“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” The Cold War placed most of the post-war world into a perpetual state of paranoia and dramatically rose tensions between both world powers and their respective ideologies; the Communist Soviet Union and Capitalist America. Both of these powers were in a race to have the advantage over one another, with accelerations in arms developments and eventually creating a standoff between the the Western and Eastern blocs. Two national leaders were very prevalent in bringing a significant amount of change to the European Region, the first leader being Harry Truman (1945-1953) who introduced the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan with the slogan “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities and outside pressures” The second significant leader who exacted significant change in the European Region and subsequently culminated the Cold War was Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) whose policies of Glasnost ‘Openness’ and Economic, Political and Social Perestroika ‘Restructuring’ followed his belief that “It would be naive to think that the problems plaguing mankind today can be solved with means and methods which were applied or seemed to work in the past. . .” Both leaders exacted changes that were crucial in shaping the European region during the Cold War.
President Harry Truman was inaugurated as
In the period after World War II, from the late 1940’s up until the 1990’s, the United States and their allies were engaged in a “cold” war with the Soviet Union and its allies. Except for minor proxy wars between countries supported by the respective sides, no major wars were fought between the U.S. and the USSR. Nonetheless, tensions were extremely high for many years and the two superpowers constantly went back and forth trying to best the other. Likely the most well-known of these competitions was the Space Race. Battling for cosmic supremacy from the late 1950’s to 1969, the two countries traded many victories over the years and pushed each other to their technological apexes.
In 1945 the Soviet Union and the United States became enemy's. They had became enemies because they could not agree on a lot of things. There where a lot of factors to them splitting up. They decided it wasn't a good idea to be allies with all of their differences. One of the biggest things that they couldn't agree on was government. The United States believed in encouraging democracy into other countries so that a communist government didn't rise to power in other countries. Unlike the United States the Soviet Union believed in communism. They would encourage communism in other countries as a big part of the world wide "workers revolution" I believe that this was a big reason that the two countries could not get along and decided to not be
The Cold War began not very long after the end of World War II in 1945. Despite the fact that, the Soviet Union was an essential part of the Allied Powers, there was certainly a great amount of distrust between the Soviet Union and what remains of the Allies, specifically the United States. The Allies were worried about Stalin 's ruthless leadership and also the spread of communism. The Cold War was a long stretch of tension between the US and the communist countries of Eastern Europe, the USSR. These two nations later became known as superpowers. Even though the two superpowers never formally announced war on each other, they battled indirectly in proxy wars, the arms race, and the space race. At last, the Cold War came to its end with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The United States and the Soviet Union additionally tried to fight the Cold War by showing their power and innovation. Although, both countries are partially at fault, the Marshall Plan, NATO, and the Iron Curtain Speech prove that the Soviet Union is responsible for starting the Cold War.
Mikhail Gorbachev is a foreign leader who worked with Reagan and also wanted to eliminate communism. If the Soviet Union collapsed, then all influences of communism would stop, which is what Reagan and Gorbachev wanted (Marsico, 84). The nation as a whole agreed that they did not want communism to spread beyond the borders of East Germany and seep into their culture. During the span of 1985-1988 five meetings between the Americans and the Communists negotiated issues of diplomacy. By the early 1980’s the Soviets had built up weaponry which was almost comparable to America’s weaponry, but as the decade went on the Soviets were unable to keep up (Marsico, 84). This inferiority pleased the American people. By 1991 the cold war had concluded. on June 12, 1987, Reagan asked Gorbachev helped to eliminate the oppressive influence that communism had outside of the soviet union (Marsico 85-86). He wanted to stop the influences so that communism would not spread any further than it already had. Standing beside the berlin wall, which separated East and West Germany, Reagan gave a speech which reminded every one of the differences between the two sides. General Secretary Gorbachev” Reagan challenged him, “if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the soviet union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate, Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall!”
In 1945, one major war ended and another began. After World War II, the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union were involved in what became known as the Cold War, which was a period of mutual fear and distrust. The war was given the name "cold" because the two sides never actually came into direct armed conflict; it was a war of words and ideologies rather than a shooting war (Crawford, 2009, p. 6). The Soviet Union and the United States came out from World War II as the new world superpowers, and despite their common victory with the defeat of their enemies, their primary bond was broken. There were deep-rooted ideological, economic, and political differences between the United States and the Soviet Union prior to the Second World War. Their differences, most notably their political systems and their visions of a postwar Europe, were intensified as a result of their mutual suspicions and during and after the Second World War drove the allied nations into an ideological conflict that lasted for 45 years.
The United States and Communist Russia endured a complicated relationship in the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1940’s the U.S. had encouraged an alliance with the Soviets against their common enemy, Nazi Germany. This short-lived accord began to deteriorate as WW II ended. By 1947 U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union had shifted from one of cooperation to a policy of containment. In 1949, when the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb, it was a widely-held belief in the U.S. that the Russians were an untrustworthy enemy with plans to invade the United States. America’s mood turned on American Communists, labeling them traitors and Russian spies. Underlying a domestic sense of well-being in the United States in the 1950’s
After the World War II, the tension between both the United States and the Soviet Union were extremely high. This mistrust between the two nations led to the Cold War that had lasted approximately 45 years before ending in 1991. Although the war had ended, Americans were still in fear of the spreading of communism that may affect their society as a whole. Americans also feared the Soviet Union’s new technological advances such as the launch of Sputnik in 1957. In response, Eisenhower had increased science and math curriculums in educational programs. However, many other social programs were overshadowed by Eisenhower 's new policies of pouring a large amount of the U.S. government
World War II shocked and dismantled many Eastern European countries leaving Europe in a state of shock, with many unanswered, open ended questions. Buildings were blown up, streets cracked, people slaughtered, and governments destroyed. As turmoil struck Eastern Europe, an opportunity arose for a new political system to come into power. However, this process is never a simple one; two common political ideologies fought to control the heart of Europe. Capitalism led by the Western Allies, funded by the United States Marshall Plan, spread providing a short time of economic prosperity. The American’s plan however could not venture as far east as West Germany with Moscow’s direction of Communism led by Joseph Stalin and he took over a large portion of Eastern Europe with many open statements and empty promises. These two ideologies caused an enlarged time of tension stemming from the drastically different values they were known to embrace, leading to a horrific time known as the cold war.
During the era of the Cold War, starting in 1947 and definitively ending in 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union faced off in conflicts with each other through smaller states.
America and the Soviet Union were on the brink of world destruction. The Cold War was one of the most frightening times in American history but strangely the difference between the cold war and the other major wars was the two superpowers in the United States of America and the Soviet Union never actually fought in any battle or had attacked the other through the long 50 years. It affected many people from the fear of destruction, the wave of patriotism in people for their country, and to the wave of people wanting more from the government and wanting a drastic change. It also forced America to change its ideals on their foreign policies and had America get more involved in foreign affairs and move away from their idea of isolation. The cold war also gave way to the rise of unions and the wave of worker rights. The effect of the Cold War has affected American culture and policies into the system and style of life we live in today.
It’s the 1950’s, WW2 is over, lots of countries of devastated with the dead and are all out of money. The world’s two biggest superpowers, the Soviet union and the United states of america are fighting over what economic system is better. The Soviets believe in a system of communism and totalitarianism,where government owns all property and everyone gets the same money, no more rich or poor people. While the United States of America believes in a system of capitalism and democracy where there is private ownership and you get to make money even if others can't or are unable. The soviets want to expand their idea of communism all over europe and maybe even the world! The United states wants
The 1980’s were a dynamic time in the life cycle of the Cold War. The early portion of this decade, which saw massive shifts in the administrations of the United States and Soviet Union, maintained an atmosphere of suspicion, wariness, and skepticism. This theme of uncertainty and caution was the logical product of decades of both American and Soviet duplicity, confrontation, and militarization. Yet, despite this mistrust between the polar Cold War belligerents, and contrary to the early rhetoric of the Reagan administration, the United States and Soviet Union modified their perceptions of each other’s intentions following 1985’s Reykjavik Summit, which, despite producing no tangible results, established common desire for arms reduction and a conclusion of the Cold War. This warming of relations, however, increased at a gradual rate and encountered significant hurdles as the two nations attempted to limit the potential for thermonuclear war. Ultimately, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev’s “dialogue of the eyes” transitioned from one administration to the next, while also weathering significant domestic pressures as the United Soviet Socialist Republic disintegrated.
I did not know that my grandmother was concealing her experience as a Korean War refugee behind her disarming smiles and caring personality. To me, who spent more than ten years of my childhood with my grandmother rather than my parents, she seemed like a person who has been wearing her big smile since her birth. Consequently, I have never guessed that my grandmother would have such tragic childhood as a war refugee. My grandmother also barely talked about the Korean War, when I was living with her, so I had to make sure multiple times that she was born before the Korean War before the interview and found out that she was only 9-year-old when the Korean war had occurred.
Before the 38th Parallel , there was no North Korea and South Korea – only Korea. The 38th Parallel was initially created to guarantee that Japan would surrender to the Soviet Union in the north and the south would surrender to the United States, but it later became a barrier between the two states. (Gupta 1972). The line was proposed by the United States and agreed to by the Soviet Union. Author William Stueck names the 38th parallel as the first step in the Korean War, writing, “the war originated in 1945 with the division of the peninsula into occupation zones by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the perpetuation of that division as a result of the two nation’s subsequent failure to agree on terms for unification.” (Stueck 1995)
Communism is the new enemy! Communism is now here in America, will it stay? The newest threat since The Great War has people of all over the states paranoid. Now that communism flourished in Russia many Americans are terrified about having the new government established in our homeland. Many government officials question if Communism succeeded in Russia, will it succeed in The United States? Now that the radical formed the Communist Labor Party, communism is present in our nation but it isn’t a big deal, for now. People are turning on other people because of this incident. People are getting out of control.