The Cold War from 1945 to 1960 exemplified the consequences of having two world superpowers. Following the conclusion of World War Two, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the top nations around the world. The two nations were polar opposites. The United States was a flourishing democracy and an ideology of freedom for citizens. The Soviet Union under the control of the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin was a strict totalitarian government with communist ideals. The Cold War period would represent the tension, controversy, and differences between the two nations attempting to be considered the top power militarily, socially, economically and politically. The origins of the Cold War can be explained by the vast number of …show more content…
Economically, the United States believed in a capitalist approach and a free-market while the Soviets practiced the path of socialism and state-planning. For both countries, their opponent during the Cold War seemed to call into question the fundamentals to their society. These differences seemed like attacks to the other and would cause the tension among the two nations to grow very deep and can be considered one of the greatest origins of the Cold War.
Another origin of the Cold War can be attributed to the conflicting desires of the two superpowers. Both nations wanted to have global influences around the world in order for them to achieve distinct goals. The United States had economic desires. The nation wished to establish trade partnerships, new resources and make money for the country. The American economy was already flourishing, and that would continue if the United States expanded into global markets. However, the Soviet Union had desires along the ideological path. Their leader, Joseph Stalin hoped to spread Communism and establish satellite nations. This origin of the cold war also appeared to be a goal for the Soviet Unions. By establishing these satellite nations, the Soviet Union would have a broader sphere of influence as the top communist nation around the world. In contrast with this goal, the United States developed the containment policy which will be a key objective for the U.S. during the Cold War. The containment policy outlined the
The main reason for the cold war was because the Americans could not accept the lifestyle that the Soviet Union decided to live as communists. The cold war was heavily routed in American individualism and trying to impose our values on the Soviets. Americans value individualism. They believe in a society that associated with capitalism, and a thriving economy. They also believe that everything is possible and attainable with hard work and determination. The main priority is being individualistic. This is to make sure that everyone is in control of the way their own life will turn out. Soviets that followed communist believed in “social organization.” They believe in equality and liberty through force. All property is public domain and each
The Cold War was the result of a clash between communism and capitalism, two opposing world-views. Another cause of the build up to the Cold War was the intransigent attitude of both sides. The Soviet Union was extremely concerned about its security after having been invaded twice in the twentieth century. In 1945 America created and used the atomic bomb against Japan and the USSR was determined to create one of its own. Both the
After the end of World War II on September 2, 1945, a new era called the Cold War began. The Cold War was a non-violent state of political and military tension between the democratic and capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union: two of the biggest powers of the world at the time. However, they were drastically different in both economy and politics, allowing rivalry to build up. They both wanted to become the most powerful nation of the world, and both feared that the other nation would rise up to become the most powerful nation of the world.
From the years of 1941 to 1949, there was an increase in suspicion and tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was a Communist country ruled by a dictator while America was a capitalist democracy that valued freedom. Their completely different beliefs and aims caused friction to form between them, which contributed to the creation of the Cold War.
When trying to figure out the factors that lead to the cause of the Cold War, it is best to look at other factors as well. It is best to look at both the Soviet Union and the USSR's policies and plan. For example, the United States held true to their idea of Capitalism while also being cautious of Soviet Communism. When Europe was in desperate need to rebuild after World War II, The United States made monumental moves to prevent the spread of Communism as seen with the passing of the Marshall Plan which had been a reaction to the coup in Czechoslovakia. The Marshall plan was designed to give immediate economic help to Europe. There was a confliction of deciding whether or not to allow the Soviets to join the plan or to exclude them. This aspect was solved by setting down strict criteria to qualify for American economic aid. This incident allowed the United States to investigate the financial records of applicant countries. However, the USSR would never tolerate this condition. The United States wanted to invite the USSR to join the Marshall Plan. The aim of the Marshall Plan was to revive European working economies so that political and social stability could ensue, and the other aim of the Marshall Plan was to safeguard the future of the U.S. economy. The Soviet reaction the the Marshall Plan was not very well. The Soviets rejected the Marshall Plan. The Soviets saw this as a prime example of American ¨dollar imperialism.¨ In other words, the Soviets
Like I said the three main causes of the Cold War were the spheres of influence, ideology, and military factors. The spheres of influence is like a challenge, if the United States gains power the Soviet Union would react in fear, and vise versa. Ideology has to do with capitalism and socialism. The same thing is going on with the Soviet Union except they practice socialism. Military factors are when one side of the war makes an adjustment to their military, the other responds in kind. For example if the United States made a new bomb, the Soviet Union would do the same thing.
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 began due to political and military tension due to World War II. The Soviet Union and America were two world superpowers that fought for a change in government and world supremacy. America feared a communist expansion from the Soviet Union and created many policies, laws, legislations, and pacts to protect democracy on the home front as well as internationally. The Cold War stemmed from the Soviet Union’s failure to maintain their integrity to the group of nations in the Yalta and Potsdam Conference. Soviet leader, Stalin invaded Eastern Europe and started the communist expansion in regions that were promised to be untouched. The consequences of his actions resulted in the Cold War. American reactions to the Cold War were justified
The Cold War was brought on by the differences in economic treatment and political ideology between the US and USSR that could no longer be ignored once the common goal of fighting together as WWII drew to a close and ended. The two powerful countries saw the other country’s actions, or lack of actions, as a power grab and a threat to their own national security. Threats of nuclear attack caused many issues between the US and USSR. The two countries acted to prevent the expansion of each other’s political ideology into other countries.
The Cold War was a state of economic, diplomatic, and ideological discord among nations without armed conflict. The Cold War was between the United States and the USSR because these were the two major powers after WWII. Basically, the Cold War was a series of proxy wars that had taken place back in time involving surrounding countries. One of the main causes for Cold War was that the Soviet Union was spreading communism and the United States didn’t like that so they were trying to contain communism. However, in the end they failed. Many events took place in other countries. In Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, and China, communism took over; however, before it did, major wars had taken place. The cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union worsened the condition of countries involved. The Cold War broke countries into two parts that turned against each other, the United States and the Soviet Union used these countries to fight their war and caused a big disturbance to daily life, and the Communist States fought the Non-Communist States; however, the end results of these wars only caused more damage in these countries.
The Cold War was the name given to the time period from 1945 to 1991. After World War II, tensions began between the United States and the Soviet Union. Fighting between the United States and Soviet Union did not happen directly against each other. Instead they fought with arms races, space races, and spying. Both superpowers set aside their differences to defeat Adolf Hitler, even before the war the United States distrusted the Soviet Union. The United States disliked the way the Soviet Union ran government. They believed that the Soviet Union wanted to overthrow the non-communist governments.
For nearly fifty years, the world lived in fear as two super-power nations quietly battled for power, respect and popularity of their respective political views. The Cold War arose out of the ashes of the failed alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union in World War II. Many different factors could be linked to the actual cause of the Cold War, however many agree that the political future of Eastern Europe was the major spark that ignited the battle between Communist Russia and Capitalist America1. The American fear of the spread of communism and their ambition to penetrate the "Iron Curtain" only added fuel to the fire that had been burning for some time already. Although the
During World War II, the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) were allies, fighting side by side. With the defeat of Hitler in Germany in 1945, the two superpowers rose: the Soviet Union and the United States. It led to a long struggle for supremacy, known as the Cold War that last about 44 years.
However, the main reason for the start of the Cold War was the fact that both countries had completely different ideologies and plans for their countries. The USA was a capitalist country and also a democratic one so people had freedom of speech and choice in elections. There were also more than one political party competing in the elections. In contrast, The USSR was a communist country and so people didn’t have freedom of speech or choice in
The Cold War was a geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle mainly between the two superpowers, The United States of America and the USSR. Although the USSR and US were the two superpowers that initiated the conflict, other countries such as Vietnam, North and South Korea, and Cuba had major involvement in the Cold War. The US was a capitalist country while the USSR was a communist country. There are many reasons, that when combined caused the Cold War to start. Some of the most important reasons were the fear of the USSR’s expansion of communism into Eastern Europe