John F. Kennedy, in his January 1961 inaugural address, emphasized the desire for peace among U.S. adversaries and the unwavering fear Americans must foster in negotiating with those who oppose the country’s democratic principles. Within the early months of his presidency, Kennedy faced pressure within his administration to combat the rising socialist power of Cuba in Latin America. However, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev forced his position in Cuba, ultimately countering U.S. occupation by deploying Soviet troops and maintaining communist influence in the region. Khrushchev believed that U.S. invasion in Cuba was imminent and prepared to fight against American troops. The Vienna Summit in 1961 outlined the desire to takeover Berlin, a
The time period in which the Cold War occurred—roughly 1950-1990—was a tense one. Two major world superpowers were set to face off with one another on a major scale. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had built up well-documented nuclear capabilities. As tensions rose and time went on, the world was on edge. This edginess, I argue, continues to this day. In this essay, I will discuss the issues of the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons during the Cold War, as well as the downward pressure towards sub-strategic conflict and its effect on the post-Cold War world.
The Cold War was fought between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The war was a battle to be the most powerful country in the world. Although the Cold War was not a violent one it affected many other countries besides the United States and the Soviet Union. Most of the battles were races to get the achieve technology. South Korea was deeply affected by the Cold War; “Letter to General-Lieutenant Hodge on Northern Korea Providing Electricity to Southern Korea” proves that South Korea’s debt to North Korea was directly associated with the Cold War. North Korea was also very much affected by the Cold War; “Soviet Report on Communists in Korea, 1945” validates the fact that the North Korean
A large part of the Cold War was the costly nuclear arms race. At the beginning of the Cold War the US was the only nation known
One of the big components of the Cold War was the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Each State tried to gain a
The cold war was an extremely important time in the world. It determined relationships for the United States with many other countries. The cold war is usually thought of as the war that was fought without weapons. The cold war was fought with passive-aggressiveness: The U.S and the Soviet Union were desperately trying to put one foot in front of the other’s. (Rocha)
The Cold War was viewed as a frightening time in American history. After the second World War, the major allied powers were splitting territory up to control and keep “safe”. The Soviet Union created the Berlin Wall and decided to attempt and spread Communism among European countries. The United States decided to combat this as an act of protecting democracy for all. When labeled as super powers of the world, the US and USSR had the most worldly influence in this time period. The decision was either you were helping fight Communism or help spread it, sort of like a competition. The Space Race had becoming the big concern along with nuclear warfare in this time. People of the country knew that Sputnik had been launched by the Soviet Union as a satellite, creating panic and distress among the western society. The government basically reassured the public that the skies above the Earth will not be used for weaponry and war but for science and learning. Within the speech, President Kennedy uses
The Cold War was one of the most intense times the world has ever gone through with the threat of both United States and Soviet Union on the brink of the use nuclear weapons against each other. The world watching these counties as they threaten one another with missile treats like the Cuba Missile Crises or the missiles that the US had in Turkey. There was also the Space Race where US and USSR tried to be the first to the moon. During the 1950’s the countries first raced to see who can develop the technology to send an artificial satellite into the earth orbit. Then they tried to go further and send a human into orbit and later on to have them land and actually be able to walk on the moon. With both countries getting close
U.S. actions throughout and around the war will have lasting effects both during the conflict and afterward. How President Obama chose to work with allies and against enemies will set the playing field for the new administration.
As the Soviets had advanced much faster than the U.S. in this period of time, Kennedy pushed to excel past their advancements. The space race represented the promise of the New Frontier, inspiring the coming generations of Americans to pursue dreams that had once seemed unattainable. Citizens of the United States were revitalized by Kennedy’s goal, giving the U.S. a refreshing sense of motivation and unity to land a man on the moon before the decade was over. Later on in his presidency, the U.S. had also gone through the Cuban Missile Crisis. Many thought an all-out war was imminent, but Kennedy prevented any sequential conflicts: “…in October 1962, Kennedy imposed a quarantine on all offensive weapons bound for Cuba. While the world trembled on the brink of nuclear war, the Russians backed down and agreed to take the missiles away. The American response to the Cuban crisis evidently persuaded Moscow of the futility of nuclear blackmail” (Beschloss). Kennedy reasoned with Russia and Cuba during times of distress and anxiety, making conservative choices as to not provoke nuclear war. Learning from his mistakes made in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy did not wish to engage in war with military powerhouses Cuba and Russia. As a Senator,
Following the events of World War II, in 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union entered a state of tension due to disagreements between the two countries during the war. With the United States being a capitalist nation and the Soviet Union being a communist nation, friction easily escalated into The Cold War which resulted in intense competition for many years after. The United States greatly feared the spread of communism beginning with the first Red Scare during World War I and adopted the containment policy after the second Red Scare to prevent further spread of communism. Tensions peaked at an all-time high during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, (1961-1963) along with the Soviet leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and the Nuclear Arms
“Being the two dominant world powers after WWII, contention between the Americans and Soviets became a global conflict. The Cold War differed from most wars in that it was as much of a propaganda war as a war with military engagements. The Korean and Vietnam Wars are important examples of military intervention by the Americans in the name of stopping communist expansionism. However, these wars did not have the decades long impact on American domestic and foreign policy that the cultural, political, and economic battles of the Cold War had.” (Shad’s Blog) From, who having the first atomic bomb to who landing in space first, all this commotion because the Soviets were taking over land and trying to spread communism in Europe when they said they weren’t. The first atomic bomb was made and tested successfully by the United States, but was kept a secret because the U.S. feared that the Soviets would take their ideas and create one of their own, in which the Soviets did. In addition to the competition of becoming world power, the Soviet Union was successful in being the first to go to space. “Space exploration served as another dramatic arena for Cold War competition. On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit.” (The Cold War Extends to Space) But finally, the Soviet Union fell in 1991. “The fall of the Berlin Wall. The shredding of the Iron Curtain. The end of the Cold War.” (The End of the Cold War)
Mikhail Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye in North Caucasus Russia. His childhood was very hard because at that time Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. The Germans invaded the Soviet Union when he was ten and Nazi troops occupied the territory of Stavropol, the area where Gorbachev lived, until 1943. Even after their departure the effects of the occupation continued to make life hard and made a lasting impression on the young Gorbachev.
The Cold War was a different type of war that the world has never seen before. Instead of deploying troops, there was the threat of the deployment of nuclear bombs. This development in technology was an invisible threat which had the potential to wipe out an entire population in mere moments. If the U.S. was unable to harness the power of nuclear weapons first, then they feared that they would be annihilated and life as they knew it would forever change. The United States saw this nuclear arms race as a ticking time bomb. If it were to explode, then not only would the U.S. be wiped off from the face of the Earth, but liberty and freedom would vanish along with it. This fear would sweep across the nation to the point that the word
The Cold War, two ideologies; capitalism and communism, two champions; the United States and the Soviet Union, locked in a brutal war of influence, every country a battle ground. Though nuclear annihilation was avoided, thousands lay dead in the plethora of conflicts stemming from it, with lasting impact. In the Middle East,the Cold War took form as conflict between two countries, though smaller in size, but similarly ideologically at odds: Egypt and Israel. This conflict would manifest itself as a series of wars between the two regional powers, culminating in the Six- Day War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. The ideological rift between Egypt and Israel, prior intervention in the region, and extensive arms transfers, all byproducts