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.
Doubt and insecurity largely characterized the Cold War in the late-1970s and early stages of the Reagan presidency. Following the rise and fall of détente, the collapse of the Nixon administration, and the expansion of alarmist groups such as the Committee on the Present Danger, the Soviet Union and
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
Reagan became president in 1981, which means that he was president of the U.S. during a time in which the Cold War began to draw to a close. (Fischer, 1997, p.477). Whereas his predecessors used détente, a more relaxed approach in order to reduce tension between the U.S. and USSR, Reagan and his advisers rejected this strategy (Authors, People and a Nation, p.833). This led to a turning point in the Cold War. Even though the Cold War ended in 1991, two years after Reagan’s presidency, Reagan is still known to have made a huge influence on ending the Cold War. This essay will investigate his actions and how they might have influenced the ending of the Cold War, by looking at how Reagan expressed his distrust toward the Soviet Union and communism, the ways in which Reagan expanded the arms race in order to bankrupt the USSR and other ways in which he tried to sabotage the Soviet economy, but also
The Cold War was a state of political and military conflict that tested the vigor and fortitude of a multitude of United States presidents. Throughout the Cold War, various different strategies and foreign policies were tried and tested by US presidents. However, the environment in which these policies operated in did not stay consistent. Correspondingly, the Soviet Union’s potency fluctuated consistently, meaning that during some periods the “Red Scare” was not nearly as threatening as others. The ever-changing state of affairs throughout the Cold War was spawned from a number of reasons, including both the belligerency of what was then the current Soviet administration and the acting effects of previously implemented American foreign policy.
. President Reagan had an agenda regarding the USSR and the Cold War; he developed a strategy that the Soviet Union could not keep up with. (Shultz, 2104). He used the media to spread his view of the Soviet Union; furthermore, he reinstated the production of the military’s arsenals and expanded missile productions. Financially, the Soviet Union did not the resources to keep pace with America’s developing defense. In conclusion, the Cold War ended with rather high costs for all parties involved. America’s economic struggles continued, the Soviet Union pulling out of Afghanistan allowed the immergence of the Taliban, and the discovery of American weapons being sold to our enemy became the main
Towards end of the Second World War II was not just the end of long hard fought battle, but also the start of an oversensitive and vibrant stage that moved culture on all levels. The post war phase, as it became known, formed the world we live in; the era was created itself both by the war that had lead it, and dominant forces that encased it. As the energy of primarily different ideas Socialism and Equality collapsed with improvements in science as for instinct nuclear bomb, a hazardous situation resulted that produced an atmosphere of fear throughout the world and particularly, inside American walls.
No era of Summitry was as eventful as that of Reagan and Gorbachev’s. Both the leaders held four summits between 1985 and 1988, which eventually changed the course of the history. The personal rapport that the two leaders established between themselves ultimately led to the end of the cold war, without a shot being fired. This was no mean feat, considering that in the preceding four decades, both the countries spared no effort to outdo each other from space exploration to making the most lethal weapons that the mankind had ever known. The 80’s saw the climax of one of the most intriguing rivalries between the two super-powers of the time. This decade also proved the huge importance of
CONAS, in many ways, is just like the American perception of Communism because in CONAS, there were specific boundary rules, they had their own currency, and their government consisted of a group of people that met with a larger group of people in the capital. This is also similar to American’s fears related to this system of government because in the 1950’s, right after WWII, the American’s feared that Soviet Communism would spread. This relates to CONAS because the other “countries” feared that another “country’s” government would spread to theirs. CONAS also relates to Russian Communism and the Cold War for many reasons.
The history of the Soviet Union begins with the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February of that year the wartime decay of Russia’s economy and morale triggered a spontaneous popular uprising in Petrograd. This led to the imperial government of Czar Nicholas II being overthrown. After the formation of a provisional government, workers councils, known as soviets, began to sprout up throughout the country to protect the rights of the working class. This allowed the Bolsheviks (Communists) to arouse widespread interest in a socialist revolution. Eventually, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin seized power from the provisional government. Finally, after securing power, the Bolsheviks officially established the Soviet Union
The hockey game in the 1980 Olympics signified more than just the physical game that was in front of the viewers’ faces. That game was a face-off between the Soviet Union’s and United States’s determinedness and strength through an entertaining sport. The Soviets’ loss of the game and the fall of the Soviet Union itself showed just how strong and determined America was and still is. The fall of the Soviet Union was caused by various reasons and produced changes and major effects to the whole world, especially the United States.
From 1941-1945, the United States, along with numerous other countries throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa, was engaged in World War II. The allied powers bitterly fought against the axis powers on European land and over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. After the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan, which caused the axis powers to succumb to the allied powers, Americans were very relieved that the many years of fierce conflict had finally come to a halt. It was a good time for American citizens to celebrate the return of the soldiers and to enjoy the peace that had spread throughout the world. The United States was starting to rebuild its standard economy and was ready for everyday life to
After the World War II, despite the losses in material and in human lives, both United States and Soviet Union were the only two countries which emerged from that war, and whose powers were really strengthened. That was because both possessed some characteristics that other nations could not boast, such as a multi-ethnic society, a government able to exploit the immense human and industrial resources, implementing also new political programs worldwide. Moreover, these two great countries were markedly different from each other, for both ideologies and purposes, for this reason they proposed two distinct models of development: the "American model" which proposed a liberal system (political- economic), deeply individualistic and characterized
The purpose of this investigation is to determine the role Ronald Reagan had in ending the Cold War. This topic is important because now that it is becoming accepted that Reagan had a goal in mind of ending communism when he became president, it is time to determine the way he accomplished the task of ending the Cold War. The research will focus primarily on deciding whether or not it was through exploiting Soviet vulnerabilities, negotiations, or a military build-up. In answering the inquiry question, the main sources that will be used will be a book and National Security Decision Directive 75 (NSDD 75). The book, a biography of Reagan written by Paul Kengor, titled The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism, views Reagan’s
The second half of the 20th Century has no true analog in history. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged from WWII as the dominant powers in the world. Children of the war grew up under the specter of imminent nuclear holocaust at any moment. Europe was divided by the “Iron Curtain,” while the two “superpowers” each maintained an expansionist doctrine under the pretext of limiting the other’s sphere of influence.
After World War II, the United States had effectively become the most powerful and influential country in the world both militarily and politically. During America’s rise to power, however, hostilities mounted between America and the Soviet Union, resulting in a fierce rivalry. The Cold War, which never involved direct military confrontations between the two nations, involved of the struggle to contain the spread of communism, extreme anti-communist attitudes in America, and a reemergence of the civil rights issue.