Could It Be Said That The US’s Aggressive Attitude Towards The Rest Of The World Is The Reason That The Cold War Lasted For So Long? Introduction: In the following essay it will be discussed and proved through the use of multiple sources, that to say that the US’s aggressive nature towards the rest of the world is the reason that the cold war lasted for so long. Fourteen sources have been compiled to be studied so it can be assessed and determined that the US’s aggressive nature towards the rest of the world is indeed to blame for the Cold war continuing for so long. Although this was a war fought between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, some of the sources will show how America’s attitude not only created enemies for them …show more content…
in many parts of the world but also it almost bankrupted the country in the pursuit of absolute domination. There will be a counter argument in the essay immediately following this introduction, to show that America’s need to be so well defended was not unfounded and had some grounds to support it. The Soviet Union, America’s adversary was also very powerful and expanding its reach so it was only natural for America to take pre-emptive measures in case the greatest threat to them opted to prove the theory of the American people, that the Soviets would try to totally take over and attack, as true. This Cold War incorporated many real proxy wars which took place all over the world. This will also be discussed in the essay, as well as multiple aspects of life that this cold war influenced and the multiple mediums through which Cold War propaganda was spread. Analysis: However,there were other factors why the cold war lasted for so long. While it is evident that America’s attitude towards the rest of the world was aggressive, when the situation is put into context it can be seen that this aggression was not totally unfounded. From the moment that the Second World War ended, a power struggle for control of Europe began. (Source D) An iron curtain descended upon Europe dividing the pro-capitalist west from the east where the Soviet Union had been installing pro-Soviet governments in the countries it liberated from the Nazi’s. (Source D) It therefore only makes sense for capitalist America to become aggressive towards an advancing enemy which threatened its ideology. The Soviet Union was ruled by a single communist party. (Source E) When Joseph Stalin came to power he ruled as a dictator and controlled many aspects of the Russian people’s lives. (Source E) Liberties in the Soviet Union were a farce. This style of leadership conflicted directly with that of the USA, so the USA had no choice but to oppose it and these factors contributed to prolonging the Cold War. America was so eager to stop the spread of communism that they completely failed to see the fact that Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Cong’s plans had nothing to do with the global spread of communism. (Source A) Rather their plans were orientated around the liberation of their own country. (Source A) America chose to involve themselves anyway, in a conflict that was not their own, to defend their ideology in a region where their interests were not even really being threatened. This was merely in the pursuit of the eradication of communism wherever it may be found. This is a classic example of America’s aggressive attitude was towards the rest of the world. Proxy wars such as the Korean War show just how eager America was to show its opposition its force whenever an opportunity presented itself. (Source L) Many would consider being spied on as a sign of mistrust and an act of aggression.
When President Khrushchev announced that an American spy plane had been brought down by the soviet military that is exactly how the incident was interpreted. (Source F) The creation of the atomic bomb and the testing of nuclear weapons was a clear sign that at the height of the cold war the USA was preparing for a possible all out war of annihilation with the Soviet Union. (Source I) Only an aggressive nation would create and test a weapon which blew a hole in the ocean floor, released poisonous radioactive waste into the atmosphere and created a 25-square-mile fireball which vaporized an island. (Source I) So given the nature of the USA it was not possible for the Cold War to end quickly with such tension present. The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO by the Americans and their western allies, and the subsequent creation of the Warsaw Pact by Russia and the Soviet Bloc, were both acts of aggression for the two respective sides which further fuelled this war. In addition,recently declassified documents show that NATO was assessing their Soviet Bloc enemy and it’s alliance under the Warsaw pact. (Source M) If the Americans under NATO wanted peace then they would not have been sizing up their adversary and making defence plans for Europe in the event of war. (Source …show more content…
M) The American government took the fight against communism to a new level when policies were implemented in America forcing people who worked in industries such as film to renounce communism. (Source K) Many people lost their jobs and were blacklisted and unable to work for more than a decade because they were suspected of being communists or communist sympathisers. (Source K) This was known as the Red Scare and it showed that the American government’s aggression extended towards its own people as well if it suspected disloyalty from them. The Bay of Pigs invasion showed that America chooses to strike using military action in any situation where their interests are not favoured. This readiness to use aggression to get their way was a trait which they implemented against anyone who opposed them. The over throwing of pro-capitalist Batista did not suit the interests of the Americans so they chose aggression to try to fix their problems. (Source B) Instead of making concessions to end the Cold War, America and the Soviet Union embarked on an arms race which nearly bankrupted both economies.
(Source C) It was this aggressive nature exhibited by both countries which sustained and maintained the conflict. The idea was that both countries had built up their arsenals to such a point that they could completely destroy each other many times over and in this way neither side would choose to attack. This policy was called mutually assured destruction. The competition between these two nations was however, not confined to an arms race. The two countries competed in many sectors and even in a space race which the Soviet Union won. (Source J) The aggressive nature of acts such as the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan showed that America was willing to do anything to ensure that no more countries fell under communist rule. (Source
N) Media was a very important resource during the Cold War. Television could be used to spread propaganda across the world very quickly and America made great use of it. (Source G) President Hoover could address the nation and assure the American people that their ideology would prosper while communism would fall. (Source G) Cartoons were also a very powerful and effective way to spread propaganda. (Source H) A cartoon can spread a message to even the simplest minded person which makes it a very useful propaganda tool when communicating with people from all walks of life and intelligence levels. (Source H) Using the media to show capitalism as superior only ensured that the Cold War continued since the Soviet Union would not want to back down and they would also want to make a statement showing that they were not weak, thus prolonging the Cold War. Conclusion In conclusion it can be seen in the above essay, that it would be accurate to say that the USA’s aggressive nature towards the rest of the world, was the reason the Cold War lasted for so long. This has been shown through the use of several sources to illustrate America’s aggressive nature towards the rest of the world and how America behaved and responded to problems in such a way that only proloned the conflict.
“The distinct differences in the political systems of the two countries often prevented them from reaching a mutual understanding on key policy issues and even, as in the case of the Cuban missile crisis, brought them to the brink of war” (Library of Congress). The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The United States was a democracy whereas The Soviet Union was a dictatorship. This only began their differences though, their economies, beliefs, goals, and even their fears, everything about them made them different except for their enemy. The
The alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
To start off the Cold war, Russia had lost twenty-seven million soldiers in World War II. Stalin was not going to allow the Germany to attack Russia again . To make sure of this , Stalin made East Europe his buffer zone.The United states could not allow the this to contunie to happen. The first example was the Truman Doctrine, that declared the the Untited States would support “free people”. The Doctrine was followed by the Marshall Plan which gave 12 billion dollars in aid European democracies so that communist ideas would not be so attractive. These were some of the long term , patient policies the United States did to
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.
The Cold War was a period of dark and melancholic times when the entire world lived in fear that the boiling pot may spill. The protectionist measures taken by Eisenhower kept the communists in check to suspend the progression of USSR’s radical ambitions and programs. From the suspenseful delirium from the Cold War, the United States often engaged in a dangerous policy of brinksmanship through the mid-1950s. Fortunately, these actions did not lead to a global nuclear disaster as both the US and USSR fully understood what the weapons of mass destruction were capable of.
During the cold war, the United States engaged in many aggressive policies both at home and abroad, in which to fight communism and the spread of communist ideas. Faced with a new challenge and new global responsibilities the U.S. needed to retain what it had fought so strongly for in World War II. It needed to contain the communist ideas pouring from the Soviet Union while preventing communist influence at home, without triggering World War III. With the policies of containment, McCarthyism, and brinkmanship, the United States hoped to effectively stop the spread of communism and their newest threat, the Soviet Union.
In 1980, it seemed like the United States was not as dominant in the world as it had been before. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began after World War II. The two nations had joined forces as members of the Allies, but tensions arose after the war. The Americans were very worried about the spread of Soviet communism, and tried to prevent it with a policy of containment, where the United States would protect countries from outside oppression. The Cold War also expanded to include the race between the Soviets and Americans to create atomic weapons. Furthermore, there was a race between the two countries to put the first man in space, which was accomplished by the United States in 1961 (“Cold War History”). The Cold War was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union to try to prove their dominance in the world. Each country wanted to have more power and diminish the power of the other. At home, Americans were paranoid with the thought of Soviet spies and communists hiding amongst them, dubbed the “Red Scare.” President Richard Nixon and the Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic A...
Discussions of the causes of the Cold War are often divisive, creating disparate ideological camps that focus the blame in different directions depending on the academic’s political disposition. One popular argument places the blame largely on the American people, whose emphasis on “strength over compromise” and their deployment of the atomic bomb in the Second World War’s Pacific theatre apparently functioned as two key catalysts to the conflict between US and Soviet powers. This revisionist approach minimizes Stalin’s forceful approach and history of violent leadership throughout World War 2, and focuses instead on President Harry Truman’s apparent insensitivity to “reasonable Soviet security anxieties” in his quest to impose “American interests on the world.” Revisionist historians depict President Truman as a “Cold War monger,” whose unjustified political use of the atomic bomb and ornery diplomatic style forced Russia into the Cold War to oppose the spread of a looming capitalist democratic monopoly. In reality, Truman’s responsibility for the Cold War and the atomic bomb drop should be minimized.
The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
The Soviet Union began to view the United States as a threat to communism, and the United States began to view the Soviet Union as a threat to democracy. On March 12, 1947, Truman gave a speech in which he argued that the United States should support nations trying to resist Soviet imperialism. Truman and his advisors created a foreign policy that consisted of giving reconstruction aid to Europe, and preventing Russian expansionism. These foreign policy decisions, as well as his involvement in the usage of the atomic bomb, raise the question of whether or not the Cold War can be blamed on Truman. Supporting the view that Truman was responsible for the Cold War, Arnold Offner argues that Truman’s parochialism and nationalism caused him to make contrary foreign policy decisions without regard to other nations, which caused the intense standoff between the Soviet Union and America that became the Cold War (Offner 291)....
There have been many attempts to explain the origins of the Cold War that developed between the capitalist West and the communist East after the Second World War. Indeed, there is great disagreement in explaining the source for the Cold War; some explanations draw on events pre-1945; some draw only on issues of ideology; others look to economics; security concerns dominate some arguments; personalities are seen as the root cause for some historians. So wide is the range of the historiography of the origins of the Cold War that is has been said "the Cold War has also spawned a war among historians, a controversy over how the Cold War got started, whether or not it was inevitable, and (above all) who bears the main responsibility for starting it" (Hammond 4). There are three main schools of thought in the historiography: the traditional view, known alternatively as the orthodox or liberal view, which finds fault lying mostly with the Russians and deems security concerns to be the root cause of the Cold War; the revisionist view, which argues that it is, in fact, the United States and the West to blame for the Cold War and not the Russians, and cites economic open-door interests for spawning the Cold War; finally, the post-revisionist view which finds fault with both sides in the conflict and points to issues raised both by the traditionalists as well as the revisionists for combining to cause the Cold War. While strong arguments are made by historians writing from the traditionalist school, as well as those writing from the revisionist school, I claim that the viewpoint of the post-revisionists is the most accurate in describing the origins of the Cold War.
With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field.
With the shock of two destructive world wars and then the creation of the United Nations, whose aim is to preserve peace, it is unconceivable for these two nations to fight directly in order to promote their own ideology. But the US and the USSR end up to be in competition in numerous ways, particularly in technological and industrial fields. In the same time they start to spread their influence over their former allies. This phenomenon have led to the creation of a bipolar world, divided in two powerful blocs surrounded by buffer zones, and to the beginning of what we call the Cold War because of the absence of direct conflicts between the two nations.
During the Truman and Eisenhower administration a policy of containment served to save the free world from communism. But at times these two administrations put world peace on the line to prove its superiority as a nation. One cannot judge these events to being wrong or right because values of a nation and people change with time, we can just learn from these events and know that the next time United States has a contest of superiority it could cost us the world.
The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid a 2Gaddis, John Lewis, The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947, New York, 2000, pp. 113-117. 32-62, 282 - 315. 3Hobsbawm E.J, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991, New York, 1996, pp. 113-117.