The Cold War.
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy", one apt definition of war is this: war is an actual, intentional and widespread-armed conflict between political communities." (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/). This definition did not seem fit for the conflict between capitalism (United States of America), communism (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), and their followers. The struggle was later dubbed the Cold War, referring to its lack of physical conflict. However, if every aspect of this struggle is examined, the name "Cold War" does not serve justice to what it stands for. The dispute between communism and capitalism was not limited to political distrust and competition. Thus, the struggle should not solely be classified as a "Cold War". There is no exact date that marks the beginning of the Cold War, but its deepest roots are found in early 1900s with the Russian revolution. The people of Russia were unsatisfied with the czarist government in place. In 1917, the government was overthrown and Vladimir Ilich Lenin established a new communist government. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formed. Under the new rule, all opposition to the government was eradicated, including external obstruction. The Soviets called for a worldwide revolution against capitalism, which they viewed as an enemy and a threat to their state. This was the first
The Cold War.
The Cold War Introduction During the Second World War, the USA and the USSR fought on the same side against Nazi Germany. At the end of the war the two sides fell out. This was because the USA was a capitalist country and the USSR was a communist country. After the war the USSR took control of a large part of Eastern Europe and helped Eastern Europe countries to set up communist governments. By 1949 Europe was divided between the East and the West. The dividing line became known as the 'Iron Curtain'. The USA and the Soviet Union were enemies but a 'hot war' never developed. Instead, from the 1940s to the 1980s, the two superpowers entered into a cold war using espionage and propaganda. On its borders, the USSR was surrounded by Western powers. This made the USSR feel threatened which meant it closed in on its-self. The USA wanted to learn about how technologically advanced in the arms race and space the USSR was. However, the USA was unable to do so as information was being restricted. The U2 Plane Incident On May 1st 1960, an American U2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR. Francis Gary Powers was the pilot of the daring mission to fly completely over Russia taking pictures of secret military bases in order to find the status of the USSR's military capabilities. Before this historic U2 flight no American spy plane had been shot down over the USSR during the Cold
The Cold War
The term `Cold War' was first used by an American banker in 1947. He was describing the hostility that existed between the USA and the USSR. By calling the war `cold' he meant that the two countries were doing all that they could to harm each other without using their own armed forces to fight a `hot' war. There has always been controversy concerning the causes of the cold war. The orthodox view of the late 40's/ early 50's was that the `expansionist USSR was responsible for the outbreak and continuation of the Cold War.' The revisionist view of the 70's and 80's stated that the `blame was on the US for misunderstanding and over reacting to the Soviet Union.' The post-revisionists believed the Cold War was the `product of mutual mistrust and over -reaction on both parts.' However, when discussing the causes of the Cold War it is also necessary to consider the context on the war and the other factors involved such as different ideologies, post -WW2 Europe and feelings on mistrust and suspicion. Most historians would agree that the root cause of the Cold War was the opposing ideologies of the USA and USSR; Communism vs. Capitalism. This conflict of ideology can be dated back to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and successive Russian Civil War. The Americans hoped thee revolution would bring about an age of democracy in Russia but watched I alarm as Lenin and
The Cold War.
Assignment 1 question 1 The Cold War In 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union were the most powerful nations in the world: the Soviet Union because of the size and the proven fighting record of her armed forces, her large population and her potential rather than actual economic strength; the United States because of her military, industry and her scientific and technological know-how. The co-operation and understanding between the wartime Allies was eroded by the growing distrust and suspicion. In the post-war period, the world was gradually divided into two sides. The Soviet Communism and the American Capitalism. Open hostility between the two groups broke out even more obviously after the war although they had set up already since long time ago. This hostility led to a serious international crisis- THE COLD WAR. The term 'Cold War' is used to describe the tension and hostility which developed between the capitalist and communist blocs in the post-war period. The Cold War was 'cold' because both the United States and the Soviet Union did not directly resort to war. Both of them realised that a real war between them could mean the total destruction of each other. For this reason, the Cold War was a war without actual fighting. Instead, they took the form of economic competition, military alliances and arms race. Whenever crises broke out, both sides usually
Cold War Interview
Cold War Interview . Describe what life was like during the cold war During the Cold War I didn't feel any fear whatsoever as I was confident that the United States was the superior superpower of the two. However, we were concerned about the potential threat of nuclear war and constructed bomb shelters due to the uncertainty of the situation. Our school, from time to time, would conduct air raid drills where we would have to get into bunkers to protect ourselves from nuclear fallout if nuclear war were to ever occur. Many major buildings also had fallouts shelters with instructions on how to get to them and how many people they could hold. However eventually, concerning the fallout shelters, most people didn't take them too seriously since there never was an actual incident of nuclear attacks on the USA. 2. Were scared at any point that there would be nuclear war breaking out? The widespread feeling of fear of nuclear war was at its peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis, everyone felt that due to the close proximity of the missile sites in Cuba it just escalated the whole situation and nearly brought on nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union. However in contrast, I felt very proud of President Kennedy's hard line attitude towards the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis because I believed that we should retaliate if they refuse to back down. 3.
The Cold War
The issue of Germany in the Cold War has long been a controversial question in that in what ways, and with what results, was Germany the key focus on the early stages of the Cold War. While some historians have held that the Truman Doctrine was the key focus during the Cold War, there is a more valid interpretation. It would appear to be that Germany indeed was the key focus of the early stages of the Cold War as show by the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the four occupational zones of Germany and Berlin, Germany's division into two countries, the East and West disagreements, the Berlin Blockade and Airlift, as well as the Marshall Plan. As some historians would argue, the Truman Doctrine was the key focus of the early stages of the Cold War. In February 1947, President Truman was faced with a grave problem. In Greece, communist guerrillas were attempting to take over the country. Britain, with 40 000 troops in Greece, had been lending the government a hand in the fight against communists. Without warning, Ernest Bevin, the British foreign minister, told Truman that Britain was no longer able afford to keep their troops in Greece. Close by, Turkey was under that very same threat.[1] The USSR, waiting for just the right moment to invade, had positioned troops all along the Turkish border. President Truman was very worried about this problem. He feared that communism would
Cold War Revision
Cold War Revision A war short of full scale war because of the development of the Atomic bomb. CAUSES OF THE COLD WAR [BARE] . Beliefs: Russia was a Communist country, ruled by a dictator who cared little about human rights. America was a capitalist democracy, which valued freedom. 2. Aims: Stalin wanted reparations from Germany/ a buffer of friendly states. Britain and the USA [led by President Truman] wanted to help Germany recover/ to prevent large areas of Europe from coming under Communist control. 3. Resentment about history: The USSR did not trust Britain and the USA - They had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution in 1918/ Stalin thought they had not helped the USSR enough in WW2. Britain & USA did not trust USSR - Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939. 4. Events turned the mistrust into war: Yalta/ Potsdam/ Salami tactics/ Fulton/ Greece/ Truman Doctrine/ Marshall Plan/ Cominform/ Czechoslovakia YALTA CONFERENCE (February 1945) . Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed to Divide Germany into 4 zones (France, Britain, USA, USSR)/ to hold free elections in Eastern European countries./ to set up the United Nations./ to set up a government of Communists and non Communists in Poland. 2. On the surface, everything seemed friendly, but there was tension behind the scenes POTSDAM CONFERENCE (July 1945) . At Potsdam the tensions surfaced.
The Cold War
After the end of WWII, relations between the two superpowers, America and the Soviet Union, began to break down. As a result, the Cold War began in the late 1940's, named so because neither power came into direct military conflict.coea ear From 1955 to 1958, U2 spy planes from America had been flying photographic missions over the Soviet Union. It showed mistrust toward the SU and broke international law. The Soviets could not detect them, even though the arms race was in progress, as shown in Source A1, a non biased primary source of good utility published in a British magazine. It makes a joke of how the arms race can be compared to an Olympic running race, where "The important thing is not winning, but taking part". The Americans and the Soviets are neck and neck, showing the tension and pressure to win the race. On May 1 1960 a U2 plane, piloted by Gary Powers, was shot down by a SAM-2 missile. Source A2 demonstrates the type of plane that he flew. It is a primary source, however, the provenance is unsure and the utility of the source, limited. The caption infers that the SU knew the Americans were flying overhead. This would add to the tension that was building between the powers at this point. The flight path of the reconnaissance missions is shown in Source A3, a primary source, published the day Powers was shot down. The reliability of the source is bad due to the
Truman & Cold War
Using the sources and your own knowledge, assess to the extent to which the policies and attitudes of President Truman helped cause the Cold War. The impact of the Second World War can be seen as the earliest cause of the Cold War. Germany and Japan had been defeated and had suffered considerable economic damage. France and Italy had also suffered economically and The British empire was in rapid decline as a world power. This left two superpowers; The US and The USSR, both with ideological differences. What occurred in Eastern Europe certainly contributed to the causes of the Cold War. The Soviets had agreed to have free and fair elections run in East Europe, however they rigged the elections so they could set up friendly communist states on their border. This became known as the buffer zone, as Stalin wanted to protect the USSR from invasion. Truman was not at all pleased by this as Stalin had broken his promise. Source B is a speech by Winston Churchill and he describes the split between the East and West as the 'Iron Curtain'. Source B goes on to explain that the Soviets are unpredictable and gives the impression that the USSR want world domination. The atomic bomb is another reason for the cause of the cold war. The USSR were meant to be an ally of the US, however the USSR felt that they could not trust the US anymore as Truman did not want to share the new technology
COLD WAR ESSAY
Ektha Hunjan Mr. Tomlinson History HL September 2008 How, and to what extent did the conference at Yalta and Potsdam (1945) contribute to the origin of the Cold War? Word Count: 2,008 The conflict between two political ideologies, capitalism and communism resulted in one of the greatest conflicts of the twentieth century. The belief that freedom and democracy would die under communist rule caused the United States to start a conflict that would last for decades. The decisions made by the United States during World War Two caused tensions to rise between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. The fear of Communism in capitalist nations, caused the United States government to use propaganda to raise Cold War concern. Furthermore, the American media influenced the attitudes of the American people, creating hatred to communism, and allowing it to spread though the nation. Thus, the United States caused the conflict known as the Cold War, through its political policy and propaganda. The political relations going on in Europe during and directly after World War II had an enormous effect on laying the foundation for the Cold War. Wartime conferences such as Yalta and Potsdam heartened the relationship between the communists and the capitalists. At the end of World War Two, the American policy towards the Soviets changed drastically. The change in
