Cold War Chapter Summary

The Cold War: A New History written by John Lewis Gaddis (a professor at Yale University who wrote other books such as The United States and the Origins of the Cold War and Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security) delivers a summarized, yet skewed interpretation of what had happened during the era known as the Cold War. Throughout the book, the author attempts to provide history of the Cold War, while adding in generalizations, incomplete facts, as well as flat out bias.

Between 1945 and 1991 there was a lengthy struggle of ideologies between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was fuelled in the aftermath of the surrender of Hitler’s Germany. America followed a political system of democracy, hence were capitalist, and in contrast the USSR was a communist state meaning they were anti-liberal. Both countries tried to strengthen themselves and weaken the other side, without becoming involved in a ‘hot’ war. They competed for influence in the world and wanted to advance their economic interests. Both countries aided to the start of the Cold War however, Joseph Stalin’s actions lead him to be mainly responsible, rather than Harry S. Truman.

Naturally, as a leader of one of the victorious countries from the second World War, Stalin felt that he deserved some recognition or some sort of reward. America and Great Britain failed to recognize this, creating some tension between the two. The tension only increased as Stalin found out about the atom bomb in the hands of the American military. It came to a point to where Stalin had to start taking matters into his own hands and do things without the consent of his allies. This is when America began to feel that Stalin was rebelling, so America created propaganda against Stalin, and the Cold War

Before World War II, the United States was growing weary of communism and even Joseph Stalin’s way of dictatorship over the USSR. On the other side, the Soviets resented the Americans for the delayed entry into World War II. This delay cost the Russians tens to thousands of casualties. Also the Russians disliked the Americans because they refused the Russians for decades as a part of the international community. Nevertheless the United States, USSR, and other allies teamed up and defeated their common enemy of the Axis powers.

The Cold War, spanning almost half a century, was a conflict that accelerated the production of nuclear weapons and forced the United States and the other belligerent, the Soviet Union, to make scientific advances at a rate unseen in any other time in human history. The Cold War Comes to Main Street: America in 1950, written by Lisle A. Rose, thoroughly examines the year 1950 in the United States and the effect that the Cold War had on the American populous. Rose examines communism and the military threat that it posed on the nation and how this impacted American society and the generation that endured World War II.

United States and Soviet Union were difference in ideological and strategic goal. In order to defeat dangerous forces in the world, two different nation work together. United States worry about soviet’s international behavior in late 1930s. When Nazi-soviet pact in 1939 which allow Germans to invade Poland and followed by soviet’s invasion of Poland. In order to reshape postwar world, united state need to limit soviet’s expansion. United States used atom bomb before and after soviet declare war on japan which can be read as strong message for soviet to act

Despite the U.S’s effort to come to a mutual agreement with the Soviets after the war at the Yalta Conference, tension has gradually progressed throughout the years that led to an even further separation between the two leading powers. In addition to, the Soviets disregarded the compromises made at the Yalta Conference to have free and fair elections in Europe, instead creating a buffer in Eastern Europe, settling Soviet satellites. By committing such actions, the U.S automatically became suspicious and concluded that the Soviets were ultimately compelled to spread communism. The U.S further distrusted the Soviets when they secretly signed the Nonaggression Pact with the Nazis, to acquire half of Poland for security reasons, so Germany doesn’t invade Russia. This pact made it clearly evident for the U.S that the Soviets are not loyal, that their primary goal is to protect their own interests or assets first, and moral or obligatory issues involving other countries second. The Soviet Union had their own reasons for not trusting the U.S too because they claim them to be just as interested in protecting their own interests and had their own motives for

President Harry S. Truman would also adopt the idea of “containment” as a part of his foreign policy. This was a key turning point in U.S foreign policy. Many United States military and political leaders would adopt this ideal. President Eisenhower would be the United States, 33rd President and would take this containment policy in fear of the “domino theory”. The ideal of the time period that once a country “fell” to communism that the immediate surrounding countries would soon fall. The rise of Soviet Union and the Cold War era became a major factor in the mindset of Americans. Such things as the “Red Scare” and the controlling force of communism placed fear in many Americans. The Soviet Union would directly affect the agenda America would have for the coming decades. Perceived as a threat to the American way of life. The spread of communism would be stopped at all cost, including innocent lives.

The United States had developed the world’s deadliest super-weapon, the atom bomb, while the Soviets possessed the largest military, the Red Army. When Joseph Stalin, premier of the USSR, was informed of the bombing on Hiroshima, he was aghast. “This was a New Fact in the world's power politics, that the bomb constituted a threat to Russia," wrote one British reporter. The Soviets had no knowledge regarding the quantity of this “new weapon of unusual destructive force,” as President Harry S. Truman described it. In response to this dismay, the Soviet Union sought to diffuse their ideologies and place top priority on their own bomb

The two countries, U.S.A and USSR were allies during world war II, but later on they became arch enemies after the war.

What are the main points of this reading (focus on concepts, ideas, and theme, not on individual facts)? Chapter 26 is about the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The war started because there were many different ideas of how the postwar should be and the different ways to achieve these new goals. The Cold War was a fight that was also about Communism and preventing the Soviet Union from spreading their empire East. The Soviet Union was communist and under the lead of Joseph Stalin they took over the West side of Europe while the capitalist United States Controlled the East side of Europe. The west allies created NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which included the United States, Canada, and 10 West European countries. The creation of NATO prevented the Cold War from becoming a nuclear hot war and instead an economic and military battle. The Soviet Union and the United States both fought over Belgium and Korea. Korea was a battle that showed just how powerful

Limiting the threat of a government that would control the flow of a free flow market and risk their security and investments. Truman said, “The American system can survive in America only if it became a world system”, by preserving national security and bringing “freedom, democracy, and capitalism to the rest of the world” (chapter. 10) would help ensure order to secure Americas peace in the future. Knowing America had a monopoly on atomic weapons, Truman was firm but willing to work with the Soviets as long as they conformed to the U.S. plans for the post war world as well as refrain from expanding. Stalin’s point of view was that he had power within those countries defeated in the war and those that the Red Army had liberated. The U.S. was rebuilding governments in Italy and Japan while Stalin had installed Communist governments in Poland and Bulgaria. Initially the Soviets were tolerate of non-communist countries, but would eventually remove their troops from Iran in the spring of 1946 when the Unites States applied pressure on them. As the book says, this allowed for the United States to gain access to the rich oil fields of Iran. Referring to the notes, the Cold War had become a race to expand spheres of influence, with the United States looked stuck with their allies as they resisted the efforts of the Soviets efforts to

The Soviet Union had done many things which caused tension between them and the United States. The Soviet Union had a strong dislike for capitalism and were afraid that the American were going to attack them with the atomic bomb. I feel like the reason

Immediately after World War II, the United States and Soviet Union became two powerful nations. Both countries wanted to have control and authority in politics and military. They both had a different global influence and different governmental drives (868). The Soviet Union did not want to give up the power it obtained in Eastern Europe after overpowering Germany. The United States also was not willing to relinquish its control and its respect it had gained. There were many incidents that happen between 1945 and 1949 amid these two countries (868).

The tension between the Soviet Union and the US has occurred due to various reasons. This strain between the two rivals has stemmed from far before WW2.Even though the two superpowers eventually became allies during the war, the mutual envy was still present. This rivalry, however, rose to its peak after the second great war. The conflicting aims of these two countries eventually grew to leave their mark in history.