The War Against The Soviet Union

As tensions continued to augment profoundly throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, they brought forth a movement from a previous bipolar conflicting course, to one of a more multipolar nature. These tensions were now not only restricted to the Soviet Union and United states, but amongst multiple other nations of the globe. It became a general consensus that a notion of ‘peace’ was sought globally, hence, the emergence of détente. The nature of this idea in the short term conveyed itself to be an act of change for the conflicting nations, however, in the long term it proved to be a blatant continuity, ultimately acting as a ‘mechanism for domestic fortification’ which prompted a more divisive tone. It became apparent that by the prime 1970’s Cold War countries were now seeking a state of relaxation in political and international tension, détente, through measures of diplomacy and negotiation. Actions, influences and treaties such as the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the establishment of SALT 1, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and the Shanghai Communique of 1972 evidently help reinforce that the concept of détente brought a period focused on lessening the tensions of international relations and ultimately achieve political relation for the future of the Cold War, although the success and impact of this era is abhorred by many historians who have concluded that détente didn’t activate any positive changes to the cold war, and was conclusively a failure.

The Cold War was a “competition” between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, occurring from approximately 1945 through 1991. The Cold War received its name because it did not evolve into armed warfare or physical conflict. The 46-year-long war began immediately after the conclusion of World War II. Some believe it was Joseph Stalin who started it by saying, “He hated westerners in the same way as Hitler hated Jews.” In contrast, others believe that it was America who had started the war, by stating, “Among democratic countries it was only in the USA that presidents were elected against communism.” To others, the bombing of Hiroshima, which took place on August 6, 1945, sent a signal to the Soviets that the USA had used the atomic bomb on Japan, and would not hesitate using it on other countries. The war, characterized by the icy relationship between the two countries, included a number of aspects: the economic impact on both sides, the Space Race, the strong military coalitions, the sophisticated weapons development, and the steep financial costs. The Cold War ended in 1991, during Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s tenure. Gorbachev introduced Glasnost, the allowing of western goods to be imported, and perestroika, the easing of the government’s control on the economy. The reality set in that the Cold War was over when the Soviet Union dissolved into 15 separate and independent countries

For almost 15 years the U.S. has been in a constant state of war. Various terrorist organizations, from al-Quade, to the Taliban, and now Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have maintained our focus so much so that we have almost forgotten about prior threats. Ten years prior to the start of the conflict in the Middle East, the Cold War had officially concluded, ending almost 45 years of server political and military tensions between the U.S. and Russian following WWII. During this period of time, Russia was the central focus of the U.S., although China and North Korea also posed a significant threat. While terrorist threats and activates remain a significant threat, Russia recent annexation of Crimea proves that they are still a very

After WWII, the USA and the Soviet Union faced a conflict as they competed for global power. Neighboring countries, like Afghanistan, were dragged into the conflict causing millions of people to die. Due in part to the high cost of waging this war the Soviet Union fell only four years after the conflict.

At the close of World War Two in 1945, the United States entered another kind of war, the Cold War, which did not involve two adversaries in open battle fields using bullets against the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, incidents fueled feelings of anxiety, mistrust and pride.

World War 2 was both tragic but also a growing period for Canadians. Germany and The Soviet Union were in a non-aggression pact and were trying to take over Europe. Along with their greed for power, Hitler the leader of Germany did not like the Jewish, and sent almost all of them to concentration camps where they were put to work. Those who were too weak to work were put in gas chambers and put to death. Hitler soon broke his pact with Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union. Hitler was then faced with a two front war against the Soviet Union and the Canadian, British and later the United States. At home in Canada many things were happening within society. Women became more involved and became more independent and respected. The government

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author did a great job of reviewing a lot of sources, including interviews with key players on both the US and Soviet side, and wove many threads together into a thorough, and thoroughly enjoyable story. As noted in some of the editorial reviews, at times it feels like you 're reading a spy novel. And at times some of the details - particularly about the Soviet 's germ warfare program - sound almost too lurid to be true. Except that everything in this book is impeccably documented - the bibliography takes up about 15% of the book.

After the end of World War II in 1945 many U.S. citizens, as well as the citizens of the world, hoped for a time of peace. This dream, however, was not the reality of what was to come next. While many hoped to avoid another major war, the fear that had been instilled within their hearts would result a much different type of conflict. Granted, the Cold War never escalated to physical battle, but nevertheless remains one of the most important wars in history. Lasting over a span of forty-five years the three major components of the Cold War include the rise of nuclear weapons, the red scare, and the space race.

After the end of World War II, there had been an emergence of two world superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union who would be drawn into a Cold War that was a silent battle that raged on from 1945 to 1991. Which had started when the Soviet Union’s leader, Joseph Stalin, had started the spread of communism throughout Europe and Asia. At the time the majority of the world was either democratic or independent while only a handful of countries were communist; however all were powerful countries such as the Soviet Union and China. Which meant communism can spread adamantly, and rampantly. It had first started in Eastern Europe such as in Greece, Turkey, and Poland. So to counteract these overtakes, the United Nations, especially the United States had responded vehemently against the rule, with the use of containment in the form of policies, treaties, and responsive actions. Throughout the Cold War, they had managed to contain communist hotspots, and strongholds, in Berlin, Korea, and Cuba.

There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. . . . Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.

For the Third Reich, the invasion of the Soviet Union represented a battle to the death of two incompatible ideological systems, German Nazism and “Jewish Bolshevism.” “The Jews were portrayed as an integral part of the Soviet dragon to be slain,” suggests Mayer. Jürgen Förster also acknowledges “the special character of the [German] war with the Soviet Union.” Jews lied at the heart of the Soviet state and bolshevik philosophy which threatened the very survival of Germany. For them, it was a “ferocious struggle for Sein oder Nichtsein (life or death)[.]” This was why Mayer refers to Operation Barbarossa as a “crusade” against “Judeobolshevism.” Hitler was concerned of Stalin’s ‘Jewish-Bolshevik intelligentsia’” and their eradication would precipitate the internal collapse of the USSR. “The troops have to realize that this struggle is being waged by once race against another,” declared Hitler. The role Nazis believed Jews played in bolshevism made them a readily available scapegoat. They lashed out against those they believed fighting for German

In 1945, the United States and Soviet Union joined up as allies in World War II, which resulted with total victory for United States and Soviet forces over Hitler’s Nazi domain in Europe. After just a few years, allies from war turned into complete enemies, becoming sealed in a military, political, global and economic struggle. But the question is, what led to the Cold War? Was it the Soviets, who revoked their agreements to allow the people of Eastern Europe to determine their own fates by imposing totalitarian rule on territories? Or was it the Americans, who ignored the Soviets security concerns, terrified the world with the atomic bomb, and pushed relentlessly to expand their own international influence and market supremacy?

ii). It was the aim of Hitler to control the Eastern Front and gain access to Soviet petroleum resources (Craig, 1973, p. 18). He also believed that the forces sent to take hold of Stalingrad, the “elite legion” of the German 6th Army, would be capable of doing so because in “three years of warfare, they had never suffered defeat” (Craig, 1973, p. 4). In the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin was certain that if and when Nazi Germany launched another attack, it would be further north towards Moscow, as had been the case with Germany’s Operation Typhoon and resulting Battle of Moscow in October 1941 (Trueman, 2015). Despite guessing incorrectly, Stalin was still capable of arming all able bodied citizens in the Stalingrad region and from as far east as Siberia (Craig, 1973, p. 103), in time for the late August

The initial German invasion of the Soviet Union was known as Operation Barbarossa. It began on June 22, 1941, after months of delay and years of planning. The general goals were to gain more land for Germany, control the oil fields of Azerbaijan, and exterminate Bolshevism—the radical Communism that Vladimir Lenin had installed in Russia during the Russian Revolution. Moreover, Hitler wanted to exterminate the “racially inferior” Russian people from Leningrad, Moscow, and the rest of the western USSR while pushing the rest of the population eastward beyond the Ural Mountains. It was after this invasion that the plan for a ‘Final Solution’ was introduced.

A serious comparison can be made by comparing Stalinist Russia and Nationalist Germany by assessing the use of terror and violence on minority groups, namely the Poles. Both regimes came to believe that difference and dissent were a threat and sought to eliminate those differences by employing extermination campaigns within Poland. Both used violence and terror to force others to submit to their motivations.