The Varying Intensity of the Cold War in Europe Essay

The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the

On February 22, 1946, there was a telegram given to the US State Department of officials from an American Foreign Service officer stationed in Moscow, George Kennan, depicting information of the beliefs of the Russians against capitalism. In summary, it stated “Stalin and the Soviets believe that communism is better than capitalism,” and that “ Stalin and the Soviets believe they will win.” The telegram also had stated, “The United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.” [Doc A]. This demonstrates that the intentions of the USSR are that of destroying capitalism by the warning given by George Kennan to try to stop the spread of communism from gaining too much power and the belief that they themselves would win. This demonstration was heard and the following year in July, the actions to stop communism began. The Truman Doctrine declared the support for developing countries against the communist threat. And again in the following year, there was another policy against the communist threat; the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan “gave over twelve billion dollars [over 140 billion today] in aid to help rebuild European democracies like France and West Germany.” [Background Essay]. This was an opposition against the persuasion of becoming a communist country in Europe. This all shows the American plan of containment against the USSR by economic and military support for the developing countries, to limit the power of the

Citizens of Europe were living in shambles (See Fig 2). Politically, Americans knew spreading capitalistic ways in Europe would gain support from the Europeans, giving the United States trade partners. During the Cold War, Germany became the center of all the tensions between Capitalism and Communism. Germany was the ideal gateway between East and West Europe. Its location made it a suitable place for these political struggles to occur. This angered the Soviets because they too wanted to influence their ways on Europe. The Marshall Plan, following the Truman Doctrine-- which supplied $400 million to countries under totalitarian regimes (Turkey and Greece), appeared to be another anti-communist move made by the United States. However, the United States still successfully achieved the goal of making Europe economically stable.

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.

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.

After World War II, a state of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union took place from 1945 to 1991. Although these two nations had previously fought as allies their relationship quickly took a turn for the worst when the argument had risen over whether communism or democracy was the right way of government. The Soviet Union was determined to spread communism all over the world but The United States did everything in their power to try and stop it. Over the course of the Cold War the US gained much potential and power due to their efforts to dominate over the USSR. One of the main reasons the US gained power was because of the Marshall Plan that was signed off by president Truman in 1948. This Plan was devised as a way

Following WWII in 1945, Europe was not only in ruin but was also extremely divided, with a distinct rivalry between France and Germany. In 1947 USA developed The Marshall Plan; a program of aid that donated $13bn towards the recovery of Southern and Western Europe, which led to the receiving nations experiencing rapid economic growth of between 15%-25% . The 50’s were dominated by a Cold War; a divide between the Democratic West, led by USA, and the Communist East, USSR. This was a long period of uncertainty in which each side expected the other to invade. It fundamentally developed into a conflict fuelled by propaganda, deceit and spies. Both sides had the new advantage of nuclear weapons, which neither wanted to deploy. The tension seemed unresolvable; it became evident that a solution needed to be arranged and that unity could only be established by a federal Europe.

These opposing views caused the formation of an iron curtain, a physical boundary that separated the Soviet-controlled countries in Eastern Europe from the Western democracies. The United States utilized a policy of containment, a strategy of retaliation against the Soviet Union’s policy of communist expansion, in attempt to defeat the spread of communism and save allied nations from becoming chained under Soviet control. The United States was devoted in its battle against communism with instances such as the Truman Doctrine, which promised to aid anyone who was being threatened by communist rule, and the Marshall Plan, which provided over 12 million dollars in aid to help rebuild European democracies like France and West Germany. All in all, containment was a foreign policy of the United States in which subtle, yet effective actions were to be executed during the Berlin airlift, the Korean War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis in an effort to halt Soviet expansion and suspend the spread of

In John Gaddis’s 2005 book, ‘The Cold War, a New History’,3 Gaddis identifies that from the 1930’s, the Soviet Union and the Western allies were already at ‘war’ with each other ideologically and geopolitically, if not military. Thus it was the ending of the military campaign against Hitler’s Nazi Germany, which had previously unified these opposing ideologies, that triggered the onset of the Cold War. Gaddis theorises that the USA could not continue to serve as a model for the rest of the world after the War had ended, while remaining apart from the rest of the world. American practices of isolationism had become untenable as a result of the War and previously suppressed feelings of anxiety by the USA over Soviet expansion and the spread

With this book, a major element of American history was analyzed. The Cold War is rampant with American foreign policy and influential in shaping the modern world. Strategies of Containment outlines American policy from the end of World War II until present day. Gaddis outlines the policies of presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, including policies influenced by others such as George Kennan, John Dulles, and Henry Kissinger. The author, John Lewis Gaddis has written many books on the Cold War and is an avid researcher in the field. Some of his other works include: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947, The Long Peace: Inquiries into the History of the Cold War, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War

With over 13 billion dollars in aid being delivered to Europe under the Marshall Plan, from 1948 to 1952 many European economies grew at an unprecedented rate. The mutual assistance of the aid led to softening of national competition between many countries in Europe, and served the dual purposes of modernization and cooperation for European countries. At the same time as the Marshal plan was being implemented, the Soviet Union enacted what was know as the, “Cominform” that sought to counter the American influence in post war Europe. This program organized by the Kremlin would work with communist parties in European countries through propaganda efforts to

During the end of World War II, a political struggle existed between the Western World, North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, and the Eastern Bloc. Lasting until 1991, this struggle was better known as the Cold War. At the helm of these sides was the United States of America and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics or better known as the Soviet Union. Both of these nations were constantly competing amongst each other in order to demonstrate their superiority of their politico-economic system. This was also done through proxy conflicts such as political, development aid, and military just to name a few. Their focus went towards post World War II European nations in trying to win over these

First, it’s important to note that the Cold War was something that was only between the USA and the USSR is a fallacy. David Reynolds’ piece titled The European Dimension to the Cold War is a historiographical piece that details how the American view of the struggle being just between the USSR and the USA as they “eye each other with watchful suspicion” isn’t exactly on point. Reynolds states the fact right away that many scholars are stressing European forces and problems had a bigger role in shaping this era than not and explains that one of the most distinctive changes in the post-war period is that the European powers began to align more to the liberal, socialistic left than the conservative right, where they were in the inter-war period. Communist Parties all over saw a rise in favor from the people, especially in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but had little to nothing to do with the Soviets; Hungary was largely Catholic and historically anti-Slav, and the Red Army left Czechoslovakia after an agreement with Western powers (Reynolds). The “swing” to the left posed problems for not only the United States and Britain but also for Stalin in the Soviet Union as well, with the demand for

Second Cold War? Until this week’s assignment, I was not aware of the ‘second Cold War’. I grew up in the Eastern Bloc during the time and I was rather young, but I don’t remember transitioning from the first to the second. However, after residing Painter’s book, it started making sense. The Cold War was the tension, both political and military, between the Eastern and Western Blocs, which include number of nations and alliances on both sides. What Painter refers to as the “second Cold War” is the accelerated tensions between the Americans and Soviets which took place in the 70s and 80s.

The historian’s belonging to this school see the Truman doctrine from 1947 as the point when the Cold War started. They put the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansionist policy. According to them, this is the reason, why Soviets broke promises from the negotiations during the World War II, especially the Yalta agreement. On the other hand, the U.S. politicians wanted to continue the cooperation between the Allies even after the defeat of the Axis. They put a lot of hope to the newly created organization – United Nations – and the principle of collective security. However, the U.S. needed to react to the Soviet aggression in Europe. They adopted the policy of containment. The orthodox scholars view this policy as necessity because without it “the Soviet Union would have become the master of all Europe, instead of only the eastern Europe” .