Cold War Essay examples

Submitted By grotywr2
Words: 1412
Pages: 6
Open Document
Jeff Grotjahn
March 22, 2011
Gen Ed 111
11070245

Research Paper

The Cold War was the defining event of the second half of the twentieth century. It began just two years after the resolution of World War II in 1945 and lasted until 1991. The Cold War involved many nations which involved two major alliance systems. The communist alliance was dominated by the Soviet Union and its conquered satellite states. Satellite states was a political term at the time used to refer to a country that is formally independent but is under heavy political and economic influence control by another country. The other alliance that participated in the Cold War was known as NATO which was heavily represented by the United States. NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which consisted of Britain, France, U.S., Canada and eight other western European countries. Military tension and political conflict resulting from World War II were the main causes of the greatest arms race in world history. The Cold War was a traditional power struggle between the two greatest military giants of that age, whose command for massive nuclear weapons caused a world wide scare for humanity (Klingaman 224-227). The main issue between the United States and the Soviet Union was politics. The United States strongly believed in democracy as the right form of government while the Soviet’s were strong communist promoters. Democracy nations like the United States always pursue liberal imperialism to ensure the spread of democracy. Liberal imperialism in the sense “the very constitutional restraint, shared commercial interests, and international respect for individual rights that promote peace among liberal societies can exacerbate conflicts in relations between liberal and non-liberal societies” (Werner 346). Non-democratic nations like the Soviet Union react negatively to this in fear of such liberal imperialism. They respond with pure force and violence in desperation to save their political and economic systems. Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union began to flare because of this in 1947 when the Soviet Union created Cominform. Cominform was an attempt by the Soviet Union to spread Communism internationally. The American Government responded by adopting the idea “Containment”, which was simply a goal to stop the spread of Communism. The United States Government also enacted the Marshall Plan which was a large-scale economic program for rebuilding and creating a stronger economic foundation for the countries of Europe including the Soviet Union. This was an attempt by the United States to rebuild the democratic and economic systems of Europe to ensure the fall of Communism. Soviet Union’s leader Stalin responded by preventing Eastern communist countries from receiving the Marshall Plan aid because he thought the economic integration in the West would allow the United States gain control over their satellite states. The spread of communism through out the eastern portion of the world gave democracy and the United States a serious threat (Schwartz 9-15). Even thought the Cold War consisted of no physical fighting, it still heavily influenced conflict in other places of the world. For example, the Cold War had a major impact on the Korean War and help cause the Cuban Missile Crisis. The rising conflict in Korea in the 1950’s resulted in the first military action for both sides since the start of the Cold War. The main issue occurring in Korea was the temporary separation between North and South Korea since the end of World War II. The Soviet Union had troops in the north while American troops resided in the south. Stalin and the Soviet Union encouraged North Korea to invade the South because they wanted Korea to become fully communist. President Truman of the United States ordered an invasion of Korea to protect their allies (South Korea) and most importantly to protect democracy through out Asia. This
Show More

Related Documents: Cold War Essay examples

The Cold War: The Impact Of The Cold War

The Impact of the Cold War Can you imagine a war that lasted nearly 50 years and was the cause for many developments in military and technology, but contained no fighting or battles? That war is the Cold War. The Cold War was a conflict between the world’s two superpowers at the time that was a power struggle between them and resulted in many technological advancements and a major arms race, though it never reached a point of actual armed combat. It began after the end of World War II, in 1945, as…

Words 991 - Pages 4

Containment In The Cold War

The years leading to the Cold War and the time during the Cold War was a great era of espionage, secrets, and propaganda. During this time there was a great deal of distrust and fear in the minds of Americans. The Americans distrusted some parts of our government and any commie. The Americans feared nuclear fallout or a nuclear war. The Cold War was a fight to stop the spread of communism in the world. The Communistic society is basically the opposite of a capitalist society so, the foreign affairs…

Words 1599 - Pages 7

The Cold War Essay

The Cold War is a major part of not only US and Russian history, but it had an effect on many parts of Europe and North America. The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. The west was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the Soviet Union. These two countries became known as superpowers. Although the two superpowers never officially declared war on each other, they fought indirectly in proxy…

Words 1580 - Pages 7

Essay on the cold war

The Cold War In 1945, the main reason for the start of the cold war was the alliance between America and USSR. It’s was called the Cold War because of how there was no active war between them, their fear of nuclear escalation kept them apart. USSR wanted to prevent Germany’s invasion by spreading communism through Eastern Europe. America didn’t agree so much with the idea of communism because they followed democracy. America had begun using their atomic weapons and the Soviets feared it…

Words 645 - Pages 3

Cold War Effects

Effects of the Cold War in U.S. In the year of 1947 began the Cold War. This war affected the way of life for people all over the United States of America for almost 50 years. Imagine two kids who are in a rubber band war but all it is, is two kids pulling the rubber bands as far as they can go and waiting for the other to fire first. Just like these two boys, all of America was sitting in anticipation. Rather than a rubber band they were waiting for a nuclear war to erupt. The first example would…

Words 791 - Pages 4

The Cold War Essay

The topic of the Cold War parallels with one ideal, the ideal of Communism. The threat of Communism in our country and our allies dominated the United States’ mindset throughout the mid to late 20th century. It seemed as though war and hardship had a way of following the United States. The people of the United States looked to one person, the president, to pave the road through this time period and find a final solution for peace. The decades of the Cold War are marked by three presidents who…

Words 1467 - Pages 6

Cold War Effects

Samaroo Mr. Venier CHC2D1-05 6 June 2014 The Effects of the Cold War on Canada Since the beginning of time, humans have thrived through their own wars. Whether they be internal, personal, or worldwide, they have all undergone the struggle, fight, and passion of war. Yet, in the late 1940s, “war” changed forever. In the post World War II era from 1946 to 1991, a universal conflict arose between two of the worlds leading superpowers, the communist…

Words 2634 - Pages 11

The Cold War Essay

The Cold War The cold war was a war that sparked controversies between nations. The causes of the cold war was, of course, a major part of the outcomes of the war. Also, the turning points of the war was very important. Finally, Canada during the cold war was very important to not only our country but a contribution to the war itself. The cold war frightened many Canadians and people all over the world of certain devastation itself. The causes of the cold war were possibly the most important parts of the war…

Words 1113 - Pages 5

Cold War Essay

Exam 11-24-12 World Civilization II The Cold War dated from 1945-1991. The Cold War was the result of political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War got its name because both the United States and the Soviet Union both had access to nuclear weapons, and threatened to use them on one another. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed ending the Cold War. As far as the world being more safe now that the Cold War is over, no I do not think that is factual.…

Words 314 - Pages 2

Essay On The Cold War

The Cold War was a sustained state of political and military tension between the superpowers of the United States of America and its allies on one side, and the Soviet Union and its satellite states on the other [1]. Politically, Australia would undergo a dramatic shift in policy with reference to how the government dealt with individual movements, as well as trying to avoid disentangling civil and political affairs with the obvious added pressures of the Cold War [2]. Publicly it became evident…

Words 2530 - Pages 11