The Cold War was one of the most important political confrontations of the twentieth century, with the potential to wreak enormous damage to the world and its inhabitants. It began during the last stages of World War II when the alliances were crumbling and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Cold War was the 20th century's version of great power rivalry (except they were superpowers with the ability to annihilate each other with nuclear weapons at a moments notice.)
From the moment the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia in 1917 conflict with the Capitalist West was inevitable. The varied theories of its cause are subject to debate by historians across the globe, although certain key reasons have been, to some extent, agreed upon.
Great power rivalry of the past, such as that of Britain and Germany prior to World War 1, was based on competition for resources and territory. The US and USSR vigorously recruited ideological supporters throughout the world, whether they were individuals, governments or rebel movements and they supported them with resources such as financial or military aid.
According to some historians the war began as an ideological battle with little to do with territory and resources. The ideologies of Communism against Capitalism fuelled the mutual mistrust between the United States and the Soviet Union, who were both bitterly opposed to the way in which the other country was run. Marxism or Communism was the philosophy of a classless society, with no need for money, a government, or any opposing political parties. The communist party was the only party. These values were the opposite of the Capitalist or Democratic viewpoint, and the United States were challenged by the Communist ide...
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...ies in World War II. The technology of an Arms Race was lifted from World War II, when the main concern was making ships bigger, better and faster to ships becoming almost old technology, and missiles and jets being improved and made more precise, to threaten the opposition. The Arms Race to ensure the national security fast became a means to sooth the paranoia that the other side could attack at any moment with superior arms.
It can be argued that no one factor was responsible for causing the Cold War, nor that one nation alone held responsibility. Ideological differences, the paranoia that fueled the Arms Race, Soviet aggression and the American reaction, as well as the mutual distrust and misunderstanding of one another's intentions and the poor communication to allow these mistakes to spiral out of control all contributed to the reasons behind the Cold War.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the cold war was the 20th century's version of great power rivalry, except superpowers could annihilate each other with nuclear weapons.
- Explains that the bolsheviks seized control of russia in 1917 and the conflict with the capitalist west was inevitable.
- Explains that the us and ussr vigorously recruited ideological supporters throughout the world, whether they were individuals, governments or rebel movements, and supported them with financial or military aid.
- Explains that communism against capitalism fuelled mutual mistrust between the united states and the soviet union, who were bitterly opposed to the way in which the other country was run.
- Analyzes how soviet forces?liberated? eastern european countries from nazi control as world war ii neared its end, but stalin refused to remove his troops and began establishing pro-communist regimes through eastern europe, the satellite states, and russia's western frontier.
- Analyzes how the cuban missile crisis of 1962, an infamous symptom of the cold war, made clear the level of threat that the superpowers were to each other.
- Explains that the arms race of the cold war was on a whole new scale to that of previous wars, such as world war ii, when the main concern was making ships bigger, better and faster to ships becoming almost old technology.
- Argues that no one factor was responsible for causing the cold war, nor that one nation alone held responsibility. ideological differences, the paranoia that fueled the arms race, soviet aggression and the american reaction, as well as mutual distrust and misunderstanding of one another's intentions, allowed these mistakes to spiral out of control.
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- 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.
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- Explains that the cold war lasted from the end of world war ii to the dismantling of the soviet union in 1991.
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- Concludes that the cold war era was a silent war between the u.s.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- Explains that the cold war was an interesting time period for the world, seeing that it was after one of the biggest and most memorable wars ever.
- Analyzes how the us and ussr supported different sides during other wars that had the same ideals as them, such as the vietnam war and the korean war.
- Explains that the cold war started when the us dropped two atom bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki to prevent future conflicts with the japanese.
- Compares the two forms of government and economic systems, stating that the soviets' communism is different from the american's.
- Explains that america was founded on the principles that all men are created equal and each should have equal representation within the law and what goes on in our government.
- Analyzes how they understand the basics of the cold war and get an insight into what really happened and how it affects the world today.
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- Explains that the cold war began in 1945 and ended in 1991. it was between the world's two military powers, the united states and the soviet union.
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- Explains that the ussr and the usa never went to war on their own soil but fought ‘proxy wars’ through allied countries.
- Explains that the ussr and the usa competed to have the most power through the arms race. the relationship between the two countries had signs it was improving.
- Explains ronald reagan's strategic defence initiative (sdi) project, which aimed to set up a nuclear weapons and laser system in space to prevent the ussr from attacking the usa.
- Analyzes how gorbachov introduced 'perestroika', signalling the end of communism and introducing aspects of capitalism to the ussr. the us emerged as the world's only remaining super-power.
- Opines that while china has a huge population and is growing both economically and in its influence with other countries through trading relationships, they are yet to match the usa in their cultural influence.
- Concludes that while both the usa and the ussr were super-powers during the 45-year cold war, it can be argued that they were the pre-eminent superpower.
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- Explains that the "arms race" was a method of delivering the message that they could fight back when the other side attacked their country.
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- Explains that the soviet union and the united states formed an uneasy alliance to defeat the common enemy of germany. the conflict between the two countries came as a result of an uprising in greece.
- Explains that the united states feared the communists because they couldn't let their obscure rules rule the world. they lacked freedom, civil rights, and free press.
542 wordsRead More - The Role of National Interest in World War Ianalytical essayWorld War One was greatly influenced by many factors, and in many ways. National interest ignited the mistrust and insecurities within nations, which in turn led to the creation of strong alliances and immense military forces. The growing suspicion Britain had of Germany only heightened the wariness and uncertainty of nations. The means, by which individual nations dealt with the issues within themselves, and outside of their boundaries, in the years preceding World War One, were irrational and improperly thought through. Nations fell into a strong ultra nationalistic point of view, and acted in a way which expressed interest in themselves only.
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- Analyzes how the people's revolt in austria-hungary began shifting after the assassination of the arch duke, franz ferdinand, by bosnian serb militants.
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- Explains that world war one was influenced by many factors, and in many ways. the growing suspicion britain had of germany heightened the wariness and uncertainty of nations.
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- Describes the cold war as an amazing story of competition between political and economic ideologies, a competition that has threatened the world with nuclear war and annihilation.
- Explains that the cold war was when the united states and the soviet union started to build up nuclear weapons after everyone found out how strong the nuclear weapon really is.
- Explains that the soviet union and the united states fought against each other in the previous war, which was world war ii.
- Explains that the nuclear arms race was a competition between the counties on who was superior and who had the most nuclear weapons since they were the strongest at the time.
- Explains that the soviet union collapsed in the late 1980s, which was a sign of the cold war ending between the united states and russia.
- Analyzes how the cold war played an important role in today’s society, such as communism has disappeared from the united states and almost the rest of the world.
- Describes the military origins of the space race, from the race to the moon to cooperative ventures between the two former rivals and efforts to maintain a human presence in space.
- Opines that the cold war is a good thing to remember and the united states and many other have learned from it such as how communism effects people, how nuclear weapons can cause nuclear wars, and atomic era is something that should not happen.
1079 wordsRead More - Cause Of The Cold Waropinion essayThe Cold War was a nonviolent political conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union that arose after World at War II. They both shared a common enemy at the time; Germany and although The Soviet Union and United States won the war, competition and conflict between the two had led to the Cold War lasting from 1945 to 1990. The Soviet Union had used its political beliefs to try and dominate Eastern Europe in fact they even set up communist governments in other countries and caused even more tension in the Cold War.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the cold war was a nonviolent political conflict between the united states and the soviet union.
- Explains that during the cold war there was distrust between the united states and the soviet union which caused the two to engage in secret operations such as spying, and propaganda.
- Explains that the soviet union was the most responsible for the cold war, based on winston churchill's speech "iron curtain".
- Opines that the united states was the least responsible for the cold war and there isn't much proof other than the soviet's beliefs. in stalin’s “election speech,” he argued that world war ii had only broken out because of capitalists.
- Concludes that the soviet union is the most responsible for the cold war, as evidence suggests that it tried to expand communist belief in order to protect itself from another invasion like that of wwii.
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- Explains that the cold war was a period of political hostility between the soviet countries and the united states from 1945 to 1990. spy rings, nuclear weapons, and fear of communist infiltration were three factors that intensified the conflict.
- Explains that the united states created the central intelligence agency and the national security council in 1947. the cia collected and investigated national safety data from places around the world and spied on foreign countries.
- Analyzes how the development of nuclear weapons intensified the cold war. both the united states and the soviet union were uneasy because a nuclear bomb could be released on their territory at any moment.
- Explains that the american fear of communist infiltration added to the cold war's intensity. the united states took measures to eliminate soviet influence in america.
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- Explains that the soviet union and the united states were the strongest nations in the world after the end of world war ii. their differing ideologies about government and economics caused the cold war.
- Analyzes how truman worked to clean up the postwar state of the nation and establish a new world order. he created the world bank and funded japan in rebuilding the country under general douglas macarthur.
- Explains that tension between the two nations reached a peak in korea when north korea invaded south korea in 1950. both sides decided to cease-fire after the new us president dwight eisenhower threatened to use nuclear weapons.
- Analyzes how the cold war defined both countries' foreign policies and shaped the world with huge military buildups and nuclear arms race. nixon implemented a new form of international relations, and signed the strategic arms limitation treaty.
- Explains that the us was in charge of redesigning the imperial scene after wwii. the cold war was often thought of as a global conflict between ussr and us.
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