Evaluation of “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival Following World War Two, the two legitimate world powers were the United States and the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union under a communistic government and the United States being a nation founded in Capitalism, tensions between the two nations rose, resulting in the Cold War. Against the wishes of the United States, small countries in East Asia began to turn communist. Fear that one country turning would have a chain reaction turning many more, the United States turned to a policy of ‘containment’. This policy was tested in the Korean War and would be again tested in the Vietnam War. Starting as a War with the communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the French,
Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom and was ruled by a terrible man named Joseph Stalin. That is what it was like in many countries until America’s policy of containment. The United States made a policy of containment because they
The United States and Russia both emerged from WW2 as superpowers. Both of these nations had vastly different ideologies regarding government and the economy. As these two nations struggled to gain increased power and influence globally it seemed almost inevitable that yet another war would ensew. Yet matters were complicated by what had originally been an American super weapon- the atomic bomb which first tests were conducted in 1945. This atomic bomb technology had been stolen by the soviets and each side now possessed enough of these deadly weapons to end the world. As such neither side could choose to directly confront one another as such as action would almost certainly bring about M.A.D. Simalutanly the waning influence of the French and British empires led to numerous liberation movements globally in which various groups fought for control of the former colonies. Such an environment fostered much concern and brought about the American policy of Containment. Containment was a policy originally devised by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan. Kennan had long observed the soviet union and was aware of the desire of the Soviet Union to expand and become a global empire through the use of Marxist satellite states and allies. Kennan theodore established the basis of containment which involved effectively stopping the formation of new communist nations (with military force if necessary) in order to subvert soviet influence whilst simultaneously avoiding a potential nuclear war.
After World War II, the practices of Communism, a political ideology, quickly spread from the Soviet Union to other countries in the Eastern Hemisphere. The United States, a country that practices democracy, avidly made it known to other nations that it opposed communist practices. In response to the rapid number
“The United States adopted a policy called, containment, according to which the U.S. committed itself to preventing any further expansion of the Soviet powers” (Tradshad, par. 5). This was the cause of thousands of American soldiers deaths because it required the United States military to be sent out all over the world to help other countries keep their own types of governmental systems. Many people also payed the United States to keep communism out of the country so that they could remain under the same powers as before the Cold War had ever began. Even though the fear of communism was taken care of, the feelings toward the Soviet Union remained the same in the thoughts that they were trying to ruin everyone’s lives. Except for the fact that the Cuban Missile Crisis was somewhat compromised when the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in Cuba, which were pointed at the United States, in return that the U.S. would pledge to never try to spy or invade in or around their countries again. 6 but not
Almost everyone knows what a monster Adolf Hitler was, but most people do not know that one of the great ally leader of World War II, Joseph Stalin, had committed even greater atrocities than Hitler. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless and yet diligent dictator of the Soviet Union, whose rise to power influenced a multitude of major events in his country’s history. Due to Stalin’s impactful reign, he made the Soviet Union become a global superpower, underwent difficult hardships such as the Great Famine in the Soviet Union, and after his death, caused the Soviet Union to go through a process known as de-Stalinization.
The 20th century was marked by many unforgettable events such as World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Some of these events occurred because of the birth of a government system called totalitarianism. A totalitarian regime is gained either through legal or illegal means and transforms the entire society into a single party regime with the sole purpose of conquering society (Zani, 2003). One of the founding fathers of totalitarianism, Joseph Stalin, ruined the lives of many by taking complete control over their lives through brainwashing techniques and destroying their rights to express their opinion.
After World War 2, everyone was happy, unfortunately this happiness didn’t last long. The Soviet Union and United States had many differences. One of those many being, the Soviets believing in Communism and the United States believing in Capitalism. This little disagreement sparked one of the deadliest wars in U.S. history. The U.S. put the Soviets under a policy known as containment. This meant the Soviets were going to be watched and kept under control. This was to insure Communism wouldn’t spread fast or anywhere else. The strongest example of containment is the Cuban missile crisis, while North Korea vs. South Korea is the weakest example.
During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union created an alliance to prevent Nazi Germany from spreading their fascist and radical ideals, but after the war, it quickly became apparent that both countries had intentions to exploit their previously stable relationship. Shortly after World War II, the
The twentieth-century clash between the Soviet Union and the United States would come to split much of the world between those allied with the U.S and those with the U.S.S.R. These two powerful nations vied against each other not through traditional means but rather through a series of proxy wars to gain spheres of influence. America fought these proxy wars under the guise of containment, which was a strategy to stop the spread of communism. This led America into arguably one the most contentious wars abroad, the Vietnam war. Which was an inevitable consequence of the policy of containment. However, the greater global conflict known as the Cold war did not suddenly come to fruition out of nowhere. It was rather the inevitable consequence
Containment was very important for the United States during the Cold War as they tried to prevent the spread of communism onto their country. Containment was necessary as the Soviet Union started growing its influence of communism through Eastern Europe, including countries such as China, Korea, and Vietnam. This was the result of Germany invading the Soviet Union twice in the past thirty years. A diplomat named George Kennan suggested the policy of containment as he states in his famous journal article in 1947 called “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” that “In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient put firm and vigilant containment of Russian
Introduction- Totalitarianism is a system of government in which the state acts to extends its absolute authority and power into all aspects of its citizen’s lives and have that population be completely under the control of a totally pervasive ruling ideology of a single leader. The essence of totalitarianism can be found in its very name; it is a form of rule in which the government attempts to maintain 'total' control over society, and further seeks to meld that state’s beliefs within that societies core roots, an example of this occurrence can be liquidised through Stalin and his methods in Russia during the 1920’s and 30’s. Carl Friedrich’s, a late political scientist and historian of the 20th century formed the basis of a totalitarian
the containment of communism, U.S. credibility, and strengthening the resolve of others to resist communism.53 The Roper Center’s February 1968 poll found that 49 percent thought one of the strongest reasons for the U.S. military effort in Vietnam was containment of communism; 33 percent cited the impact on the will
To have a balanced argument, it must be examined the influence that the Soviet Union had in this period. It can best be described in two parts – firstly the solidification of the communist states in Eastern Europe for example Czechoslovakia. In 1948, Josef Stalin approved a plan by the Czechoslovakian communists to seize power in the only democratic state left in Eastern Europe . This was shown as making a point that the Eastern European states will remain communist and he would make sure that they did. An example from the 1950’s is the October 1956 Revolution against communism in Hungary. Russian tanks had stormed into Budapest and with the support of the AVN (Soviet backed Hungarian Secret Police) brought Communism back into Hungary . To make a comparison, Stalin and the Soviet Union had in essence, a policy of expansion – to spread communism throughout the world. The USA on the other hand, wanted to try to contain
The historian’s belonging to this school see the Truman doctrine from 1947 as the point when the Cold War started. They put the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansionist policy. According to them, this is the reason, why Soviets broke promises from the negotiations during the World War II, especially the Yalta agreement. On the other hand, the U.S. politicians wanted to continue the cooperation between the Allies even after the defeat of the Axis. They put a lot of hope to the newly created organization – United Nations – and the principle of collective security. However, the U.S. needed to react to the Soviet aggression in Europe. They adopted the policy of containment. The orthodox scholars view this policy as necessity because without it “the Soviet Union would have become the master of all Europe, instead of only the eastern Europe” .