Cold War History
explanatory Essay
2283 words
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 governments. The Western countries hated communism and believed that the USSR wanted to spread it throughout the world. They therefore did everything they could do to stop it from spreading. The mistrust made the East and West extremely suspicious of each other. Even though no shots were actually fired people were still scared that a nuclear war could start at any moment.
How Did The Cold War Start?
In 1917 the Bolshevik Party took control of Russia and turned it into a communist country. In 1923 Russia joined with three neighboring areas under Bolshevik control and formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). In 1941 during World War II, Germany invaded the USSR. The United States, Britain and the USSR formed the Grand Alliance. Even though they were fighting together there was still a lot of mistrust between them.
By the beginning of 1945 Germany was on the verge of defeat. In February Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, the British prime minister met at Yalta on the Black Sea to discuss what wo...
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...ed in the USSR. The republics that were part of the USSR demanded their independence. On August 19, 1991 a group of hard core communists tried to overthrow Gorbachev. At the time he and his wife were on vacation in the Crimea and the KGB put them under house arrest. Meanwhile in Moscow the leaders of the rebellion sent in tanks onto the streets. The president of Russia, Yeltsin demanded that
Gorbachev be released. On August 21, only two days later the communists in the rebellion gave themselves up and were imprisoned. Yeltsin wanted to end communism, so he forced Gorbachev to end the communist party. By December 1991 the USSR had broken up. On December 25 Gorbachev resigned and Yeltsin was now in control of the nuclear weapons. Despite the ending of the Cold War there are still many nuclear weapons in the world. There is still the slight possibility of a nuclear war.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that truman feared that communism would spread throughout the world unless the united states did something.
- Describes how they visited western europe and were shocked at the amount of damage caused by world war ii. marshall made a speech at harvard university saying that the united states would give money and equipment to help rebuild the countries.
- Narrates how gorbachev and reagan met in geneva and agreed to discard some of their nuclear missiles. they signed the intermediate nuclear forces treaty in washington d.c.
- Explains how the cold war was fought through proxy wars, the nuclear arms race, spying, strong words and threats, prestige, and the space race.
- Describes how the bolshevik party took control of russia and turned it into a communist country.
- Explains that the united states, ussr, britain and france divided germany into four sectors, each under the control of one country.
- Explains that stalin's plan was to try to starve west berlin. the soviets closed all railroads and railways running from the western half of germany into berlin, but the western powers decided to airlift supplies into the city.
- Describes how the us dropped the first atomic bomb on hiroshima on august 6, 1945, which started the arms race.
- Narrates how the soviets invaded korea north of the 38th parallel of latitude and the u.s. troops went tinto the south.
- Explains that berlin was divided after stalin lifted the blockade in 1949. east berliners were able to vote in free elections and speak their minds.
- Narrates how castro overthrew batista and the united states supported an invasion of cuba. khrushchev sent money and arms to castro.
- Explains that president carter was angered by the invasion of afghanistan by soviets. he cancelled the salt ii agreement, increased the size of the u.s. military and allowed the production of a new missile system.
- Explains that president bush and mikhail gorbachev met on the maxim gorky, a soviet warship off the coast of malta, and announced the end of the cold war.
Related
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- Cold War Rivalryexplanatory essayThe cold war era is when America was at its most suspicious and paranoid. The cold war grew out of tensions that were post WWII. Two worldly super powers clashed over rivalry and one wanted to have more influence. This rivalry went for almost half of the 20th century, and led to many international incidents that almost brought both powers to a mutual destruction.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the cold war era was when america was at its most suspicious and paranoid. two worldly super powers clashed over rivalry and one wanted more influence.
- Explains that the united states and the soviet fought side by side as allies during wwii, but their partnership was tense and rocky.
- Analyzes how the soviet union expanded into eastern europe after wwii ended, feeding the paranoia of america thinking that it wanted to take over the world. both sides were to blame for the cold war.
- Explains that the national security council in 1950 ran with president truman's recommendation to use military force to contain communist activity all over the world. this tacit called for an increase in government spending on defense.
- Explains that the treat of an all out nuclear war was a threat that lived in the back of americans throughout the 1950s and 60s.
- Describes how the house of un-american activities committee (huac) brought out the communists living in the united states. the hysteria of the 1950's has become known as the red scare.
- Explains that america's paranoia grew stronger as the threat of the soviets expanded beyond their reach. the first actual military action in the cold war was taken in 1950 when north korea invaded south korea.
- Explains that the korean war was not going well. the allies made an assault at inchon which pushed the north koreans back over the 38th parallel. china sent troops to north korea to protect their assets.
- Explains that truman and his new military advisory team began peace talks at panmunjom in july 1951. although fighting continued both sides were prepared to cease fire but what stalled the peace was the question of the prisoners of war.
- Explains that the cuban missile crisis was the next hurdle to overcome after the bay of pigs invasion ended in a disaster.
- Explains that the vietnam war was one of the most controversial wars that america fought during the modern era.
- Explains that lyndon b. johnson inherited the vietnam war from his predecessor jfk. the cold war was intensifying and the vietcong were becoming a growing threat.
- Explains that nixon's goal was to clean up the mess of the johnson administration. he was able to withdraw american troops through his vietnamization plan.
- Explains that the vietnam war was nothing but a back drop of the cold war. the consequences remained even after the last group of soldiers were withdrawn in 1973.
- Describes ronald reagan as the president that brought the cold war to a close.
- Explains that the cold war was the biggest event in the modern history of america. it sparked most of the events that defined our country as a whole.
1711 wordsRead More - Ideas That Shaped The Cold Waranalytical essayIdeas That Shaped The Cold War Containment: Michael Tartaglia (Words 1,790) Containment was a pivotal United States idea used to prevent and restrict the spread of communism internationally, it was mainly focused in the Continents of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, it was the one of the major reasons in which the ‘Cold War’ remained a cold war, and didn’t escalate into a hot war. The idea of Containment was a result of a series of movements by the Soviet Union to expand the ideology and influence of Communism internationally, it became evident this was needed with the Soviets no longer being seen as a reliable ally after the Second World War. The idea of Containment was based on a mix between the two U.S policies of “Appeasement and Rollback” in which a movement or ideology was restricted to a certain group or geographical location by means of diplomatic or military force backed by the United States government. It was thought only two outcomes of the contrast between the ideologies where possible; enter a third world war with the Soviet Union, or use non-military force to deescalate the prevalence of communism internationally which was otherwise known as Containment.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the "long telegram" from the u.s embassy in moscow outlined the attitude and opinion of the united states in the eyes of soviets.
- Explains that britain was forced to reduce its involvement in greece and turkey due to the economic situation of britain. the truman doctrine was one of the first major implementations of kennan's ideas and the idea of containment.
- Analyzes the marshall plan, which was based on the success and effectiveness of containment in the truman doctrine. it was clearly divisive because it directly opposed the ideas of communism and emphasised the strength and superiority of capitalism within the soviet sphere of influence.
- Describes the berlin blockade/airlift as one of the first major and recognisable events in the u.s’s idea of containment.
- Explains that containment was a pivotal united states idea used to prevent and restrict the spread of communism internationally.
- Explains that comecon was essentially the soviets call to the marshall plan. it was concerned with countries of the eastern bloc and additionally another number of socialist states globally.
- Explains that the vietnam war was essentially u.s containment in practice, as it contrasted the european type of containment.
1629 wordsRead More - America, Russia, and the Cold Warexplanatory essay...e Soviet Union and at the end of the Cold War became independent nations. The Soviet Union would frequently engage in wars by proxy such as the Vietnam and Korean wars. They also invaded many border nations such as Afghanistan and Czechoslovakia.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the truman doctrine was the basis of the cold war, and the marshall plan, which called for $16 billion in economic aid for reconstruction of europe.
- Explains that the warsaw pact was a military alliance between the soviet union and eastern european soviet bloc countries.
- Explains that the cold war was exacerbated by numerous incidents on both sides. malenkov cut membership in the new politburo and threw out the young fanatical stalinists.
- Explains how gorbachev's political reforms helped end the cold war.
1412 wordsRead More - Origins of the Cold Waranalytical essayOrigins of the Cold War Revisionist historians tend to regard the outbreak of the "Cold War" as a result of American hostility or, at least , diplomatic incompetence, while the more traditional view lays the responsibility squarely at the feet of the Soviet Union. Assess the validity of each view. The Cold War,said to have lasted from the end of World War II to the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991, was one of the most significant political events of the 20th century. For nearly 40 years the world was under the constant threat of total devastation, caught between the nuclear arsenals of the United States, Great Britain, and France on one side and the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China on the other. Any crisis precipitated by the struggle between the forces of democracy and communism could trigger a nuclear exchange of such stupendous proportions and overwhelming horror and suffering that would render life on earth utterly impossible.
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- Evaluates the validity of each view. revisionist historians tend to regard the "cold war" as a result of american hostility or diplomatic incompetence, while the more traditional view lays the responsibility squarely at the feet of the soviet union
- Explains that the cold war was a tense political period between the democratic and communist blocs, east and west, and most importantly, the united states and the soviet union.
- Explains that the cold war was a conflict between two superpowers, caused by soviet aggression.
- Analyzes how the cold war tensions stemmed from the fear and paranoia that gripped american society.
- Explains that the cold war was a tacit arrangement between the soviet union and the united states under which the us conducted wars against the third world and controlled its allies in europe.
- Explains that the cold war was sparked by a plethora of events, including soviet aggression and american paranoia.
- Analyzes how the soviet union was on the verge of amassing power, which frightened the united states and brought about the cold war.
- Analyzes how the cold war tensions stemmed from the fear and paranoia that gripped american society.
- Explains that the cold war lasted from the end of world war ii to the dismantling of the soviet union in 1991.
1172 wordsRead More - Cold Waranalytical essayCold War is the term used to describe the intense rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of Communist and non-Communist nations. On one side were the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) and its communist allies that referred to as the Eastern bloc. On the other side were the United Staes and its democratic allies, usually referred to as the Western bloc. Cold War was characterized by mutual distrust, suspicion, and misunderstandings by both the United States and the Soviet Union, and their allies.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that cold war was characterized by mutual distrust, suspicion, and misunderstandings between the united states and the soviet union and their allies.
- Analyzes how the united states accused the soviet union of seeking to expand communism throughout the world. each bloc's vision contributed to east-west tension.
- Explains that the yalta conference is often cited as the beginning of the cold war. franklin roosevelt, winston churchill, and josef stalin met in crimea at the lavidia palace on the black sea.
- Explains that the soviet union cut off all contacts between the west and the occupied territories of eastern europe during 1945 and early in 1946.
- Explains that the war against japan was not as devastating as the united states had expected.
- Explains that cold war tensions increased in the early 1980’s due to the soviet intervention in afganistan and from continued american fear of soviet and cubal influence in middle east, southeast asia, africa, and central amrica.
- Opines that the fall of the berlin wall in november 1989 is a symbolic end to the cold war.
624 wordsRead More - Origins of the Cold Waranalytical essayThe Cold War was the ongoing state of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States that occurred from 1946 to 1991. The hostility between the two countries was evident through political affairs, military and weaponry intensification, and economic rivalry. At many points in time, the two sides were on the verge of nuclear confrontation, which would have vastly altered the world as people know it today. Fortunately, the two countries never engaged in major warfare, thereby coining the state of friction as a cold war.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the two countries were distrustful of each other during world war ii and had conflicts of interest regarding post war goals.
- Analyzes how the events during the early years of the cold war played a major role.
- Explains how the baruch plan, truman doctrine, and marshall plan triggered the nuclear arms race during the cold war.
- Analyzes how the controversy over the atomic bomb created issues that further played a part in the state of hostility between the united states and soviet union.
- Explains that the cold war was the ongoing state of tension between the soviet union and the united states that occurred from 1946 to 1991.
1028 wordsRead More - The Cold War and Reagananalytical essayA cold war is defined as "a conflict between nations for national advantage conducted by political, economic, and psychological means instead of direct military action." The Cold War defined by the same source was determined to be "the contest for power between the communist nations headed by the Soviet Union and the nations of the West headed by the United States that began after World War II"(Barnhart & Thorndike, 198).
In this essay, the author
- Explains the cold war and reagan's role in it. cold war is defined as a conflict between nations for national advantage conducted by political, economic, and psychological means instead of direct military action.
- Explains the cold war's causes, including the struggle between conflicting values, such as democracy and statism in the east.
- Explains that after world war ii ended, threats of war with the soviet union began to circulate. since americans and soviets both fought for what they thought right, neither could come to an agreement with each other on how to rebuild the broken european nations.
- Explains that the marshall plan was a plan adopted by the united states for giving financial aid to european nations. eastern europe suffered due to the economic strategy of josef stalin.
- Explains that nato formed an alliance with western europe and the united states in 1949 to separate themselves from the countries of the east. the korean war was an example of capitalism versus communism.
- Explains that the cold war meant many things to americans in the united states because it came with it. the house committee for un-american activities investigated citizens in search of communists.
- Explains that reagan was involved in the arms race when he proposed "zero option," the removal of all ss20 missiles from asia and europe, and a 700,000-person march on new york.
- Analyzes how reagan's new strategic defense initiative, known as star wars, caused arms control talks with the soviets to produce nothing. during the years following the war terrorism was an ever-present threat to the lives of americans.
- Analyzes how reagan's administration led to less emphasis on the soviet union and on problems brewing in the middle east. reagan and gorbachev disagreed at the 4th summit in moscow.
- Analyzes how reagan sought for prosperity and peace with strength never trying to compromise the united states standard in any way. the cold war was fought through the build up of arms, technology, and psychologically on the home front.
- Cites the following sources: ac.acusd.edu/history/20th/coldwar8.html, icdweb.cc
1373 wordsRead More - The Cold Warexplanatory essayThe Cold War When World War II in Europe finally came to an end on May 7, 1945, a new war was just beginning. The Cold War: denoting the open yet restricted rivalry that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, a war fought on political, economic, and propaganda fronts, with limited recourse to weapons, largely because of fear of a nuclear holocaust.1 This term, The Cold War, was first used by presidential advisor Bernard Baruch during a congressional debate in 1947. Intelligence operations dominating this war have been conducted by the Soviet State Security Service (KGB) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), representing the two power blocs, East and West respectively, that arose from the aftermath of World War II. Both have conducted a variety of operations from large scale military intervention and subversion to covert spying and surveillance missions.
In this essay, the author
- Narrates how world war ii ended in europe on may 7, 1945.
- Explains that the 1947 act gave birth to the cia, and in 1949 the 1949 act was formalized.
- Describes the u-2 he flew over the soviet union from the united states air force base.
- Explains that they shot down the plane with an sa-a.
- Explains that the incident was caused by four residents of the small town.
- Explains that it was assumed that powers had died in the crash.
- Explains that missing in a cover story can be taken care of by saying the matter is being covered.
- Explains how to get the cigars to him from an angle of more a chemical nature.
- Opines that with these failures, the us felt that it had no choice but to cancel.
- Narrates how the b-26s landed in the bay of pigs on april 17, 1961.
- Narrates how kennedy was forced to cover the us when caught in his lie.
- Opines that the public will never know when one of murders takes place.
- Opines that there is no other way in the age we live in today to monitor the world.
- Explains kelly johnson's design for the u-2, a plane that would fly with record high ceilings of 90,000 ft.
2568 wordsRead More - United States' Involvement in Vietnamexplanatory essayAt the end of World War 2 the USA and USSR had emerged as the two
In this essay, the author
- Explains that vietnam is a small country in the south of china. in the 17th century, french missionaries arrived in vietnam and converted the vietnamese people to catholicism.
- Describes how vietnamese adapted to the french way of life and controlled the 30 million people living in vietnam, cambodia, and laos, an area that france now called indochina.
- Explains that troops decided they were unable to protect their empire so they surrendered to the japanese, who took control of all vietnams resources. the vietnam revolutionary league was established under the leadership of ho chi minh.
- Describes how the vietminh began a guerrilla campaign against the japanese. ho chi minh marched into hanoi and announced the formation of the democratic republic of vietnam.
- Describes the full-scale war between the vietminh and france, which lasted for 8 years. at the end of world war 2, the usa and ussr emerged as superpowers.
- Explains that the ussr was angry at the usa for not informing them of the use pf the atomic bomb to end the war with japan.
- Explains that 10 hollywood writers and actors were put on trial and imprisoned for failing to comment on their political stance. eisenhower had a military background and fought in ww2.
- Explains that harry truman's policy was that communism mustn't spread outside the ussr. eisenhower supported the domino theory.
- Explains that diem was against communism and was unwilling to be a puppet ruler. he rejected their advice and made decisions that upset the south vietnamese people.
- Analyzes how john f. kennedy was elected president of the usa in november 1960. he argued that if south vietnam became a communist state the whole non-communist world would be at risk.
- Explains that kennedy agreed with his advisors that the usa could prevent a nlf victory in south vietnam. he arranged for the south vietnamese to receive the money necessary to increase the size of their army from 150,000 to 170,000.
- Narrates how lyndon b johnson became the new president of the united states after john f. kennedy's assassination. he believed that the us defence was dependent on the vietcong never gaining victory in south vietnam.
- Explains that johnson was unwilling to take unpopular measures like sending troops to fight in a foreign war until after the 1964 presidential elections.
784 wordsRead More - NORAD Consequencesexplanatory essayAfter World War two tensions between Capitalist America and Communist Russia were high. A cold war began when the two super powers began to build more powerful, technology advanced, and for lack of a better word, better weapons. After VJ Day Russia knew what America was capable of and began to stock-pile nuclear weapons. Fear of attack America did the same thinking that no one would want to attack a nation with a larger military power. Both countries spent billions each year of military power and after all that, both countries were at a standstill. Though the nations repeated one of the underlying causes from world war one no actual fighting ever happened. Proxy wars were fought, supplying countries that for
In this essay, the author
- Explains that after world war two tensions between capitalist america and communist russia were high. after vj day russia knew what america was capable of and began to stock-pile nuclear weapons.
- Explains that norad is a bilingual initiative to protect both canada and the united states. each renewal changes the mission slightly.
- Explains that it created a permanent norad agreement which meant that there would be no need to future renewals and that both countries agreed to the responsibilities of the bi-national defence alliance.
- Explains the significance and importance of norad. canada and the u.s. both obtain a lot from each other.
- Explains that canada and the u.s. are first world countries with high number of scientists and good economies. they both support and develop new and amazing things.
- Explains that canada contributes to norad, including the north warning system, which is a chain of radar stations along the northern edge of north america.
585 wordsRead More