What Were The Consequences Of The Cold War

After the end of the Second World War, the world was left with two fundamental economical systems competing for world acceptance (or coercion, depending on whose propaganda news were provided). The United States and the Soviet Union were the champions of capitalism and communism, respectively, two opposite ways of life regulating everything from personal freedoms to ways of life. And upon completion of the war, both tried to expand their zones of influence amongst the community of nations.

As the Cold War started to intensify, President Eisenhower began to worry about the strength of the US economy. The Dulles Brothers, along with the president viewed the communist threat through the same prism. They then decided on a foreign policy to fight against the communist expansion. ​

The Cold War was a state of political hostility, lasting from 1946 to 1991, between Communists Soviet Union and Capitalist Western powers. Two generations worth of tension was filled with propaganda, hot wars, threat of nuclear attacks, and developments in missiles and space technology. Domestic policy and American society changed in the years of the Cold War: more money was being allotted to the defense budget, committees were being created to root out any communists working in Hollywood or the government and Americans were living their life around the fact that they could enter into a nuclear war at any moment.

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

“ The Islamic Revolution of 1979: The Downfall of American- Iranian Relations” analyzes American- Iranian diplomacy from 1953- 1979. It is an explanation of the causes and developments of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini’s rise to power and

The American government is known to promote democratic values throughout the world. Though the ideals America was fighting for during the Cold War, the government still managed to participate in the overthrow of democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Mossadegh threatened to nationalize Iran’s oil in 1951 and later gained the support of the Iranian government. The British companies had many investments in Iranian oil. It is with the approval of nationalization that the economies of both British and Iran were ultimately harmed. The British government requested the help of the US so that they could perform a coup to overthrow Mossadegh. With suspicions of Mossadegh supporting communism, and being supported by the Tudeh Party, the United States government was willing to sacrifice their democratic ideologies and credibility in the region for the insurance of an anti-communist leader. This would prove to cause problems that still resonate in today’s political and military negotiations in this region.

The focus of this investigation is on the United States’ influence on the National Revolution of Iran of 1978-1979. Topics investigated include the sociocultural and political differences between the two countries which

By 1951 Mohammad Mossadegh had established himself firmly in the political scene in the mountainous country of Iran. Mossadegh ran for the office of Prime Minister with just one campaign promise: to free Iran from the British imperial yoke (Gavin, 1999, p.64). He had also built his political strength, based largely on his call to nationalize the concession and installations in Iran of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (Risen, 2000, p.10). Mossadegh embodied the fierce nationalistic pride felt by so many Iranians, this brought Mohammad Mossadegh an easy victory (Gregory,1951,p.31). On May Day 1951, after three days of raging Pro-Mossadegh rioting, Mossadegh announced that the Majlis had passed the Nationalization Act, despite strong opposition by many members of the Majlis (Gavin,1999, 65). By this time Mossadegh's power had grown so great that the Shah (monarchy) was virtually forced to appoint him Premier. Even after being appointed to the Premiership, popularity continued to skyrocket for Mossadegh. Mossadegh's popularity, growing power, and intransigence on the oil issue were creating friction between the prime minister and the Shah.

I learned that the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammed Mosaddegh and the Iranian parliament nationalized the oil industry including the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, a British corporation. The British were furious with Mosaddegh’s actions and instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil. However, Britain’s efforts made little difference and they turned to the USA for help in a plan to overthrow the Iranian government and replace it with the Shah. The USA initially refused to be involved but the British officials managed to convince Eisenhower that Iran posed a communist threat. The CIA convinced Reza Shah to participate in the coup and bribed newspaper editors and civilians to make it appear as though the Shah had popular support.

The effect of this take-over on Iran’s relationship to the USA and the west can still be felt in relations between these countries today. The Iranian hostage crisis led to a suspension of diplomatic relations between Iran and the USA as well as other Western democracies. While the Soviet Union accepted the legitimacy of the revolution, it initially supported attempts to reinstall the Shah as leader. American leaders were determined to keep the Shah in power because of the cold war tensions, which caused them to fear that Soviet Communism would spread to Iran, should the Shah fall. (Cohen, 1). But while

Iran cut all ties with the United States and lost its dominance in the area; it’s army was disorganized and weak. The Iranian Revolution created disorder in many Iranian military units and Iranian confrontation with the U.S. ensured it would be cut off from its primary weapons supplier. During the year after the fall of the Shah, many areas of Iran were approaching civil war; this frenzy in Iran made the country seem much more vulnerable than it really was, and led Saddam Hussein to feel he had his first genuine opportunity to make Iraq the dominant power in the area and the Arab world (Cordesman & Wagner, 1990).

Iran a country once ruled over by a monarch had begun its democratic transformation and had elected their first officials and prime minister. Mohammad Mosaddegh, democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 until 1953. When Mohammad Mosaddegh came into power, he pushed to nationalize their countries oil industry which has been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Though, it would seem the U.K.

After the Cold War, not only was the Soviet Union facing many changes in the foreign and domestic policies but America was as well. The effects of the Cold War had a long lasting effect on American politics. About the same time as the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement took place, which changed America more than any other social movement in history. The connections between the two are often swept under the rug but this remains to be a very vital connection in the change in America’s foreign and domestic policy. In order for America to win the Cold War, civil rights were a necessity. Continuance of discrimination in America against minorities would make it nearly unmanageable to win over the newly freed third world. There were many ways that foreign and domestic policy reformed in the United States government but I

The Cold War still affects the world, till this day. Communist were almost forbidden and almost disappeared from this world because of the Cold War. Back then, there were many communist, such as, China, North Korea, and Eastern Europe. Now, there are only communist in small countries. In addition, the Cold War caused countries to build their military power, but neglect their civilian economies. Because of the Cold War, America has large arsenals of nuclear weapons in the US and the former Soviet Union.

During World War II, the United Kingdom, an ally of the Soviet Union and United States at the time, invaded Iran forcing Reza Shah to renounce his throne. Around the same time, Iran’s oil industry was booming, and under the control of Prime Minister Mosaddegh, was being nationalized. This was not in favor with the Allies who wanted foreign oil firms to remain in the nation. This marked the start of the Iranian Revolution. In short, the US played a role in the fall of the pre-revolution Iranian government and contributed to the rise of the Islamic