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Cold War Dbq

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The Cold War, beginning in the years following World War II, was a battle between two global powerhouses, the Soviet Union (Soviet Russia) in the East and the United States of America in the West. The war, which was not a physical battle fought like its name suggests, was the result of Germany and Japan collapsing after World War II and America and the Soviet Union seeing an opportunity to be the top dogs of the world and both wanting to try to stop the other from succeeding. Though there are many views on who started the Cold War, most stating that it was the Soviet Union for trying to convert the world into one big communist ruled government, or the more modern view of it was America’s fault because they continuously stick their nose in other …show more content…

Upon the demise of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman took over office with little to no background in political education or knowledge of the events following WORLD WAR II involving the “Big Three”; Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin. After World War II America was booming technologically and economically. This set up the new President, as well as the American government and people, to feel superior to the rest of the world. The postwar foreign policy of the United States “is characterized…by a striving for world supremacy” and the belief that the “United States has the right to lead the world” (Novikov). The United States acted in a way of self-righteousness and believed that because they were booming after World War II that they had the right to then be the one and only powerhouse of the globe, and so they acted in a way that made sure all other countries were aware of this fact. President Truman disregarded the agreement that the “Big Three” came to before the passing of Franklin D. Roosevelt and decided that Stalin was trying to spread his values and form of government across all continents. Because of this view that Truman had, he blinded himself to the possibility that Stalin did not want that and was just trying to protect his country from further …show more content…

Both countries planted seeds that would eventually grow into a war of hatred and distrust between them. The Soviet Union played a hand in this by wanting to convert Poland into a communist government and spread their ideology throughout the Western part of Europe and beyond. America played a hand in this by suiting up too quickly to defend against a threat that was not confirmed or understood. Both nations are at fault because they did not meet to discuss the issues at hand and the agreements that arose from meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt before his passing, which left a lot of room for assumption and hatred to brew. It all boiled over and ignited the storm that was the Cold War. In these ways, it is not appropriate to state the any one country or person was primarily responsible for the Cold War. There is not definitive proof that either was more responsible than the other. There are only speculations and opinions. Both the Soviet Union and the United States are primarily responsible for the start of the Cold

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356 Words | 2 Pages

During the Cold War was based on two different types of beliefs called Communism and Capitalism and both the U.S. with its own allies and the U.S.S.R. Its Communist allies are equally to blame for starting the war. When the Iron curtain was around the East European government adopted a communist system and fell under the control of the U.S.S.R. The Iron Curtain, political, military, and mysterious barrier raised by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependant Eastern and Western European allies from open contact with the West and other non-Communist countries. (Document 1)

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976 Words | 4 Pages

President Truman reflected on the importance of the United Nations and military involvement by stating, “… I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures…” (Document B). However, during this particular time period, America remained one of the only nations actively fighting against communism. Most European countries were subjected to financial duress caused by World War II, thus placing the burden squarely on America’s shoulders. This inexplicable lack of support not only made America relatively weaker, but also allowed communism to spread throughout areas in which they people were not even willing to fight for themselves.

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778 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War began around the time the wartime confederation between the United States and the Soviet Union broke down, during the years 1945 - 1950. The battle between the two dominions, communism and capitalism, battle for more than 40 years. The Cold War essentially began with empty threats about bombing each other with weapons including nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles resulting in nothing but a game of I guess you can say “one on one basketball”. There were two sides to this war the entire time but the main countries that were battling was the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States, along with Canada and ten other nations of Western Europe, signed a treaty known as the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) in 1948.

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445 Words | 2 Pages

If one would argue that the origins of the Cold War should be traced to World War II and the breakdown of the wartime alliance between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This all started by one act of betrayal. For example in Document C where Soviet Ambassador Nikolai Novikov states that “ The foreign policy of the United States ,which reflects the imperialist tendencies of American monopolistic capital, is characterized in the postwar period by striving for world supremacy.” The belief that freedom and democracy would die under the communist rule caused the United States to start a problem or feud that would last for a long time. The decisions made by the United States in W.W.II caused tensions to start between the U. S. and the Soviet Union.

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562 Words | 3 Pages

Truman’s inability to listen to listen to opposing views showed signs of weakness,”Truman parochial views also caused him to disregard contrary view, to engage in simplistic analogizing, and show little ability to comprehend the basis for other nations’ policies” (Offner, 291). Truman’s attitude towards foreign policy made the Soviet Union’s leadership more aggressive.

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1068 Words | 5 Pages

The Cold War started because Americans feared the communist would attack, the USSR’s feared the American atomic bomb and the United States refused to share their nuclear secrets. This feeling of suspicion lead to mutual distrust and this did a great deal to deepen the Cold War for 45 years. Eventually, countries like Russian developed their own atomic bombs to use during the

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224 Words | 1 Pages

The Cold War did occur after WWII between the United States and The Soviet Union at the time of President Ronald Reagan administration. The Soviet union and its government had the ideology of spreading communism around the world. The United States was against communism and this why the country went to war with Vietnam. "Containment" was the ultimate goal by the U.S. to preventing communism from happen worldwide. My perception of the Cold War and the War on Terror is due to the lack of the United States government to understanding other countries language, culture and way of life.

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536 Words | 3 Pages

During the four years that Harry S. Truman served as president, from 1945 to 1953, significant changes in American foreign policy were made.  Truman's presidency was a turning point in American foreign policy by concentrating on three major issues: the start of the Cold War, the Marshall Plan's implementation, the formation of military alliances, and the restructuring of the military. By examining these critical elements, we can gain an understanding of how Truman's leadership shaped American foreign policy during this critical period. The Cold War, a new global model marked by ideological tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged during Truman's presidency.

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475 Words | 2 Pages

Cheyanne Groom Cold war The Soviet Union is responsible for starting the Cold War. Whether it be threats, rejection of ideas, or even just different ways of thinking the Soviet Union caused many problem with the US. As tension rises and worry began the Cold war was started.

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1072 Words | 5 Pages

The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was not a surprise. The United States and the Soviet Union became allies during World War II because of Germany and its attempt to take control over most of Europe. Because of this, the USSR wanted the United States and Britain as allies to form a Western Front to force Hitler to pull a large number of his troops out of Russia and take some pressure off the Soviets. On the other hand, the United States and the Soviet Union's alliance fell apart after the war ended because of their opposing economic ideologies. The cold war began because of many contributing factors.

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138 Words | 1 Pages

The Cold War The Cold War was a non-violent conflict between the United States of America (Referred to hereafter as the USA), and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Referred to hereafter as the USSR,)that took place between 1945 and 1991. It was started because of the difference, dislike, and distrust between the capitalist society of the US and the communist society of the USSR. Given the how the two were almost polar opposites, it was likely inevitable. The tensions only became worse when the USSR tested their first nuclear bomb.

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1387 Words | 6 Pages

By analyzing different perspectives of the countries that are blamed for starting Cold War and the ideologies that were imposed in the other countries. Two different political systems led to further conflicts of the Cold War. The Soviet Union during the Cold War was a communist country. Stalin wanted to expand the spirit of communism in the world. The United States in the other had was threatened by the spread of the communist countries in the world.

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969 Words | 4 Pages

Some historians believe the Cold War was inevitable because of the hostilities from both America and the Soviet Union after World War II. America believed that the USSR was an expansionist country trying to spread an evil, communistic idea throughout the world. Although the countries never directly fought against each other, as they only fought in proxy wars, there was still extreme conflict. The United States responded to the Soviets actions in Germany, Europe, and their national actions. These responses were justifiable, or so many Americans at the time believed.

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455 Words | 2 Pages

The Cold War was a period of political and military tension between the United States and its Western allies, and the Soviet Union and its Eastern allies, which lasted from the end of World War II in 1945 until the early 1990s. It was called the "cold" war because there was no direct military conflict between the two superpowers, but rather a series of intermediate wars. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, began to spread its communist ideas and influence throughout the world. The United States, who was at the time under control by President Harry Truman, viewed the spread of communism as a threat to global stability and democracy, and began a policy to prevent the spread of communism. This then led to tensions

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206 Words | 1 Pages

The term cold war was pioneered by Bernard Baruch in his speech to the Senate Research Committee in 1948. This refers to the tense situation that exists between the United States and the Soviet Union. The term "cold" is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, but they each supported major regional wars known as proxy wars. The tense relationship between these two powers took place without any armed combat. Communist countries are led by the Soviet Union with western countries led by the United States.

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