ipl-logo

Relative Effectiveness Of The Cold War Essay

1204 Words5 Pages

Relative Effectiveness of Presidents and Cold War Policies
2 years after World War 2 a new enemy was rising that was not just a country or person, but communism. Following the end of WW2, the Soviets were spreading their new ideology to several countries from Poland to North Korea. As communism seemed to gain popularity, the US Government became increasingly concerned about a potential fall of capitalism and democracy. This fear resulted in the Cold War: a social, political, economic conflict between the US and the USSR. The Cold War lasted 44 years and 9 different US presidencies. However, when looking at the US, the war can be broken down into 3 smaller time periods each with their own different methods to best the USSR. The first period …show more content…

At that time the Manhattan Project was nearing completion which meant that more potent and deadly nuclear weapons would become available, and the USSR was not far behind. The Soviets were also focused on expanding their political reach. Led by Joseph Stalin, the Soviets had their sights on many countries: Poland, Turkey, China, and others. With communism spreading quickly, the US was concerned for countries with land borders near Russia. This was because of the “Domino Theory” which meant that communism was more likely to spread through land borders. Without such border, Japan not of high concern for the US. While Japan was mostly safe, China was not. After WW2 a civil war erupted between China nationalists and communists. However, China was not the only country falling to communism. In addition, North Korea quickly succumbed, and in 1950 launched a surprise attack on South Korea. Like Korea, French-controlled Vietnam, at the time called Indochina, was starting to revolt. In Europe, ensuing the division of Berlin and Germany between US, Britain, France, and Russia. The USSR spread its own currency within its sections of Germany and refused to allow West German currency into East Germany. Later the US, Britain, and French parts of Germany unified, but the USSR did not partake. Soon after Winston Churchill gave his famous speech announcing, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. [Europe]”

Show More
Related
476 Words | 2 Pages

During World War 2, the United States and Soviets were allied as they had common enemies. In the war, the United States saw major differences in government and also the Soviet ambition to become the world power. These ambitions became clearer as the Soviets took control of East Europe after the war and made them communist states. The United States came up with the Containment policies to prevent the spread of communism. The ways that the United States uses to contain communism are through aid supplies, aid forces to fight, and negotiation.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

After World War Two the U.S. and Soviet Union had a long-lasting rivalry since the Soviets were communists and the U.S. was not. This period is known as the Cold War because it was a major conflict where the U.S. and Soviet Union fought indirectly. The Cold War impacted the U.S. domestic policy and American society because it created American fear of communism. This fear later led to losing rights and the government switching where their money was being spent in certain areas such as general education.

Read More
1278 Words | 6 Pages

During this time the Soviet Union was near the state of strategic parity with the U.S and was on the verge of moving forward with the U.S ICBM launchers. The U.S was

Read More
562 Words | 3 Pages

FOUR SECTORS OF BERLIN After WW2 ended Berlin was divided into four different sectors for England, France, USA and the USSR. The area surrounding Berlin was controlled by the

Read More
510 Words | 3 Pages

The Cold War lasted from 1947 to 1991; it took 8 presidents to end the Cold War. Ronald Reagan met the challenge head on to bring the Soviet Union to their knees. Ronald Reagan exploited the Soviets economic vulnerabilities. Reagan out spent the USSR in defense to produce as arms race to bankrupt and eventually take Gorbachev out of power.

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
2308 Words | 10 Pages

were the two major superpowers still thriving following WWII, resulting in economic, military, technological, and ideological competition for superiority. Throughout the Cold War American involvement focused on containment, believing it to be the only effective way to stop the spread of communism, so much so that it would become the primary strategy of foreign policy for the following 30 years. One of the biggest fears of the Cold War was communist spies, following the development of an atomic bomb from the Soviet Union. This would lead to an increased stockpiling of weapons, increasing the threat of power from each country. Military combat would only culminate briefly during the Korean War, in which each indirectly fought through their support of opposite sides of the warring Korea.

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

The hypocritical thing Stalin pointed out about the US was that it demanded democratic elections in Eastern Europe and at the same time supported dictatorships friendly to the US interests in Latin America. The Allies divided Germany unable to settle differences regarding its future. Churchill famously said the iron curtain analogy about the Eastern Europe. George Kennan came up with a plan to handle communism with containment.

Read More
943 Words | 4 Pages

As Soviet military power was increasing in the 1950s, the United States continued to fear countries being susceptible and falling to Soviet ideals. To further prevent the spread of communism, the U.S. National Security Council created NSC-68, advocating for containment to “prevent [the Soviet Union] from… [causing]... confusion in [American] economy, … culture … and body politic” (“NSC-68). After communist regime took hold in China and Korea, the United States saw it necessary to move to active containment to prevent all traces of communism in East Asia. The United States immediately felt they needed to intervene with anything linked with communism without full understanding of the political affairs in the country.

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

This occurred at this time because nations were weak and the Soviet Union was trying to take over the governments of other countries and turn them communist. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were on the verge of starting a nuclear war,

Read More
537 Words | 3 Pages

After WWII, the United States established itself as a powerful country and believed that it was up to them to support other countries as well as protect them from communism. That was one of the first times the concept of containment was presented and helped set the goal for America, its allies, and future policies during the cold

Read More
655 Words | 3 Pages

The Soviet Union in the early 20th century became hungry for more land. Joseph Stalin craved for a buffer, or zone separating Europe and the Soviet Union for their safety. The hands of communism spread to their buffer zone, or eastern Europe. This comprised of more than 10 countries. Although Stalin had died in 1953, communism was still strong.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

Foreign Policy would be focused on the Soviet Union and the containment of communism. The United States during the early years of the consensus mainly responded to the actions of the Soviet Union. During the later part of the consensus the United States was in a better position respond to the Soviets. The United States had enhanced their military capability within long range nuclear bombs and conventional arms build up in Western Europe (79). During the face off over the future of Berlin, the Americans showed it was not backing down from the Soviets.

Read More
2543 Words | 11 Pages

Russia wanted to grow Communism (Clare) but the United States was not going to let that happen. The war in Korea seemed to be the beginning of a Soviet plan to dominate all of Asia and ultimately dominate Europe, and this was a major threat to the free world. Harry S. Truman said that “Korea was part of a greater plan for conquering all of Asia” (93). To put an end to this plan it had to be stopped in Korea (Truman 94). If communism spread globally, this would be very detrimental to our

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

"The Cold War was an ideological contest between the western democracies especially the United States and the Communist countries that emerged after the Second World War" (Tindall 972). The United States and the Soviet Union had differences over issues such as human rights, individual liberties, economic freedom, and religious belief. "Mutal suspicion and a race to gain influence and control over the so called nonaligned or third world countries further polarized" (Tindall 945). After the WWII Soviets dominate European countries and thought the U.S. had the same motives.

Read More

More about Relative Effectiveness Of The Cold War Essay

Related Topics

Open Document