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Cold war meaning and origins essay
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shouted, and begin spraying his ammunition into the building. Side to side he sprayed, shouting simultaneously. The remaining four of us poured in, unloading on any and all inside. This bunker was cleared. Not a single German uniform was left standing. We moved to the next bunker, and then the next, joining other men along the way. The final one we took part in clearing was the largest of all of them. Sgt. Thompson was taking point, and we followed in behind him. We entered through the doorway, only to meet the end of the barrel of a flame thrower. Sgt. Thompson instantly pushed all of us back, and the flames began to consume the entrance. Pvt. McKenzie and I dove out of the entrance, Peters rolled out behind us, screaming, engulfed in flames. Peters, knowing his fate, snatched out his hand gun and put a bullet in his head. I looked up at McKenzie, and we knew what had to be done. We both pulled out a …show more content…
A lot of great men were lost. But what we have done today will change the course of this war. Those Nazi bastards are on the run now. I am glad to have had you by my side today” McKenzie said, turning to me. “What is your name …show more content…
I was a human, and I had a name. I had forgotten about humanity. What I had seen, what I had felt, and what I had done had taken away every essence of my faith in humanity. I had been a weapon for the past several hours, not a human. I had seen what man is capable of, and that heaven and hell are very real. But what I was doing was just. Germany and the Axis Powers were an evil plague paralyzing the world in fear, taking innocent lives by the millions. I took part in a victory that would go on to prove to be the turning point in the war that put the Germans on the run, ultimately leading to their defeat (History.com Staff). I was proud to be an American. I was proud to know I fought to bring a stop to arguably one of the most evil causes in all of
Before the landings were to begin, the coastal German defenses had to be adequately prepped, and softened by a combination of a massive battering by United States ships, and bombing by the United States Air Force. Between the hours of 0300 and 0500 hours on the morning of June 6, over 1,000 aircraft dropped more than 5,000 tons of bombs on the German coastal defenses. As soon as the preliminary bombing was over, the American and British naval guns opened fire on the Normandy coastline (D' Este 112). A British naval officer described the incredible spectacle he witnessed that day: "Never has any coast suffered what a tortured strip of French coast suffered that morning; both the naval and air bombardments were unparalleled. Along the fifty-mile front the land was rocked by successive explosions as the shells of ships' guns tore holes in fortifications and tons of bombs rained on them from the skies. Through billowing smoke and falling debris defenders crouching in this scene of devastations would soon discern faintly hundreds of ships and assault craft ominously closing the shore.
"Dear Mom and Dad: The war that has taken my life, and many thousands of others before me, is immoral, unlawful, and an atrocity," (letter of anonymous soldier qtd. In Fussell 653).
German propaganda spread throughout Germany like wildfire. The glory and enthusiasm of going to war to fight for your country aims and ideals was the mood set. Everyone wanted to be a hero, and if you did not want to fight than you would be thought of as a coward,.. “ because at the time even one’s parents were ready with the word ‘Coward’..” (Remarque p.11). The elders glorified war by writing and talking about it, expressing that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing. The soldiers saw the hideous wounds and dying men and distinguishing the false from the true, realizing that there is nothing of their world left. That is how Paul Baumer felt when he was in the Catholic hospital with his friend and comrade Albert Kropp. Looking around at all the wounded solders he saw what a waste war was. Up until this war, nobody had ever seen such a destructive war, partly due to all the advanced technology, and therefore none of the great world powers knew what they were getting themselves into. “ To shed one’s blood for the fatherland is not difficult it is enveloped in romantic heroism” (McKay/Hill/Bucker 904) as explained by a German soldier who volunteered for the front. The fact that the whole country of Germany was patriotic, energetic, and unified towards the war effort glorified it even that much more. Who would not want to fight for their homeland at that time? “ We were still crammed full of vague ideas which gave to life, and to the war also an ideal and almost romantic character” (Remarque 21). Once these combatants experienced the real life threats such as poisonous gasses, rapid machine gun fire and a constant flurry of explosive shells, these were propelled into a New World of killing or being killed. They are fighting with animal like instincts and all their proper manners that they are raised with vanish.
After the end of WW2, two major governmental institutions, the USA and the USSR, with conflicting political ideologies and agendas, set forth to dominate each other in international politics. This period of time, also known as the Cold War, initiated an era of crazed hysteria in the United States as these two governments frequently clashed and bitterly fought. As a result, the frightened public grew delirious as the world grew dangerously close to a calamitous nuclear war, which ultimately prompted the Eisenhower administration to hinder the spread of communism and encourage the U.S. population to rapidly pursue higher education for the future welfare of this nation.
I was born in 1943, in the midst of this war. And I sense now that my life is still bound up with the lives of those who lived and died in this time. Even with Heinrich Himmler. All the details of his existence, his birth, childhood, adult years, death, still resonate here on earth. . . .
Boom, Bang, Crack! The sounds of muskets being fired, its ammunition ricocheting off rocks and splintering trees are heard all around. The pungent smell of gun powder stings the nose, and its taste makes the mouth dry and sticky. The battle is still young, but blood soaked uniforms and dead or dying men can already be seen, causing the fear of death to enter many of the soldiers' minds. It is remembered that freedom is what the fight is for, so we must continue to gain independence. The battle has been going on for a short time now, although vision is already obscured from all the smoke and dust in the air. It is becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, with all of these air borne substances entering my lungs. People are still being struck by musket balls for the cries of agony rise above the many guns' explosions. This is how the battle to be known as Bunker Hill began.
to those who shared the names of the great war heroes. “‘Hey', the Justice said.
Drama ‘Saving Private Ryan’ salutes the ‘citizen soldier of WWII’.” L.A. Times 10, May 1998: 4/13/99 http://www.multimania.com/spielbrg
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.
...ings by then, whose memories, fears, and enthusiasms should not be remembered." Thus, unlike the title suggests, this remarkable war memoir is not about one soldier. Instead it refers to the entire German army who were defeated by the Allies. Although the German cause was very controversial, these gentlemen bravely fought for their country. Many men died, many were mutilated, and many more had to forever live with the atrocities they encountered. At war's end, however, they were merely "forgotten" for their failure of success. And although The Forgotten Soldier is an astonishing account of the horrors of infantry warfare, it serves a much greater purpose. It allows the historian to glance into the German experience and realize they too were young men fighting because their nation called upon them, and they deserve to be remembered for such a courageous act.
The Cold War was an interesting time period for the world, seeing that it was after one of the biggest and most memorable wars ever. Yet, it was a different type of war. One that no one had ever seen before, it was a war without fighting (kind of). It was a war fought in between the USSR and the United States. Each side also included their allies: the US had NATO and the USSR had the Warsaw pact. The timeframe of this war was from 1947 to 1991. Despite the fact that this war is one of the longest in our history, I have chosen three main points that I think are vital for understanding the Cold War.
So, a week late though it is, here is my tribute to the nation’s war dead—from all wars, declared or otherwise. But, instead of the usual run-of-the-mill sentiments, I’ve taken a slightly different track. Our troops go whenever called to where ever our government sends them… NO QUESTIONS ASKED… the same as my Vietnam colleagues and I did. But, sometimes, especially since WWII, we civilians SHOULD ask more questions of our political leaders.
In 1945, most of the countries around the world are devastated further to World War II which had stroke the globe for six years. Only the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, also called USSR, seem to be in a stable economic situation despite weighty losses. Both states are considered to be the great winners of the war and this is the beginning of a confrontation between two superpowers but also the confrontation between two distinct ideologies: communism and capitalism.
Captain Preston called John and I in and we were in the riot. There were sticks stones and snowballs being thrown at us. I was hit by a large stone I was in horrible pain. It hit me in the head close to my eye. I had an instant headache. About 50 people were attacking our squad of Loyalists. We were instructed to fire into the mob. We killed 2 men and badly wounded 8 that day. Later on we were called on trial for manslaughter. We were guilty and the Captain was killed in the square, and we were gonna be killed too but we were saved. We were gonna be killed that day but John’s wife saved us. She made a good case and the judge let us go home for good. No more war and no more fighting. I never had to fight in the war again. The American War was caused because of the Boston Massacre. I got to stay and watch my family grow until the end of my
''hey why do you get the machine gun it doesn't need to reload '' I shouted to Leon ,''well is it fair that it's you and Kevin are on a team against me?'' he shouted back. ''fine'' I said ''but we get the basement.'' 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 10, '' let the war begin'' Kevin said, as soon as he finished talking Leon rushed down the stairs and hid in a spot where