Germany Cold War

•Who the political dispute involved/was between;

The Cold War (1947–1991) was the tense relationship between the United States (and its allies), and the Soviet Union (the USSR and its allies) between the end of World War II and the demise of the Soviet Union

•How it affected everyday life for the residents of the countries it involved:

The Cold War had many effects on society, both today and in the past. Primarily, communism was defeated. In Russia, military spending was cut dramatically and quickly. The effects of this were very large, seeing as the military-industrial sector had previously employed one of every five Soviet adults and its dismantling left hundreds of millions throughout the former Soviet Union unemployed.^[

Music

In the 1930's and 40's both the husband and wife of a household used their earnings to support the family. This was a necessity because of the Great Depression. However, in the 1950’s, it was the men who earned the money and women stayed home, did chores, looked after the children, and had almost no social life. Children attended Sunday mass every week and did their homework daily. Also, the age limit for marriage and motherhood decreased, birthrate increased, and there were less divorces.

Presidents

Movie made about the Cold War

President Harry S. Truman

A band from the 1950's

Music styles sometimes made connections to the Cold War through their lyrics and meanings. Punk music expressed their hatred of leaders, and music from the hippie movement was against the Vietnam war. This was also the period when rock and roll emerged. This music genre influenced lifestyle, fashion, attitude, and even the civil rights movements because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed this music. Some people believed the Beatles played a part in the fall of communism.

In literature, dystopian themes were prevalent. Books such as The Manchurian Candidate and The Fourth Protocol reflected fears of Soviet takeover, while books like 1984, Alas, and Babylon explored what Soviet domination might actually look like.

School Life

During the Cold War, many films were made about the dangers of communism. There was a variety of different themes for this category. Many movies had a theme of denouncing a friend or family member as a communist associate. Another theme portrayed a third World War fought with nuclear weapons. Some films even used extra-terrestrial versions of the Soviet Union.

Bomb Shelter

During the Cold War many youths rebelled against their parents and the government, to become hippies, in search and hope of peace. They wore tie dye clothing, dresses with moccasins, and head bands. During World War II, luxurious, fashionable fabrics such as wool, silk and nylon were made for women's clothing. During the 1950's, teenage boys would wear wool slacks, V-necked patterned sweaters, denim jeans, and button down, collared shirts. Toddlers were often seen wearing pinafores(aprons) that were worn over a blouse or jersey. For men, sleeveless sport shirts were popular and worn with white pleated trousers and a belt. The 1980's was a time of unique fashion. Men who worked in a position of higher authority usually wore clothing such as suits with long narrow lapels. These suits were designed with broad shoulders and shoulder pads. Woman would wear A-line and pencil skirts were very popular. Also, dresses were stylish with their ruffles or laces and were usually knee length. In the 1960’s, mini dresses and skirts were commonly worn. Dresses with short skirts had a mod style with bold, colorful patterns.

Famous books published during the Cold War•How Germany was divided;

The separation of Berlin began in 1945 after the collapse of Germany. The country was divided into four zones, where each superpower controlled a zone. In 1946, reparation agreements broke down between the Soviet and Western zones. Response of the West was to merge French, British, and American zones in 1947.

•The differences in culture/society between West and East Germany.

•The NATO exercise ‘Able Archer’

 Able Archer 83. Able Archer 83 is the codename for a command post exercise carried out in November 1983 by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In November 1983, Soviet nuclear forces went on high alert. After months nervously watching increasingly assertive NATO military posturing, Soviet intelligence agencies in Western Europe received flash telegrams reporting alarming activity on U.S. bases. In response, the Soviets began readying their nulclear forces in preparation for a western nuclear attack. Just as nuclear tensions escalated, the threat of war abruptly ended as the buildup was revealed to be a vast NATO conflict simulation named Able Archer 83.

Believing Able Archer 83 could have been an actual attack, the Soviets had actively prepared for a surprise missile attack from NATO. This close scrape with Armageddon was largely unknown until last October when the U.S. government released a ninety-four-page presidential analysis of Able Archer that the National Security Archive had spent over a decade attempting to declassify. Able Archer 83 is based upon more than a thousand pages of declassified documents that Nate Jones, Director of the National Security Archives FOIA project, has pried loose from U.S. government agencies, British archives, as well as formerly classified Soviet Politburo and KGB files, vividly recreating the atmosphere that nearly unleashed nuclear war.

Join us on October 20^th at 3:00pm in the Wilson Center’s 6^th Floor Moynihan Board Room for this special presentation by Nate Jones on his new book Able Archer 83: The Secret History, with commentary by Thomas S. Blanton.

Nate Jones was also featured on CWIHP's Sport in the Cold War podcast, where he discusses the 1967 "Football War" between Honduras and El Salvador, his new book, and his work at the National Security Archive:

Nate Jones is the Director of the Freedom of Information Act Project for the National Security Archive at George Washington University. He oversees the thousands of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Mandatory Declassification Review appeals that the Archive submits each year.  A two-term member of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee, he acts as liaison between Archive analysts and agency FOIA offices, and serves as the Archive's FOIA counselor to the public.

He earned his MA in Cold War History from The George Washington University, where he used FOIA to write his thesis on the 1983 Able Archer nuclear war scare.  He has also produced The Able Archer 83 Sourcebook, the comprehensive declassified collection of documents on the 1983 nuclear war scare. He is editor of the Archive's blog, Unredacted.

Able Archer 83 is the codename for a command post exercise carried out in November 1983 by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). ... The apparent threat of nuclear war ended with the conclusion of the exercise on November 11.