The World War II And The Cold War

The Cold War holds a special place in the study of international relations and its paradigms and perspectives. In this part of the course, three readings work together to provide a basis of arguments and positions on the origins of the Cold War as they relate to international relations. As George Kennan describes in the article written under the pseudonym ‘Mr. X’ in the early years of the Cold War, the Soviets were widely recognized in the western world as being fundamentally expansionist by nature, and this fundamental attribute would lead to the ultimate quest to spread communist ideology across the globe, eventually leading right up to the United States’ doorstep. Similarly, Douglas J. MacDonald lays out the viewpoints held by policymakers

WWII and the Cold War were two very important wars in the history of the world. They both had a important role in the development of the world. The Cold War impacted society and politics more so than WWII by aiding countries in hopes of making them join their regime, the use of propaganda techniques to portray the other superpower as weak, the fear of annihilation due to nuclear weapons, and the war between communism and democracy.

When discussing WWII and The Cold War from an American perspective, the focus is likely to be centered on the wartime efforts of the country while debating strengths and shortcomings within those efforts. However, while the physical and psychological wars waged on, America’s homefront saw a continuation of fighting in the form of social movements aimed at attaining equality for all Americans. Minorities like African Americans and Mexican immigrants continued to face discrimination and racism during WWII but were shaped in different ways by the war. The Cold War era in America is a very complex subject marked by heightened tensions, fear, and paranoia among citizens. Much in the same way that WWII shaped the plight of minorities and immigrants on the homefront, the Cold War era also effected what it meant to be an American by shaping the conformist social class. Reaction to this conformity would also be shaped by the Cold War era, and Americans would eventually become critical to these effects.

The Cold War Era that followed the end of World War II was unlike any Americans had seen before. After defeating Germany and its allies in the war, the United States faced a change on the home front: young Americans rushed into marriage and parenthood in unprecedented numbers. In Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era, Elaine Tyler May describes these changes from the end of the war through the early 1960s. The author makes a compelling range of arguments about the changes that affected Americans during this period. Mainly, May argues that the “domestic containment” that arose after World War II promoted the new dynamic of a suburban lifestyle, in part because of the increasing fright of looming communism during the Cold War Era.

The Truman administration was more influenced by balance of power considerations than any other considerations, including domestic politics. Because of the external threats to the United States between 1947-1953, it was inevitable that these policies would have been pursued. Most significantly, Stalin at this point was perceived by the Western powers as having expansionist tendencies. Truman saw the Soviets as highly motivated to dominate the world, and committed to aggressively exploiting all opportunities to enlarge their sphere of influence. Considering the context of Truman’s post-W.W.II

The war between the United States and the former Soviet Union, referred to as the Cold War, was one in which no fighting occurred directly between the two powers. The primary reason for the war for the Soviet Union was to spread communism while the U.S. attempted to stop the spread of communism to make way for capitalism. The U.S. and the Soviet Union considered themselves different to their core, but they used identical tactics to fight this war. Although the Cold War was considered and arms race, such that the main fighting was trying to have more nuclear power than the enemy, the most important soldiers of the Cold War were artists. The weapons these artists used were children, illustrating them in a way that would provoke the population to consent to the war. The Cold War was fought using propaganda involving children with messages including protection, prosperity, and stereotypes.

When WWII ended, the US and the Soviet Union emerged not as friends, but as enemies. This occurred for a multitude of reasons including: direct opposite experiences in WWII, the US 's desire to contain communism, and economic incentives. These factors caused the cold war to materialize and then further escalate into an arms race.

The Cold War was a period of 44 years of both military and political tension after World War II. There were many ideals and events that lead to the Cold War. Nationalism, poor economic conditions, and a strong desire for democracy and human rights are the primary reasons that many believe the Cold War started. However, these are just a few of the reasons for the Cold War. Events such as the Yalta Conference, Truman Doctrine, Potsdam Conference, and the Marshall Plan also greatly influenced the start of this long-lasting war.

During the 1970s, the Cold War had quieted down for a bit and there were even negotiations of peace talks. That all changed when the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in favor of the communist side while the USA were aiding the anti-communist side. Eventually America pulled out of Afghanistan and went home, but the tension that was there continued through the 1980 Olympic Games. The Soviet Union dominated in the sport of hockey for several years and won gold medals multiple times, but what satisfied them the most was beating team USA every time they faced. The USSR wanted to show their dominance and their pride every time they faced USA. That’s why the miracle on ice game was more than just an underdog story, it was the second Cold War. “The Olympics are hardly apolitical. Nothing is apolitical in this world. The Olympics are the last thing,” Mansbach said. “So in a sense, the hockey match was a Cold War, literally and figuratively.” Draped in the irony of the Cold War playing out on actual ice, the U.S. pulled off the improbable upset and continued on to beat Finland in the gold medal game. “It enhances the reputation of the administration, even though it had nothing to do with it. Simply, citizens bathed in the glow [of the win] that somehow capitalism, Americans [and] the free world had won some type of significant, symbolic victory,” Mansbach said.

In the wake of World War II as the decades-long force of Germany’s reign came to its conclusion, an extensive repositioning of authority among the world’s top powers began. The war wielded devastating consequences for most countries involved and effectively diminished the dominance Britain and France once employed across the globe. Out of this devastation rose the two new dominating forces of the world who were triumphant in the aftermath of the war: the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States desired to spread democracy across the globe, while the Soviet Union remained ambitious in the hopes of ending capitalism and inciting communist revolutions. The Cold War began in 1947 as a result of the ideological tension steadily built between these two superpowers throughout both World Wars and their prolonged rivalry over the division of power in the postwar world.

After the Cold War, the United States (US) and Soviet Union remained the top two superpowers. As the Cold War progressed, the ideological battle was often fought in countries that held little physical strategic value. One such country was Vietnam, an Indochina region that was historically under French control. During the 1960’s and 70’s, however, there was also influence by China over Vietnam. The Soviet Union attempted to gain control within third world countries as well. Consequently, since the US adopted a protectionist attitude toward the world, they had no choice but to intervene as well. While this relatively insignificant location was an obscure location for the US to attack, it fit perfectly into the context of the cold war. As an ideological battle for supremacy, the US felt that it was integral to offer relentless support to the anti-communist forces in an effort to undermine the influence of both China and the Soviet Union. Similarly, the Communist presence in the third world was also important to the Soviets throughout the cold war. Despite facing domestic problems and a resilient Northern Vietnamese opponent, the United States and Lyndon b. Johnson persisted in fighting a war of attrition mainly due to strong international political pressure to support democracy and eliminate communism.

Communism came to the Soviet Union in 1918. The United States didn’t trust the communist. Communism’s goal was to bring down capitalism in any way possible. When Stalin came into power in 1924, the US mistrusted him even more.

From when World War II ended in 1945 to Soviet Union falling in 1991, the Cold War had a major influence in international affairs. It was a continuous competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Arne Westad argues that “the Cold War was a continuation of colonialism through slightly different means” (Westad, 396). I believe this statement is a description of World War II’s colonialism ways transitioning onto another international conflict; the Cold War. The Cold War began as a disagreement between the Soviet Union and America when it came to communism. The Soviet Union was afraid of America’s atomic weapons, as America was afraid of the Soviet Union’s growing army. Soviet Union was pro communism and America was pro capitalism. Overshadowing all was the threat of nuclear war. The U.S. is to blame for the Cold War due to threatening the “communist Soviet Union” in support of our own political systems. I can conclude this with points made from Westad regarding the Soviet Union’s actions and America’s as well.

After World War II came to a stop in the mid-20th century, a new rivalry began known as the Cold War. This battle sorrowed the world’s two great powers the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union against each other. Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another tense stage for this competition, as each side wanted to prove the superiority of its technology, its military firepower and by extension its political-economic system.

The ideological polarity between the United States and the Soviet Union cemented political and military alignments between countries who became the First World (led by the capitalist United States), and the Second World (led by the communist Soviet Union). As divisions formed and deepened between the First and Second Worlds, the other two-thirds of the planet, which came to be known as the Third World were determining their place both inside and outside of this conflict. The North had a history of imperialism in the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Although Latin American countries had been officially decolonized in the eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, Asia and Africa continued as colonies until World War II left the colonizers too weak to maintain their colonies. As Asia and Africa were being decolonized, the First and Second Worlds began to perceive the Global South as an empty platform upon which to fight their “cold war” for global hegemony. As Odd Arne Westad points out, the Cold War was hardly cold in the Global South. In many cases it was bloody and violent. In 1947, all of the nations of Latin America signed the Rio Treaty (a military alliance similar to NATO), and were thus formally tied to the United States. Since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, the subsequent Roosevelt Corollary of 1904, and the signing of the Charter of the