My Enemy
The reunion is over and I’m back to my journey through the history of my world and my life. We left off with World War II. We won. Defeated our enemies. Started rehabilitating them. This allowed us to get back to fighting an old enemy, communism and in particular, the Soviet Union or Russia. It happened fast as soon as the war ended. Germany was divided. The USSR occupied the eastern block countries. In March of ’46, before I was born, Churchill warned of an Iron Curtain falling on Europe in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. The Cold War started.
In 1948, after Russia blocked access to West Berlin through East Germany, we had the Berlin Airlift. In 1956, Hungary revolted. Russia sent tanks. We only watched. Spheres of influence and fear of a nuclear holocaust called that tune. In 1960 the Russians built the Berlin Wall. In 1962, they tried to put missiles in Cuba. We objected. It was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The entire world thought this was the end and we’d soon see the real world version of On the Beach. After nearly coming to blows, however, both countries decided brinksmanship was a bad idea and began to concentrate on fighting proxy wars. Korea was the blueprint. We had Vietnam. The Russians had Afghanistan. We both bought countries. Foreign aid was the weapon of choice for the Cold War.
The Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Everyone said the cold war was over. But Russians have long memories. The current leadership of the country still views the US as its main enemy, and the fight is still on. The added twist these days is the digital front. Russia hacks, denies service, and disseminates misinformation. The annexation of Crimea felt like the 50s with one difference. When they tried it with Ukraine, we said, no. Unlike Hungary where the tanks last rolled, we knew we could fight a proxy war with foreign aid. It’s a bloodless way to keep an enemy off balance and bleed their treasury. And so, the dance continues.
Part 6: Living in America, an old man’s journey into his past