This book talks about when the United States almost started a full nuclear war because of a few soviet missiles flew into the states allegedly. They flew B-47s and B-52s as air fleets for 40 years of this international problem between the Soviet Union and the United States. In the year 1945 America ended World War 2, as the head nuclear power in the world. Even though the U.S. was the nuclear power, they did not have any nuclear bombs. The whole point of this “cold war” was to maintain a peace among uneasy times, which did not work.
Alliances were formed to provide security and maintain peace but tensions about the possibility of war only intensified. For example, the United States other countries joined to form NATO in 1949 to rely on each other for security if the Soviets attack (Document 4). The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to specifically protect allied countries from Soviet attacks. To counteract this, the Soviets made the Warsaw Pact in 1955 (Document 8). The countries allied with the Soviets were mostly from the Soviet bloc or the eastern side of the iron curtain.
After a year of Truman’s speech in 1948, the North Atlantic Treaty ‘NATO’ have been issued and this treaty was signed by the United States and ten nations of western Europe. They agree that if an armed attack against Europe or North America should be considered as an attack against them (Doc
In the image on document 2, although NATO had more nations on their side, Warsaw satellites created a buffer for the Soviet Union. The Warsaw nation members did this by all the nations surrounding the Soviet Union were a part of the pact meaning that this skillful strategy made it so enemies would have to go through others before being able to get to the Soviet Union and neighboring nations made it easy to come and protect fast. This area is also known as the “Soviet Sphere” as Winston Churchill calls it in his “ Iron Curtain” speech of March 5, 1946. The Iron Curtain was a dividing line before the Cold War even began. Another “weapon”, the Soviet Union had was also the United States fear of nuclear weapons because they were in an arm race.
The United States and the West used these actions as justification for further aggression, even though they were simply a response to their provocations. The moves by the Soviets intensified fears in Congress and led to the United States expanding federal power through agencies like the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency. It also led to them solidifying their influence over the Western Hemisphere by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Organization of American States. The Soviets once again became threatened and formed the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance in Eastern Europe, in response. President Truman continued to view
The U.S warned that it would step in if the Soviet Union interfered. And so, an explosive situation was building. In the meantime, the United Nations desperately searched for a solution to reduce the
We know from history that when planning a re-division of the world, the imperialist powers have always lined up military blocks.”. Furthermore, they also used alliances to block each other off and defend themselves. These alliances are listed as NATO and Warsaw Pact in Document 5. One last weapon in the arms race, this was a time of building up nuclear weapons and the threat to use them if necessary. But for some, it was a reason to avoid war.
After the American use of the atomic bomb on Japan in 1945, the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union grew exponentially. A weapon with so much destructive power in the hands of the enemy was justifiability seen as a huge threat to the Soviets` safety and influence. The Soviets constructed their own nuclear bomb in response during August of 1948, and began a competition began between the two nations. Each country attempted to produce forces more impressive than the other`s, leading to the creation of increasingly ruinous weaponry. The constantly stressed situation proved sensitive to any movement by either country, altered domestically or otherwise.
The Cold War was a war of threats. After the end of World War II, there was a spread of two different types of government, democracy and communism. There was the Western and the Soviet spheres of influence. The difference between the governments resulted a conflict, which led to the Cold War. Threats were made to stop the spread of each other’s ideology, but one of them must be dominant for peace can be created when there is an unity of a single type of government in Europe.
The Warsaw Pact was a mutual defense agreement that put the Soviet Union in command of the armed forces of its member states. The treaty members included: The Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. After the formation of the Warsaw Pact the members of NATO adopted a "strategic doctrine" called Massive Retaliation. Massive Retaliation allowed NATO members to focus on economic growth rather than military. The North Atlantic Treaty plays a significantly important role by managing crises in the world and keeping the peace.
Containment was the strategy used by the United States throughout the Cold War. Containment was first proposed by George Kennan in 1947, he believed that Moscow would eventually adopt peaceful policies if America had a firm resistance. Three examples of the use of containment by the American government are The Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The first act of containment was seen in 1947 when the Truman Doctrine occurred.
In a quest for power, two superpowers were on the brink of a war that could bring world annihilation. In 1947-1991 the US was on the verge of war with the Soviet Union. The communist Soviets wanted to expand their ideas across Europe and Asia setting up communist governments in every country that was earlier occupied by the germans. The US tried a policy of containment where we use brute force to keep the Soviet Union where they are. By this time, the US tested and fired nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities.
The Strategic Defense Initiative ultimately played a role in the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the conclusion of the Cold War. President Ronald Reagan’s plans to develop a system that would defend the United States from Soviet nuclear attacks was made clear in 1983. At this point in time, the Cold War was at a stage of extreme intensity, and this initiative would focus on research and develop new defense technology that would counter those of the Soviet Union. The later named “Star Wars” Initiative, due to its far-fetched, fantastic nature and potential use in a nuclear war, was the most prominent issue regarding the strategies of the United States against Soviet threats. The Soviet Union, after Reagan’s announcement, was displaced by this
Emiliano Segura America has not always been the intrusive neighbor whose only goal is to spread the message of democracy and capitalism. In fact, America—for most of its early lifetime—played their role in the world as an isolated island far away from Europe’s reach: avoiding conflict at all costs. It was mostly a country of production, gaining most of their wealth from manufacturing and trading goods. Much like China, Americans were the producers of the 19th century. Moreover, America practiced what is known as isolationism—especially during the time of war; but as the U.S. grew in the 20th century, so did there want to expand their messages of liberty, economy, and government; which it did effectively through the means of war.
It sounds a little far-fetched but this was during The Cold War; nuclear tension was at an all-time high between the world’s most powerful
