What Was The Cold War?
After World War II America and Russia became superpowers. Even thought they fought together against the Nazis they soon became hostile rivals. Between 1945 and
1989 the two countries and their allies were involved in a conflict known as the Cold War. The United States and the USSR never used weapons directly against each other. So how was the Cold War fought? The Cold War was fought through Proxy Wars, the Nuclear Arms Race, spying, strong words and threats, prestige, and the Space Race.
Both sides deeply mistrusted each other because they believed in two completely different types of government. The Eastern countries were run by a communist government, whereas the Western countries had democratic capitalist
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Two of the leaders had changed since Yalta. Attlee was now British prime minister and Truman was now the President of the United States. There was a lot of tension at the conference since Truman did not trust Stalin. He was worried because the Soviets had not held any free elections in Eastern Europe. Stalin did not trust Truman because the United States had just exploded the atomic bomb the day before. He was worried the United States would use the bomb against them too.
The Truman Doctrine
In 1947 communist guerrillas were trying to take over Greece. Turkey was also under threat. Truman feared that communism would spread throughout the world unless the United States did something. On March 12, Truman made a speech to Congress and said that the United States had to support free people from being taken over by “armed minorities” or “outside pressures”. What he meant was that the United States had to stop communists from taking over democratic countries. This policy became known as the Truman Doctrine.
In January 1947, General George C. Marshall became U.S. secretary of state. He
visited Western Europe and was shocked at the amount of damage caused by World War II. Many countries in Western Europe had communist parties and the Americans were scared that they would vote them into power thinking that it would make life better. In June 1947 Marshall made a speech at Harvard University saying that the United States would give money and
As the Soviet Union continued to spread communism throughout the eastern part of the globe, the United States was determined to contain the economic ideology and prevent it from reaching the States by any means possible. The American’s fear of communism prompted changes in domestic policy, most notably with the attempt to remove power from anyone with communist ties and the platform to influence others. Document one, a passage from one of President Truman’s executive order signed in
Although Canada was not one of the two countries most known to be associated with the Cold War, the country played a big role in intelligence and the apprehension of spies. Research conducted suggests that through figures such as Igor Gouzenko, John Starnes, and Lester B. Pearson, as well as Canada’s response to events such as “witch hunts” and the related “Red Scare”, the Cold War had a positive impact on the Canadian identity. The Cold War was a conflict famously between The Soviet Union and the United States, lasting from the end of World War II until the 1990s. Being a “Cold War”, there was no physical violence - although it was the cause of shorter, violent wars during its duration.
These two countries were in a battle for superiority and they both had completely different principles to go by; never wanting to compromise. This led the United States and USSR to become hostile toward each other and turn into rivals. The war-time trust toward the USSR turned into to mistrust and suspicion. The public dramatically changed its opinion about the USSR saying that Russia will not cooperate and that they wanted to become a ruling power (Doc 2). Another cause that led to the beginning of the Cold War was the distrust of Russian leaders and the threats behind their actions.
After the Second World War, the imperialist countries were devastated with Germany being divided among the allied victors. Consequently, the United States and Russia were the most powerful countries in the world. From 1945 to 1991, democracy was represented by the United States and communism was represented by the Soviet Union. Russia aimed to conquer as many countries as possible to insure communist domination of the world. This rivalry was called the Cold War, where both countries competed for their type of government, but did not necessarily go to war with weapons. Both countries, threatened each other with powerful nuclear weapons, causing mass hysteria. During the Cold War, Americans feared communism, a nuclear war, and Soviet dominance
A war does not necessarily require a physical weapon to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the cold war between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to many countries. United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while
Democratic localism was also enforced to keep the government at bay, allowing people to make their own economic decisions. Capitalism was renewed due to growth. Americans were enjoying various freedoms in politics, religion and travel. Nixon stated in one of his speeches that the United States had “come closest to the idea of prosperity for all in a classless society (166).”
1. How NSC-68 influenced America’s response to Communist North Korea’s invasion of South Korea in June 1950 and to Communist expansion in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. The NSC-68 called for military assistance programs that would meet the requirements of our allies. Since South Korea was an ally, we assisted them in repelling the invasion of another communist nation. This help for South Korea meant that a communist nation would be weakened and therefore possibly cripple a potential ally for the Soviet Union. Also, South Korea would then respond to a call for aid if the Soviet Union ever attacked
The Cold War was one of the wars that made everyone hold their breaths and ponder would would happen next and when. The Cold War was a time period between 1947 to1991 in which the Western powers (US) and the USSR competed with each other in a tense rivalry and strive to outperform one another. It was also one of the key moments in history which spiked a motive and drive to develop and produce new strategies, weapons, and technologies. There was no actual fighting which took place (hence the name Cold War), but the two were always trying to best each other. The two superpowers often contested with each other militaristically, socially, politically, and economically. With this in mind: what weapons were used to fight the Cold War? Generally, Cold War weapons included the use of propaganda, nuclear weapons, and new technological development.
The Cold War was the ideological conflict between the two superpowers of the world, the democratic United States of America and the communist Soviet Union. For over fifty years the two superpowers fought each other indirectly for power and control of the world. The Cold War started after the end of the Second World War in 1945 when the eyes of both superpowers were no longer looking at Nazi Germany, but instead at each other and the fate of the rest of the world. The Cold War began after the Second World War had ended, although tensions between the two new superpowers, United States and Soviet Union, had been lasting since 1917 with the start of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. With the start of the Second World War, tensions were put
The Cold War was a power struggle between the Soviet Union, its satellite states and the United States and its allies. The Cold War did not include a lot of large-scale fighting, although there were many proxy wars. The Cold War is often considered to have begun in 1947, and many historians believe that the Truman Doctrine caused it. The Truman Doctrine was the main reason why the Cold War started because it created two sides, the USSR and the US. The Cold War lasted for many years and finally ended in 1991. The collapse of the USSR was a primary reason for the end of the Cold War because it gave the United States the victory.
The Cold War was a response to the perceived threat by the United States that Communism would interfere with national security and economic stakes in the world. It was a perceived threat by communist countries that the United States would take to the world. During the Cold War, the United States, Russia, and other countries made efforts to avoid another world war, while warring in proxy in other lands. The devastation caused by the hydrogen bombs exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the next technological advancements became only deterrents to the public. Governments had their own agenda which would result in worsening the strain between nations. The United States hid behind a curtain of nationalism resulting in increased
The U.S and the Soviet Union had mistrusted each other from the beginning, which started the Cold War. when the U.S was attacked on December 1941, The Soviet Union had made an alliance with them along with Britain, which soon followed with the U.S supplying their allies with military supplies. During their alliance against the fascist powers, Stalin was suspicious which made “The Soviets believed that the Western Allies had
The Cold War was a diplomatic war between the two superpowers, USSR and USA. Despite being the two most powerful countries in the world, no actual fighting took place. Instead, the war was fought through various methods of propaganda and threats.
The Cold War was the name given to the time period from 1945 to 1991. After World War II, tensions began between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fighting between the United States and Soviet Union did not happen directly against each other. Instead they fought with arms races, space races, and spying. Both superpowers set aside their differences to defeat Adolf Hitler, even before the war the United States distrusted the Soviet Union. The United States disliked the way the Soviet Union ran government. They believed that the Soviet Union wanted to overthrow the non-communist governments.
The end of the cold war signified a new era of history that has changed the entire world. The face of Europe and Asia has changed dramatically. Vast changes have been felt socially, politically, and especially economically. Also the effect the cold war had on foreign policy was paramount. The effect of these changes is not only felt across the ocean but can be felt here in America. The goal of this paper is to define what the cold war specifically was, and reflect upon the various choices throughout the world as a result of the end of the cold war.