The mental image of a nuclear war is a terrifying picture. Absolute devastation and chaos; it sounds like the Book of Revelations in the Bible. As a little kid, I thought that surely such a thing was impossible. There was no way anyone could be foolish enough to start one. As I grew older, I learned the horrifying truth of just how close the world came to the brink of nuclear disaster during the Cold War. The narrative boggled my mind, but it put me on a path to become known as an amateur Cold War historian at my high school. Growing up, I was a pretty nerdy fellow. What really got me hooked on the Cold War was the popular video game series, Fallout. Exploring the fictionalized wastelands of those games got me more and more interested in …show more content…
Reading countless books about the subject, I started relating almost every independent project I did in school to my favorite historical time period. Primary sources were always the most fun to interact with and share. Reading declassified CIA documents, listening to protest songs, and watching old government films exposed me to even more avenues of study. I started to become well-known around school for my knowledge, especially when anything nuclear was in the news.
My greatest academic achievement so far, Cold War related or otherwise, came in the spring of my junior year. The junior English teacher is well known for his eccentricities, and his big idea last year was called the “THIS” project. The goal was to explore your passion, so I chose to do a full-scale research project on the Cold War unlike anything I had done previously.
Almost all of second semester was spent creating the project. Finally, I had close to a fifty page binder full of unique genres, both fiction and nonfiction. Topics inside ranged from dry analysis of U.S.-Russia relations to a satirical “interview” with a hippie during the counterculture era. It was undoubtedly the most demanding assignment I had ever
After the end of WW2, two major governmental institutions, the USA and the USSR, with conflicting political ideologies and agendas, set forth to dominate each other in international politics. This period of time, also known as the Cold War, initiated an era of crazed hysteria in the United States as these two governments frequently clashed and bitterly fought. As a result, the frightened public grew delirious as the world grew dangerously close to a calamitous nuclear war, which ultimately prompted the Eisenhower administration to hinder the spread of communism and encourage the U.S. population to rapidly pursue higher education for the future welfare of this nation.
The foreign and domestic policies during the Cold War lead to both the separation of world powers and the fear of political and social systems throughout the world. After World War 2 had ended, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union heighted. The agreements made at the Yalta Conference between Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt , were not being followed by the Soviets. The Soviet Union kept the land they reconquered in Eastern Europe and did not enforce a democratic government in those countries, as they promised. Instead, the Soviet Union decided to continue spreading communism in their reconquered lands. The United States’ feared the spread of communism and attempted to do anything in its power to stop it. Before the United
SoRelle, Larry Madaras and James. Unit 3 The Cold War and Beyond. McGraw-Hill, 2012. Book.
The Cold war was powered by many factors, but it can be made clear how hugely both military-industrial manufacturers and the secret services impacted the events and final outcome; actions made by the CIA and KGB became historical turning points, just as the rapid improvements and discoveries made in the field of technology has revolutionised the world today.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Gregory, Ross. A. Cold War America: 1946 to 1990. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2003. McQuaid, Kim.
Hammond, Thomas, Editor. Witnesses to the Origins of the Cold War. University of Washington Press. Seattle, 1982.
Hanes, Sharon M., and Richard C. Hanes. "Cold War."Enotes.com. 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .
Outline of Essay About the Origins of the Cold War OUTLINE: Introduction- 1. Definition of ‘Cold War’ and the Powers involved 2. Perceived definition of ‘start of Cold War’ 3. Iron Curtain Speech, Truman Doctrine and Berlin Blockade as significant events that caused strife between both powers, but which triggering off the start of the Cold War Body- 1. Iron Curtain Speech (1946) - A warning of Soviet influence beyond the acknowledged Eastern Europe - Churchill’s belief that the idea of a balance in power does not appeal to the Soviets - Wants Western democracies to stand together in prevention of further
The Cold War was an important event in United States history which occurred during the years of 1947-1991. During this time frame the world was at the greatest risk for the development of a third world war. The Cold war was not an actual war with contact fighting of both sides, but a conflict between western democratic nations and eastern communist nations which was more fear tactics and rivalry. The Cold War is a sensitive topic which should be refrained and be avoided from being discussed with children. The Cold War and The Butter Battle Book have similar and events which center around war, threats, and deaths. These topics should not be in a children's book.
To conclude, the cold war had an enormous effect on nearly every aspect of American life. With varying results, some were good and others were bad. I sense that the Cold war was helpful to us as a nation. Russian competition pushed the U.S. toward improvements in technology, military, science, and education. In a world with 2 superpowers the U.S. was driven to be better than the competitor. But now we are alone at the top and there is nowhere to go but down. Hopefully the termination of the U.S.S.R. didn’t open up a spot for a new and better world power to emerge in the near future.
The development and usage of the first atomic bombs has caused a change in military, political, and public functionality of the world today. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki revolutionized warfare by killing large masses of civilian population with a single strike. The bombs’ effects from the blast, extreme heat, and radiation left an estimated 140,000 people dead. The bombs created a temporary resolution that lead to another conflict. The Cold War was a political standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that again created a new worldwide nuclear threat. The destructive potential of nuclear weapons had created a global sweep of fear as to what might happen if these terrible forces where unleashed again. The technology involved in building the first atomic bombs has grown into the creation of nuclear weapons that are potentially 40 times more powerful than the original bombs used. However, a military change in strategy has came to promote nuclear disarmament and prevent the usage of nuclear weapons. The technology of building the atomic bomb has spurred some useful innovations that can be applied through the use of nuclear power. The fear of a potential nuclear attack had been heightened by the media and its release of movies impacting on public opinion and fear of nuclear devastation. The lives lost after the detonation of the atomic bombs have become warning signs that changed global thinking and caused preventative actions.
Tomkinson, John L. (2008) The Cold War: Themes in Twentieth Century World History for the International Baccalaureate. 3rd edition. Athens: Anagnosis.
The Cold War was a time of great tension all over the world. From 1945 to 1989, the United States was the leader and nuclear power and was competing with the Soviet Union to create huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons. However, even though the Cold War ended, nuclear weapons are still a threat. Countries around the world strive to create nuclear power, and they do not promise to use it for peaceful purposes. Some examples of the struggles caused by nuclear weapons include the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Iran’s recent nuclear weapon program. Surely, nuclear weapons have created conflict all over the world since the Cold War era.
In 1945, the United States released a nuclear bomb that destroyed the city of Hiroshima. Nagasaki was also bombed. Thousands of people died and a quarter of a million more perished of radiation poisoning (“There Will Come Soft Rains (short story)”). With the development of nuclear weapons in the world the possibility of a nuclear war was a daily fear within people (“There Will Come Soft Rains (short story)”).
Opalisime After World War II there was a strong anti-communist movement in America for decades prior to the 1950s. Nuclear weapons also sent a shot at distrust and fear between America and Russia. Information about nuclear weapons is very limited to the public. There are some facts, details, and reasons on why this war happened, the effects of the Cold War, and how society reacted to the War. It began in the 1945-1948 timeframe and ended in 1989, having been a dispute over the division of Europe.