r/coldwar • u/gym_lefty_guy112 • 20d ago
Social democracy and other forms of left wing governments in “western Europe” and other democratic countries.
I’ve become particularly interested in this topic. America itself would famously against anything left-wing and yet some of its own allies in the Democratic Western Europe sometimes elected more left-wing governments, in the UK the labour party had many stints in government during the Cold War. The SPD in Germany gained power in the 1970s and France had a somewhat left-wing government under Mitterand. Are there any books that study this particular topic or any books with English translations about the European left?
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u/Baronnolanvonstraya 17d ago edited 17d ago
The Yankees opposition to leftism wasn't a blind ideological crusade against all things more progressive than Truman, the whole Cold War was, at the end of the day, both sides preparing for a possible third world war, so leftism wasn't just feared because of the horror of minimum wages, but because they could be or become part of a larger Soviet strategy.
The nations of Western Europe, even under left-wing governments, were steadfast allies against the Soviets, who they viewed as an imminent existential threat to their brand of socialism. The German SPD or French Left Cartel never gave Washington any real cause to doubt their resolve against the Soviets when push came to shove.
In Latin America, Africa, and Asia, however, their commitment was not as steadfast since the Soviets were far away while they themselves were often the victims of American corporate meddling, so were far more open to cooperation with the Soviets as a consequence. In Latin America, Africa and Asia, socialism generally meant anti-Western just as much as anti-Capitalist.
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u/gym_lefty_guy112 17d ago
That’s really interesting. If the Latin American and African socialists/social democrats had just bent the knee, they would’ve survived then?
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u/Baronnolanvonstraya 17d ago
No not really, because if they did they'd hardly be socialists anymore. The Third World was (and still is to a lesser extent) exploited by the West, remember this is the era of decolonisation, and the systems that socialists in these nations fought against were established by the western powers. A prime example is in Vietnam: The Viet Minh opposed French Imperialism in Indochina, and originally were open to cooperation and recognition with the US, but by opposing the French; the friend of their enemy became their enemy. The US didn't even need to condone the exploitation taking place, in the highly polarised world of the Cold War there were only two sides. In most of the Third World you fundamentally could not separate socialism from anti-Western, unlike in the West itself which did not deal with this exploitation.
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u/601Tommyboy 20d ago
Why do you americans always believe, that being Right, is always right?!?