Kashmir, Afghanistan, and the Non-Aligned Movement: Cold War Beyond the Superpowers

We will begin our new blog with the Kashmir Issue and then cover the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Finally, we will conclude this block by touching upon the Non-Aligned Movement, thereby wrapping up the Détente period in general terms.

The Kashmir Issue (Pakistan & India)

In 1947, when Pakistan and India declared their independence, the people of Kashmir used their electoral rights, applied according to the treaty, in favour of Muslim Pakistan. However, just like other Muslim regions in the Indian subcontinent that were supposed to join Pakistan, this unification could not be realized because the ruler of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, handed the country over to India for money and fled to England.

Kashmir was a region located at the intersection of Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, and China, possessing highly fertile lands. Following Pakistan’s attempt to annex the region, conflicts broke out between India and Pakistan for the first time in 1948. With the intervention of the United Nations, it was decided to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, and a ceasefire was achieved between the two countries. Although conflicts continued sporadically in the following period, the Tashkent Declaration was signed between Pakistan and India through the initiatives of the Soviet Union, and the parties agreed to resolve their disputes peacefully.

The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

After the overthrow of King Daoud in Afghanistan, the people rebelled against the policies of the People's Party that came to power, and aid was requested from the USSR. Upon this request, a large number of Soviet experts and soldiers arrived in Afghanistan, and the USSR effectively invaded the country on December 27, 1979. The Afghan groups fighting against the Soviet invasion were called “Mujahideen.” During the invasion, President Hafizullah Amin was killed and replaced by Babrak Karmal. This Soviet invasion caused many Afghans to take refuge in Pakistan and Iran, leading to a massive refugee crisis.

In response to this Soviet initiative, the US refused to ratify the SALT II Treaty and halted its grain exports to the country on January 5, 1980. Furthermore, in reaction to the Soviet invasion, the US and nearly 70 other countries did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. As a result of negotiations that began in 1982 under UN supervision among Afghanistan, Pakistan, the US, and the USSR, an agreement was signed in Geneva on April 14, 1988; however, due to internal conflicts, stability could not be achieved in Afghanistan.

Mujahideen praying in Shultan Valley, 1987

The Non-Aligned Movement

One of the most significant developments that emerged as a new power factor in the international arena from the 1960s onwards was the appearance of a new grouping of states under the name of “Non-Alignment,” standing entirely outside the East and West blocs.

Pioneers and Origins: India, Yugoslavia, and Egypt, countries that gained their independence and began to make their voices heard during the Korean War era, were instrumental in the emergence of this movement. The spark and starting point of the Non-Aligned Movement was the Asian-African (Bandung) Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955.

The Goal of the Bandung Conference: The aim was to ensure unity and solidarity among the newly independent African and Asian countries to protect their existence against two massive nuclear powers like the US and the USSR. However, the 24 states attending the conference were quite “heterogeneous” in terms of their political systems and foreign policies. For instance, Türkiye was at the table as a NATO member, while the People's Republic of China acted almost as a representative of the USSR.

Formalization and the Belgrade Conference: The Non-Aligned Movement, which fundamentally advocated not being affiliated with any bloc or military alliance, had its first official organization in 1961 through the initiatives of Yugoslav leader Tito and Egyptian President Nasser. At the conference held in Belgrade in September 1961 with the participation of 25 neutral countries, a 25-point declaration was published, and a clear call for peace was made to both the US and Soviet Russia.

Key Resolutions of the Belgrade Declaration:

• Absolute opposition to all forms of colonialism.
• Condemnation of racial discrimination (Apartheid) in the Republic of South Africa.
• Recognition of all legitimate rights of the Palestinian-Arab people.
• The necessity of dismantling foreign military bases in other countries.
• The prohibition of nuclear weapons and the need for general disarmament.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Barrister-at-Law

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

Born in 1889, Nehru completed his education in England and returned to India, where he became the president of the political party known as the “Indian National Congress.” He was arrested in 1942 during the “Quit India!” protests organized against British rule. Remaining imprisoned until the end of World War II, Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India, which was established in 1947. He served in this esteemed position until his death in 1964.

Up to this point, we have examined the relations between America, the Soviets, and China; now we are turning our course to the Middle East. Our upcoming blog will be a long and intensive one. In this section, we will cover the Arab-Israeli Wars that shaped the Middle East, namely the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Yom Kippur). Following that, we will discuss the Camp David Accords and the developing Egypt-Israel relations around this axis, and finally, we will complete this long blog with the establishment of the Islamic Conference.

Cracks in the Iron Curtain: Tito, Hungary, and the Prague Spring

During the construction of the Eastern Bloc, the Soviet Union expected unconditional obedience from all the countries under its control. However, the first major rebellion against this absolute hegemony came not from the West, but from right inside the “Iron Curtain” itself: Yugoslavia.

The Soviets wanted to turn Yugoslavia into a complete satellite state, just like the other Eastern European nations. But the legendary Yugoslav leader, Marshal Tito, fiercely resisted this subjugation. There was a very justified and powerful historical reality behind Tito’s courage: while communism had been brought to other Eastern European countries by the tanks of the Red Army, Yugoslavia had won its freedom through the epic armed struggle of Tito and his “Partisans” against the German -meaning, by their own blood and strength. Owing no “debt of liberation” to Moscow, Tito could act with a profound sense of independence against the USSR, something the Stalin administration could never accept.

Josip Broz Tito

What completely severed the ties were Tito’s regional ambitions and ideological differences:

The Dream of a Balkan Federation: Tito was not content with merely remaining independent of Moscow; he planned to establish a massive “Balkan Federation” centred in Belgrade, incorporating Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and even Greece (if the communists won the civil war there). This was a direct challenge to Stalin's absolute authority in the region.

National Communism: The Soviets dictated that Yugoslavia perfectly copy the Soviet communist system and policies. Tito rejected this pressure and sought to apply communism according to Yugoslavia's own national, cultural, and economic conditions.

Tito’s uncompromising stance went down in history as the first instance of “National Communism” in the international communist movement. As a result of this crisis, Yugoslavia was dramatically expelled from the Cominform in 1948.

Tito with U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Washington, 7 March 1978

Rebellions Curtain: China, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia

Following Yugoslavia’s declaration of independence, the tremors within the communist bloc did not cease. The Soviet Union’s strict policies and expansionist pressure set the stage for massive fractures and tragic events both in Asia and in the heart of Europe.

Two Giants Face Off: The Sino-Soviet Split

Ties between the two great giants of the communist world were severely strained when the USSR decided to dissolve the Cominform in 1956. This decision irreparably distanced the neighbouring People’s Republic of China from the Soviet Union. Fuelled by ideological differences and a struggle for leadership, this crisis escalated into a heated conflict when Chinese Red Guards besieged the Soviet embassy in Beijing in 1967. By 1969, the armed disputes between the two countries intensified to a peak. The communist bloc was now practically split in two.

Freedom Crushed by Blood: The Hungarian Uprising (1956)

In Europe, the situation was taking a much more tragic turn. Overwhelmed by the oppressive Soviet-backed communist regime, the Hungarian people revolted on October 23, 1956. What started as an innocent student rally suddenly transformed into a massive nationwide revolution. However, the price for this cry for freedom was devastatingly heavy. Stepping in directly to crush the rebellion, Soviet tanks turned the streets of Hungary into a bloodbath. By November 10, the resistance was completely broken, and the Russians had violently solidified their control in Central Europe. The toll of this ruthless intervention was incredibly grim:

·         Nearly 2,500 Hungarians were killed.

·         13,000 people were injured.

·         Over 200,000 people were forced to flee their homeland as refugees.

A Crushed Hope: Czechoslovakia and the Prague Spring (1968)

Twelve years after those bloody days in Hungary, a similar hope for freedom blossomed in Czechoslovakia. With the appointment of Alexander Dubček as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1968, a unique period of political liberalization known in history as the “Prague Spring” began. Concepts championed by Dubček, such as “National Communism” and a coercion-free “Humanist Communism,” generated immense enthusiasm among the public. But this spring was very short-lived; fearing that these liberal movements would undermine its own authority, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia with its armies in August 1968, crushing this quest for freedom under tank treads once again.

Alright, from the beginning of the Cold War up to now, we have completed the origins of the Eastern Bloc, its spread, its internal rebellions, and these tragic events. From the early periods of our Cold War series, we are now shifting our course to the moves of the United States taking Europe under its wing, transitioning toward the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan.

The Beginning of the Cold War: Superpowers, Nuclear Fear, and a Divided Europe

While the wreckage of World War II had not yet been cleared, two new giants were rising on the world stage: the United States and the Soviet Union. The emergence of these two nations as superpowers marked the beginning of that long and tense era known as the “Cold War.” (This historic term was first used in 1947 by the American economist and statesman Bernard Baruch).

The primary critical developments that shaped international politics and the fate of the world during this new era were:

The Collapse of Europe: The fact that Europe and its established states, which had been the centre of the traditional balance of power and politics for centuries, emerged from the war with massive devastation, practically in ruins.

The New Superpowers: The filling of this massive political vacuum by the USA and the Soviet Union, who emerged from the war victorious and much stronger, claiming the status of “superpowers.”

The Shadow of Nuclear Weapons: Undoubtedly, the most defining element of this era was the development of nuclear weapons. This terrifying invention continues to directly shape both era and modern international crises. Just as we see today in the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran or in modern warfare strategies, nuclear deterrence is the greatest diplomatic weapon inherited from the Cold War.

With Europe withdrawing from the stage of world politics after World War II, the international order took on a sharply bipolar nature centred around the USA and the Soviet Union. One of the first concrete steps of this polarization was the secret bargain that went down in history as the Percentages Agreement, which took place in Moscow in October 1944. Aimed at definitively establishing spheres of influence in Eastern Europe, this agreement saw British Prime Minister Churchill and Soviet Leader Stalin determine their dominance over Eastern European countries by dividing them into percentages on a simple scrap of paper.

According to this, the fate of entire nations was divided by these ruthless ratios:

·         Romania: 90% USSR, 10% UK

·         Greece: 90% UK (with the US), 10% USSR

·         Yugoslavia: 50% USSR, 50% UK

·         Hungary: 50% USSR, 50% UK (Soviet ratio was later increased)

·         Bulgaria: 75% USSR, 25% UK (Soviet ratio was later increased)

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Leader Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin
Generated by AI

The Berlin Crisis and the Baruch Plan

The first major and volatile crisis of the Cold War erupted in the heart of Germany, the country that suffered the heaviest wounds of the war. Following World War II, just like the rest of Germany, the capital city of Berlin was divided into four occupation zones by the victorious powers (the US, UK, France, and the USSR). However, the Soviet Union’s aggressive attempt to push Western powers completely out of its occupation zone and its deliberate prevention of German reunification severed all ties. When a compromise proved impossible, the US, UK, and France made a swift move to merge their respective occupation zones, laying the foundations for West Germany (and West Berlin). This situation triggered the historic “Berlin Crisis,” bringing the world to the brink of a new war.

In response to the Soviet Union’s ruthless 1948 Berlin Blockade, which cut off all land and rail routes to force Western powers out of the city, the US and UK launched the Berlin Airlift, one of the most legendary maneuvers of the Cold War. Wanting to save the city without triggering a hot conflict, Allied planes performed an unprecedented logistical miracle by flying day and night for nearly a year to airdrop thousands of tons of food, coal, and medical supplies into West Berlin. Faced with the West's unwavering resolve, the Soviets were forced to lift the blockade in May 1949, and this humanitarian operation went down in memory as one of the greatest psychological victories of the free world against communism.

Nuclear Crisis

The US submitted a proposal to the UN known as the “Baruch Plan” for the control of the atomic bomb, a weapon it had used at the end of WWII to prove its ultimate power to the world. This plan envisioned the creation of an international authority with unlimited inspection powers over nations to monitor the development and use of atomic energy. The US even demanded an alteration of the famous “veto” system in the UN Security Council to ensure that violators of the agreement could not block their own punishment.

However, the Soviet Union categorically rejected this plan. The Stalin administration harboured a highly justified fear: if this plan were implemented, the US would remain the sole “monopoly” capable of manufacturing nuclear weapons, and America, which already heavily dominated the UN, would completely manipulate this newly established atomic commission for its own interests. This mistrust between the US, which was unwilling to share its nuclear secrets, and the Soviets, who rejected this inspection plan, pushed the tension between the two superpowers to its peak, officially igniting the terrifying global nuclear arms race.

The Construction of the Eastern Bloc and the First Cracks

As Europe was divided in two, the fate of the countries behind the “Iron Curtain” had already been sealed. Thanks to the power vacuum created by the war and the military presence of the Red Army, Marxist-Leninist parties rapidly seized political power in countries like Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The greatest share in the establishment of communist regimes in these countries undoubtedly belonged to Soviet tanks.

However, not all of the Eastern Bloc was under the absolute control of the Soviets. Two countries stepped outside this rule and drew their own destinies: Yugoslavia and Albania.

·        Yugoslavia: Not owing its power to Soviet armies and having driven out the Nazis with its own strong partisan resistance, Yugoslavia (under the leadership of Tito) exhibited an independent communist movement from the very beginning and refused to fall into the Soviet orbit.

·       Albania: Similarly, the National Liberation Front led by Enver Hoxha seized power by its own strength on November 29, 1944. Initially allied with the Soviets, Albania eventually opposed this hegemony and completely broke away from the Soviet Union in 1961.

The other Eastern European countries, apart from these two exceptions, faced direct Soviet intervention (such as tanks rolling into the streets) at the slightest attempt at independence.

Up to this point, we have talked about what the concept of the Cold War means, the general characteristics of the era, the post-war devastation, and how that famous bipolar world (US-USSR) was separated by sharp lines. In other words, we have made quite a “hot” and solid entry into that tense and long Cold War era!

Now, we are moving on to the First Phase of this massive period (1947-1950s). But don't worry; without getting bogged down in details and endless diplomatic crises, we will continue on our way by briefly touching only upon those most critical turning points that changed the fate of the world.