War and Warfare since 1945

Sterling Pavelec

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351706865
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia mondiale

Beginning with an exploration into the question of what war is, War and Warfare since 1945 provides a chronological analysis of military history since the end of World War II extending through to an analysis of the limits of modern warfare in the nuclear age with the purpose of examining why war occurs and how it is carried out. Among the types of conflict considered within the book are:

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• state conflicts

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• civil wars

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• proxy wars

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• terrorism and counterterrorism

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• insurgency

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• genocide.

Both theoretical and historical, War and Warfare since 1945 also explores the definitions, ethics, morals, and effects of the use of militaries in and after war, and puts forward important questions about how wars are resolved. The wars discussed include the first Arab-Israeli War, the Chinese Civil War, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Iraq war. The book concludes with an investigation into modern war and speculation on the changing face of warfare.

1The aftermath of World War II, 1945–1954

The shadows of World War II

World War II was the most destructive war in human history, thus far. By September 1945, over 60 million people lay dead and nations lay in ruins from the conflict. Germany and Japan were utterly destroyed by the combined forces of the Allies, but even the Allies were affected. The Soviet Union lost over 30 million of its population, and cities like Leningrad (today St. Petersburg) had been destroyed by siege. The British and French empires were in free fall, from which they would never recover their erstwhile prestige. Only the U.S. was relatively unscathed by the war, emerging as the political, economic, and technological “winner” from years of fighting. But even though the U.S. was on the rise, over 500,000 U.S. military personnel died. The world would have to be rebuilt, which fostered renewed suspicion between the emerging superpowers.

The end of World War II ushered in a new era of total war. Germany lay in ruins from conventional fighting; the Soviets destroyed German territory with their massive and effective Red Army, and occupied all of Eastern Europe. The Western Allies (the U.S., Britain, France, Canada, and several smaller powers) employed land and air forces to force German capitulation. Once Germany surrendered, former Allies negotiated to divide Germany into zones of occupation. In the Pacific, the U.S. systematically destroyed Japan from the air, while preparing for an invasion of the Japanese home islands. The culmination of the war came with the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, after which the Japanese surrendered. Atomic technology was instrumental in the defeat of Japan.

Growing resentment between the Western Allies and the Soviets led to immediate competition over the defeated powers. Germany was divided and occupied. Japan, Korea, and China became areas of competition between the democratic, free-market West and communist East. East Germany and Eastern Europe fell under Soviet control; West Germany was subjected to British, French, and American oversight. Japan was occupied and controlled by the U.S., while Korea was divided between the Americans and Soviets at the 38th Parallel. China descended into chaos as the Nationalists and Communists resumed their civil war against each other. Although the war ended the totalitarian regimes in Germany and Japan, it did not resolve the political and economic ideological struggles of the pre-war period, specifically the global contest between capitalism and communism. Nor did the war address emerging nationalist movements in the former European empires. Furthermore, technology played an important role in the closing stages of the war and the subsequent competition for the globe. The U.S. felt fairly secure in the Western hemisphere, armed with a massive conventional military, insulating seas guarded by an unbeatable navy, and an air armada equipped with atomic weapons. In 1945, the U.S. had an atomic monopoly. The new U.S. president, Harry Truman, was dedicated to the promotion of democracy and national self-determination, but immediately faced opposition from allies and adversaries alike. The Soviets, under Joseph Stalin, wanted to expand their communist influence around the globe, in direct competition with U.S. ideology.

In the aftermath of the war, the Allies decided to restructure the defeated powers. They worked together to bring war criminals to justice in Germany, specifically at the Nuremberg Trials. A small number of high-ranking Nazi officials were brought to trial to answer for war crimes. Beyond that, there was little coordination of the post-war settlement. The Soviets occupied East Germany, relocated important people and industry deep into the Soviet Union, and began an era of military occupation. In the west, Britain, France, and the U.S. initially set up zones of independent occupation in western Germany. These zones were later combined to form West Germany, with a capital in Bonn. The former capital, Berlin, was divided into four zones of occupation, later simply East and West Berlin. Germany was occupied and administered by the victors. However, in the west, the Allies realized that rebuilding the historical industrial power would serve a twofold purpose: West Germany could be rehabilitated to be a peaceful industrial power fostering economic recovery of the war-torn country, as well as re-emerge as a democratic, capitalist bulwark against Soviet ideology. Germany’s “Economic Miracle” began with the economic Marshall Plan, sponsored and paid for by the U.S. Germany was rebuilt after World War II as an example of the largesse of American charity and strength of the message of capitalism and the free market. The Marshall Plan, in combination with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community, helped West Germany became an example for the rest of the world of a phoenix rising from the ashes to regain its prestige economically, politically, and industrially.¹

On the other side of the globe, Japan was occupied and the government was reconstructed. High-ranking Japanese military officials were brought to justice for their crimes and the military was completely disbanded. While they were allowed to keep the emperor, the U.S. oversaw a rewriting of the Japanese constitution, imposing democracy on the former empire. Japan was also rebuilt as an industrial power, but not allowed to re-militarize. Japan’s security would be provided by the U.S. occupiers.² Across the Korea Strait, Korea was divided into North and South at the 38th Parallel. The U.S. began the reconstruction of the south, while the Soviets occupied the north. Both North and South Korea wanted reunification; a tacit promise for a future consideration was offered. As in Germany, the U.S. focused on democracy and capitalism in the south, while the Soviets implemented communism in the north. Self-determination for the Koreans was ignored in favor of great power politics between the U.S. and Soviets.

At the end of the war it seemed that stability had been reinstated. But this was not the case. In every corner of the world, World War II was only the starting point for more conflict. In China, renewed aggression emerged between the Nationalists and Communists for power and control. In Southeast Asia and North Africa, the former French Empire began to unravel. In South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, British control waned. The new superpowers, the U.S. and Soviet Union, emerged as the power brokers after the war, and would have to consider how and when to get involved in large and small conflicts that unfolded at the conclusion of World War II.

Of course, it was not enough that conflicts erupted in many areas of the globe; the former Allies also found reasons for friction. In the 1940s, it was political-economic ideology. The communists, especially in the Soviet Union and China, promoted state-sponsored socialism, with near totalitarian centralized control. In the West, the model was democracy, coupled with free-market economies, with an emphasis on individual freedoms. Each side believed that they were correct; each wanted to promote their ideology around the world. Both believed that the other was wrong, corrupt, and destined to fail. Neither side was willing to budge.

Only a few months after the end of the war, as the countries rebuilt and began to heal, the divide between the communist East and the capitalist West began to grow. In February 1946, the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Kiev sent a telegram to his superiors at the State Department outlining his opinions on the Soviet Union.³ George Kennan was a Sovietologist, an expert on the Soviet Union, and had been asked his official opinion on what the Soviets were up to and what the U.S. could expect. In his “Long Telegram” he opined that the Soviets were militaristic and expansionist, and dedicated to international communism. This put the U.S. government on edge, and deepened the rift. In March, Sir Winston Churchill, Britain’s wartime prime minister by then out of office, traveled to the U.S. and gave a speech condemning the Soviet Union and communism. He stated that “an Iron Curtain [of communism] has descended across the continent [of Eastern Europe].” Always suspicious of Stalin and communism, Churchill vocalized his concerns. His speech put into words many of the feelings of the time. In 1947, Kennan’s telegram was published in Foreign Affairs as the “X Article.” Americans, and the capitalist West, read what they perceived as official opinion on the Soviet Union. The stage was set for an ideological struggle.

There were efforts to include the Soviets in the post-war international structure. When the United Nations was constructed in 1945, the Soviets were given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. They had the power to veto any UN security decision. As one of the Big Five, including the U.S., Britain, France, and China, the Soviets wielded enormous diplomatic power. But at the time, they felt slighted by the outcome; they were the only Communist representative – the China seat was initially occupied by the Chinese Nationalists (Republic of China). Although the Soviets had a veto, they felt outnumbered by the capitalists.

In 1948, the Soviets decided to make a stand. They felt that the Western Allies had undue influence in West Berlin, the former capital of Germany, divided but deep within Soviet-controlled East Germany. The Soviets ordered closure of all road and rail traffic into West Berlin from West Germany, in order to force the West to give up Berlin. In response to the Berlin Blockade (technically an act of war), the U.S. and Britain began the Berlin Airlift, the resupply of Berlin from the air with U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force cargo aircraft. The Western Allies called the Soviet bluff in that they thought the Soviets would not go so far as to shoot down their aircraft. They were correct; the Soviets did not shoot down any aircraft, but the Soviets did not think that the airlift would succeed in keeping the city supplied.

For almost an entire year (June 1948–May 1949) U.S. and British planes resupplied the city with the airlift.⁴ The U.S. and Britain averted outright war with the Soviets by not provoking military action against the city by circumventing road and rail routes; the Soviets were equally careful to avoid war by not shooting down unarmed military transport planes. By spring 1949, the Soviets conceded the fact that the West was willing and able to resupply Berlin, and gave up on the blockade. West Berlin survived, but became a focal point in the Cold War. Both sides avoided an all-out war against the other with novel approaches and ingenious alternatives.

The Cold War can be examined through events like the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. Both sides were willing to test the other, but neither was willing to go to war, for fear of the ultimate devastation that would unfold. In the aftermath of World War II, neither side was willing to start World War III, even though both had the military might and technology to do so. Both the U.S. and Soviet Union began significant spending programs to grow military power based on fear of the other. The U.S. held the atomic monopoly until 1949, when the Soviets, ahead of all estimates, detonated their first atomic device. The atomic arms race, and later the nuclear arms race, illustrated the military power of the two sides. The U.S. tested its first nuclear bomb in 1952; the Soviets in 1953. In addition to atomic and nuclear weapons, both sides labored to improve conventional capabilities with advances in planes, tanks, ships, and rockets. As the Cold War unfolded, both sides sought to deter the other side’s aggression by building and demonstrating military capabilities. Americans and Europeans were worried about a Soviet threat to Western Europe, while the Soviets were worried about the loss of communist allies on their periphery.

Soviet activity in Eastern Europe prompted an American military and diplomatic response. When the Soviets sponsored a Communist-controlled takeover in Czechoslovakia, it raised concerns about Soviet expansionism. In response, the U.S. supported Greece and Turkey with money and military equipment under the Truman Doctrine. By supporting the region, the U.S. hoped to stem Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean and contain Soviet power.⁵

By 1949, the U.S. was determined to deter Soviet aggression with collective security. The U.S. sponsored the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to keep the Soviets from attacking Western Europe. Initially 12 countries signed up, with the U.S. promising to defend them against Soviet aggression. It was (and remains) primarily a military agreement between Western European countries, the U.S., and Canada to deter Soviet (and now Russian) expansion into Western Europe. The U.S. and Britain reinforced their military presence in West Germany, which was not allowed a standing military force. For the entirety of the Cold War, NATO focused on the Soviet threat to Europe.

Collective Security stabilized Western Europe. With American military and monetary support, Europe could focus on rebuilding after the war and re-energizing their economies. The idea was that with legitimate democratic governments and strong economies, Western Europe would be a shining example of democracy and capitalism for the rest of the world. It would serve to show the correctness of democratic ideology, and Europeans could live in freedom and prosperity without fear of communist expansion. American and British military presence in West Germany served to deter any Soviet military attacks into Europe, by affecting the Soviet cost–benefit analysis. The Soviets were perceived as rational actors, and the Western powers thought that their actions could be predicted and countered. The West thought that they could outlast the Soviets and undermine the communist system and ideology with collective security and prosperity. The idea was that Western Europe would stand as an example, and a military overthrow of the Soviet system would be unnecessary. Western academics and analysts believed that the Soviet system would eventually collapse because of its inherent flaws.

However, there was no clear timeline for the eventual decay of communism. In the meantime, the U.S. – and to a lesser extent Britain and NATO – poured money, manpower, and effort into procuring and maintaining massive military capabilities. They thought that they could deter the Soviets from aggression, but knew that they needed to maintain military capabilities to reinforce strength. Thus, even though the Cold War peace in Western Europe was stable, it was still tenuous and based on fear of the other. The Soviets at the same time built up both conventional military and nuclear forces out of their fear of the West and capitalism. Fortunately, over the course of the Cold War, NATO and the Soviets did not fight directly, although the fear was constant. Unfortunately, both sides were drawn into conflicts that had overtones of the ideological struggle of the era.

Decolonization and self-determination

In the aftermath of World War II, the traditional great powers lost their grip on their empires. The German and Japanese empires were forcibly deconstructed; the British and French empires crumbled. Before the war, the European powers controlled most of the globe with military and economic levers of power. After the war, the balance of power shifted radically and often violently. Wartime German conquests were liberated, giving power and recognition to nations that previously had little or no power. Poland once again emerged from another European war, but immediately fell under the control of the Soviet Union. Other Eastern European countries also emerged, only to be subsumed by communist-sponsored governments. In an effort to maintain independence, Austria declared neutrality (1955), and became a transit point between East and West. Yugoslavia became communist, but friendly to both sides of the ideological struggle. European borders were re-drawn in the aftermath of the war; Germany was partitioned and occupied.

In the Pacific, Japan lost all of its wartime gains. China, ravaged by war, returned to a civil war that had raged for years before the war. Korea was divided between communists and capitalists into North and South Korea. Indochina threw off the yoke of Japanese occupation, but the French immediately filled the political vacuum, reasserting control over their former colony. The Philippines were given independence with strong oversight and assistance from the U.S.

In the Middle East, an effort was made to allow for national self-determination of the local populations. The British Mandate in Palestine was allowed to expire in 1948. The Jewish people were finally granted a homeland by the United Nations, and declared the State of Israel on May 15, 1948. It caused immediate backlash from the Arabs in the region, specifically the Palestinian Arabs, who thought that the UN had given away their land to the Jews. The First Arab–Israeli War (outlined below) erupted immediately.

The French Empire began to fall apart. France, defeated and occupied during World War II, lost all control over their imperial holdings around the world. When they attempted to reassert dominance after the war, various former French colonies perceived opportunities to break away, and began military insurrections against their former colonial masters. Two cases exemplify France’s troubles after World War II: French Indochina and Algeria.

The British transition to the post-colonial...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Information
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: What is war?
• 1 The aftermath of World War II, 1945–1954: The shadows of World War II
• 2 Shaping the global order, 1954–1964
• 3 Proxy wars and political violence, 1964–1975
• 4 Cold War tension and resolution, 1975–1990: War in Southeast Asia
• 5 Cold War civil wars
• 6 “The End of History” and the new world order, 1991–2001
• 7 The world since 9/11: War and warfare in the twenty-first century
• 8 The future of war and warfare
• Epilogue: A philosophy of war
• Selected bibliography
• Index