Western Bloc
The Western Bloc, also known as the Capitalist Bloc, is an informal, collective term for countries that were officially allied with the United States during the Cold War of 1947–1991. While the NATO member states, in Western Europe and Northern America, were pivotal to the bloc, it included many other countries, in the broader Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa with histories of anti-Soviet, anti-communist and, in some cases anti-socialist, ideologies and policies. As such, the bloc was opposed to the political systems and foreign policies of communist countries, which were centered on the Soviet Union, other members of the Warsaw Pact, and usually the People's Republic of China. The name "Western Bloc" emerged in response to and as the antithesis of its Communist counterpart, the Eastern Bloc. Throughout the Cold War, the governments and the Western media were more inclined to refer to themselves as the "Free World" or the "First World", whereas the Eastern bloc was often referred to as the "Communist World" or less commonly the "Second World".
1947–1991 Western Bloc associations
- Belgium*
- Canada*
- Denmark*
- France*
- West Germany (1955–1990)
- Greece (from 1952)
- Iceland*
- Italy*
- Luxembourg*
- Netherlands*
- Norway*
- Portugal*
- Spain (from 1982)
- Turkey (from 1952)
- United Kingdom*
- United States*
* Indicates founding member state
- China (from 1961)
- Democratic Kampuchea (from 1978)
- Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (from 1982)
- Socialist Republic of Romania[a] (from 1964)
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (from 1948)
METO, Baghdad Pact, CENTO (until 1979)
- Pahlavi Iran (until 1979)
- Kingdom of Iraq (until 1958)
- Pakistan (until 1979)
- Turkey (until 1979)
- United Kingdom (until 1979)
Rio Treaty/Latin America
- Argentina
- Bahamas (from 1982)
- Bolivia (until 2005)
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) (until 1959)
- Dominican Republic (until 1990)
- Ecuador (until 2012)
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua (until 1979)
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Trinidad and Tobago (from 1967)
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela (until 1999, rejoined 2019 by Juan Guaidó)
SEATO (until 1977)
- Australia
- Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970) (until 1956)
- Khmer Republic (1970–1975)
- France
- Kingdom of Laos (until 1975)
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- South Vietnam (until 1975)
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- United States
Middle East/North Africa Region
- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Bahrain
- Egypt (from 1979)
- Pahlavi Iran (until 1979)
- Ba'athist Iraq (until 1990)
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya (before 1969, from 2011)
- Morocco
- Oman
- Palestinian Authority
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia (from 1977)
- Sudan (1971-1985, 2019–2021)
- Syria (1946-1958) (1961-1963)
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen (Hadi government)
- Yemen Arab Republic (1972–1990)
Asia, Southeast Asian, and Oceania Partners
- Japan
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
- Bhutan
- Indonesia
- Philippines
- South Vietnam (until 1975)
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Brunei (from 1984)
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Botswana
- Ethiopian Empire (before 1974)
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia (from 1977)
- South Africa
- Togo
- Malawi
- Zaire
Others
Post-1991 Western-aligned associations
- Albania (from 2009)
- Belgium*
- Bulgaria (from 2004)
- Canada*
- Croatia (from 2009)
- Czech Republic (from 1999)
- Denmark*
- Estonia (from 2004)
- Finland (from 2023)
- France*
- Germany*
- Greece*
- Hungary (from 1999)
- Iceland*
- Italy*
- Latvia (from 2004)
- Lithuania (from 2004)
- Luxembourg*
- Montenegro (from 2017)
- Netherlands*
- North Macedonia (from 2020)
- Norway*
- Poland (from 1999)
- Portugal*
- Romania (from 2004)
- Slovakia (from 2004)
- Slovenia (from 2004)
- Spain*
- Sweden (from 2024)
- Turkey*
- United Kingdom*
- United States*
* Indicates pre-1991 member state
Major non-NATO ally (MNNA)
- Australia (from 1987)
- Egypt (from 1987)
- Israel (from 1987)
- Japan (from 1987)
- South Korea (from 1987)
- Jordan (from 1996)
- New Zealand (from 1997)
- Argentina (from 1998)
- Bahrain (from 2002)
- Philippines (from 2003)
- Thailand (from 2003)
- Republic of China (Taiwan) (de facto) (from 2003)
- Kuwait (from 2004)
- Morocco (from 2004)
- Pakistan (from 2004)
- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2012–2021)
- Tunisia (from 2015)
- Brazil (from 2019)
- Colombia (from 2022)
- Qatar (from 2022)
- Kenya (from 2024)
Middle Eastern Partners
Asia, South East Asian, and Oceania Partners
Inter-American Partners
See also
Notes
Sources
- Matloff, Maurice. Makers of Modern Strategy. Ed. Peter Paret. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1971. 702.
- Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. 447,454.
- Lewkowicz, Nicolas. The United States, the Soviet Union and the Geopolitical Implications of the Origins of the Cold War New York and London: Anthem Press, 2018.
- v
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- Morgenthau Plan
- Hukbalahap Rebellion
- Jamaican political conflict
- Dekemvriana
- Guerrilla war in the Baltic states
- Operation Priboi
- Operation Jungle
- Occupation of the Baltic states
- Cursed soldiers
- Operation Unthinkable
- Gouzenko Affair
- Division of Korea
- Indonesian National Revolution
- Operation Masterdom
- Operation Beleaguer
- Operation Blacklist Forty
- Iran crisis of 1946
- Greek Civil War
- Baruch Plan
- Corfu Channel incident
- Turkish straits crisis
- Restatement of Policy on Germany
- First Indochina War
- 1947 Polish parliamentary election
- Truman Doctrine
- Asian Relations Conference
- May 1947 crises
- Partition of India
- Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948
- 1947–1949 Palestine war
- Marshall Plan
- Comecon
- 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état
- Incapacitation of the Allied Control Council
- Al-Wathbah uprising
- Tito–Stalin split
- Berlin Blockade
- Annexation of Hyderabad
- Madiun Affair
- Western betrayal
- Iron Curtain
- Eastern Bloc
- Western Bloc
- Chinese Civil War
- Malayan Emergency
- March 1949 Syrian coup d'état
- Operation Valuable
- Bamboo Curtain
- McCarthyism
- Korean War
- Arab Cold War (1952–1979)
- 1952 Egyptian revolution
- Iraqi Intifada (1952)
- Mau Mau rebellion
- East German uprising of 1953
- 1953 Iranian coup d'état
- Pact of Madrid
- Bricker Amendment
- 1954 Syrian coup d'état
- Petrov Affair
- Domino theory
- 1954 Geneva Conference
- 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
- Capture of the Tuapse
- First Taiwan Strait Crisis
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- Algerian War
- Kashmir Princess
- Bandung Conference
- Geneva Summit (1955)
- Vietnam War
- Cyprus Emergency
- "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences"
- 1956 Poznań protests
- Hungarian Revolution of 1956
- Polish October
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- "We will bury you"
- Operation Gladio
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- Iraqi 14 July Revolution
- 1958 Lebanon crisis
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- 1959 Mosul uprising
- 1959 Tibetan uprising
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- Kitchen Debate
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- Sino-Soviet split
- Congo Crisis
- Simba rebellion
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- Bay of Pigs Invasion
- 1960 Turkish coup d'état
- Albanian–Soviet split
- Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
- Berlin Crisis of 1961
- Berlin Wall
- Annexation of Goa
- Papua conflict
- Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
- Sand War
- Portuguese Colonial War
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- El Porteñazo
- Sino-Indian War
- Communist insurgency in Sarawak
- Ramadan Revolution
- Eritrean War of Independence
- North Yemen civil war
- 1963 Syrian coup d'état
- Assassination of John F. Kennedy
- Aden Emergency
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- Shifta War
- Mexican Dirty War
- Guatemalan Civil War
- Colombian conflict
- 1964 Brazilian coup d'état
- Dominican Civil War
- Rhodesian Bush War
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- 1966 Syrian coup d'état
- Cultural Revolution
- Argentine Revolution
- South African Border War
- Korean DMZ Conflict
- 12-3 incident
- Greek junta
- 1967 Hong Kong riots
- Years of Lead (Italy)
- Six-Day War
- War of Attrition
- Dhofar War
- Al-Wadiah War
- Nigerian Civil War
- Protests of 1968
- Prague Spring
- USS Pueblo incident
- 1968 Polish political crisis
- Communist insurgency in Malaysia
- Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
- 17 July Revolution
- 1968 Peruvian coup d'état
- 1969 Sudanese coup d'état
- 1969 Libyan revolution
- Goulash Communism
- Sino-Soviet border conflict
- New People's Army rebellion
- Détente
- Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
- Black September
- Alcora Exercise
- Corrective Movement (Syria)
- Western Sahara conflict
- Cambodian Civil War
- Communist insurgency in Thailand
- 1970 Polish protests
- Koza riot
- Realpolitik
- Ping-pong diplomacy
- 1971 JVP insurrection
- Corrective Revolution (Egypt)
- 1971 Turkish military memorandum
- 1971 Sudanese coup d'état
- Four Power Agreement on Berlin
- Bangladesh Liberation War
- 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China
- North Yemen-South Yemen Border conflict of 1972
- Yemenite War of 1972
- Munich massacre
- 1972–1975 Bangladesh insurgency
- Eritrean Civil Wars
- 1973 Uruguayan coup d'état
- 1973 Afghan coup d'état
- 1973 Chilean coup d'état
- Yom Kippur War
- 1973 oil crisis
- Carnation Revolution
- Spanish transition to democracy
- Metapolitefsi
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
- Second Iraqi–Kurdish War
- Turkish invasion of Cyprus
- Angolan Civil War
- Cambodian genocide
- June 1976 protests
- Mozambican Civil War
- Oromo conflict
- Ogaden War
- 1978 Somali coup attempt
- Western Sahara War
- Ethiopian Civil War
- Lebanese Civil War
- Sino-Albanian split
- Third Indochina War
- Cambodian–Vietnamese War
- Cambodian conflict
- Operation Condor
- Dirty War (Argentina)
- 1976 Argentine coup d'état
- Egyptian–Libyan War
- German Autumn
- Korean Air Lines Flight 902
- Nicaraguan Revolution
- Uganda–Tanzania War
- NDF Rebellion
- Chadian–Libyan War
- Yemenite War of 1979
- Grand Mosque seizure
- Iranian Revolution
- Saur Revolution
- Sino-Vietnamese War
- New Jewel Movement
- 1979 Herat uprising
- Seven Days to the River Rhine
- Struggle against political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union
- Salvadoran Civil War
- Soviet–Afghan War
- 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics boycotts
- Gera Demands
- Peruvian Revolution
- Gdańsk Agreement
- Solidarity
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- 1980 Turkish coup d'état
- Ugandan Bush War
- Gulf of Sidra incident
- Martial law in Poland
- Casamance conflict
- Falklands War
- 1982 Ethiopian–Somali Border War
- Ndogboyosoi War
- United States invasion of Grenada
- Able Archer 83
- Star Wars
- 1985 Geneva Summit
- Iran–Iraq War
- Somali Rebellion
- Reykjavík Summit
- 1986 Black Sea incident
- South Yemen civil war
- Toyota War
- 1987 Lieyu massacre
- Operation INFEKTION
- 1987–1989 JVP insurrection
- Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
- 1988 Black Sea bumping incident
- 8888 Uprising
- Solidarity (Soviet reaction)
- Contras
- Central American crisis
- Operation RYAN
- Korean Air Lines Flight 007
- People Power Revolution
- Glasnost
- Perestroika
- Bougainville conflict
- First Nagorno-Karabakh War
- Afghan Civil War
- United States invasion of Panama
- 1988 Polish strikes
- Polish Round Table Agreement
- 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
- Revolutions of 1989
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
- Fall of the inner German border
- Velvet Revolution
- Romanian Revolution
- Peaceful Revolution
Pro-communist | |
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Pro-Western |
competition
- Gar Alperovitz
- Thomas A. Bailey
- Michael Beschloss
- Archie Brown
- Warren H. Carroll
- Adrian Cioroianu
- John Costello
- Michael Cox
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- Willem Drees
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- Geir Lundestad
- Vojtech Mastny
- Jack F. Matlock Jr.
- Thomas J. McCormick
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- David S. Painter
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- William Appleman Williams
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- Rudolph Winnacker
- Ken Young
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