11: Cold War and the Politics of Race- 1950-2000

Sidestepping Sanitized Narratives

Traditional textbooks depict the Cold War simply as an ideological struggle between freedom/democracy and authoritarian control/communism that started in 1945 and ended in 1989 with the victory of the United States. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 demonstrated the decimating effects of nuclear warfare. That was terrifying. Although nuclear weapons still pose a serious threat to humanity, our fears have faded. Terms and phrases such as “proxy wars'' and “collateral damage” that are commonly used in history textbooks sanitize the bloody conflicts and human rights violations of the Cold War era. African and Asian anti-colonial movements were an important component in the war for global ideological supremacy. The photos of Indian and African troops, seen in Figures 11.1 and 11.2, serve as a reminder that colonial troops fought in every theater of World War II and contributed to the success of the Allied powers. Figure 11.1 is a black and white photograph of Indian Army recruits wearing turbans at a training center during World War II. Over 2.5 million troops from India fought for Britain in all theaters of war. This is certainly one of the lesser-known facts about World War II: India provided the largest number of volunteer troops in World War II. Indian Armed Forces received over fifteen percent of the Victoria Crosses. In addition massive quantities of weapons, timber, steel, and food were sent from India to Europe. India's contribution to British success was huge. Africans and Arabs also fought and died for the freedom of Allied Powers during World War II. Figure 11.2 is a black and white photograph of armed African troops who fought for the Allied Powers in Burma (Myanmar) against the Japanese during World War II. They were highly skilled jungle fighters who fought bravely during the heavy monsoons in Burma. Even though most global history textbooks don’t acknowledge the important contributions and sacrifices of these troops, their service in the imperial armies raised important questions about social justice and human equality in the postwar period. Anti-colonial movements in the postwar period challenged racial supremacy and colonial rule. Decolonization in Africa expedited the American civil rights movement. In Latin America the Cold War played out in the form of military dictatorships, widespread human rights violations, and the emergence of a variety of resistance movements. This chapter focuses on the intersection of anti-colonial/imperialist struggles, military dictatorship, and the Cold War that led to sustained engagement with the superpowers, who, in general, tended to support anti-democratic forces in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to advance their own geopolitical interests.

The Soviet Union and the United States had fought as allies against Nazi Germany during World War II. But the alliance began to crumble as soon as the war in Europe ended in May 1945. The Soviet Union was determined to have a buffer zone between its borders and Western Europe. It set up pro-communist regimes in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Albania, and eventually in East Germany. Fears of Soviet expansion and aggression led the United States to launch a fervent anti-communism crusade until the collapse of the USSR in December 1991. Between 1945 and 1989 both superpowers pursued an ambitious grand strategy for international hegemony. The Cold War ended over three decades ago. We now have access to a vast body of historical scholarship that helps us better understand important global implications of the superpower struggle. Countries like Vietnam became bloody battlegrounds in the conflict between capitalism and communism. The case studies in this chapter are designed to show how the superpowers intervened in the internal affairs of several nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia under the banner of promoting social justice, peace, or improving living conditions, and to emphasize that the US provided strong leadership for a global multiracial coalition against communism while simultaneously upholding white supremacy.

Thumbnail: "The Cold War," by Anupama Mande, licensed under CC BY.