The United States And The Soviet Union Essay

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

It should be noted that North Korea’s communist ally and veto holder, the Soviet Union, was absent from this meeting in protest of the communist China’s exclusion from the Security Council. A United Nations defense force led by the United States, came to the of South Korea and in a rapid counter-offensive, they were able to push the North Koreans back past the 38th parallel close to Yalu River along the border with China. Warnings from Communist China that it would intervene should UN forces push past the 38th parallel were ignored by UN Commanders and true to their word, the Chinese Intervened on behalf of the North pushing UN and ROK forces back to the 38th parallel. In 1953, the war ended with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone, a 4 Km wide buffer zone between the two Koreas (Edwards 2005).

The Korean War begun far before North Korea had launched their first assault upon South Korea. Nearing of the end of the Second World War, the Korean Peninsula had been under Japanese control. Soon enough it was liberated by both American and Soviet forces, the Soviets occupying the country north of the 38th Parallel, and the Americans south of it. After the war, neither the Koreans, Soviets, nor the Americans could agree on the country's government. This resulted in the foundation of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north (Ohn Chang-Il, 23). The fact that neither the States nor the Soviets were willing to compromise on anything was a prime factor in the separation of the Korean Peninsula.

1947 through 1991 was the time period of the Cold War; the Cold War was a result caused by the tension of the after math of what had happened with world war 2 .The tension that was there wasn 't just any kind of tension it was military tension between the power of the eastern bloc and the power of the western bloc. The Cold War wasn 't only one war but it was decades of "little"wars and intimidation. Germany was busy after the war, there where so much tension between the Soviet Union and the western allies because they had feared each other because they had thought a new war could arise. Minister Churchill then decided that he would put what would be an iron curtain across Europe. The Cold War had so many little conflicts within it like the Chinese revolution, the Palestine liberation organisation, and so many more hundreds if you would that happened in the Cold War time.

At the end of World War Two, Korea was divided into two sections. These sections were labeled as South Korea and North Korea. The dividing point was at the 38th parallel. Soviets occupied North Korea, and the U.S. troops occupied South Korea. The United States had troops there to keep the peace, so to say.

The 38th Parallel divided North and South Korea and was established by the United States and the Soviet Union on August 10, 1945. The parallel divided into communist North Korea and anti-communist South Korea. Japanese troops that were north of the parallel line would be obligated to surrender to the Soviet troops while the troops in the south would have to surrender to the Americans.

The role of America at the end of World War II was where the origins of policing the world originate. America had been engaged in a very costly war in terms of dollars as well as lives. But, despite the expense the United States came out of World War II better than any other nation that was involved. The Second World War was a battle between the Allied and Axis Powers. The Allied Powers consisted of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France. This war was seen as the fight against Nazi Germany, and therefore resulted in a majority of the battles fought on German and Russian soil. The aftermath left the Soviet Union in bad shape. Close to twenty million Russians

After the World War II, the Japanese surrendered to the Soviet and the Americans in both North and South Korea respectively. The Korean Peninsula was divided into two states at 38th parallel. In 1948, both states declared independent. Syngman Rhee was the Non-communist Democratic leader in South Korea, Seoul was chosen to be the capital. In North Korea, their leader was Kim Il Sung, established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Pyongyang. During this time, the United States were retreating its World War II troops. The Soviet Union spotted this advantage and supported North Korea with many military supplies in preparation for the invasion into South Korea. On June 25th, 1950, the Korean War erupted after North Korean troops infringed South Korea through the 38th parallel. South Korea called help from the United Nation to stop this invasion. Two days later, President Truman sent troops and military supplies to South Korea. Out of 16 countries helped South Korea, there were 590 000 troops, 90 percent were Americans, General Douglas MacArthur was in command, South Korea seemed to be ready for the Korean

In an effort to avoid a long-term decision regarding Korea's future, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel, a latitudinal line that bisected the country. United States put the problem of Korean independence before the United Nations. A United Nations Commission decided to hold elections in Korea. The communists in North Korea refused to allow the election. The communists in South Korea boycotted it. The government in South Korea was formed by the anti-communist Syngman Rhee called the Republic of Korea (ROK). In 1946, Kim II Sung organized a communist government in the north called the Democratic People's Republic. Each government hoped to reunify the country under its own rule.

Meanwhile, Korea was divided by the 38th parallel since the end of WW2. The North was backed up by the Soviets while the South was backed by NATO. Then on June 25, 1950, The North Korean People's army crossed the 38th

Namely, President Roosevelt suggested a trusteeship in Korea whereby four countries (including China) would help Korea to manage its internal affairs for twenty to thirty years. Stalin accepted this proposal without going any further into the subject (A.A.Gromyko, 1979, pp. 140-142). As a later result, the US-USSR agreement on respective spheres of influence in Korea divided Korea by means of the 38th parallel where the northern part ended up under the Soviet 's control while the Americans controlled the South (Lowe, 1986, p. 19). This demarcation very much shaped the future of Korea actually dividing the world and significantly contributing to the development of the painful conflict between the Southern and the Northern part of one country also known as the Korean War.

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.

There’s quite a long history how South and North Korea was divided. After the end of WWII in 1945, Korea 's division was marked by the US and Soviet occupation of the 38th parallel. Based on the 5.10 South Korean general election in 1948, the Republic of Korea was established on the 15th of August on the South side of the 38th parallel (ROK). On September 9th of the same year, based on the People 's Committee of North Korea, the

The WWII allies had convene that Korea would become free and independent after the war. The United States and The Soviet Union had agreed to divide Korea at the thirty-eight parallel. There was a plan to drive Korea to a democratic nation as a wholesome, but disagreements on what type of government should run the new country between USA and USSR blocked the negotiations and to the day the Korean Peninsula still divided. The though of leaving Korea divided did not seat well in the population minds. “The prospect of perpetuating the division of Korea catapulted some of the southern political leaders to action, significantly altering the political configuration there. The choice they faced was between immediate independence at the price of indefinite division, or postponement of independence until the deadlock between the United States and the Soviet Union was resolved.”