The Cold War

Find old cold war articles here. We have free newspaper articles from the 1950s cold war check them out today!

Germany and the Next War (Collier’s Magazine, 1951)

No sooner had the curtain descended on the tragedy that was World War II when the Allied nations found themselves having to put together a coalition of nations that would be willing to contain Soviet expansion throughout Europe. A COLLIER’S journalist wandered among the rubble of West Germany and found that a great number of draft-age men simply replied nein when asked if they would be willing to fight alongside the Americans, French and British. One of the wiser observers opined:

Remember that Germany is a convalescent country…These people have lost two world wars in a generation. The last one cost them nearly 3,000,000 dead and another 1,000,000 or so still missing, to say nothing of some 4,000,000 wounded. They just don’t want to take a chance of being on the losing side again.


The West Germans joined NATO in 1955.

Germany and the Next War (Collier’s Magazine, 1951) Read More »

Forced Into Communism (Quick Magazine, 1952)

In his illustrated five page reminiscence, former Communist refugee Ivan Pluhar (b. 1927), recalls those dreadful days following the end of the Second World War when it became clear to all the citizens of Czechoslovakia that their Soviet liberators would never leave their country. The article will clue you in as to what life was like during the earliest years of the occupation and how dissenters were treated throughout that period.


A Quick Read About Soviet-Enforced Atheism
Behind the Iron Curtain…

Forced Into Communism (Quick Magazine, 1952) Read More »

Ground Zero: Washington, D.C. (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

When it became clear to all that the Soviets had the bomb – and Washington was the target – the egg-heads in D.C. decided it was time to disperse various government offices to the suburbs:

Given any warning at all, the National Security Resources Board now seems confident it can preserve at least a skeleton Government. But as for the run-of-the-mine Federal employee, he’ll have to take his chances amid the irradiated rubble…

Ground Zero: Washington, D.C. (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950) Read More »

The Marshall Plan: Rebuilding Europe (Pathfinder Magazine, 1947)

The Marshall Plan was a U.S. Government aid program that was instrumental in the reconstruction and economic resurrection of 16 Western European nations following the devastation caused by the Second World War. It is named for Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who co-authored the initiative with the help of the prominent business leader William Clayton, and the American diplomat George F. Kennan.


The attached article concerns the first draft of the scheme that was drawn-up by Marshall and the representatives of these 16 nations during the Summer/Fall of 1947. The amount of cash to be distributed (and paid back over a period of 30 years) was $22.44 billion.


Marshall knew that such an economic stimulant (and the liberties that would follow) would serve to guarantee that Western Europe would not fall into clutches of the Soviet Union.


To read about the Soviet reaction to the Marshall Plan, Click here


Read more articles from PATHFINDER MAGAZINE…

The Marshall Plan: Rebuilding Europe (Pathfinder Magazine, 1947) Read More »

The Soviet Reaction to the Marshall Plan (Pathfinder Magazine, 1947)

To paraphrase Second Corinthians: Europe’s despair was Stalin’s opportunity – he delighted in the post-war unemployment, the inflation and the general lack of confidence in their governmental institutions. When the Marshall Plane came to the rescue in rebuilding Europe, the Soviets knew they were licked. This article reveals how totally bummed the Soviets were over the broad European acceptance of the Marshall plan. They hated it.

The Soviet Reaction to the Marshall Plan (Pathfinder Magazine, 1947) Read More »

One Month Into the Berlin Blockade (Pathfinder Magazine, 1948)

The firm of Uncle Sam and John Bull flying grocers, kept the Western Allies in the Battle for Berlin last week… If the peace continues, the U.S. British estimated, by mid-July there will be enough food in Berlin’s stockpile to feed the 2 million Germans in western sectors of the capital until September 1… Supplying fuel and coal was another problem…


The article is accompanied by one cartoon from THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE.


Read more articles from PATHFINDER MAGAZINE…

One Month Into the Berlin Blockade (Pathfinder Magazine, 1948) Read More »

‘How Close are We to War with Russia?” (See Magazine, 1948)

The article is illustrated with five black and white photos and answers thirty-four questions as to whether or not a war with the Soviet Union can be avoided.


When these columns first appeared on the newsstands Berlin was undergoing it’s third month of hardships as a result of a Soviet blockade (you can read about the Berlin Blockade here).


The Cold War began in 1945…

‘How Close are We to War with Russia?” (See Magazine, 1948) Read More »

Meet Andrei Gromyko (Collier’s Magazine, 1946)

When this magazine profile of Andrei Gromyko (1909 – 1989) appeared on the newsstands in 1946, the man was already a mainstay in the State Department Rolodex. Anyone who came of age during the Cold War (1947 – 1991) will certainly recognize his name, because as Foreign Minister for the Soviet Union (for 28 years), Gromyko was without a doubt one of the architects of the Cold War.


The attached article outlines Gromyko’s career highlights up to the Summer of 1946 when he was posted as the first Soviet Ambassador to the newly established United Nations.

Meet Andrei Gromyko (Collier’s Magazine, 1946) Read More »

Stepping-Up The Training (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

By the autumn of 1950 it became clear to the old hands at the Pentagon that the police action on the Korean peninsula was beginning to resemble a real war. With that in mind, thirteen military training camps that had been been barren for the past five years, were dusted off in order that they might once more begin training Americans for war. Two weeks later China threw her hat in the ring.


During this same period, the U.S. Navy took 62 ships that had been mothballed in order to launch the Inchon Landings…

Stepping-Up The Training (Pathfinder Magazine, 1950) Read More »