Relative Effectiveness Of The Cold War Essay

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

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]”