Capitalism Vs Cold War Essay

A War of Ideas: Capitalism V.S. Communism

With tension rising in Berlin, Germany, between Capitalism and Communism, a war of hostility broke out: the Cold War. The Cold War was a war between the western democracy capitalist United States and the totalitarian communist Soviet Union. These two superpowers held the fate of the world in their hands. Tension rose to an unbearable level during the Cold War, almost entering into World War III. The Cold War started for a variety of reasons some being communication, “weapons,” and ideas. It’s hard to say when the Cold War began, many events lead up to the reason of this war. An event could be the Iron Curtain “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.” (Doc. 1) The Iron Curtain was the Soviets taking control over eight European countries on the border of the Soviet Union, providing the Soviets with a barrier in case of an attack. The United States responded with the Marshall Plan, giving money to European countries to help with reconstruction and to turn them away from Communism. “Europe must have a great deal of additional help, or face

With new radars, U2 spy planes, and ICBM (InterContinental Ballistic Missiles). Radars allowed the U.S. and Soviets to monitor the skies for enemy planes. The United States’ U2 spy plane allowed the U.S. to survey the Soviet’s military activity, this plane was remarkably successful due to the fact it could operate at 70,000 feet above the reach of the Soviet fighters. ICBMs changed the idea of how to bombard continents with nuclear weapons. Additionally, ICBMs also led to nuclear submarines, along with nuclear aircraft carriers. With the Berlin Blockade, Nuclear Arms Race, and ICBMs the idea of World War III was not a far off