In fact, the USSR's problems would eventually mount into a series of crises, and that is what we'll cover on the next page.

Click here to continue reading. Until next time, this is JohnyOTGS signing out.