Cold War Containment

The Cold War of the 1900s impacted the world today. The way countries are governed today are outcomes of different battles fought during this time. Different tactics used in the Cold War affected the day-to-day lives of citizens and what they have access to. Several neutral nations were pressured to become politically involved whether they wanted to or not. Direct contact with people in third world countries changed the cultures and developments occurring at the time. Opposing ideologies of the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) affected political, cultural, and economic developments in the third world by enacting new foreign policies, plans, and actions taken by these superpower countries. The opposing ideologies of the US and

Some of the capitalist policies and plans put forth by the US were the containment policy, the Marshall Plan, and the policy of brinkmanship. The Containment Policy by the US aimed to contain the Soviets in the hope that they would stop spreading communism to third world nations. The Marshall Plan had a similar goal, but a different process with the same solution. In this case, the US aided new nations in Western Europe by giving them supplies and building materials, which helped the economy. The policy of brinkmanship started in the 1960s, and it showed how close nations were to engaging in nuclear war. Communist relation changed over this time period happened in Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan. After the Korean Civil War, North Korea became communist and was backed by the Soviets. However, when they decided to invade South Korea, the rest of the world saw this as an attempt at taking more control of third world countries. During

Citizens of capitalist nations grew to dislike communism. Winston Churchill’s term of “iron curtain” was in reference to the countries being divided as a result of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was put up by the Germans, causing families to be separated from each other. Such large changes to many individuals’ lives changed how they carried out life in their developing lands. As a result of the unhappiness that separated families faced, Germans earned a bad reputation for what communist countries were doing, and this became incorporated to their culture. The US was helping Iran with westernizing their country. With all of the new developments, lifestyles changed drastically from what they were before. If the US had not helped out, the lives of Iranians would not have changed. The communists affected daily lives in situations such as the Cuban missile crisis. This caused many people to take action because of the prospect of nuclear war. In the USSR, new leaders such as Leonid Brezhnev made the country very communist. Citizens could no longer have the small amount of individuality they were allowed before. This also happened in China, where the strict communism did not allow the small amount of freedom that was given before the country changed. In brief, lives all over the world changed due to the consequences of the Cold