On the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift
This year is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Cold War, and today marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Berlin Airlift. In recognition of that anniversary, Spiegel has published an interview with Helmut Schmidt, who was chancellor of West Germany from 1974-1982.
It's a fascinating interview, touching on everything from the birth of the Cold War in Germany to the collapse of the Soviet Union. On that topic, the interview includes this exchange:
SPIEGEL: The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of the era of East-West confrontation. In the end, did the Cold War affect the fall of the Soviet empire or accelerate it?
Schmidt: The fact of the matter is that up until the 1980s, the Soviet Union used its physical potential to fuel a military buildup to a greater degree than any other country. Without glasnost and perestroika this could have continued for a number of years. It was of course a rigid dictatorship. But it is another question as to whether the Cold War or a number of megalomaniacs in the Kremlin or perestroika and glasnost were responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
SPIEGEL: The Soviet Union lost the Cold War. Did the West win it?
Schmidt: The Soviet Union imploded, but not as a result of the Cold War. Some Americans would like to believe that they ran the Russians into the ground with the arms race. That is an understandable exaggeration, but it is also absurd.
Consider Schmidt's comments in light of the fact that he was one of the primary actors who pushed for the NATO "double-track decision" in 1979, which in turn led to the deployment of Pershing II intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Germany. This deployment was seen by the Soviet Union, much of the German public, and most of the rest of the world as a deliberately provocative move on the part of the US and NATO. Many saw the move as a mirror image of the Cuban Missile Crisis, with the West being the provocateur instead of the Soviets. Protests were staged across Europe, and the Pershing deployment derailed US/Soviet disarmament talks that had been underway for some time. It was one of the most destabilizing events of the post-war era.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, some wag (I don't remember who) said that the Cold War ended merely because the Soviets went bankrupt before we did. There's some truth to that, but Schmidt's statement is also an accurate part of the story. However, it's a bit of a surprise to see a former Cold Warrior such as Helmut Schmidt make such an admission.