Cold War II

Hitler's ambition of ruling the world failed miserably in 1945. The allied forces advanced into Germany by the early 1945. Much to the discontent of Germany, there was the Soviet Red Army advancing rapidly from the east. The result, Hitler shot himself and Mussolini was hanged by his own Italian people. A few months after the death of Adolf Hitler, USA dropped atomic bombs in the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing the Japanese to unconditional surrender. The World War II came to an end. But what the world didn't know was it was heading towards decades that would be dominated by fear and isolation. Hitler might have been no more but his intentions of ruling the world would be substituted by his equal rival, Joseph Stalin. The uncompromising Russian leader who led the Soviet Red Army to an unmatched victory.  Little was known to the world that Uncle Joe was busy drawing lines in Europe before even the World War II saw its end.

By the time US diplomats in Moscow could send the long 8000 word telegraph to USA, Europe was already seeing walls and barricades. A continent surrounded by Alps and filled with greenery would soon be divided into two different and opposite worlds. The western half of Europe would witness the pop culture, romance, free trade and capitalism. The eastern bloc would explore the hardline socialist revolutions, political reforms, nuclear arms race and military oppressions. And soon Germany got divided into two republics. East Germany and West Germany. Thanks to the Berlin Wall which not just divided the Berlin city or Germany, but ended up drawing a line between two super powers, USSR  and USA.

The world was switching sides and choosing its allies. The choices were eminent, communism or capitalism. Little pockets of restrains emerged from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Greece and other eastern European countries. But the seeds of change were suppressed by the USSR military might. In the meanwhile, Britain left India in 1947. Thanks to the costly World War II that left most of European 1st world countries in economic crisis. India learnt the developments in Europe and decided to join Non Aligned Movement which meant it would neither choose USA nor the USSR. A group of other countries like Yugoslavia, Egypt, Iran, Cuba and many others joined the league. The first scars of the divide between communist Soviet Union and capitalist western allies would be seen in 1949. This time it was People's Republic of China switching to communism. Mao Zedong stunned the world and the United States as the People's Liberation Army overthrew the Chinese Nationalist Party. Thus People's Republic of China was formed. India, tired of its 100 years of colonialism was the first to give recognition to China. 

The United States lost its closest ally in Asia to communism. Many in US saw it as a betrayal. But little was known that there were many more betrayals to come from China in the following decades. Meanwhile, another shock send tremors to the western world. This time by the USSR as it ended the nuclear monopoly of USA by detonating its first Atomic bomb in 1949. The west turned more cautious by the speed at which USSR developed nuclear capabilities. On the other hand, Mao Zedong was inspired by uncle Joe of Soviet Union. He rushed to Moscow to gain support but the charismatic Russian Premier was unfazed by the awe of his Chinese counterpart. Infact he was alarmed by the Chinese intentions of dominating the world by Mao Zedong. The year 1950 saw another scar between communism and capitalism. This time the battle ground shifted to Korea. The land of morning calm would see a bloody battle for the next 3 years. It was here that the first official battle between two ideologies would be fought. On 25th June 1950, the North Korean army invaded the southern country to reunify the divided country. The alarm was enough to wake up the united states which was alarmed by the rise of Communism in Asia after Europe. United States with 20 other countries of the United Nations sent in its armed forces to stop the military offensive. The gamble paid as the North Koreans were pushed back beyond the 38th Parallel by the US and UN. The conflict was to continue as this time it was the joint forces who invaded the North Korea. The forces moved swiftly towards Pyong Yang with little or no resistance from the communist mainland. On 19th October 1950, the Chinese crossed the Yalu river into North Korea to assist its North Korean forces. The UN woke up to a major shock on 25th October as the 1,00,000 men infantry of Chinese Army launched a major offensive against them. The West stood still to the undeclared aggression of the Chinese who feared that the US might step on its soil after conquering Pyong Yang. This would result into a retreat of the UN forces which would be followed by negotiations in the years to come. The war saw the first official booting of the WW II US hero Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The Korean War ended in 1953 as the two nations stay divided on 38th Parallel. However this was enough to send red signal about China to USA.

The same year saw Joseph Stalin's death due to a disease. The successor of USSR would now be Nikita Krushchev. An Anti-Stalin but Pro-communist leader reformed Soviet Union's Agricultural society. The west saw a hope in him but the hopes would be dismantled over the 50s and the early 60s by this very president. Under his leadership, USSR took a leap forward in technology. This president would trigger off an arms race. The USSR rapidly built missiles and ICBMs. They then stunned the world with Sputnik, the first ever space venture by mankind. Then it was time to send a dog in space followed by a man and a space station. The 50s saw built ups on both sides. On the opposing side, US built Colour Televisions. The West somehow criticized the Soviet Union of copying the technology from the west. The same propaganda we use against China in this era.

Ten years later, the mankind witnessed how close they were to a Nuclear War. A nail-biting event in Cuba would unleash a threat that we have ever witnessed till date. While Russia was building its nuclear missiles, USA was spying on its missile sites. Also it had placed its Jupiter missiles in Turkey in case of any eventuality by the Soviet Union. Cuba, a tiny country in close proximity of USA was waking up to the socialist ideology. Its leader, Fidel Castro declared Cuba a Socialist country after America's covert Bay of Pigs invasion. This gave Castro a reason to choose USSR over USA. USSR, understanding the strategic importance of Cuba, deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. A nail biting 13 days in 1962 would see DEFCON 2 readiness of USA. And it was this 13 day Cuban missile crisis that saw another act of Chinese betrayal on Indian sovereignty. 1961 -62 is what it took to see the mankind in four walls of conservatism. The world was busy defusing the tensions between two superpowers. And a wannabe Superpower of China unleashed an unprovoked bitter war on the long Indian border. After the failure of Mao's policies in mainland China, it had annexed Tibet. This sent the spiritual leaders and the Tibetan government in exile. India welcomed the exiled government officials and Dalai Lama. This was seen as a caution by the Chinese as they felt that India was flexing its muscle to spread its territory till Tibet. In October, the Chinese troops launched a massive attack on the Indian Borders from NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) to Aksai Chin in Ladakh. The Indian forces were caught unprepared. Further, the timing of the attack prevented India drawing attention from the Soviet Union or the West as they were busy defusing an escalating crisis. The war resulted in high Indian casualties and POWs. After 13 days, the Chinese went back to their prior positions and it was business as usual between US and USSR.

The following years would see many more tensions in the Indian Sub-Continent which fail to get attention from the west. Thanks to the ongoing Vietnam War where USA was involved directly and USSR was involved in supply of weaponry to the North Vietnamese. The late sixties and the early seventies would see battlefield Asia in action. The Chinese continued to support communism in Asia and the west continued to fight a costly and a long war in Vietnam. Amidst all these India faced a hard lined Pakistan and shifted its defense focus on its western and eastern front. India fought two wars in a span of 6 years which ended in wins but resulted in economic crisis. But the then Indian leadership was strong enough to face a bold crisis situation and test the first Nuclear detonation in 1970s. The west was surprised as the arms race was not just confined to USA and USSR, but was spreading fast in Asia. To its shock in the 1970s, the west witnessed two back to back backlashes. The first one being the loss in Vietnam. And the other one in Iran where an Islamist revolution overthrew the government and the fundamentalist captured the US embassy and took the hostages. The crisis would end for 444 days.  The oil rich nation gave a hard blow to the United States. This would be the first instance where religious fundamentalism would take a center stage in conflicts. At the same time, Afghanistan was shaping itself for a communist revolution. The hard lined Afghan leaders introduced land reforms and cultural reforms which did not go well with Islamic Radicals and the neighbouring Pakistan. A huge influx of refugees flew in to the neighbouring countries. The country was of utmost strategic influence for the super powers as the oil supply lines passed through it and it would give an edge to any of the sides to control affairs in central Asia and middle east. With the uprising of communism in Afghanistan, the afghan political leaders seeked Moscow's intervention. The Soviet Union denied initially as the economy was in a bad shape and the Warsaw Pact restricted the USSR to invade any foreign country. But seeing the situation topple down and fearing the uprising would effect the Islamic countries of Soviet Union, it agreed to send in forces to fight in Afghanistan. The US saw a perfect revenge situation in Afghanistan. It decided to give back USSR what it had done to US in Vietnam. The CIA then sponsored covert operations where it funded the guerilla forces that joined the fighting in Afghanistan. One of them being Osama Bin Laden getting benefits from USA funding. The radicals overthrew the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Who knew it then that this defeat would be the first step in breaking down the USSR.

Meanwhile in Europe and Latin American countries saw a growing unrest against the communist satellite states. USSR was in a deep economic crisis as the cold war demanded a spending of 10 million dollars per day for each side. The little sparks in countries like Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and East Germany turned into revolutions that would oust the communist regime. Mikhail Gorbachev, the then USSR President with his wisdom let the revolution blossom in the eastern bloc. He allowed protests and marches along the streets which resulted in independent nations. 1989 saw the end of the Berlin wall as the city and the nation unified in the following years. The Soviet Union collapsed and globalization rose to power. By 1991, the cold war ended with creation of Russia by its president Boris Yelstin. The 90s would see a new world in the making. The world woke up to a fact that communism is a failed ideology and opened up to change. Free trade would prosper in the Asian sub continents.

In the meanwhile, India was going through a dire economic crisis due to 40 years of closed wall operations. The crisis man of India would rescue the nation in crisis. Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then finance minister opened gates for foreign companies to set up operational centers in India. The wall collapsed and globalization took a center stage. The World has changed but there is still one exception left behind. China. The reds still rule China. This time it's even more dangerous posing threats to the global economies and its neighbours. It's on the rise now. Similar to the rise of USSR in the aftermath of World War II. Two evolving global powerhouses are now locked in arms race. Rising defense budgets is common between two growing powers. Just like the one between USA and USSR during the cold wars. Boundaries are being drawn again. This time the cost of militarization has increased way more than the eras of past. Nuclear missiles, unlike the cold war era has increased its radius to 10,000 KMs. This time it’s not between communism and capitalism but between communism and democracy.  The west is waiting and watching. Shall we say Cold War II.