THE COLD WAR
The Cold War was a very complex war. Many ideas, conflicts and emotions were going on. This was a major turning point for the word war. War became a much more powerful word. However, this war did bring the people together to work at solutions like none other. We have learned from this experience.
The Cold War could have been prevented. Franklin Roosevelt gave Eastern Europe to the Russians at Yalta. When Roosevelt negotiated at Yalta, he was not feeling the pain and needs of the people in Nazi concentration camps and the fire bombings. However the rest of Europe wanted revenge for this. They wanted reparations and a guarantee that this would never happen again. Roosevelt did not give them what they wanted.
It could have been prevented if Roosevelt had taken advantage of his negotiating position in Yalta, the Soviets would not have created the buffer zones. If these were not created Russia would be much more vulnerable. Also Russia would have been isolated from Europe by a distance. With its advancements in technology the Soviet Union was fast connecting with Europe. No more was it isolated, it became the center of attention.
Had Russia not been invalid with the political struggles of Europe, its power and interest after WW2 would have declined. Even with its nuclear capabilities, Russia would have been far less likely to use such a devastating device, had the country’s political involvement declined to pre-war levels. It was the Iron curtain which brought Russia to the limelight, and it was also Roosevelt who sold the land to Stalin for which he could build his buffer zone. Its somewhat ironic that a buffer zone brought Russia closer to the west.
The arms race could have been prevented, but not stopped. It can be explained like this: There are two obvious options to build weapons or to not build. If no power was building then there would be an incentive to build. Once this power starts to build the other powers have no choice but to build (or be completely “powerless”). There are a way to solve this however. I suggest either there is some policy to not start an arms race. Of course this is difficult to monitor but is better than nothing.
...r arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain that they (atomic weapons) will never be employed (Doc I), justifying that the buildup of arms will ensure that war will not come as both sides understand that a nuclear war will not ensure victory for one side, but rather defeat on both sides.
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. 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 raised 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. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
...ills and built bomb shelters in preparation for possible nuclear warfare. The U.S. also built up its army and its air force, just to be prepared. Overseas, the U.S. enforced the Eisenhower Doctrine, which was a threat warning communist countries not to attack the Middle East, lest they wanted to begin and all out war. The United States also engaged in an Arms Race with the Soviet Union to see who could build the most powerful and destructive weapons and technologies. Brinkmanship was effective in preventing war because neither the United States or the Soviet Union was really prepared to fight yet another war.
The Russians, who were also strongly affected by the war, were not deciding to retreat back to their borders without gaining anything - they were not allowed to attend the Treaty of Versailles or take part in agreeing on the terms and reparations that Germany was to pay off, thus getting no reward from participating in the war. Bitter with this prospect, Stalin decided to answer with his own set of policies, such as the ComEcom, ComInfor...
The Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world. In 1945 the USA was the only one country in the world that had the nuclear weapons. But in the 1949 USSR started to learn their nuclear weapons. In further developments forced the USSR was soon created by nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. (Isaacs J, 2008) Fight has become very dangerous for all.
It has been said that President Ronald Reagan ended the cold war with his strategic defense policies. In the year 1949, Germany was divided by the victors of World War II and they occupied different zones. The western regions united to form a Federal republic and the Soviet eastern region became communist East Germany. The cold war had begun. Berlin, the former capital of Germany, was divided into East.
...s of the New Deal worked; some did not. The New Deal restored a sense of security as it put people back to work. It created the framework for a regulatory state that could protect the interests of all Americans, rich and poor, and thereby help the business system work in more productive ways. It rebuilt the infrastructure of the United States, providing a network of schools, hospitals, and roads that served the United States well for the next 70 years. For many Americans, Roosevelt was the president who included in his policies the people who had felt excluded (Source XX). Nevertheless, the war was the decisive factor in ending the Depression. It employed people regardless of race and gender and thus eliminated unemployment. It stimulated industry as seen in (Source RRR) and ‘did for the economy what Roosevelt’s New Deal had not been able to achieve’ (Source PPP).
Roosevelt diligently tried to ignore the popular claim that soviet expansion into Eastern European nations bordering Russia was an attempt to spread communism and attain hegemony. In his view, Russia was just insecure having been the victim of the spurious Nazi-Soviet pact and Operation Barbarossa instigated primarily through Poland. He believed that Stalin just wanted to secure the Eastern front of Russia to avoid future invasions. Harriman, advised Roosevelt on taking a coercive stance with Russia, and on fulfilling the goals of the Atlantic Charter. Roosevelt always took a moderate path and therefore loosely abided to encourage democracy in Europe, but not to the extent that it... ...
Various countries from Czechoslovakia and Hungary, which had. been occupied by the Red Army at the end of the war, were brought. under communist control and the leaders were simply murdered. Therefore Leaving Stalin in control, he tried to prevent the Western influence. reaching the East. Also to stop refugees leaving the East for West.
A frequent question that comes along with the Cold war was why did it happen and could we have avoided it. The Cold War was not actually a way and mainly created sharp boundaries between the Soviet Union and the U.S.One way that the Cold War could have been prevented was at the time of the split of Germany after WWII. West Germany was held by the Allied powers of UK, Britain and France. The Soviet Union contained East Germany, and they spread their ideas of Communism. Berlin was also located inside East Germany, but the berlin wall separated the East (Communist) and West (Capitalist). There were tons of violence and many attempts to enter into West Berlin by the East Berliners. This had lasted all the way up until the Wall was demolished into pieces by 1989 after the dissolution of East and West Germany. So this could have been prevented because the U.S and Soviet Union could have met at common ground when deciding on their government systems. Since a giant part of the Cold War had to do with the Soviet Union being a communist government while the U.S. had a capitalist government. In the Cold War there were many nuclear threats. We could have looked at the Nuclear bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki towards the end of WWII. Looking at these bombing would have showed us the true power of a nuclear bomb on a country and how inhumane dropping a nuclear bomb would be. From those 2 bombings above alone killed over 200,000 people.
WWII had a major effect on the United States economically. For starters, WW2 was right after the Great Depression so the citizens of the US were in the process of recovering from this crucial setback in the US economy. Ironically, WWII helped the county crawl out of this horrific depression. For example, businesses boomed because they were mass producing supplies for the war including many weapons and materials. Also...
The time period between 1945 and 1991 is considered to be the era of the Cold War. The Cold War, known as the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, each known during this time as the “super powers”. This conflict consisted of the differing attitudes on the ideological, political, and military interests of these two states and their allies, exte nded around the globe. A common political debate covers the issue of who, if anyone won the Cold War. Many believe the United States won the Cold War since (it) had resulted in the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. While others are to believe the United States had not won it as much as the Soviet Union had lost it since they feel Reagan did not end the Cold War, but that he prolonged it (Baylis & Smith, 2001.) This has lead me to believe that there is no winner, only losers of the cold war. The cold war for the Soviet Union was to ensure security, block out capitalism, gain power, and improve their economy. While, on the other hand the United States just wanted to stop the spread of communism, which they felt, would spread rapidly throughout the world if they did not put an end to it soon. Both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to avoid WWIII in the process of trying to achieve their goals.
In the minds of many Americans, Ronald Reagan is the president that ended the Cold War, but is this view accurate? They claim Reagan's unprecedented military spending forced the Soviets to crumble. However, many critics of the president's outspending theory claim that the Russian economy would have imploded without such spending, and a military buildup of that kind did nothing but delay peace. Although, Reagan's willingness to negotiate was a clear factor in ending the Cold War, his aggressive arms race may have done more to forestall peace than abet it. The ascendance of Mikhail Gorbachev to power, the stagnating economy of Russia, and the personal friendship forged between Gorbachev and Reagan were the clear factors that contributed to the war's end.
By another account, the Cold War began in 1917 with the Bolshevik Revolution, and ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, having been a conflict between Bolshevism and Democracy. The Cold War got its name because both sides were afraid of fighting each other in such a “hot war”, nuclear weapons might destroy everything. So, instead, they fought each other indirectly. They played havoc with conflicts in different parts of the world. They used words as weapons.