Iron Curtain Essay

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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.

America on the other hand was not at all concerned about its security. Many other western countries had encouraged America to take leadership in the west because of its stability and ability to ensure protection to the other smaller, less powerful countries. America was the most powerful …show more content…

After that, Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) were built up into huge arsenals by the USSR and America. Both sides soon had the power to wipe out the not only the enemy, but the rest of the world as well. The United States exploded a hydrogen bomb in 1952, and the Soviets tested on year later. Both nations rushed to develop missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

In November 1955, the USSR managed to come up with a hydrogen bomb, in response to the one tested by USA in 1952. After that, the USA moved its bombers to Europe to threaten Moscow for the first time. In 1955, West Germany, even with much protest by the Allied citizens, was allowed to re-arm and join NATO. The USSR responded by signing the Warsaw Mutual Defense Pact, promising military aid to each other.

In 1957 the Soviets used a missile to launch a satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit around the earth. The arms race then became a space race as the United States rushed to launch its own satellites, some for military

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