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Essay about What Was the Cold War?

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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 …show more content…

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

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