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Communism in the cold war
The political, social, and economic effects of the Cold War
The political, social, and economic effects of the Cold War
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Countries all over the world were affected by the ever-increasing tension brought on by the Cold War. Although no shots were fired through the duration of this battle, there was a constant worry that a missile would be launched at any given second; starting a third world war. Countries were forced to side with either pro or anti-communist leaders, creating new alliances or enemies. Political disagreements were not the only cause of division, the construction of physical and guarded barriers became popular. One barrier which was very effective in separating land was the 38th Parallel, separating North and South Korea. North Korea, led by the Soviet Union, was successful in maintaining a communist form of government, while the USSR eventually …show more content…
This war helped defeat the Soviet Union, the strongest communist country, yet still left some communist countries to thrive.
Countries were divided by more than their government; some had barriers keeping their citizens from relocating. Many events that occurred during the cold war divided people by turning them against each other based on things as important as political opinions or as small as the city they lived in. Borders and physical dividers became a common way to determine boundaries during the cold war. These boundaries represented not only geographical borders, but divided areas based on political ideals and which country had control over that land. The first use of a physical barrier during the Cold War ran through the middle of Europe; the Iron Curtain. This fence ran through the middle of Germany, along the western border of Czechoslovakia, the eastern border of Austria, and the western border of Hungary. Built by the USSR, it was intended to separate them from the west because, “the Soviet Union hated and feared the prospect of a reborn Germany, armed by the west, to be
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Communism continued to be practiced in North Korea, while it was abolished in the Soviet Union as the Cold War came to a close. The Cold War effected Korea by promoting communism in parts of it, while the War also supplied the Soviet Union with continuous efforts by other countries to tear them down. The Soviet Union was under so much pressure to have a strong leader in order to overcome obstacles in the war, that eventually the entire union collapsed due to the inefficient and impractical rulings of Gorbachev. The internal struggles the communist party faced combined with the pressure of the Cold War brought the Soviet Union down in the end. Compared to the Soviet Union, the communist party in North Korea had significantly lesser struggles in maintaining their form of government. Once the 38th parallel was established in Korea in 1945, North Korea became a communist country under the rule of the Soviet Union. Although the Korean War was intended to rid North Korea of communism, the war reached a stalemate near the 38th parallel and an armistice was eventually signed because America feared, “a wider war with Russia and China–or even, as some warned, World War III”(Korean War). North Korea was able to coexist with other countries in the world because it did not communicate much with other countries and did not try to expand it’s influence into other
The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.
The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. The Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms, but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raising the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism.
The Soviet Union and the United States, after World War II, began a military competition. The Soviet Union, after the end of World War II, wished to expand the buffer zone between itself and the Western world. In addition to the original Polish territory, the USSR established communism in Rumania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and East Germany.
The Soviet Union was responsible for the Cold War. There are many reasons for this. For example in Document A, written by Winston Churchill in March 1946. It states, “I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines.” The meaning of this quote is that the Soviet Union wanted the benefits from the war. On the other hand, the Us provide the necessary support for the Greek government. In Document B, a speech delivered by President Truman to Congress on March 12, 1947. It states, that “The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance...Greece is in desperate need of financial and economic
By using the policy of containment, the Americans and the British were able to defeat the Soviets. After the Soviet blockade, fear in Western European nations against the Soviets dramatically increased.
The bombing of cities in WWII should be judged as self-defense or protection. The air campaigns led by the US and Britain on German cities were out of self-defense. The Germans attacked the heart of Britain where factories, churches, government buildings, and civilians are located. As an act of self-defense, Britain attacked Germany harder. Britain destroyed factories where weapons were being built, homes where people live, and important buildings in many German cities. The bombings controlled by the US against Japan were also a form of self-defense. Japan had been striking the US through kamikaze missions, missiles, and other tactics. The US had to defend itself, so the US bombed major cities in Japan as a form of self-defense. Overall, bombings
Why Stalin Built The Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the term used in the West to refer to the boundary line, which divided Europe into separate areas. political influence. This was set up at the end of World War Two. until the end of the Cold War. During this period, Eastern Europe was under control and influence of the Soviet Union (USSR), where as Western Europe enjoyed freedom of speech.
After the end of World War 2 in 1945 to the end of the Cold War in 1991, the Iron Curtain formed a boundary that divided Europe into two areas. Iron Curtain symbolized efforts of the Soviet Union to keep itself away and the satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet controlled areas. The Iron Curtain took border defenses between countries of Europe in the middle of the continent. Some of the common borders were marked by the Berlin Wall, and it is Checkpoint Charlie which served as a symbol for the Curtain.
The Cold War displayed political tension and hostility between countries, which were characterized by threats of propaganda and other measures short of open warfare. In the period of 1945 – 1989, this was the situation that existed greatly between the two great post war superpowers, the United States and USSR. The construction of the Berlin wall in Germany between the 13th of August 1961 – 1989 increased tensions to a significant extent as it was a sign of dominance portrayed by the USSR, was a follow up from the Bay of pigs and U2 spy plane crisis and the US were trying to combat the USSR by setting up the Berlin Airlift and demanding freedom in East Germany.
Japan was imperializing late nineteenth century to early twentieth century. Korea was a Japanese colony. After World War II, the Japanese had to get rid of the colony. North Korea became Communist. South Korea wanted to be democratic. Later North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and entered South Korea. The United States answered by telling the United Nations to help South Korea. The United Nations did and they pushed North Korea so far back they hit the northern tip of china. China went into the war to protect their borders. At the end of the war they went back to where they were in the beginning. Neither side won. Between 1992 -1995 North Korea did many good things. It says on BBC News Asia that North Korea became involved in the United Nations and they agree to freaze nuclear weapon program those where the good they did but then there was a huge flood that created a food shortage this was also on BBC Asia. In 2002 it say in BBC Asia that nuclear tension increased in North Korea and United States. The North Korean communist nation controls the citizen’s religious beliefs so they have to belief in jushe which is a belief that they have to look up to North Korean leaders. The North Korean leaders make sure the citizens of North Korea belief in it if they don...
After WWII After WWII, Germany was divided into four zones and occupied by Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Berlin itself was occupied by the western powers; however, it was surrounded by the Soviet zone. Between 1947 and 1948 cooperation between these powers broke down. The west decided to create a separate government in their zones. To prevent this, the Soviet's increasingly harassed the western traffic to and from Berlin. Russia was trying to spread communism, abolish democracies, and spread poverty. Thus creating the Berlin Blockade, which forced America to create the Berlin Airlift. This created a greater controversy between the United States. This controversy's caused spies to enter into the opposition's country.
Korea had been united as one country for many years. Japan took control of Korea and made it part of its empire. After World War II, Japan was defeated and its empire fell. Korea was left without a leader or a system of government. This provoked the United States troops to occupy the southern half and Soviet troops to occupy the northern half. The United States and its allies favored democratic government, while the Soviet Union and China favored a communist system of government.
However, there were some very close calls regarding nuclear weapons and the spreading of communism. The Cold War lasted from about 1947 until 1991 and during that time there were two additional wars fought; the Korean War and Vietnam War. The Korean started on June 25, 1950 when 75,000 North Korean soldiers crossed the 38th parallel which separated North and South Korea (Korean War). By July, American troops joined the war and the main purpose for this was to stop the spread of communism. The Korean War finally came to an end in 1953 and about 5 million troops and civilians lost their lives (Korean War). Overall, the war didn’t achieve much besides that communism did not spread to South Korea and to this day, North Korea and South Korea are still divided. The Vietnam War was another war that was fought in the time period during the Cold War. This war started on November 1, 1955 and lasted until April 30, 1975 with a total of 5 million casualties including American troops, Vietnamese soldiers, and Vietnamese citizens. In 1973, President Nixon ordered for the removal of all troops in Vietnam but many people did not agree with this back in America (Vietnam War). The war finally came to an end in 1975 when communist country North Vietnam seized control of South Vietnam and the country became unified as the socialist Republic of Vietnam
North and South Korea were not very different politically or culturally from one another before mid 1940’s (White, Bradshaw, Dymond, Chacko, Scheidt, 2014, p. 125). However, North Korea started the Korean War when they invaded South Korea in 1950. These two countries, which were once the same, are vastly different in the areas of politics and culture The Koreas’ continue to disagree and not be at peace with each other since the Korean War despite small steps toward progress over the
The Soviet Union was very concerned about its security after having been invaded and almost defeated twice in the twentieth century. It felt vulnerable being surrounded by hostile democratic states and preferred to have smaller communist states protecting it, thus the Iron Curtain descended. The Iron Curtain refers to an imaginary barrier through Europe that separated Russia and its communist allies from the rest of the democratic nations in the west. The states on each side of the Iron Curtain acted as buffer states in case of war.