The Cold War was a war that spanned from the end of WWII in 1945 until 1991 when communism influenced by the Soviet Union collapsed. The casualties and losses of the Vietnam and Korean wars, the two major wars fought indirectly between United States and the Soviet Union during the course of the Cold War, would seem like a disaster for both world superpowers. But in fact it was not. The Cold war brought a period of extreme consuming by the United States especially in the nuclear arms race in order to improve the technologies that helped further evolve the power and influence that could be used with United States technology. Over time, these technologies could be shifted more into our daily lives into electronic chips that can be used in …show more content…
Because of the sheer size of these pacts they would lead to negative and destructive conflicts worldwide such as the Vietnam and Korean Wars. While cultural effects of the Cold War were primarily domestic, political battles between the Soviet Union and the US were mostly fought on an international stage. Politically speaking, the US and Soviet Union were polar opposites at the end of WWII.
NATO had 2.6 million troops, 13,000 tanks and 11,000 artillery units. The Warsaw Pact was a little bigger with 4 million troops, 43,000 tanks and 32,000 artillery units. As you can see from appendix A, NATO was made up of mostly countries in Western Europe, while the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact were situated in Eastern Europe and under the influence of Soviet communism. Even with these large armies at disposal the Cold War became more of a propaganda war than a military war due to the antagonist values between the US representing democracy and the Soviet Union representing communism, as well as the fear to whom would strike first.
The speed of technological development during the Cold War was unprecedented. Both sides utilized thousands of scientists and spent millions of dollars developing new technologies. With this development came new military weaponry for both sides. For example, both the US and Soviet Union produced vasts amounts of missiles. The US
The Cold War was a significant period that describes the relationship between the United States and Soviet Union during the period of WW2. Several decades the Cold War strongly influenced the world and in particular Australia and the United States. The period between 1945 and 1980 was a period of unrest when many significant world crisis; The Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam and the Berlin Wall occurred. After World War 2 the United States and the Soviet Union were seen as the world’s strongest nations and the Soviet had gained control over Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany. The United States, Britain and France controlled Western Europe and West Germany. However the SU was a communist country and the US was a capitalist country
Consisting of 44 years of violence and civil unrest from 1947 to 1991, the Cold War was a huge turning-point in history. The Cold War however was a war of avoidance, not combat. Defence systems were heavily funded as deterrence to actual war, the belief being a risk of mutual annihilation would be too great to be the side to make the first move. However, the Cold War caused a large variety of conflict and civil unrest around the world, such as the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The War split the world into supporting either the United States, or the USSR (Soviet Union). Both superpowers were associated with two very different political systems; Capitalism and Communism. The Soviets were very concerned about the spread
The Cold War was marked by a seemingly ever continuous rivalry between WWII allies in a geopolitical and ideological war, each nation focused on their own agenda in a clash of political and economic structure and views for the future of the world. For much of the second half of the 20th century the Cold War became a dominant influence on many aspects of American society. Cultural battles ensued between the superpowers had as much if not more
In Document D, a North Atlantic Treaty was signed, which states, if one country attacks the other, allies are there to defend and assist the country. The NATO and Warsaw Pact was created to help one another if any allied forces were attacked. Countries wanted other countries to be afraid to fight, so they would have to fight their allies. In Document E, a cartoon of Stalin and Truman is pictured playing chess, the pieces resembled strategies of the Cold War. Both sides had a decision and strategy to move or use each strategy or piece. The war was fought more mentally than physically, replicating the game of chess, a mental and strategy game. Which led to decision making in the war of which tactic to use. The U.S. and Soviet Union fought with the use of government, making the Cold War different than other
The Cold War took place after World War II between the years of 1947 and 1991. It was a struggle for supremacy between both the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades. Major crises occurred such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some of the resulting issues. For many, the growth in weapons of mass destruction was the most worrying issue because it is always unknown as to what they could be used for. Neither side ever fought the other because the casualties would be tragic, but they did ‘fight’ for their beliefs using client states who fought for their beliefs on
The Cold War, while not a lethal time, was possibly the most dangerous time in American History. The United States went through three different presidents during the Cold War. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all dealt with the containment of communism in different ways, with Truman and Kennedy looking for slower and more methodical approaches, and Eisenhower, being a war hero, aiming to maximize the use of our military. The Cold War could have easily become WWIII, and if it had, we probably would not be a country today. The Cold War also pushed us to further develop our technology, helping us become the highly advanced America we are today. According to Ayers’s book, The Cold War was a time when we were at a point of high
The US wanted to spread democracy and supported countries with economic assistance who democratically ruled or attempting to be democratically ruled. The Marshall Plan gave financial assistance to countries in Europe to rebuild their nations. Unfortunately Russia did not receive any financial benefits of the Marshall Plan, due to their desire to not appear weak. The US pledged to assist any country who was trying to resist or overthrow the influence of communism. NATO was an alliance of democratic nations who promised to support each other if someone attacked a country. Russia saw this as a US attempt to dominate the world. Russia in response, created the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was in essence a Soviet version of NATO. Each country was supporting any country that was aligned with their ideology. For example, the US supported South Korea whom they had occupied during WWII , while North Korea was supported by their WWII occupying force, Russia. In June of 1950, the North Korean Army, weaponized by Russia, invaded South Korea. In response, the UN forces attacked and pushed the North Korean army across the 38th parallel. In November of 1950, the communist army of China sends hundreds of thousands of soldiers and pushes the UN army to retreat due to heavy losses. With the Cold War in full swing, the US strengthened its
The Cold War was a time where the U.S. was transitioning into the world’s greatest power. There was so much political unrest in Russia that it was no surprise when the two most powerful countries came to a head.
The Cold war, a threatening competition between the United States and the Soviet Unions, kept going from the late 1940 's until the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991. The war was "icy" just in that the United States and USSR never battled one another in an immediate military encounter, however both superpowers debilitated one another with atomic destruction and partook oftentimes in "intermediary wars" by supporting associated countries in various "hot" wars set up like Korea, Vietnam, and Angola. The Cold War characterized both nations ' outside strategies through the a large portion of the twentieth century, as the Americans and Soviets sought partners to keep up and enlarge their separate effective reaches around the globe. Every side saw the chilly war as a fight between the developments, in the overall conflict between the American free enterprise, and Soviet socialism, one and only could win. For over forty years, the Soviet-American clash hung overwhelming over worldwide issues, forming the world with gigantic military developments, an endless atomic weapons contest, serious surveillance, and furious mechanical rivalry as every side attempted to pick up the high ground in planning for the nuclear "hot war" all people dreaded would some time or another come.
The Cold War was called Cold War since it was not a bloody war but, a political war. The Cold War was war between The United States and the Soviet Union it caused separation between these two countries for 45 years. Both these countries fought for the spreading of their political beliefs, bringing controversies between these two countries. The U.S as usual became involved in other country affairs and did the most possible to stop communism from spreading. The U.S teaching their civilians how wrong communism was and the dangers of communism created changes during the 1950’s and 60’s, causing fear and terror of ever being attacked or “bombed”. The Cold War changed lives in the 1950’s and 1960’s and can be measured politically and socially; the struggles between democracy and communism still exist in the 21st Century through North Korea and South Korea.
Cold War: Cold War can be characterized as the political and the military pressure between the two super powers USA and USSR, Western and the Eastern coalition separately. They never went to coordinate war with one another yet they discovered options available to satisfy their cold war plans. It helped in the development of Asian American groups in United States of America. Proxy wars turned into the way to this advancement. Southeast Asian Americans were effected by these intermediary wars in a positive way.
The Cold War was the ideological conflict between the two superpowers of the world, the democratic United States of America and the communist Soviet Union. For over fifty years the two superpowers fought each other indirectly for power and control of the world. The Cold War started after the end of the Second World War in 1945 when the eyes of both superpowers were no longer looking at Nazi Germany, but instead at each other and the fate of the rest of the world. The Cold War began after the Second World War had ended, although tensions between the two new superpowers, United States and Soviet Union, had been lasting since 1917 with the start of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. With the start of the Second World War, tensions were put
The Cold War was one of the wars that made everyone hold their breaths and ponder would would happen next and when. The Cold War was a time period between 1947 to1991 in which the Western powers (US) and the USSR competed with each other in a tense rivalry and strive to outperform one another. It was also one of the key moments in history which spiked a motive and drive to develop and produce new strategies, weapons, and technologies. There was no actual fighting which took place (hence the name Cold War), but the two were always trying to best each other. The two superpowers often contested with each other militaristically, socially, politically, and economically. With this in mind: what weapons were used to fight the Cold War? Generally, Cold War weapons included the use of propaganda, nuclear weapons, and new technological development.
After World War II, the United States had effectively become the most powerful and influential country in the world both militarily and politically. During America’s rise to power, however, hostilities mounted between America and the Soviet Union, resulting in a fierce rivalry. The Cold War, which never involved direct military confrontations between the two nations, involved of the struggle to contain the spread of communism, extreme anti-communist attitudes in America, and a reemergence of the civil rights issue.
The end of the cold war signified a new era of history that has changed the entire world. The face of Europe and Asia has changed dramatically. Vast changes have been felt socially, politically, and especially economically. Also the effect the cold war had on foreign policy was paramount. The effect of these changes is not only felt across the ocean but can be felt here in America. The goal of this paper is to define what the cold war specifically was, and reflect upon the various choices throughout the world as a result of the end of the cold war.