Causes Of The Cold War

While the Cold War was a heightening of tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, many countries and regions of the world experienced different forms of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. While the USA and the USSR faced diplomatic troubles, many “proxy wars” symbolized physical combat between the USA and USSR around the world. Resemblances of the Cold War were seen in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. When learning about the Cold War, it is crucial to learn about the specific global conflicts that occurred around the world.

To many, the Cold War was easily pictured in Europe. This is in part because of the many economic and military alliances that were formed between eastern European countries, and between western European countries. For example, in Western Europe, the NATO alliance included countries such as France, the United Kingdom and Western Germany, while the Warsaw pact included many eastern European countries such as Eastern Germany, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. While the creation of these two major alliances “separated” Europe into east and west, the creation of the Berlin Wall which separated Eastern and Western Germany gave a physical representation and symbolization of the Cold War in Europe. Also, major events occurred in Europe that led up to the main confrontations of the Cold War. For instance, when the Soviet Union invaded countries such as Poland, Hungary, and the Baltic states, tensions rose greatly between the Soviet Union and the United States. This is because of the perceived aggression set forth by the USSR when claiming many “eastern bloc” to be part of the USSR. While many famous resemblances of the Cold War occurred in Europe, many causes of the Cold W...

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...tly occurring between the two. While many other diplomatic situations seemed volatile in the Cold War era, none were as dangerous, or as close to disaster as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also, in Nicaragua, as the new Sandinista communist government was gaining power, a secret coup performed by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) resulted in the end of the communist uprising. This resulted in increased tensions between communist Latin American countries such as Cuba, which would cause further troubles for the United States. Also, a similar altercation in Chile resulted in the ending of a socialist uprising, also performed by the American CIA. While there were fewer Cold War altercations seen in Latin America, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the CIA’s ending of socialist uprisings had a profound effect on the Cold War.

“Freedom is not free.”-Ronald Reagan