The Cold War of 1946-1991

Cold War 1946-1991 Introduction: The end of World War II did not end the disputed but unexpectedly causing the conflict between allied countries, led to an era known as the “Cold War”. Roughly lasted from the close of Second World War (1946) to the end of 1980s, this is a stage of political conflict, proxy wars and economic competition rather than military combat between the Communist represented by Soviet Union and the powers of Western world primarily United Stated. Although many times it appeared that both military forces would engaged in a major battle, turning the war into “hot”, the two sides just expressed the conflict through military coalition, arms races and technological competitions. Going through four long decades, it casted a shadow in the second half of 20th century and left a scar that still feel today. The alliance that had formed between two super powers, U.S and USSR during World War II was not strong enough to overcome the past decades of suspicion and unease between the two nations. Unwilling to compromise because of paranoia about their postwar national security created high tension atmosphere in U.S- Soviet Union’s relationship. This unstable partnership finally cracked due to the defeat of Nazi German: An unnatural alliance that was bound to fall apart after the defeat of the common enemy can be considered the origin of the Cold War.The Cold War had an enormous impact on the United States politically, socially, and economically including Red hunts, unconditionally fear of Communism and McCarthyism in the period 1940s-1950s, also shaped U.S.’s political agendas. This war ended as the reform programs introduced by Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, which unexpectedly led to the collapse of Soviet Union. The... ... middle of paper ... ...agan believed in strong military, strong national security. Much of this went to the lofty Strategic Defense Initiative and to military aid for American allies all over the world (Foner 991), this can be considered a result of misunderstanding and hallucination about arms ability of the Soviet Union when the CIA had wrong information about USSR missile. The Soviets felt the need to increase their military spending and after that went bankrupt when trying to catch up with America. To try and prevent collapse Soviet Premier Gorbachev attempted to introduce a reform known as perestroika and glasnost. A domino effect of these policies spread across Eastern Europe. Within six years, the Soviet Union corrupted led to the sudden end of Cold War. Works Cited Foner, Eric. (2009). Give Me Liberty!: an American History. 2nd Seagull Ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company.