No issue in twentieth-century American history has aroused more debate than the question of the origins of the Cold War. Some have claimed that Soviet duplicity and expansionism created the international tensions, while others have proposed that American provocations and imperial ambitions were at least equally to blame. Most historians agree both the United States and the Soviet Union contributed to the atmosphere of hostility and suspicions that quickly clouded the peace. At the heart of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1940s was a fundamental difference in the ways the great powers envisions the postwar world. One vision, first openly outlined in the Atlantic Charter in 1941, was of a world in which nations abandoned their traditional beliefs in military alliances and spheres of influence and governed their relations with one another through democratic processes, with an international organization serving as a arbiter of disputes and the protector of every nation’s right of self-determination. That vision appealed to many Americans, including Franklin Roosevelt. The other vision was that of the Soviet Union and to some extent, it gradually became clear, of Great Britain. Both Stalin and Churchill had signed the Atlantic Charter. But Britain had always been uneasy about the implications of the self-determination ideal for its own enormous empire. An the Soviet Union was determined to crease a secure sphere for itself in Central and Eastern Europe as protection against possible future aggression from eh West. Churchill and Stalin tended to envision a postwar structure in which the great powers would control areas of strategic interest to them, in which something vaguely similar to the traditional European balance of power would reemerge. Serious strains had already begun to develop in the alliance with the Soviet Union in January 1943, when Roosevelt and Churchill met in Casablanca, Morocco, to discuss Allied strategy. The two leaders could not accept Stalin’s most important demand—the immediate opening of the second front in Western Europe. But they tried to reassure Stalin by announcing that they would accept nothing less than the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers, thus indicating that they would not negotiate a separate peace with Hitler and leave the Soviets to fight on alone. Stalin agreed to an American request that the Soviet Union enter the war in the Pacific soon after the end of hostilities in Europe. Roosevelt, in turn, promised that an Anglo-American second front would be established within six months.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that no issue in twentieth-century american history has aroused more debate than the question of origins of the cold war. they argue that both the united states and the soviet union contributed to the atmosphere of hostility and suspicions that quickly clouded the peace.
- Explains that at the heart of the rivalry between the united states and the soviet union in the 1940s was a fundamental difference in how the great powers envisions the postwar world.
- Analyzes how churchill and stalin envisioned a postwar structure in which the great powers would control areas of strategic interest to them.
- Explains that serious strains had already begun to develop in the alliance with the soviet union in january 1943, when roosevelt and churchill met in casablanca, morocco, to discuss allied strategy.
- Explains that stalin agreed to an american request that the soviet union enter the war in the pacific soon after the end of hostilities in europe. roosevelt and churchill supported the claims of the polish government-in-exile
- Explains that churchill, roosevelt, and stalin met at yalta in february 1945 to agree on the outlines of the peace that they knew would soon come. they settled on a series of vague compromises that ultimately left all parties feeling betrayed.
- Analyzes how roosevelt watched with growing alarm as the soviet union moved systematically to establish pro-communist governments in central or eastern europe and as stalin refused to make the changes in poland that the president believed he had promised.
- Opines that harry s. truman, who succeeded roosevelt in the presidency, had almost no familiarity with international issues.
- Analyzes how truman drew from the ideas of george f. kennan, who warned that in the soviet union the united states faced a political force committed fanatically to the belief that with the u.s.
- Explains marshall's plan to provide economic assistance to all european nations that would join in drafting a program for recovery. the national security act of 1947 reshaped the nation’s military and diplomatic institutions.
- Explains that the national security act gave the president expanded powers to pursue the nations international goals.
- Explains that the united states refused to recognize the new communist regime, instead devoted increased attention to the revitalization of japan as a buffer against asian communism, ending the american occupation in 1952.
- Explains that truman called for a thorough review of american foreign policy, which resulted in the nsc-68 report. the first statements of the containment doctrine had made at least some distinctions between areas of vital interest to the united states.
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- Cold Waranalytical essayCOLD WAR During 1945 and early in 1946, the Soviet Union cut off nearly all contacts between the West and the occupied territories of Eastern Europe. In March 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned that "an iron curtain has descended across the Continent" of Europe. He made popular the phrase Iron Curtain to refer to Soviet barriers against the West (Kennedy 1034). Behind these barriers, the U.S.S.R. steadily expanded its power.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how the soviet union cut off all contacts between the west and the occupied territories of eastern europe during 1945 and early 1946.
- Analyzes how the cold war became increasingly tense during the 1940s and 1950s. both sides believed their political and economic systems were better than the other's, and strengthened their armed forces.
- Explains that president kennedy ordered a naval quarantine or blockade of cuba to prevent russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to the island.
- Explains that economic developments caused major shifts in the world balance of power during the 1960's.
- Describes how gorbachev worked for a more decentralized economic system and allowed more democracy and freedom of expression in eastern europe.
1240 wordsRead More - ESanalytical essayA process that gradually occurred in the late 1940s led to the division of Europe in two camps: the Western part linked to the United States and the Eastern part linked to the Soviet Union. The main goals for all the three major allies – Soviet Union, United States, and Britain – were to influence the arrangements after the World War in a way that would guarantee their national security. The so-called tripartite conferences in 1945, which existed of the Yalta Conference in February and the Potsdam Conference in July-August, reflected the different perspectives of the three major allies on how to reorganize post-war Europe (Messenger, 2010, p.33). Since both the United States and the Soviet Union interpreted the agreements of the Tripartite Conferences in their own way, the threat perception linked to their own national security was changing. Disagreement over the reorganization of domestic and international order in Europe, as well as conflicting ideologies changed threat perception. Part of the so-called ‘security-dilemma’ was the German Problem, which was the problem of managing Germany’s political and economical recovery after the Second World War (Gillingham, 2010, p.55). Messenger in (Dinan, 2010, p. 32), argues that the idea of national security was most significant factor in the break-up of the Wartime Alliance and the emergence of the Cold War conflict. In his speech in March 1946, Churchill attacked his former wartime-ally by stressing his concerns and anxiety towards the Soviet Un...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the cold war became one of the most sifgnificant factors in the eventual creation of integrated supranationalism in western europe that formed the basis for the later european union.
- Argues that the idea of national security was most significant factor in the break-up of the wartime alliance and the emergence of cold war conflict.
- Explains that president truman's speech in march 1947 was a reaction to the situation in turkey and greece where britain could not supply financial and military support.
- Explains that the berlin blockade was a major strategic miscalculation for the soviet union.
- Explains that france was against rearmament of germany, but together with the united states, they decided that tying west germany into western europe was best for western countries' security.
- Explains that the german problem was addressed from the united states' perspective when the korean war broke out in 1950. the schuman plan of 1949 was only partly an answer to germany's problem.
- Explains that germany was not allowed to join the nato out of france's fear of german rearmament. this explicitly military phase of european integration, linked directly to the intensification of the cold war, did not last long.
- Analyzes how the cold war impacted european integration between 1945 and 1957.
1735 wordsRead More - Cold Waranalytical essayWhat was the Cold War and what events caused it? Cold 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 - The Cause Of The Cold Waranalytical essayAmerican's viewed as Stalin wanting world domination.; all this commencing the start of the Cold War.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that stalin believed that russian security meant that eastern european states should stay under soviet control.
- Explains that the western press believed the conference was successful, but there were still problems and disagreements between the soviets and the anglo-americans.
- Explains that both the u.s. and the soviet union claimed they did not want use hydrogen bombs, leaving the world in doubt on what would happen next.
- Opines that the nuclear arms race was central to the cold war and that america and russia massively increased their abundance of nuclear weapons.
- Explains that both american and soviet experts aimed at using nuclear weapons to bring out concessions from the one another, or from powerful countries like china.
- Analyzes how stalin's pre-cold war actions were the reason for the cold war.
- Explains harbutt, fraser j. yalta 1945: europe and america at the crossroads. rhodes, richard.
- Explains that roosevelt, churchill, and stalin met in the crimean city of yalta to discuss allied war aims. stalin wanted to gain economic aid for his dismantled nation, regain the territory he lost during the russo-japanese war.
- Explains that stalin wanted germany to pay twenty-thousand dollars in war reparations, in which half of the money would go to the soviet union. churchill and roosevelt were not satisfied on the agreement on poland.
- Analyzes how truman and the soviet union entered into an arms race, each side attempting to match or outdo the military strength of the other.
- Compares and argues on two viewpoints debating whether yes, stalin needed the cold war in order to be a good reason for restraint in the u.s.
- Analyzes how the source gives two different opinions on stalin's decisions and actions on whether or not he wanted the cold war to take place.
- Explains that "levine, isaac don" is a primary source; in 1939 levine spoke with the soviet intelligence.
- Analyzes how levine's source provides us with an unfiltered access to the record of stalin’s regimes.
- Describes groueff, stéphane, roberts, geoffrey, stalin's wars: from world war to cold war, 1939-1953.
- Argues that the yalta conference was accountable for the creation of the united nations, saying the soviets should not have acquired veto power.
1397 wordsRead More - The Involvement of the United States in Vietnamanalytical essayDuring the years proceeding World War II the United States found itself one of the two most powerful nations in the world. This position placed Americans at odds with their rival country, the Soviet Union, on almost all fronts. These two countries now found themselves locked into a passive conflict not only of military might, but of social and ideological values.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that fear is the single most important factor in understanding the united states involvement in vietnam.
- Explains that the united states was one of the two most powerful nations in the world during world war ii. this position placed americans at odds with their rival country, the soviet union, on almost all fronts.
- Explains that there are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the russians and the anglo-americans. each seems called by some secret design of providence
- Analyzes how the rise of these two nations as leaders and rivals was seen as early as tocqueville, but this vision was not realized until the end of wwii where the two countries developed as ideological opposites.
- Analyzes how the american mistrust of the soviet union began during the march on berlin during war. roosevelt's letter to stalin on february 6, 1945, said that if we cannot get a meeting of minds now, how can we get an understanding on even more vital things in the future?
- Explains that the growing mistrust of the relatively new communist nation led to the eventual fear of a global conflict between the two ideologies.
- Analyzes how the ussr's arms build-up and consolidation of new soviet-bloc nations reinforced the fear of communism. politicians at home played on this fear with rhetoric and speeches such as the 1950 republican party slogan.
- Explains how senator maccarthy began hearings on communism and hunted down those who he felt were communists living and working in the us.
- Explains that they have a list of 205 names that were made known to the secretary of state as being members of the communist party and who are still working and shaping policy in the state department.
- Opines that senator mccarthy's words set off a period of political hysteria.
- Analyzes how the fear that gripped the american public now had influenced government to the point where innocent people were being deprived of jobs and having their reputations ruined.
- Explains that the fear of communism spreading and destroying the american way of life manifested itself in things such as the domino theory.
- Describes how vietnam's revolution was waged against a failing french colonial government that was unable to provide for its people. the leader, ho chi min, asked for the support and recognition of the united states and the western world.
- Analyzes how the revolution could have been seen as a way to stop or disprove the domino theory, and gain an ally in the heart of what was becoming an communist portion of the globe.
- Explains that the second world war was a time of prosperity and growth for the united states. the depression, the threat of the communist soviet union, and nuclear warfare caused mass panic in the american people.
1233 wordsRead More - The American Foreign Service, A Reviewanalytical essayDeSantis recognizes the differences in perceptions and argues that the perceptions of the career diplomats who had not served in the Soviet Union evolved to share President Franklin Roosevelt's optimism about postwar Soviet-American "ideological cooperation" and favored a policy of compromise and accommodation. It was not until after Germany surrendered and the Kremlin attempted to assert its control over Eastern Europe that they began to see the Soviet Union as expansionist and a direct threat to liberal-internationalist goals.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how hugh desantis' the diplomacy of silence examines the attitudes of the united states foreign service toward the soviet union from 1933-1947.
- Explains that this book is an extraordinarily interesting study of how american foreign service officers, in washington and in posts in eastern europe and the soviet union, perceived east-west relations.
- Explains the striking thing about these men is their intense, unrelenting hostility to the soviet union during the 1930's.
- Analyzes how desantis recognizes differences in perceptions and argues that career diplomats who had not served in the soviet union evolved to share president franklin roosevelt's optimism about postwar soviet-american "ideological cooperation."
- Explains that career diplomats had little influence on the formulation of u.s. foreign policy until harry s. truman became president. roosevelt treated them as mere observers while secretary of state cordell hull ignored them.
- Analyzes desantis' analysis of american-soviet relations, although his work is largely one-sided. he did not have access to soviet archives for the immediate postwar years or to the debate about east-west relations in soviet decision-making circles.
457 wordsRead More - 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 - Autonomy and Political Responsibility after the Cold Waranalytical essayThe alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes mikhail gorbachev's "the old system fell apart before the new system began to work".
- Analyzes helmut kohl's "a united germany in a united europe" in rogers, aspects of summary.
- Explains that europe was torn between two very different political ideologies, communism and democracy. the soviets saw their communist system in a defensive struggle for survival against the surrounding capitalistic nations
- Explains cnn - cold war is the best resource for gaining a well-rounded and in depth view of the people, places, and events which shaped the cold war era.
2605 wordsRead More - The Warsaw Pactexplanatory essayThe strategy behind the formation of the Warsaw Pact was driven by the desire of the Soviet Union to dominate Central and Eastern Europe. This policy was driven by ideological and geostrategic reasons. Ideologically, the Soviet Union arrogated the right to define socialism and communism and act as the leader of the global socialist movement. A corollary to this idea was the necessity of intervention if a country appeared to be violating core socialist ideas and Communist Party functions, which was explicitly stated in the Brezhnev Doctrine.[8] Geostrategic principles also drove the Soviet Union to prevent invasion of its territory by Western European powers, which had occurred most recently by Nazi Germany in 1941. The invasion launched by
In this essay, the author
- Explains the strategy behind the warsaw pact was driven by the desire of the soviet union to dominate central and eastern europe.
171 wordsRead More - The SR-71 Blackbirdexplanatory essayThe year was 1946. World War 2 had ended only months before, and already the stage was set for another global conflict. The United States and the Soviet Union, formerly allies in the war against Hitler's Third Reich, were now engaged in a standoff over what system of beliefs would prevail over the slowly recovering nations of Europe. The Soviet Union wasted no time in forming an Eastern Bloc, a group of satellite nations controlled by puppet governments, whose primary purpose was to provide a buffer of sorts between Russian soil and the other nations of Europe, sealing their new territory behind tightly controlled borders that came to be called “The Iron Curtain”. The USSR had no intention of stopping their expansions, making no secret of their desire to conquer all of the remaining territory to be had. The United States responded with the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, in an attempt to contain the spread of Communism.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how the united states and the soviet union, formerly allies in the war against hitler's third reich, were engaged in a standoff over what system of beliefs would prevail over the slowly recovering nations of europe
- Explains how the world suddenly polarized into two distinct groups when the ussr detonated its first nuclear weapon in 1949. it suddenly became a matter of survival for the entire world.
- Explains that the united states needed to see what was behind the iron curtain, as well as in all of the hot spots that had suddenly erupted.
- Explains that at the start of the cold war, bomber and fighter aircraft fitted with cameras were sufficient for this role, but as the soviet's air defenses became increasingly sophisticated, threats to aircraft began to mount.
- Explains that the u-2 was designed, built, and flown in the top secret world of "black" aircraft, completely unknown by the public for nearly ten years.
- Explains that the u-2 was used in operations over the eastern bloc, hot-spots in asia and the middle east, even over china, observing everything from submarine bases to farming.
- Explains that the u-2's creator, clarence "kelly" johnson, had seen this coming and had begun work two years before the gary powers shoot-down on a design that would keep the united states ahead of the soviets for decades to come.
- Opines that the skunk works' hurdles were daunting even for the elite designers hired by johnson. the friction of the air against the skin of an aircraft would melt an ordinary aluminum airframe in literally moments.
- Explains that the first step was the airframe, the main body of the aircraft. steel was one option, but to create the large components needed for the a-12 would require clean rooms, airlocks, and other specialized hardware.
- Explains that titanium was so rare during the cold war that it was worth more than its weight in gold. the skunk works was writing the book on how to use this metal.
- Explains that two mammoth engines, called the j58 and developed by pratt and whitney, powered this machine, which burned nearly 8000 gallons an hour at cruising speed.
- Explains that the cameras were the most important part of the project, and the whole reason for it. each a-12 carried a large camera behind the cockpit which had such fine resolution that it could photograph an object six inches wide from an altitude of more than 15 miles!
- Explains that the first operational a-12's were shipped to the bases from which they would fly their missions. the cia wanted them in asia, flying in an operation called black shield.
- Explains that the sr-71 was a two seater version of the a-12, equipped with electronic intelligence gathering, hyper-spectral imaging, synthetic aperture radar imaging, and many other devices.
- Explains that the a-12 was dropped from use in 1968, replaced by the sr-71, but not before making one last contribution to the world: locating the captured uss pueblo in a harbor in north korea.
- Describes how the blackbird avoided 3000 surface to air missiles and countless enemy interceptors in its 20 years of operational service.
- Explains that the aircraft couldn't outrun the slayer of its predecessor, a grounding that was widely thought premature.
- Explains that even after its operational retirement in 1990, the blackbird changed the world, setting records for speed and altitude that still haven't been matched by any jet aircraft today.
- Narrates johnson, clarence l. kelly: more than my share of it all. 1 ed.
1765 wordsRead More