Cold War Causes

One of the primary contributing factors in the evolution of fear and anxiety that ledd to and sustained the Cold War was the development of military technology. The dropping of the initial atomic bombs in japan, a closely guarded secret at the time, led to fear among the Russian and American citizens. The Russians anxiety was more severe than the Americans as they feared that Russia was the next ideological enemy of the United States and could be the next one to be bombed. The Americans fear was rooted in the fact that such destructive technology even existed; it was shocking that this power could be possessed and it was very probable that it could be used by the other nations against them. Although, the bombs true power was in its psychological value not its explosive force. This fear led to tension between the countries, the sense that no one knew who would attack first and if one country attacked it would lead to nuclear winter.(Caldwell 21) The development of the nuclear bomb was a dangerous item of fear for the U.S. and almost worked as a tool of brinksmanship. The American citizens believed that they had at least a 20 year advantage over the Soviets until, in 1949, the Soviets dropped their first bomb. The shock that the Russians were so close behind the Americans led to the United States’ development of the hydrogen bomb.(Bialer 43) After the initial development of nuclear bombs, the U.S. felt the need to strive towards ever greater destructive power. The ensuing

Nuclear weapons were a crucial aspect throughout the history of the Cold War. Scientific and military development in the early 20th Century had demonstrated the potential of atoms and other properties to create large-scale nuclear weapons. The developments of the arms race within the context of World War I and World War II further led to the emergence of nuclear weapons for combat. Countries such as the United States, USSR, and Britain also sought to create effective nuclear weapons. Subsequently, the major application of nuclear weapons emerged when the US dropped two atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Whereas President Truman mainly sought to protect Americans from further deaths by launching atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR posed a different question. Did Truman consciously drop the bombs to intimidate the USSR? Therefore, the Soviet Union interpreted the use of these nuclear weapons as an anti-Soviet move. This further set the basis of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race between the two countries. In this case, the United States use of nuclear weapons in the Second World War was crucial to intimidate the USSR and its emerging global dominance to set the foundation for the emergence of the Cold War.

Within four years of the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union successfully tested its first nuclear weapon. Ultimately, this test would begin the arms race between the US and the USSR, which would come to be one of the largest sources of political tension between the two countries throughout the Cold War. While lack of information and historical bias from an American point of view suggests that the USSR created its nuclear industry solely to “beat the west,” further analysis shows that the Soviet Union had wide ranging purposes for the creation of its nuclear industry. Therefore, while the United States’ successes in nuclear technology may have expedited the launch of the Soviet Union’s nuclear program, ultimately,

“It is clear that fear, greed and revenge were the major factors that caused the Cold War” How far do you agree with this statement when analyzing the causes of the Cold War up to 1949?

In brief it can be said that the Cold War was waged between the U.S. and the USSR primarily due to the fear of the Western World (and specially of America) about a communist attack, both military and ideological (“Causes of the Cold War in 1945”, n.d.). Moreover, President Truman’s dislike of Stalin, USSR’s fear of the American atomic bomb, the nation’s aversion to the concept and philosophy of capitalism, and its actions in the Soviet zone of Germany, all contributed to the beginning of the Cold War (“Causes of the Cold War in 1945”, n.d.). The policy of aggression embraced by the USSR against Eastern Europe and simultaneously the fear of USSR about an American attack also culminated into the Cold War (“Causes of the Cold War in 1945”, n.d.). USSR had the need of securing its western border and it had the aim of spreading communism globally and these two desires also drew the attention of the Western world, the result of which was the initiation of the Cold War (“Causes of the Cold War in 1945”, n.d.).

A war doesn’t technically require any physical weapons to fight. During the time 1947-1991 a lot of military tension and ideological conflicts took place. The causes of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place is World War II. They differed in views of political and economic principles and were wanting to spread their ideologies to other countries. A Cold War is classified as a state of political hostility between two countries characterized by threats, propaganda and other measures short of open warfare. During the time of the Cold War it was a constant one up battle between them with their weapons. Who could build the best and who could have the most, it was always a competition to be the best.

After WWII, westerners started doubting the effectiveness of a democratic society. Russia became communist and a strong political force in the world. Communism and fascism ideals spread throughout Europe and western powers feared that they would threatened the existence of democracy. The rise of communism put Russia and the United States in a place of strained relations, called the Cold War. The failure of Western society is the result of an unfair capitalist economy, smaller nations fighting for independence, and poor policies addressing Multiculturism.

America and the USSR were all "superpower" in the world, in order to struggle for the global hegemony, the two countries and their allied countries took the fight, which lasted for decades.During that period,alough they had serious divergences and conflictions, they all tried their best to avoid the outbreak of the third World War, generally, they confronted with each other by partial war-by-proxy, science and technology, and armament race, space race, diplomacy race and other "cold" means, that was to say, kept within limits mutually, but without resorting to military force, therefore, it was called the "Cold War".[1]

I’m going to be talking about the Cold War. Boom! Crash! EXPLOSION! No, no, I’m just kidding. The Cold War which was a very long non-violent war between the Soviet Union and the United States from 1947 to 1991. This non-violent war took place in the Soviet Union, United States, Vietnam, Korea and many other places. (ushistory.org) I think the main cause of the Cold War was that the United States didn't like the Soviet Union because they were Communistic and the Soviet Union didn’t like the United States because they were Capitalistic. In addition, I think the immediate cause of the Cold War was World War II ending, and with that came our alliance ending because the friendly FDR died. There were other causes too.

The United States and the USSR have had several confrontations in history. It was a constant battle that showed two forces, Communism and Democracy. These opposing governments have almost gotten the rest of the world caught up in full scale nuclear war because of their differences and because of the inability to coexist peacefully. There were three major false alarms in the Cold War that almost turned it into a “Hot War”. The three factors that prevented nuclear war in these events are role of politics/diplomacy, lines of communication, and the very threat of nuclear war.

During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, America began to find themselves in the middle of fear as the Cold War began to approach. Tensions began to grow between the two nations of the United States and Soviet Union. These tensions lasted for roughly seven years, which lead to international episodes. Leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin and leader of the United States Joseph Stalin had led their dictatorship into disaster. Both the United States and Soviet Union had fought as allies against Nazi, Germany. This war had become capitalism between communism both countries had different belief principles. These differing views lead to a war that would change America. Resulting in the first nuclear attacks, that were successful by the Soviets in 1949, American began to fear that the people around them were Soviet spies, passing on nuclear technology from the Unites States to Russia.

The Cold War dominated the globe for over forty years. Countries fell into revolutions and look towards communism or capitalism as a saving grace. The United States of America and the Soviet Union were on the verge of World War three and a massive nuclear fallout. Diplomacy had to intervene for the preservation of the world. It is rather berserk that two countries controlled the future of human kind. There are many specific events that highlighted the Cold War. Out of many events, The Korean War, the capture and exchange of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for American Pilot, Francis Gary Powers, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the elimination of the Berlin Wall stood out as climactic Cold War events.

The Cold War was a crucial time for the United States. It was a time of tension, a time of fear, and a time of determination. The United States feared communism and was prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent the spread of it. Soviet Russia was the biggest threat and primary source of the influence of communism. This threat of communism expansion caused severe tension between the United States and the USSR. Shortly after the war, the Soviets had developed their own atomic bomb, so the U.S. didn’t have an advantage there. This all happened after World War II, between 1947 and 1989, and led to the demise of the USSR. The tension was so strong, that it almost caused a nuclear war to break out, which would have threatened mankind’s very existence. The Cold War was a struggle between political views of The United States and The Soviet Union, President Harry S. Truman strongly disagreed with Joseph Stalin and his communist political views. This had an effect on foreign policies, relations, and even society in America.

After World War II there was worldwide political tension called the Cold War. The main purpose of this war was to help calm the world from World War II’s aftermath and piece together the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union as well as each nations’ allies. It was deemed “cold” due to the lack of actual hand to hand fighting of the nations. There were officially two participants involved in the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc. However, these two sides involved many countries that supported each other. Between these two blocs, they fought on their own sides for most of the Cold War and the only violence was written threats that were sent back and forth. In the end, the war lasted for years as the thought of Communism loomed, but was finally over once the Soviet Union became Russia. There were various aspects and tensions that lasted for years and over the course of many presidents.

When tensions are high between global superpowers, it is best not to set off a spark than can reduce the entire world to destruction and chaos. However, with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, countries across the world became increasingly anxious about what may happen next. Especially after the deadly World War II, another global conflict was the last thing that any country wanted. Two years after the end of the second world war, conflicts of belief between the capitalistic United States and the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) led to the beginning of the Cold War, a mostly nonviolent political dispute. With this prior hostility preceding JFK’s untimely death, the tension between the two nations increased severely afterwards. If either side made a wrong move at any crucial moment, that could have been the single spark that would lead to another global war. As such, the Soviet Union carefully dealt with the United States following the tragic event. A recently declassified document by the FBI confirms this behavior, as it details the extreme reaction of the USSR to the death of Kennedy. The assassination of JFK caused widespread panic, especially in the Soviet Union, as another world war was thought to be on the horizon.