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Q: Cold War ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Cold War
Category: Reference, Education and News > Homework Help
Asked by: doncas1984-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 07 Nov 2005 08:15 PST
Expires: 07 Dec 2005 08:15 PST
Question ID: 590114
How "cold" was the Cold War?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Cold War
Answered By: webadept-ga on 07 Nov 2005 09:18 PST
 
Hi, 

The term "Cold War" was popularized by Benard Barauch in April of
1947, while in a debate about the Truman Doctrine. It described a
conflict that was waged by means of economic pressure, diplomatic
maneuvering, assassination, low-intensity military operations and
propaganda. Tensions over the long period between 1947 and 1991
however erupted many times into armed conflict such as : The Korean
War, the Hungarian Revolution, the Bay of Pigs Invasion (Cuban Missile
Crises), the Vietnam War, the Afghan War, CIA assisted military coups
in Iran, Guatemala, civil wars in Angola, El Salvador, and Nicaragua
are all examples of the eruptions breaking out into direct military
conflicts, even if the reasons for the actions were not as direct.

In the late 1960's until the beginning years of the 1980's a Detente
period was seen in the cold war. Detente is a French word meaning
relaxation, or the ease of tension. It is also used to describe a
general reduction of tension between the two super powers and the
nuclear arms race itself.  During this period international relations
became more complicated. The dividing lines and clearly defined
oppositions became more muddy and harder to realize. Both sides of the
conflict were showing the economic strain of developing mass amounts
of costly weapons which showed no return to the economy. Stock piles
became economic burdens.

While the propaganda machines of both countries slowed down and direct
military actions seemed to relax, with diplomatic meetings and talks
about nuclear disarmament happening on the surface, the waters below
the Detente were not at peace.

Dates in Cold War History -- October and November
http://www.coldwarveterans.com/dates_in_cold_war_history.htm

While we don't have a complete list of all the military and other
direct conflict actions during the period of the cold war, and several
I have found were perhaps, or perhaps not caused as a result of the
conflict, the website above has a list it puts out which relates to
your question rather well. I've listed their October and November
events here:

The following is a list of major events and actions directly caused by
the Cold War.

October events:

October 1, 1970 ? North Koreans fired on US Army helicopter over DMZ.

October 2, 1953 ? USN PPB-5 damaged by attack by 2 Chinese MiGs over the Yellow Sea

October 3, 1962 ? PFC Richard Rimer killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

October 4, 1957 ? Sputnik I launched (184 lb.); 1st USSR satellite

October 5, 1968 ? SP4 Stephen Nassani killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

October 6, 1945 ? USMC patrol fired on near Tientsin, China, 3 WIA

October 6, 1978 ? Embassy Marine security guard wounded, Beirut, Lebanon

October 7, 1952 ? US RB-29 shot down by Soviet MiGs over Japanese
territorial waters, 8 KIA.

October 7, 1959 ? RB-57D shot down over China, 1 KIA.

October 7, 1967 ? SSGT Terry Arcemont killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

October 10, 1949 ? Mao Zedong proclaims the People's Republic of China

October 10, 1985 ? Fighter aircraft from USS Saratoga (CV-60) force
Egyptian airliner, with Achille Lauro hijackers aboard, to Italy.

October 10, 1987? Terrorists bomb bus carrying U.S. officers in Greece, 9 wounded

October 11, 1969 ? President Nixon ordered secret worldwide nuclear alert

October 12, 1952 ? US RB-29 reconnaissance aircraft shot down by
Soviets near Japan, 8 KIA.

October 12, 1959 ? Two Czechoslovak Migs force Italian F-84 to land.

October 13, 1969 ? SAC began secret worldwide nuclear alert

October 14, 1962 ? USAF U-2 reconnaissance mission photographed
Ballistic Missile sites under construction in Cuba

October 15, 1952 ? First use of RB-47 reconnaissance aircraft to
overfly Siberia from base in Alaska.

October 15, 1945 ? Soviet fighter aircraft fired on US Navy PBM
Mariner, on a reconnaissance flight near Soviet-occupied Port Arthur.

October 16, 1949 ? "Cease-fire," declared by Communists ended insurgency in Greece.

October 16, 1983 ? CPT Michael Ohler (USMC) wounded by sniper in Beirut, Lebanon

October 18, 1969 ? Four US 7th ID soldiers killed in ambush of truck, Korean DMZ

October 19, 1945 ? Marines patrol fired on by snipers near Tangshan,
China, 2 wounded

October 20, 1956 ? Communist Party Secretary Gomulka seeks independent Poland.

October 21, 1957 ? Capt. Harry Cramer, Jr., killed in Viet Cong mortar attack

October 21, 1970 ? US Air Force U-8 lost over USSR, crew rescued.

October 22, 1949 ? Two Soviet La-7 fighters fired on US RB-29 aircraft
over Sea of Japan

October 22, 1951 ? First of seven detonations, Operation Buster-Jangle nuclear test

October 22, 1962 ? President John F. Kennedy declared:

"This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base ?
by the presence of these large, long range, and clearly offensive
weapons of sudden mass destruction ? constitutes an explicit threat to
the peace and security of all the Americas? It shall be the policy of
this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against
any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union
on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the
Soviet Union."

October 22, 1962 ? Cuban Missile Crisis: SAC went on airborne alert,
B-52s sent on "Chrome Dome" missions (24-hour flights, fully armed to
areas within striking distance of enemy targets)

October 23, 1968 ? PFC David Turner killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

October 23, 1956 ? Hungarian student and workers demonstrations in
Budapest - Security forces fired on demonstrators in Parliament
Square, sparking a general uprising.

October 23, 1983 ? 241 KIA in bombing Marine Barracks, Beirut, Lebanon

October 23, 1983 ? Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada, West Indies) began
(22 Oct-4 Nov), 18 KIA, 116 wounded.

October 23, 1983 ? CPL Guillermo Sanpedro, USMC, killed in terrorist
attack, Cyprus.

October 24, 1962 ? Naval exclusion zone established around Cuba, to
prevent Soviet nuclear missiles from being delivered.

October 24, 1962 ? Cuban Missile Crisis - Strategic Air Command goes
on DEFCON 2, prepares for nuclear war.

October 24, 1968 ? SGT Paul Martin KIA in operation against North Korean unit

October 24, 1973 ? USSR goes on alert over Arab-Israeli crisis

October 25, 1973 ? Nixon orders nuclear alert in response to USSR alert

October 26, 1946 ? Marines jeep patrol ambushed by Chinese communist
snipers near Peking, China, 1 WIA.

October 26, 1968 ? Pvt. Salvador Mojica killed in operation against
North Korean unit

October 27, 1962 ? USAF U-2A shot down over Cuba, Major Rudolf
Anderson, Jr., killed

October 27, 1973 ? USSR ended nuclear alert during Mid-East war.

October 28, 1945 ? Chinese Communist troops open fire on the landing
barge of US Navy Admiral Daniel Barbey, Hulatalo, Manchuria.

October 28, 1987 ? 3 USAF personnel shot and killed near Clark AFB, Philippines

October 30, 1968 ? North Koreans landed 120 commandos on East Coast of
South Korea, to establish guerrilla operations in Taebek Mountains

October 30, 1979 ? 2 Marine security guards injured in attack on US
Embassy, El Salvador

October 31, 1956 ? Israeli forces invaded Egypt., began Suez war

October 31, 1958 ? USAF RB-47 attacked by Soviet fighters over Black Sea.

October 31, 1956 ? USS Burdo (APD-133) and USS Harlan R. Dickson
(DD-708) evacuate 166 persons from Haifa, Israel.

November events:

November 1, 1951 ? Operation Buster-Jangle - Atomic bomb test in
Nevada, involving 188th Parachute Infantry Regiment

November 1, 1952 ? "Big Mike" - 1st US thermonuclear test - 10 megatons.

November 1, 1961 ? U-2 shot down over China, pilot killed

November 2, 1966 ? North Korean attack on unit of US 2nd Infantry
Division, near Korean DMZ, 7 US soldiers killed, 1 wounded

November 3, 1956 ? Russian troops sent back into Budapest Nov. 3

November 3, 1956 ? USS Cambria (APA-36) evacuated UN Truce Commission
team from Gaza Strip.

November 3, 1956 ? USS Chilton (APA-38), USS Thuban (AKA-19), and USS
Fort Snelling (LSD-30) evacuated US and foreign nationals from Egypt
and Israel.

November 6, 1956 ? Soviet tanks crushed the Hungarian uprising.
Thousands fled to the west before the borders were closed. Prime
Minister Imre Nagy took refuge in Yugoslav embassy in Budapest.

November 3, 1968 ? North Korean commando team attempted to establish
guerrilla base in South Korean village

November 3, 1988 ? Pakistani F-16 shot down Afghan Su-22.

November 6, 1951 ? USN P2V Neptune shot down by Soviet Fighters near
Vladivostok, 10 killed

November 7, 1954 ? USAF RB-47 shot down by Soviet fighters 10 miles
off Kurile Islands, 1 killed.

November 7, 1958 ? USAF RB-47 attacked by Soviet fighters over Bering Sea.

November 8, 1956 ? Soviet tanks and troops crushed Hungarian uprising
in bitter street fighting. A total of over 22,000 Hungarians were
killed, thousands more arrested. Soviet casualties were an estimated
3,000. After the uprising was crushed, rebels were tried, and 350
executed. Because Hungarian law did not permit the death penalty for
those under 18, some freedom fighters were imprisoned and then
executed on their 18th birthday.

November 9, 1989 ? Dismantling of Berlin wall began.

November 10, 1954 ? US Aircraft on photo mapping mission shot down by North Koreans

November 10, 1953 ? PBM-5S2 ? lost during mission over Yellow Sea - 14 killed

November 14, 1964 ? US aircraft attacked over Korean DMZ

November 15, 1945 ? USN PBM-5 aircraft attacked by Soviet fighter, 25
miles south of Port Arthur, China.

November 15, 1980 ? USAF SGT William Herrington shot and killed, Adana, Turkey

November 15, 1983 ? Navy CAPT George Tsantes shot and killed in Athens, Greece

November 17, 1955 ? USAF C-54 en route to Area 51 crashes in Nevada, 14 killed.

November 17, 1958 ? USAF RB-47 attacked by Soviet fighters over Sea of Japan.

November 18, 1951 ? USAF C-47 shot down over Hungary, crew repatriated.

November 19, 1951 ? USAF C-47 lost to antiaircraft fire over Romania, 3 killed

November 20, 1956 ? First U-2 overflight of USSR

November 20, 1963 ? USAF U-2 returning from Cuba overflight crashed, Pilot killed

November 20, 1968 ? SP4 James Johnson killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

November 20, 1974 ? CDR James Ballinger killed by hostile fire, Korean DMZ

November 20, 1988 ? Pakistani F-16 shot down Soviet An 26

November 21, 1962 ? Cuban Missile Crisis ended, stand down from DEFCON 2.

November 23, 1952 ? US Navy P-2B attacked by Chinese MiGs over coastal
waters near Shanghai.

November 23, 1962 ? Soldier on patrol killed around OP Susan, Korean DMZ

November 23, 1983 ? Operation Urgent Fury, invasion of Grenada, West Indies

November 23, 1983 ? CPL Guillermo Sanpedro, USMC, killed in terrorist
attack, Cyprus

November 23, 1984 ? North Koreans started firefight in Panmunjom Truce
Village, 1 UNC guard killed, 3 Koreans killed

November 24, 1964 ? 12 USAF C-130s flew Belgian paratroops to
Stanleyville, Congo, to rescue hostages.

November 29, 1952 ? C-47 on CIA mission crashed in Jilin Province,
China. 2 crewmen killed, 2 captured and sentenced to long prison
terms.

November 29, 1979 ? CW3 Brian Ellis (Army) and CPL Steven Crawley
(USMC) killed defending US Embassy, Islamabad, Pakistan

November 30, 1988 ? A-7 Aircraft?s 20mm cannon accidentally fired
aboard USS Nimitz (CVA-68) in Arabian Sea, setting 6 aircraft ablaze,
killing one crewman.


References

Cold War Veterans
http://www.coldwarveterans.com/

Cold War Guide
http://www.cold-war.info/

Cold War International History Project
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=topics.home&topic_id=1409

Links of Interest

Cold War Policies
http://history.acusd.edu/gen/20th/coldwar0.html

Documents Related to the Cold War
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/coldwar.htm

Cold War Hot Links
http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/dprice/cold.war.htm

Journal of Cold War Studies -- The MIT Press
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=4&tid=29


Searches 

cold war site:.edu


thanks, 

webadept-ga

Request for Answer Clarification by doncas1984-ga on 07 Nov 2005 16:58 PST
Could please answer the question more clearly and in 5 or 6 sentences.

Clarification of Answer by webadept-ga on 07 Nov 2005 21:10 PST
The term Cold War describes a war where the two (or more) aggressors
never really meet on the battle field, and fight each other directly
on a wide scale. The Cold War was waged by means of economic pressure,
selective aid, diplomatic maneuvering, propaganda, assassination,
low-intensity military operations and full-scale proxy war from 1947
until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

However, many battles and wars were fought by these two in other
countries, such as  Korean War; the Hungarian Revolution; the Bay of
Pigs Invasion and Cuban Missile Crisis; the Vietnam War; the Afghan
War; and CIA-assisted military coups against governments in Iran
(1953), Guatemala (1954), and civil wars in countries such as Angola,
El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

Thus, though the two countries never truly fought each other in a
direct hot war, the loss of life, resources and costs were just about
the same.

thanks, 

webadept-ga
Comments  
Subject: Re: Cold War
From: mongolia-ga on 07 Nov 2005 16:45 PST
 
Dear Webadept

just 3 comments to your otherwise excellent answer

- in January 1968 the North Koreans captured the American Spy Ship Pueblo
  along with its 87 crew (Captain Lloyd Bucher). They were held for almost one 
  year. (surprised you did not mention this one)

- Surprised you did not mention the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 by the 
  soviets.

- The Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile crisis were two separate incidents
  (although both concerned Cuba) The Bay of Pigs was a disasterous attempt by  
  Cuban exiles in Florida to attack and attempt to remove Fidel Castro's 
  regime (with covert backing from the CIA). The Cuban Missile crisis (which 
  would   have happened at least one later after  the Bay of Pigs) was an 
  attempt by the then Soviet Union to deploy Nuclear Missiles in Cuba i.e. on 
  the US's  doorstep. Although there was only one casuality as a result of the 
  dispute , it is the closest the world has ever come to a nuclear Holocaust.

Regards

Mongolia

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