Cold War: Origin and Impact of Alliances

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The Cold War started right after World War II and was mainly “fought” between the Soviet Union and the US. They both competed to be the most powerful and possess the largest number of sophisticated weapons in the world. One cause of the Cold War was the creation of alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The US and USSR felt threatened by each other. This threat led each nation to engage into an arms race and caused a feeling of fear throughout the world which is how the War began. The main reason why the Cold War began was because of the threat that the US felt from communism spreading in the Soviet Union and Europe. According to Document 5, “The Soviet Union responded to NATO by creating its own alliance, the Warsaw Pact.” This explains …show more content…

Consequently, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR discovered nuclear weapons which led to the Soviet Union and the US getting involved in an arms race. In Document 7 it says, “This nuclear buildup led to a ‘balance of terror,’ which some saw as a deterrent to war. But the others feared the use of these weapons.” This shows how the rest of the world lived during the Cold War; in terror and constant trepidation of being attacked with these bombs. President John F. Kennedy was particularly fearful for the Americas, as said in his speech from Document 8. “...the presence of these long-ranged offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction. This is an open threat to the peace and security of all the Americas.” From reading this part of his speech, it’s easy to tell that JFK wanted this crisis to end before there caused an enormous destruction. The Cold War began from the threats that the US and USSR felt from each other and a power struggle worldwide after WWII. The US felt the threat of communism spreading and the USSR felt the US was a threat of power. Nuclear weapons were used between the Soviet Union and the US as an arms race to show who was more powerful. The Soviet Union and the US never used those weapons for war but instead as a symbol for power. The Cold War had a major affect on today’s science, technology, and

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