Essay on Who If Any One Won the Cold War?

DBQ Outline Intro Paragraph · Background/Context: The Cold War was a state of political tension after World War II between the Eastern bloc countries and Western bloc countries. Cold War took a significant place in between 1947 to 1991 which the two most powerful countries, United States of America and Soviet Union, were competing with each other over spreading the rule and showing off their arms without killing people. After the World War II, people in different countries started to think about who bears more responsibility for starting the Cold War, United States or USSR. · Three-point thesis: The United States of America bears more responsibility for starting the Cold War because it built up military powers and prepared for

After the end of World War II on September 2, 1945, a new era called the Cold War began. The Cold War was a non-violent state of political and military tension between the democratic and capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union: two of the biggest powers of the world at the time. However, they were drastically different in both economy and politics, allowing rivalry to build up. They both wanted to become the most powerful nation of the world, and both feared that the other nation would rise up to become the most powerful nation of the world.

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were the world's strongest nations. They were called superpowers. They had different ideas about economics and government. They fought a war of ideas called the Cold War. The cold war had started in 1947 during 1989 and 1990, the Berlin Wall came down, and borders opened, and free elections. In late 1991 the Soviet Union itself

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union took place after the World War II until the early 1990s. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were at the Cold War which employed nuclear arms race, space programs development race, weapons developments, counter-intelligence, military alliances, and propaganda. This Cold War made the world fear for the possible World War III. Ally nations for both sides were divided into either the democratic or the communism which were either on the United States side or the Soviet Union’s side. This Cold War was a political and strategic method to gain strategic territories for the military purpose and also for the economic gains.

The Cold War is a period following world war II which was marked by political conflict between former allies; the United States and the Soviet Union. It is considered “a state of conflict that stops just ever so short of direct military combat. Instead, the fighting mainly takes the form of economic competition, political maneuvers, propaganda and, at times, proxy wars between nations allied to one of the more powerful nations.” (Pelz 171). Once allies, the United States and Soviet Union experienced tense relations because of the grave differences in their political ideologies. America championed democracy of the people however; the USSR had contrasting perspective on governance and sought to impose communism within the region. Subsequent

Notes: The Cold War struggle between the United States Capitalism and the Allies, fighting against Communism Marxist - Leninist systems of Soviet Union, China and the communist national worldwide. The Cold War that started in 1947 was the ideological, geopolitical, economic, struggling between two world superpowers, the USA and the USSR (Soviet Union) . "Ronald Reagan Winning the Cold

The Cold War was a tumultuous period for the Soviet Union, a time of mutually assured destruction. The Soviet Union achieved a high rate of economic growth from the end of World War II until 1975. During this period a transformation occurred from a “semifeudal, underdeveloped nation to a developed, industrial society […], with high life expectancies and literacy rates comparable to Western industrialized nations” (van der Veen, 122). However, during the 1980’s a number of domestic issues relating to the serious decline in the economic and social infrastructure, and the increasing gap in technology between the West and East came to the forefront of political discussions (Valerie Bunce, 223). In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev took over as leader and

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, came into power in 1985. The economy that he acquired made further damage just about impossible. Because of this problematic economy and the growing political fever, he introduced two new reforms. One of these reforms was glasnost, or political openness, which made such effects as banishing ever present secret police. The second reform was perestroika, or economic reconstruction, which permitted individuals and cooperatives to own businesses and other allowances such as this. However, these reforms didn’t make the Soviet Union stronger, because the old system was quick to

As one war ends, another returns. After the end of World War II in 1945, a new conflict arose. Known as the Cold War, this conflict had threatened the globe for over 45 years. The Cold War put its two greatest powers-the Democratic United States and the Soviet Union- against each other. Each countries ' military power, scientific knowledge, and technology were put to the test in the Cold War. Even though there was few military wars, the Cold War still remains a mark on our history.

The Cold War is a peculiar event that affected most people in the world through its ideological struggle surrounding the enigmatic concept of freedom. The Cold War is widely thought to have lasted between the end of the World War II in 1945 and the collapse of the USSR in 1995. The battle for superiority occurred between the two world superpowers of the time: The United States of America and the Soviet Union. Both superpowers engaged in a race to the top both militaristically, but the true battle was for ideological triumph. The United States desired to maintain democracy and free enterprise while the Soviet Union desired to maintain communism and both nations decided that both concepts could not coexist in the modern world.

There is a myriad of factors that accounted for the dissolution of the USSR, and the consolidation of capitalist superiority from 1991 onwards after the fall of an autocracy, and demise of a disunited provisional government. The official declaration of the termination of the Soviet Union was December 26 1991; this collapse was addressed by the west as the defeat of communism, and the end of the Cold War. To understand how and why this previously prosperous nation came to fall it is important to look at the major factors contributing to this disarray. I will examine the economic and ethnic problems the Soviet Union faced, as well as the problems with those in power.

The quick collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 appalled everyone in the West, but that is because no one outside the Soviet Union knew what was going on. The Soviet government’s lies of economic success and superiority over the Western capitalist states had controlled the citizens of Russia to believe that the USSR’s Communist regime was growing for half a decade. It wasn’t until Mikhail Gorbachev that mocked previous leaders like Stalin and Brezhnev for being responsible for not improving the Soviet economy. Gorbachev’s reforms to modernize the USSR created more freedom and openness for Russians, but sprawled uprisings and revolutions in the Central Asia and the Baltic states. The inability to keep up with the United States economically in the 1970s and 1980s along with the later reforms to improve the Soviet economy in Gorbachev’s term led to the downfall of the USSR.

As with many important historical events throughout history the dissolution of the Soviet Union had many contributing forces. However, most historians agree that the main contributor was Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and the many radical reforms he implemented during the six years he was the leader of the USSR. Even though the official dissolution took place in December 1991, the Soviet Union’s demise began to take form in the 1980s. In order to understand why the Soviet Union dissolved it is important to have a clear picture of its history and political climate.

The 1980s encompassed a critical turn of events of the Soviet Union. Its economy and agricultural industry were crumbling. Advanced technology was lacking and factories were inefficient. Citizens had no choice but to purchase low quality products, as a result, and social freedoms were inadequate. Additionally, foreign affairs such as American rearmament and tensions throughout the Soviet Bloc negatively impacted Soviet stability. In an effort of reform, Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet Union General Secretary, stepped in to improve the communist system my implementing democratic principles. He introduced the concepts of perestroika, which means to reconstruct, and glasnost, which means openness. Glasnost allowed for increased freedom of the press, while perestroika allowed for governmental reform. One of these reforms included marketplace changes in the economy. Gorbachev wanted to de-monopolize businesses and eliminate price controls. In addition, political reforms introduced contested elections in which multiple candidates were allowed to speak out. The goal was to mimic the success of capitalist countries like the United States and Germany by giving citizens a say in the government. Unfortunately, Gorbachev’s changes did not help the Soviet Union. Even though foreign

The Cold War was an era where two superpowers fought for dominance. For many years, the US and USSR have been the leading powers in the whole world. However, the United States was trying to gain followers of their democratic ideal, whereas the USSR promoted communism. Through some attempts of reaching a common ground, both superpowers caused a split between the East and the West until 1991. The main reasons lie in the events of years 1945-1947.