The Cold War

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

Two Important Rivers in the Cold War Struggle (Collier’s Magazine, 1952)

Two continents apart, the Yalu and the Rhine wind down to the sea. But in the continuing struggle of freedom against Communism, they share the common roll of destiny.

Of the two rivers, perhaps the Yalu is of more immediate concern, for behind its 500 miles of coursing waters stand the bulk of the Red forces under Red China chief Mao Tse-tung… Few people had heard of the Yalu until the Korean War began. But it gained world-wide prominence in November, 1950, when 200,000 Chinese Reds came pouring across its bridges to aid the North Koreans as they retreated before UN troops…

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A Spy Within the CPUSA (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)

These seven paragraphs from THE PATHFINDER magazine served to introduce their readers to Herbert Philbrick (1915 – 1993) and his efforts to expose the subversive elements within the Communist Party U.S.A..


For nine years Philbrick labored as an F.B.I. mole deep within the Cambridge Youth Council, the Young Communist League and the CPUSA until he made good his resignation by serving as a surprise government witness at a conspiracy trial in which numerous high profile American Reds were indicted (among them William Z. Foster, Eugene Dennis, Robert George Thompson, Gus Hall, Henry Winston, and ex-New York councilmember Benjamin Davis).

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Highlights of Soviet Espionage: 1949 – 1953 (People Today, 1953)

Well-illustrated, pithy and informative, this article will get you up to speed on some of the espionage triumphs of the Soviet GRU (the military intelligence arm of the former worker’s paradise). The article refers to where their agents trained before their American and Canadian deployments, what they were taught, and how big the GRU was. Of even greater interest were the parts of the article that referred to their Atomic spies and the variety of traitors and turncoats they were able to attract.

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The Steineck Spy Camera (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)

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Did Stalin Want the U.S. to Recognize China? (Pathfinder Magazine, 1949)

Felix Morley (1894 – 1982), one of the senior Washington columnists in the early Cold War era, summarized the various concerns involved in the diplomatic recognition of Communist China as well as the surprising issue as to whether or not it was what the Soviet Premiere actually preferred at the time?

There is good reason to believe that the Communist high command in Moscow does not want us to recognize the new Communist government of China

But in recent years we have mixed up diplomatic recognition and moral approval. The absurd result is that we recognize Russia and not Spain, and are at present opposed to recognizing China even though we fear that may be cutting off our nose to spite Stalin’s face.

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The Most Powerfull Men in Cold War Washington (’47 Magazine)

A former player and long-time watcher of the Washington power-game, James Watson Gerard (1867 – 1951) – he was known to have kept a list throughout the decades leading up to his death, of all those Washington insiders who wielded the greatest influence in that burg. Well-heeled journalist, John Gunther (1901 – 1970), managed to catch up with him and his 1947 list, which was comprised of 64 names – some of the names had been on his list for decades (such as W.R. Hearst and Colonel Robert McCormick) others were appearing for the first time (George Gallup and Clark Clifford).


Click here to read about the men BEHIND these men…


Click here to read Ambassador Gerard’s list of the most powerful men in Depression-era Washington (non of them were elected)…

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The Problem with Loyalty Oaths (’48 Magazine, 1948)

On the twenty-first of March, 1947, President Harry Truman signed into law Executive Order 9835 which was intended to remove communists and their assorted apologists from working in the Federal Government.


Unfortunately the President hadn’t issued a working definition as to what was loyal and what was disloyal and the results of the decree were predictable. The attached editorial was penned by a seasoned Washington journalist who had collected an agglomeration of anecdotal evidence during the first year of its enforcement in order to illustrate the inherent difficulties created as a result of the order. He pointed out that Truman’s order simply granted carte blanche to the F.B.I., called into question the rights of government workers and created a Loyalty Review Board that was cumbersome and bureaucratic.

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Can There be Peace with Stalin? (United States News & World Report, 1948)

The Berlin Blockade was already six weeks old when this article appeared proclaiming that peace with the Soviet Union was still possible:

Russia and the U.S. are in the midst of another showdown on peace. Odds favor a settlement, not war.

Peace terms are shifting closer to compromise. Russia is more interested in seeking peace, less interested in stalling… Each side is out to get the best possible terms. But prospects for easing the tension of cold war are good.


Click here to read about the Berlin Blockade.

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The Berlin Blockade: A Definition (R.O.T.C. Handbook, 1956)

In his 1989 book, Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philbystyle=border:none, author Phillip Knightley pointed out that when the Soviet spy Philby, stationed in Washington, discovered that the U.S. had no atomic bombs on hand, Stalin soon gave the order to commence the blockade of the German capital. That said, here is a two paragraph essay briefly explaining what the 1948 Berlin Blockade was and how the Anglo-American masters of West-Germany dealt with the issues at hand:

Soviet counter-action to American efforts to rebuild the European economy came swiftly. Besides rejecting participation in the program the Soviets, in October 1947, announced the organization of a permanent committee for coordinating the activities of the Communist parties in Europe…By June 1948 the Russians had cut off all land and water traffic with Berlin and the only means of entry was by air.

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