London Socialist Historians Group

The Cold War, which began sixty years ago with the announcement of the Truman Doctrine and the creation of the Cominform, shaped the world in the second half of the twentieth century. Its most intense phase came to an end in the early sixties, but, with the accompanying threat of nuclear barbarism, it continued to exercise a major influence until the “collapse of Communism” in 1989. .

Its first stage developed in parallel to the post-war economic boom, so that the decade that saw a considerable increase in prosperity was also, in IF Stone's phrase, the "haunted fifties". The Cold War dominated political alignments in the USA and Western Europe, affected the post-Stalin evolution in the Eastern bloc and had a major impact on national liberation movements and newly independent states in the so-called Third World.

The Cold War also deeply influenced intellectual and cultural developments (including historiography). It shaped the politics of the left for a generation, with initially only a tiny minority rejecting the alternative "either Washington or Moscow", though later non-aligned anti-war movements acquired mass support.

We still live in a world formed by the Cold War. At the same time there are many parallels, as well as significant differences, with the current "war on terror". There are thus many important lessons to be drawn.