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John Lewis Gaddis The Cold War Summary

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John Lewis Gaddis is a very well know Cold War historian and through his book The Cold War: A New History, he studies and follows the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union starting from World War II until the fall of the USSR. Gaddis presents an outstandingly written complete view of the Cold War, shining light with insightful judgments which helps bring life to the four decades of the US-USSR conflict. In this book, Gaddis stresses on the fact that the Cold War was both essential and obvious because the rise of communism was never going to be tolerated by the US and the Soviet Union and its allies had to be contained. This book serves the purpose of being an easy to understand, to the point fusion of the Cold War history. …show more content…

There are three very import lessons of the Cold War that Gaddis has out forth in this book. First, we saw the fall of dictatorship during the Cold War. Although China, USSR and many other European countries had authoritarian governments during this time, Gaddis points out that after the George Orwell’s Totalitarian World was publishes in 1948 we saw that the spread of these authoritarian governments stopped, they did not spread to other countries. We also saw that due to the failure of the communism promise to provide a better life for the workers, it quickly fell out of favor during the latter part of the 20th century. Second, we saw that …show more content…

Gaddis states that due to the absence of wars and economic depressions, coupled with a worldwide increase in literacy and that the lack of both great wars and economic depressions coupled with increased levels of literacy worldwide and guiding principle to promote democracy led to the spread of

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He does not aim to present a new argument and clearly states that this book fulfills a need for an accessible survey of Cold War history for younger students. Gaddis succeeds in his aim to be accessible through the easily readable, narrative style of The Cold War. He does not use any primary sources in his this book but only relies on secondary sources from Cold War historian, including himself. Gaddis does discuss Poland and Solidarność but only as it relates to the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, his history is so broad it is hard to get a sense of each event’s importance or connect with any of the players.

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When World War II ended, the world became chaotic in the struggle between democracy and communism. It is directly connected to the Cold War, in which the United States and the Soviet Union fought over what ideology was the best for the world. The Cold War era was marked by the most significant tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, with both sides competing with each other for global influence. From the world’s perspective, the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union left a great legacy including economic growth, technological advancement, and social stability during the Cold War. However, the Cold War certainly hurt other countries with proxy wars, such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

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The Cold War was a war of betrayal, competition, morals, misunderstanding, and fear. Spies, nuclear bombs, blockades, and rockets are weaved into the events

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The Cold War was a war full of politics and beliefs along with brutal fighting. Communism was seen as a major threat to the United States. The Soviet Union was trying to, at the time, influence other countries of its communist beliefs in hopes of gaining allies and resources. The Soviets expanded after WWII and the Americans feared this, adding tense to their “alliance.” The Soviet Union’s main targets were Europe but also to gain global exposure and power as well.

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The Cold War was a time when The United States not only secured it’s place as an influencer of international affairs, but explored its new standing as a rival to other world leaders. Immediately following World War 2, The USSR and America’s relationship began to dissolve as fundamental differences in basic beliefs for government and military organization became clear, and without a common enemy to unite the two, tension and conflict would separate the superpowers for almost 45 years. The policy of containment, The Truman Doctrine, and NSC-68 would each play a pivotal role in the Unites States stretching its hand of democracy into foreign lands, and using military force against the regimes that began to stand in freedom’s way. Beginning in 1946, the Policy of Containment was proposed by George Kennan in a document now titled, The Long Telegram. He presented his hopes that the United States would attempt to keep communism and regimes within their current borders.

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The Cold War was an intense period with massive global outcomes due to a fierce rivalry between the two superpowers of the world. This war was a clash between communism and capitalism between the US and USSR. Both had the urge for power, an urge for domination over territories, and resources across the globe. The war ultimately ended in an uneven world system and a series of proxy wars. However, in this war, the US and USSR did not ever directly fight each other.

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The Cold War lasted decades and tensions continued to heightened. Trepidation spread among American citizens about the future of their country and world. Would communism take over or would the United States stand their ground and push for democracy? Following the Second World War, the Cold War caused the American people to fear the growth Communism, an economic depression, and a possible nuclear war, yet the Eisenhower Administration successfully addressed these concerns and implemented ways to reduce these fears. First and foremost, the American people feared that communism would spread and take over governments in other nations beyond the Kremlin.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Could you imagine living in a time of constant fear of nuclear war? For many people living today, this was once a daily reality. From 1945 to 1991, the two world superpowers, the United States and the USSR clashed in a series of ideological political battles that completely changed and defined the post-WWII world. This was known as the Cold War. After founding and developing Marxist ideologies over two world wars, the USSR naturally wanted to spread communism across the world.

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The Cold War was a term Walter Lippmann used to refer to the relations between the U.S. and the USSR after World War II. Many historians, over the years, have debated on the subject of ‘What started the Cold War?’ There’s no clear answer, one thing’s for sure; although Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe was a cause, it was not the main reason for the Cold War. Mr. Winston Churchill’s iron curtain speech, along with Mr. X’s theories for containment, prove that Soviet Domination was a cause of the Cold War. Since other causes will be presented in this essay, I will prove [or at least try to prove] that Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe was not the main cause of the Cold War.

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In this book, Gaddis claims that the Cold War was both certain and vital in light of the fact that the Soviet empire and its allies couldn 't be moved back however must be contained. Toward the end of the war, no country had physically or directly pushed an attack on the other. The central thesis of the book is that the Cold War brought an end to the usage of military strength and ability as the characteristics of power as perceived five years before the start of Cold War. For example, Gaddis says, "What never happened, despite universal fears that it might, was full-scale war involving the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies. For the first time in history no one could make sure of winning, or despite surviving, a unimaginable

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237 Words | 1 Pages

The Cold War was a complex conflict that was influenced by several factors, but two AP themes that were particularly significant in explaining its causes and development were Economic Systems (ECN) and Governance (GOV). The ideological differences between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union were at the heart of the conflict, making ECN a crucial theme. The US believed in free markets and multiple political parties, while the Soviet Union had a centrally planned economy controlled by a single political party. This led to differing views on wealth distribution, consumer goods, and religion, creating a stark contrast between the two systems. The competition for global influence in military, economics, politics, and culture

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383 Words | 2 Pages

Many essayists, scholars, economists, and political leaders have argued the causes of the Cold War. They all have different interpretations, which are unique in their own nature. In chapter two of “Major Problems in American History Since 1945,” essayists Arnold A. Offner and John Lewis Gaddis disagree over the causes of the cold war. Offner argues that President Truman was primarily responsible and gives nothing more than the interpretation of a single personal ideology (Offner, 55-63). However, John Lewis Gaddis argues that Joseph Stalin was primarily responsible for the cold war and was uncompromising with policies.

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876 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War created so much tension throughout the entire world, even countries that were part of the allied powers during the war felt the tension for 44 years. It was a destructive time period for countries geographically, in addition to the men and women who had to live through the struggles that their homelands were facing. There were many people, especially political authorities, who worked tirelessly to assist in repairing the damages made to the Soviet Union and European governmental relations. One of the most commonly known individuals who contributed positively to the Cold War through his efforts was President John F. Kennedy. Although President Kennedy’s term came to an untimely end, his administration significantly impacted the Cold War

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Written by Carl Stoffers, “Are We Heading Toward a New Cold War” affirms current tensions between the U.S. and Russia under Vladimir Putin. This implicates America’s standoff with the Soviet Union. Americans lived in fear for half a century after World War II,for they were unsettled by the uncertainty of whether or not the Soviet Union, would use their nuclear bombs against the U.S. The Soviet Union and their allies insisted on spreading Communism throughout the world, but the U.S was immensely against it. Instead of the Soviet Union and U.S officially declaring war, they fought in a consecutive “proxy wars”.

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Even the most important book on Cold War, written by John Lewis Gaddis entitled The Cold War is a teleological discourse on the topic. This essay will bring one source from each side and analyze the narration of the story in order to provide a more balanced view of the events that led to the outbreak of the Cold War. Hence, the main

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