The Cold War, one of the most important international conflicts in global history, was not a series of battles fought around the world, but rather a conflict over ideological differences which was primarily built around the United States and the Soviet Union, and their capitalist vs. communist systems. The Cold War hit a period of paramount importance throughout the late 1950s, where a series of different political and social events led to a shift of the global spectrum in the great capitalist-communist rivalry, which arguably, began the decline of Soviet power, and the approach to capitalist victory of the war. During this period, new rulers entered into the global rule, and the most influential, Nikita Khrushchev, made series of important …show more content…
Eisenhower, and later Kennedy would lead the US, making decisive decision in the fight against communist, and the protection of the free world. While the Cold War may not have been fought with arms, this period of history is one of the most important, and the effects on the world we know to day are still visible. In 1953, the shift in power to new world leaders, such as Nikita Khrushchev in the Soviet Union, and Dwight Eisenhower in the United States (“List of state leaders in 1953”), leading to a dramatic shift in the dynamics of the cold war. On February 25, 1956, Khrushchev, to the 20th congress of the Soviet party, denounces Stalin’s crimes, and begins the first initiation of de-Stalinization -- stating that, to reform and move away from Stalinist policies, an acknoweldgement of mistakes in the past had to be made (“Cold War: Crisis and Escalation [1953-62]”). Then, on November 18, 1956, speaking to Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow, he uttered the famous, “Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you (“Foreign News: We Will Bury You!”)" -- …show more content…
After a popular uprising, the regime would disband the secret police (AVH), declare intentions of withdrawl from the Warsaw pact, and establish free elections, contributing to a Soviet invasion where thousands of Hungarians were arrested, imprisoned, or deported back to the Soviet Union, 200,000 Hungarians would flee the country, and many Hungarian leaders executed (“The Hungarian Revolution”). During this period, politically, Khrushchev would reject Stalin’s “inevitability of war” belief and declare a new goal of “peaceful coexistence” -- changing from the Stalin-era Soviet stance, where international class conflict would mean two opposing camps were on inevitable course in which communism would triumph through global war, into a stance where peace would allow capitalism to collapse on its own, giving the soviets time to boost their military (“Cold War: Crisis and Escalation [1953-62]”). The events in Hungary created fractures in Communist parties worldwide, and especially in Western Europe, where, due to the brutal Soviet response, membership in parties would decline, dealing a blow that the Western Communist parties could never recover from (“Cold War: Crisis and Escalation [1953-62]”). In the late 1960s, America had been concentrating
After World War II, only two world superpowers remained: the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The contradictory political regimes of the democratic United States and the communist Soviet Union were believed to be mutually exclusive which increased bitterness between them. Inevitably, the apparent tension between the two superpowers led to the Cold War which lasted about 45 years. It was war without bloodshed or battle, instead it was a metaphorical war where the U.S and the Soviet Union increased their weapons and fought for political influence, one always wanting to excel or maintain within the range of the other. The United States’ desperate need to contain the communist political ideology from spreading any further and meet the Soviet Union’s increased development of nuclear weapons led to the their involvement in the Cold War. The impact the Cold War had on life during the 1950’s and 1960’s can be measured through the creation of the House Un-American
DBQ Outline Intro Paragraph · Background/Context: The Cold War was a state of political tension after World War II between the Eastern bloc countries and Western bloc countries. Cold War took a significant place in between 1947 to 1991 which the two most powerful countries, United States of America and Soviet Union, were competing with each other over spreading the rule and showing off their arms without killing people. After the World War II, people in different countries started to think about who bears more responsibility for starting the Cold War, United States or USSR. · Three-point thesis: The United States of America bears more responsibility for starting the Cold War because it built up military powers and prepared for
During the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the American people were frightened of the thought of the Cold War due to the fear of Communism. With the rising threat from the Red Scare many Americans condemned Communist, identifying spies in unjust ways. The government took to finding the spies a step too far, violating civil liberties. The American people, fearing the spread of communism, wished to eliminate the threat by decreasing the establishment of communist uprisings. With the formation of the iron curtain, the Soviet Union created a rift, expanding their communist beliefs.
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
Tension built up with countries that practiced communism just as the U.S. expected but not to the level it did. The leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev delivered a speech claiming that the United States is attempting to take over the world. In her speech she says “‘Today the anti-communism” slogan is being used as a smoke screen to cover up the claims of one power for world domination.” (Document G, Khrushchev, 1956) Nikita Khrushchev was trying to convince countries to deny the
Taking place right after World War II (WWII), the Cold War was a “bloodless” war that was based off of both the United States and Soviet Union’s political views, taking place between the years 1947 to 1991. Miniscule physical battles took place under each’s command, but neither side had ever fought one another directly. The conflict remained nonviolent for the most part, affecting each nation and their allies in a plethora of ways possible. Events had occurred due to the actions and beliefs of others, creating a domino effect to fall within the States. As a result of this, the Cold War served as a turning point in the United State’s history, affecting all areas economically, socially, and politically.
The Cold War, spanning almost half a century, was a conflict that accelerated the production of nuclear weapons and forced the United States and the other belligerent, the Soviet Union, to make scientific advances at a rate unseen in any other time in human history. The Cold War Comes to Main Street: America in 1950, written by Lisle A. Rose, thoroughly examines the year 1950 in the United States and the effect that the Cold War had on the American populous. Rose examines communism and the military threat that it posed on the nation and how this impacted American society and the generation that endured World War II.
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.
Nikita Khrushchev was the primary leader of the Soviets during this time. While he attempted to maintain peace with the Western powers, he was the one responsible for initiating the dreaded Cuban Missile Crisis, a foreign conflict under Kennedy’s presidency. He introduced a policy called “de-Stalinization” in the Soviet Union, an effort to remove the influence of the previous potentate (History.com Staff 1). Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy were each in charge of the United States’ cosmological efforts throughout this interlude. Each was exceedingly important to the cause, and was held responsible for the outcome of the duel as well as revving up the U.S. citizens
The Cold War was tense period for the world. The superpowers of the world, Russia and the United States were both capable of causing world destruction through nuclear weapons. The Americans were tired and just wanted to the tensions to ease. USSR and The United States competed over various things to show superiority, including the space race and especially the massive arms buildup. President John F. Kennedy and Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev both had promises that they had made to the nation. Khrushchev was close to losing popularity in Russia, the Russians believed that he was not doing enough for the country as a leader. Kennedy’s statements bragging about “U.S. nuclear superiority” (Donaldson 118), made Khrushchev and the Soviet look bad.
This historical investigation assesses the following question: To what extent did Joseph Stalin cause tension between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the World War II era? To grasp the true cause of the Cold War, research must include insight into separate ideals believed by each; the will of communism spread vs the will of capitalism to contain it; the anxiety of nuclear war; and the presidency of Harry S. Truman. The main sources will include Stalin’s Curse, written by Robert Gellately, and A History of Twentieth-Century Russia, authored by Robert Service.
“THIS WAS THE WAY the war was suppose to end: with cheers, handshakes, dancing, drinking, and hope” (Gaddis, 5). “The tragedy was this: that victory would require the victors either to cease to be who they were, or to give up much of what they had hoped, by fighting the war, to attain” (Gaddis, 6). As a curious reporter for the State Department, I began to see the destruction that the war caused not only within the aspects of American society, but also within the world as a whole. At the end of WWII, the allies had initially won the war and therefore believed that terms of a world based around “normality” would once again prevail. However, “As a consequence, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was, at the end of World War II, the most authoritarian society anywhere on the face of the earth” (Gaddis, 8). It was during this time that Stalin had begun to make it clear that the days of victory would not endure within his country or any country if all of the power was granted to him. As a reporter, not only did I see the ending of one era of war, but also the beginning of another. The only difference in this war was that it relied upon other countries’ willingness to ultimately give up their power in order for the nations to once again become ruled by a powerful leader. In this case, the ultimate leader was Stalin and through his powerful tactics, he would proclaim his victory by the spreading of communism, in an effort to gain ultimate control not only of the countries
The Cold War was the most important historic event in the 20th century after the Second World War, from 1945 till 1991 between two most powerful countries in that period – Soviet Union and USA. The Cold War invested a lot in world politics. What is the Cold War? This was a war for dominance in the world. In 1945 the USA was the only one country in the world that had the nuclear weapons. But in the 1949 USSR started to learn their nuclear weapons. In further developments forced the USSR was soon created by nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. (Isaacs J, 2008) Fight has become very dangerous for all.
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 Cold War In 1945, the United States and Soviet Union were allies, triumphant in World War II, which ended with total victory for Soviet and American forces over Adolf Hitler's Nazi empire in Europe. Within a few years, yet, wartime allies became mortal enemies, locked in a global struggle—military, political, economic, ideological—to prevail in a new "Cold War. Was it the Soviets, who reneged on their agreements to allow the people of Eastern Europe to determine their own fates by imposing totalitarian rule on territories unlucky enough to fall behind the "Iron Curtain?" Or was it the Americans, who ignored the Soviets' legitimate security concerns, sought to intimidate the world with the atomic bomb, and pushed to expand their own international influence and market dominance? The tensions that would later grow into Cold War became evident as early as 1943, when the "Big Three" allied leaders—American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin—met in Tehran to coordinate strategy. Poland, which sits in an unfortunate position on the map, squeezed between frequent enemies Russia and Germany, became a topic for heated debate. The Poles, then under German occupation, had not one but two governments-in-exile—one Communist, one anticommunist—hoping to take over the country upon its liberation from the Nazis. The Big Three disagreed over which Polish faction should b allowed to take control after the war, with