The Cold War

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

Hiding A Military Error
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1946)

This 1946 article puts a nice face on a subject that both American diplomats and military men were eager to hide from the world – the issue involving a total lack of military preparedness. The journalist reported on the military’s push to bulk-up the reserves to an acceptable level, but the real story was that all branches of the armed services were on a recruiting drive for more men (and women) to make up for the fact that the post-war deployment program had drastically reduced the combat effectiveness of practically every unit. Under heavy pressure from civil authorities to save money, military planners failed to retain the services of numerous combat veterans to train the newest recruits. This partially explains the lack of accomplishments attained by the earliest divisions deployed to halt the North Korean advances in 1950.

The Soviets at the U.N.
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)

In 1949 there still existed such hope and optimism for the future of the United Nations as a force for good in the world – and a profound disappointment can clearly be sensed in this writer’s voice as you read this column that reported as to how the Soviets were manipulating the organization to benefit their espionage efforts.


CLICK HERE to read about the beautiful Blonde Battalions who spied for the Nazis…


Click here to read about the blackmail and extortion tactics that American Communists used in Hollywood during the Great Depression…

False Hope in Washington
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1950)

This snippet appeared on the newsstands shortly after Halloween, 1950. It will give you a sense of the great relief that was felt not simply in the halls of Congress and the Pentagon, but all across the country. The journalist wrote this report as if decades had past and a distant memory was being recalled about a five month-long war that was once fought and won by the all-suffering Americans and their U.N. Allies, but the Communists learned their lesson, so we don’t have to worry about them anymore. The war’s turning point is hailed (The Inchon Landings), as is General MacArthur, American casualty figures are listed and mention is made of the South Koreans moving into the recently liberated towns of the North. But this same reporter would write a very different article for the next issue of the magazine when he would relay that the war had expanded, and casualty figures had ballooned with the intervention of the Chinese Army.

Japan Chipped-In
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1951)

War-weary Japan recognized that when the U.S. and her assorted allies went to war in Korea, she too, could play an important roll in the struggle as a reliable, non-combatant partner.

The Red Spies in Washington
(Coronet Magazine, 1952)

Stalin’s deep fear of traitors and moles was not simply confined to the Soviet Union – it spread throughout every branch of his embassies as well. This article pertains to the Soviet spies who worked in Washington – the ones who spied on the Soviet diplomatic corps:

When a new [diplomat arrives from Moscow] he soon learns that the Ambassador is not the real boss. One outside diplomat who has contacts with the Embassy declares: ‘Always, there is someone in the Embassy whom the others fear. They live in terror of him, for he is the real leader… I have seen Soviet officials actually tremble when he comes into the room.’


A 1951 article about the young CIA can be read by clicking here…

Marriner Stoddard Eccles on Cold War Economics
(The Diamondback, 1950)

While serving as FDR’s Federal Reserve chairman between 1934 and 1948, Marriner Stoddard Eccles (1890 – 1977) put into play numerous policies that allowed the Federal Reserve to be sublimated to the interests of the Treasury; as a result, he is largely remembered as the patron saint of deficit spending. When he left that position during the Truman administration he went on the lecture circuit where he repeatedly condemned both the post-war economic policy as well as the Cold War policies of the State Department. The attached article summarizes a talk he gave at the University of Maryland in February of 1950.


Click here to read a Cold War editorial by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

The Reformed South Korean Military
(Pathfinder Magazine, 1952)

By the close of 1952 it became evident to anyone who followed the events in Asia that the army of the Republic of Korea (ROK) had evolved into a competent and reliable fighting force; highly disciplined and well-lead, it was finally able to both take and hold ground while simultaneously inflicting heavy casualties on their the enemies. Gone from the mind was that South Korean army of 1950: that retreating mob that quickly surrendered their nation’s capital to the on-rushing Communists just three days into the war, leaving in their wake a trail of badly needed equipment.


After a year and a half of the most vicious combat, the ROK Army put in place the badly needed reforms that were demanded if the war was to be won. Relying on their own combat veterans as well as their United Nation’s allies, recruits were clearly schooled in what was required to survive in battle. As relieved as the many Western commanders were to see how effectively the South Koreans were able to create such a force, the liabilities of this army were still genuine and they are listed in this article as well.

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