Compare And Contrast The Cold War Between 1947 And 1991 Dbq

Immediately after World War II, the world was thrown into a massive ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, which culminated into the Cold War. The Cold War ignited overwhelming, panic-inducing fears across the United States, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, elected in 1952 and remained president until 1960, was faced with the challenge of quelling the fears of the American people. Americans during the Cold War, particularly during the presidency of Eisenhower, had constant fears of Soviet expansion, the pertinent anticommunist crusade at home, the spread of communism, and the neverending uneasiness of total nuclear annihilation, all fears which the Eisenhower administration would inadequately allay.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 lasted thirteen days and was one of the major events during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were brink of a nuclear world war. Fidel Castro had become leader of Cuba and had turned the country into a communist state, similar to the Soviet Union. The USSR was given permission to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to target major cities in the United States, the reason was because the Soviet Union was threatened by the missiles placed in Italy and Turkey by the Americans. However, neither of the nation's fired their weapons; and an agreement between Nikita Khrushchev (leader of the USSR) and President John F.

The Missile Crisis developed in 1962 because Fidel Castro believed that America would soon try again to invade his country. He asked the Soviet Union for help in defending his island nation. The Soviet Union replied by sending small arms, tanks, and infantry units to Cuba, as well as secretly transferring nuclear missiles to missile silos that were under construction in Cuba. The Americans were shocked when one of their U-2 spy planes discovered the nuclear silos under construction in Cuba because it meant that for the first time the Soviet missiles were within range of most major U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C. This created a very difficult problem for American President John F. Kennedy for which he needed to find a solution. He could not allow the missile silos to finish being constructed because that would place the United States in danger. That meant that either he would have to try diplomatic means to attempt to negotiate the removal of the weapons, or he would have to use the might of the American military to remove the weapons by force. Neither option looked particularly favourable. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (the President's military advisors) urged a swift and strong military invasion to destroy the silos before the Soviets could react. Kennedy was concerned, however, of the possibility of Soviet nuclear retaliation for the invasion because invasion was clearly an act of war. Up until that point, neither side had been willing to risk direct

Within the center of this division lay Berlin. Russia’s communist intentions were becoming clearer to western powers. Stalin had no plans to back down from further conflict. In 1946, Churchill delivered the “Iron Curtain” speech, symbolizing future relations with the communist powers. In 1947, U.S. president Truman established his famous doctrine of containment policy, which outlined in vague terms the west’s distain and containment intentions of further communist expansion by Russia. In 1948, Americans witnessed the pressurized showdown in Berlin between western forces and Russian occupiers, which eventually led to the division of Germany, and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Once, the Russians began developing and testing nuclear weapons, and the subsequent development of space flight, Americans placed their lives in the hands of their government to handle this new, Cold War.

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

The Cuban Missile Crisis was October 16th through the 28th in the year of 1962, and it was one of the scariest situations that could have ended in a nuclear war. Earlier that month John F. Kennedy send a plane to spy on them and see if they were doing anything they were not supposed to and he saw that Cuba had nuclear missiles set out and they could fire them at any given moment if they wanted to. John F. Kennedy saw this and the next day he immediately went to talk to the leader of the Soviet Union. The leader of the Soviet Union was named Nikita Khrushchev and it was very hard for John F. Kennedy to make a deal with him so that he would put his nuclear missiles away. The deal was that if John F. Kennedy would remove his nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy then The Soviet Union would have to remove their nuclear missiles from Cuba. John F. Kennedy also had to make an agreement that he would never invade Cuba again without direct provocation. This agreement also set a

The fear of nuclear war between the nations of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba only intensified the Cold War. Cuba, who was already struggling with the huge transition of becoming communist, was not at all prepared for the possible war. Along with, the United States who were still dealing with controlling the spread of communism. The events of the Cuban Missile was the closest the world has ever gotten to a nuclear war. Its aftermath resulted in measures to make sure these events were not repeated.

As World War 2 came to a close an “Anti-Democratic Iron Curtain” had descended across Europe according to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Britain and most of the other countries in Europe's’ forces were worn out, and their wealth all but depleted from the challenges of World War 2. Because of this it was almost impossible to stop the spread of communism all throughout Europe. The Truman Doctrine emerged from a speech given by President Truman before a joint session of congress on March 12, 1947. The speech was given because of a recent announcement by

Knowing that communism is still existent, and recently having discover that a neighboring country by the United states, is harboring missiles for the Soviet, there is so much conflict that it almost brings war between United states and Soviet Union. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an intense, 13 days of political and military standoff. October 16-28, 1962 there had been the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuban land, just 90 miles from United states shores was discovered and was the cause of the tension for the United states.

The occurrence of the Cuban missile crisis remains the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The placement of Soviet nuclear weaponry on the island of Cuba in October 1962, sparked thirteen days in which the Cold war grew increasingly hotter as tensions between the two superpowers escalated. However, despite marking a turning point in US-Soviet relations it could be argued that Operation Anadyr cannot wholly account for the disharmony between the United States and the Soviet Union. This can be seen as despite reaching a visible climax in 1962 -with the Cuban missile crisis- the Cold war remained largely a political stalemate between the two superpowers. The incompatible ideologies of the United States and Soviet Union served as the primary cause for the disharmony between the two nations, as the competing systems subsequently meant the US and USSR were unable to coexist harmoniously. However, a decline in the political influence and military capabilities of the Soviet Union, accompanied by increasingly an aggressive US foreign policy following the election of Kennedy served to exacerbate the long standing ideological divide between the two superpowers.

The U.S. did not need the Soviets help any longer, but Stalin was unhesitatingly there to acquire on western promises. Each of these factors contributed to result of environmental of mistrust that elevated stress and fear at the breakout of the Cold War. Stalin was adamant to form a buffer area to avoid any impeding invasion of the Russian home front, so Soviets perused to occupy East Berlin and any other nation that stood in between the U.S. and Russia. Because both thought an attack was eminent, tensions ran very high throughout 1945-1991. A couple close calls almost set off nuclear warfare and WWIII. The Cuban Missile crisis starting on October 16,1962, and lasting thirteen days is the most well-known military and political standoff throughout the Cold War that began because of Soviets bringing missiles t90 miles of the U.S. coast in Cuba during the Kennedy administration. Another close call is starting WWIII is in 1983 by President Ronald Regan who call the USSR an evil empire. Regan also called for NATO nuclear missiles to respond if Soviets were launched in Eastern Europe. This led to be a bargaining chip five years later in talks with Soviets that led to reducing nuclear stockpiles. This disarmament functioned as a start to the anticipated demise of the war between the USSR and U.S.

In 1947 the Cold War, one of America's most dire wars began. This war was not one of weapons and on foot battles, but of a bigger threat. Nuclear fallout in a weapons war against the powerful countries the Soviet Union and the United States of America.

The U.S. and the Soviet Union leaders engaged into a political and military stand off for thirteen days. There was a fear that this would lead to a nuclear war. President Kennedy announces that U.S. spy planes, U-2, discovered Soviet missiles bases in Cuba (History.com) Cuba is 90 miles away from the United States. These missiles were medium range missiles that were capable of striking important cities, including Washington, D.C. During the next few days, the crisis escalated to a breaking point of nuclear war with two dominating powerful countries.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The crisis was unique in a number of ways, The dramatic crisis was also characterized by the fact that it was primarily played out at the White House and the Kremlin level with relatively little input from the respective bureaucracies typically involved in the foreign policy process.

The stature of every confrontation in the span of the 13 days of the Cuban Missile Crisis was significant in ensuring the safety of both nations. Prior to the actual placement of nuclear weapons on Cuba both the U.S. and Soviet Union participated in an arms race; in which, both powers built massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The use of these weapons would set off a domino effect leading to both nations emptying their arsenal. This