ipl-logo

The Cold War: The Arms Race And The Space Race

836 Words4 Pages

The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western blocks and the communist countries of Eastern blocks. The west was, led by the United States and Eastern Europe was, led by the Soviet Union. These two countries became, known as superpowers. Although the two superpowers never officially declared war on each other, they fought indirectly in proxy wars, the arms race, and the space race (Nelson, 2018).

As Nelson (2018) stated, the Cold War began not too long after World War II ended in 1945. There was a great distrust between the Soviet Union and the USA and rest of the Allies after WW 2. The Allies were concerned with the brutal leadership of Joseph Stalin as well as the spread of communism. As many scholars …show more content…

These were wars fought between other countries, but with each side getting support from a different superpower. Examples of proxy wars include the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Soviet Afghanistan War (Nelson, 2018).
The two superpowers also tried to fight the cold war by demonstrating their power and technology. One example of this was the Arms Race where each side tried to have the best weapons and the most, nuclear bombs. The idea was that a large stockpile of weapons would deter the other side from ever attacking. Another example was the Space Race, where each side tried to show that it had the better scientists and technology by accomplishing certain space missions first (Nelson, 2018).
While many scholars state that the 1989 Malta Summit was the end of the Cold War, however it was December 1991 before the Presidents of the United States and the Soviet Union formally recognised the conflict's end, with the Soviet Union, also being, dissolved at that …show more content…

In Russia, military spending was, cut dramatically and quickly. The effects of this were very large, seeing as the military-industrial sector had previously employed one of every five Soviet adults and its dismantling left hundreds of millions throughout the former Soviet Union unemployed. Russia suffered a financial crisis and a recession more severe than the United States and Germany had experienced during the Great Depression. Russian living standards have worsened overall in the post–Cold War years, although the economy has resumed growth since 1995 (“The effects of Cold War”, n.d., para 1,

Show More
Related

Cold War Dbq

305 Words | 2 Pages

Intro- The cold war was not a common war. It was a war fought without any physical weapons. It is the exact opposite of a hot war, example WWII a war with harmful weapons is a hot war. This specific cold war started in 1945 between the United States and the Soviet Union but they were never seen on a battlefield.

Read More

Cold War Dbq

893 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was a “hybrid” war between the United States and the Soviet Union that started right after the end of World War II in 1947 (Two Super…). Both countries had strong political tensions toward each other. During the Cold War, although the two countries did not battle each other militarily, as a result of all the escalating tensions, the threat of an outright war made all parties nervous. The two countries, along with each other’s allies, differed in their opinions on postwar arrangements, with the Soviets backing out of their promise in the Yalta agreement, they were more interested in the spread of communism in the post WWII era.

Read More

The Cold War: Relationship Between The Soviet Union And The United States

215 Words | 1 Pages

Korean war, Vietnam war, Chinese Civil war, Yom Kippur war, Soviet Afghanistan war these wars were the directly held and directly concured country. These are the major events of the cold war or proxy

Read More

Rivalry During The Cold War

1117 Words | 5 Pages

The Cold War was a rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. The term Cold War was first used by the English writer George Orwell in an article published in 1945 to refer to what he predicted would be a nuclear stalemate between “two or three monstrous super-states, each possessed of a weapon by which millions of people can be wiped out in a few seconds. (“Cold War”, 1)” The cold war was fought over the US and Soviet Union trying to gain control over most of Eastern Europe, because they were worried about the up rise of Germany after their surrender. This caused some ground combat between the US and Soviet Union but that was just the way of the US keeping all of our allies on our side and them not getting

Read More

Short And Long Term Effects Of The Cold War

942 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. As Americans grew increasingly aware of the brutal communist rule of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, many became worried about relations between America and Russia. The Soviet Union resented the Americans' decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. The Cold War affected Europe where it originated as well as internationally.

Read More

Cold War Historiography

1422 Words | 6 Pages

Historiography of the Cold War After World War I, democracies collapsed all over the world and led to a revolution of political leaders in authoritarian states. The world, with the outbreak of World War II, saw numerous totalitarian leaders take control and oppress citizens of their rights, while contending for world domination. Ultimately, it created a difference in ideologies, between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union that dominated world politics for the next four decades in an event known as the Cold War.

Read More

Cold War Containment Essay

538 Words | 3 Pages

The fatal noise of sirens ring out, while children in your class duck under desks for safety. This was one of the reasons the United States wanted containment in the world. During this time period of containment, the Cold War was going on with the U.S. and the Soviet Union (now Russia). This cold war was a name for the period of conflict between the Soviet Union and her communist allies and the United States and her democratic, capitalist allies. The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart.

Read More

Major Battles Of The Cold War

178 Words | 1 Pages

After World War II, two superpowers emerged, giving way to the Cold War. Superpowers are nations that have more power than other powerful nations. These two superpowers were the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The two superpowers had differing ideologies and interests, furthermore, both sides thought the other was trying to dominate the world, contributing to a four-decade long war. The Cold War was referred to as “cold” because the United States and the Soviet Union never fought directly with one another.

Read More

Militaries And The Creation Of The Nuclear Bomb

401 Words | 2 Pages

After the ending of World War II (WWII) where the Allies defeated the Axis powers, many countries throughout the world saw a new beginning and believed that peace was among them. With the destruction of the Axis powers came the beginnings of powerful nations in which their militaries played a major role of being the greatest in the world. Having had created large militaries and the creation of the Nuclear bomb which played a major role of the ending of WWII began a new conflict throughout the world. Russia (Soviet Union) and the United States of America (U.S) having had created these large weapons and militaries then began a race for power throughout the world and the start of the Cold War that began in 1945 and ended in 1990. Through all of

Read More

Cold War History Summary

1509 Words | 7 Pages

The world prayed and hoped for nothing but the safety of humanity. There were several occasions wherein war between the two nations seemed inevitable, but thankfully those incidents were avoided. Instead, proxy wars became the thing. Countries that are backed by two super powers fought one another. The Bay of Pigs, Korean War and Vietnam War are just three of the many proxy wars that involved USSR and the United States.

Read More

Cold War Relationship

751 Words | 4 Pages

Although the U.S and the Soviet Union had formed a military alliance to defeat a mutual enemy, the two nations – ideologically extremely different – remained cautious of the other. United States’ democratic ideals contradicted that of the authoritarian and communist Stalin, leading to increased tension between the two nations. The conflict between the two opposing ideologies escalated as the Cold War dawned upon the nations. Military, although never used to fight the other nation directly, was used to fight proxy wars in other countries; as both nations tried to defend their ideals and prevent the spread of the others’ ideology/sphere of influence aggressively (Lippman, 25). Proxy wars were fought in Korea, Greek, Afghanistan and Vietnam (Hurst, 130).

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of The Cold War

1521 Words | 7 Pages

Cold war, a period in history from 1947 to 1991 that reshaped colonialism to what it is today. The cold war was an ideological struggle between capitalist West led country the united states and communist East led country the Soviet Union characterized by a geopolitical tension, arms race, proxy wars and the recruitment of satellites. This period of ideological rivalry lasting for almost five decades eventually spilled into their allies, then spread to every corner of the world. The cold war was a “condition of rivalry, mistrust, and often open hostility short of violence especially between power groups.” With months leading towards the end of World War II, all the former great powers became destitute; and from the ashes, two major superpowers

Read More

Cold War Vs Communism

1558 Words | 7 Pages

The Cold War is considered one of the longest conflicts the world has endured to this day, lasting from 1947 to 1991, a long 44 years. Even though considered a war, the Cold War was actually a conflict between democracy in the United States and communism in the Soviet Union, in which they fought over which form of government is better through series of political and military tensions. Both nations were considered world superpowers, nations that are stronger than any other nation. After World War II came to an end in 1945, the world was in complete devastation, and over-sea empires that existed before, were forced to come to an end. The United States and Soviet Union were the only two nations left standing with enough resources to support themselves.

Read More

Cold War Research Paper

912 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War began on September 2nd 1945, the day that the Japanese surrendered marking the end of World War II and the war ended on December 26th 1991. The Cold War was a state of both political and military tension after World War II between the powers in the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, the United States and the Soviet Union primary. The Cold War was thought to have been caused by many different reasons including; fear and mistrust between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union had fear of American attack and of the Americans atomic bomb whereas the Americans feared communist attack. Also, the Soviet Union felt like they needed a secure western border, while they were aiming to spread world communism.

Read More

Realism In The Proxy War

1425 Words | 6 Pages

The defeat of Soviet Union left the USA as a single hegemony of the world, making it the only super power country with no rival to be fight against for the title. It can be understood why there is no more direct conflict between the great powers. Although there was no direct war between the USA and the Soviet Union, “proxy wars” have been happening since then. Proxy war is a conflict which happen because it is incited by major powers without them actually engaged in it. In this case, either the USA and the Soviet Union assist their allies on fighting the

Read More

More about The Cold War: The Arms Race And The Space Race

Related Topics

Open Document