Causes and Effects of the Cold War

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Causes and Effects of the Cold War
The Cold War, though never involving any fighting on either side, resulted in one of the biggest scares the U.S. society and government had ever experienced. The Cold War was all in all an extended period of political and military tensions between the United States and our allies in the Western Bloc, and the pre-existing Soviet Union and their allies involved in the Warsaw Pact. If not had been dealt with very carefully, the Cold War would’ve gained a new name after much likely nuclear warfare between world powers.
This caused the U.S. to put a new step in their strategy to contain communism. The U.S. started taking the side of any anti-communist country that the USSR tried to gain control of. This was known as the Truman Doctrine, the name being taken after President Truman gave a speech which outlined his plans to stop the Soviet Union’s influence of communism. He announced that 400 million dollars would be set aside to aid countries under the threat of the USSR. This then resulted in the Marshall plan along with this strategy of containment. The Marshall plan was meant to rebuild the economic systems of Europe, and to also challenge any countries attempt to Europe’s existing power, this being directed toward the communist parties of the USSR that were currently trying to do so. Truman then strengthened the U.S. Department of Defense by forming the CIA and The NSC following the announcement of the Marshall Plan.
With political tensions rising, the Berlin Blockade(1948-1949) became the first major crisis of the Cold War. This was a miserable attempt on the USSR’s part in trying to gain control over the entirety of Berlin. They blocked the railways, roads, and canals that lead to the allies con...

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...lly ended at the Malta Summit. Additionally, after a failed coup and threats that economic ties would be stopped if violence continued from the USSR, the USSR is officially dissolved on December 25, 1981.
While communism still exists, the United States battled the communist idea directly for over 40 years. This war shows that a battle isn’t always fought on the battleground, but also in the hearts and minds of humans. This war was mainly a battle showing the determination of a leader to prevail with his/her idea, either backed by the entirety of his nation or not. It shows how strongly an idea can take hold and lead nation into either complete chaos or ultimate unification, and how much one idea such as communism, can be morphed into something else it was meant to be entirely, and what that results in.

Works Cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War

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