Cold War - The U2 Incident Essay

After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American

The Cold War is one of the most controversial debates throughout history. Between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, The Cold War was ideological clash between the two superpowers. The democratic USA and the communist USSR fought for over 50 years over, in competition with one another for control and power and dominance. Tensions between the US and the USSR were prominent before the Cold War because the United States believed that freedom and democracy would meet an inevitable end under Communist rule, but with the beginning of the World War II, starting in 1917 with the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the two superpowers decided to put aside the animosity to battle the German Nazi’s threat. Chris Trueman claimed that, “America had depicted the Soviet Union as almost the devil-incarnate. The Soviet Union had depicted America likewise so their ’friendship’ during the war was simply the result of having a mutual enemy” (Trueman)

Over the past several decades, there have been great tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union which continue into what is known today as Russia. Suspicions and tensions between these two countries increased greatly during and directly after World War II, particularly between 1941 and 1949.

After the ravages of World War II, the United States experienced a long period of economic boom, thanks to industrial weapons work and to the low price of oil. At the same time, under this nationwide economic prosperity, Americans felt increasing fear in the looming shadow of the communist Soviet Union. The US seemed to be in a spiral. Sputnik’s successful launch increased tensions that had been building since the aftermath of World War II; while President Eisenhower and his administration instituted numerous measures to calm down the hysteria that pervaded the US, these attempts had no real effect on de-escalating tensions felt between both sides.

Between 1945 and 1960, the United States was confronted with a colossal predicament. A Cold War had emerged between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This war did not involve any direct attacks between the two, instead indirect confrontations. Subsequently, the war took a massive toll on the U.S. An era of high tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union posed a communist threat to America.

Although the Soviet Union and the United States fought together during World War II against the Axis Powers, the relationship between the two grew bitter going into the 1950’s Cold War. The Cold War left a dominant impact on the U.S. and American living throughout the 20th century. The fall out between the U.S. and the Soviet Union created various issues that United States dealt with (Suddath). The United States was a capitalistic country, while the Soviet Union, also known as the USSR, was lead by a strong communist influence. The expansion of Soviets into Eastern Europe fueled most of the fear the U.S. had of Russia, that they would attempt to influence many more countries.

Throughout the middle of the twenty-first century, a series of tension and disagreement erupted between the United States of America and the Soviet Union of Russia. Because it was not a violent time of any major skirmishes or death, it was given the name The Cold War. This period lasted for roughly fifty years, from the end of World War II until the end of the century. Though there is much debate regarding when the Cold War officially began, there is strong evidence for all the events that contributed to the build up towards the war

After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and subsequently a period of tension and hostility arose, known as the Cold War. During this time, a new possibility of complete nuclear destruction that would claim the lives of many emerged, therefore “the easing or relaxing of tensions” on both sides was needed, this period would be known as detente. Both countries had been guaranteed mutually assured destruction as they had both managed to stay ahead in the development of nuclear arsenals. By the late 1960s the Soviets had surpassed the United States in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by 1,300 to 1,054. Although the U.S was still ahead

Taking place right after World War II (WWII), the Cold War was a “bloodless” war that was based off of both the United States and Soviet Union’s political views, taking place between the years 1947 to 1991. Miniscule physical battles took place under each’s command, but neither side had ever fought one another directly. The conflict remained nonviolent for the most part, affecting each nation and their allies in a plethora of ways possible. Events had occurred due to the actions and beliefs of others, creating a domino effect to fall within the States. As a result of this, the Cold War served as a turning point in the United State’s history, affecting all areas economically, socially, and politically.

Post World War II, both the United States and the Soviet Union were fearful of fighting each other directly from fear of nuclear weapons and mass destruction (D. Johnson, P. Murray). Instead, they fought each other by participating in wars on separate parts of the world. Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union constantly fluctuated due to both sides trying to influence political and economic developments around the world (D. Johnson, P. Murray).

this plane was overrun by the brave passengers that occupied the flight and was forced into

Several press releases by both the CIA and Presidential staff told the world that the U-2 had flown off course. It was an accident that the plane was in Soviet airspace instead of its target space of Turkey. (Beschloss, 1986) Khrushchev dropped the political bomb on 7 May and announced they had most of the U-2 and its pilot survived. (Brugioni, 2010) President Eisenhower reeled from the news, the Soviet trap worked perfectly. The USSR went on a propaganda tirade claiming the US hostile and wanted to wreck the Four Powers Summit. Later, Eisenhower said, “The CIA had failed to recognize the, ‘emotional, even pathological, reaction of the Russians’ to violations of their frontiers.” (Beschloss, 1986) The CIA, whether by arrogance or recklessness, never included the ramifications of failure into their mission planning. One flight simultaneously exposed to the world the America’s most effective espionage tool and destroyed US and USSR relations. Khrushchev infuriated by the crash, felt Eisenhower had personally slighted him, and demanded a public apology for the incident. Eisenhower refused saying the overflights were for the protection of America and the world as a whole. (Beschloss, 1986) The Four Powers summit ended after two days; years of planning a meeting of the greatest superpowers was for nothing. One of the great what if’s of the 20th century will be, “what if the Four Powers Summit ended

The Crisis ended in Russia removing their nukes from Cuba. Although the US had to remove US Jupiter (a MRBM) from Turkey, the removal was already planned, and it was clear that the Soviets got the short end of the stick (The Cuban Missile Crisis). Russia looked weak in this situation because they succumbed to the US’s requests. For Russia to be apart of JFK’s assassination would be a way for them to show America that they still had power, and needed to be regarded as having such. Their missiles had been put in place as a form of protection against another American attack, so the removal left them vulnerable. But, Russia orchestrating an attack on America’s president would lead to dangerous consequences; nuclear war was almost reached during the Crisis. Russia understood that a third World War would be much worse than stepping back. For this reason, Russia would not have been involved in the orchestration of Kennedy’s assassination with Oswald; Oswald acted

The Cold War, which started sometime in the 1940’s, was a large quarrel between the United States and the Soviet Union. This dispute involved a lot of propaganda and threats of nuclear warfare. Despite all of the trouble though, after over forty years of fighting, the two leaders of these countries (Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev) would finally work out a solution. However, although they did reach an agreement, there were many differences between these two men.

Following the end of World War Two (WWII), the United States as well as much of the western world was thrust into the escalating crisis which came to be known as the Cold War. As this new threat emerged looming over the United States and its NATO