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This article explores the causes and effects of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, examining the spread of Communism, arms races, and division of Europe. It also discusses key events like the Berlin Wall's fall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, shaping the modern world order.
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THE COLD WAR Iqbal, Nabeel 3/31/09 P. 1 Ap World History Mr. Marshall http://www.testriffic.com/resultfiles/21150Explosion.jpg
BackgroundInformation • Early hostility between the United States and the Soviets could be seen during World War I. (BULLIET 745) • Around 1918 when the Bolsheviks (Communist) were in power in Russia the United States accompanied by Britain, France, and Japan intervened in their land militarily. (BULLIET 745-746) • Their reason for doing this was to restore the collapsed Eastern Front in their war effort against Germany, however Lenin the leader of the Communist felt that this intervention was to stop his people from having a revolution. (BULLIET 748) • The fact is that the United States did indeed dislike the Communist movement as it completely went against many capitalistic ideals. They also resented how the Communist were trying to spread their ideas throughout the world in an attempt to start a Communist revolution in as many places as possible. (BULLIET 822) • The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was created on December 1922 and it was formed as a federal union under Russia and neighboring areas that were under Communist control. (PRINCETON 253) • When Joseph Stalin took leadership of the USSR the tension between them and the United States became a lot worse. (BARRONS 406) • The American-British-soviet coalition was formed when the British and the Americans helped the Soviets defeat the Germans after Hitler had broken the treaty that the Russians and Germans signed during World War II. Although, the soviets did win this dispute with the Germans because of the aid that they received from the Americans and the British, this coalition that was formed was filled with mistrust and false accusations. For instance, the Soviets felt that they had to pay the biggest price for the war and thus these problems led to big conflicts such as the Cold War. (BULLIET 822) • The Cold War that lasted from 1945 through the early 1990s, wasn’t really, but was more a state of hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union, in which neither nation actually attacked the other. (PRINCETON 253) • To make sure that no major international conflict like the World Wars broke out again the Allies formed the United Nations, in which it was given the right to intervene in international disputes between nations in attempt to resolve them before they became really serious. (BULLIET 822) http://www.holocaust-history.org/short-essays/hitler-480.jpg http://www.isfp.co.uk/images/vladimir_lenin.jpg
Causes and Effects of the Cold War CAUSES: • The Soviet Union wanted to spread their Communism throughout the world, which caused great fear in Americans who practiced a capitalism (democracy), an ideology that was almost completely different from Communism. (SPODEK 623) • As the Americans acquired atomic weapons the Soviets were in great fear. (BULLIET 822) • The common fear of an attack that was seen in both the Soviet Union and the Americas. (BULLIET 822) • President Truman showed strong animosity to the Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. (BARRONS 406) • The Soviet Union taking control and having strong holds in Eastern Europe caused great suspicion in Americans as they were questioning Soviet morals. (PRINCETON 253) • Americans didn’t like the fact that the Soviets had taken a part of Germany. (PRINCETON 253) • The Soviets feared that the Americans would use Western Europe as a base to attack them. (BULLIET 822) • EFFECTS: • The United States and the Soviet Union both start building atomic weapons and ballistic missiles. (BULLIET 828,829) • The military blocs NATO and The Warsaw Pact were created. (PRINCETON 253) • It led to the Korean and Vietnam War. • The Soviet Union collapsed as a result of economic weaknesses. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html) • (SHORT TERM EFFECT) The Warsaw Act was basically destroyed and forgotten about. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html) • (SHORT TERM EFFECT) The Berlin Wall was abolished and the two German Nations were unified. (http://www.essortment.com/all/berlinwallfall_rgvq.htm) • (SHORT TERM EFFECT) The Baltic States and some former Soviet Republics gained the independecne that they longed for. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html) • (LONG TERM EFFECT) Communism lost a lot of its influence as it was destroyed in many places throughout the world. (http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1969_detente/fall_of_communism.html) • (LONG TERM EFFECT) America became the superpower of the world as it had the most power and influence over other nations. (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html) http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/tours/germany/gifs/berlinwall.jpg
EAST v.s WEST (Communism v.s Capitalism) • In the late 1940’s the eastern and western parts of Europe were clearly divided. (PRINCETON 253) • EAST (Soviet bloc) – Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary (PRINCETON 253) • The fact that the Soviet Union was basically forcing Communism upon other people was against the promises made at the Yalta, which was a conference in which the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union discussed Europe's post war reorganization. (ANDREA 469-471) • WEST (Western bloc) – Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, West Germany, Greece, and Turkey. (PRINCETON 253) • As a result of this division the Truman Doctrine was created and it stated that the United States would protect any country that was in jeopardy of getting taken over by Communist. (BARRONS 406) • When further division such as the Berlin Wall took place the Western half of Europe formed the NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) which was basically a military alliance for defense when needed. Their strategy to deal with the war was based on containment. In response the East formed an alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. (SPODEK 622) • Communism and Capitalism sent people in different directions and thus these differing ideals led to many conflicts such as the Cold War. (BULLIET 822-823) • After World War II many countries met up at Bretton Woods and set up the World Bank, which was designed to provide money to the nations that became needy after the war. The Soviets also attended this meeting but their communist views clashed with the United States and thus kept them from cooperating. (BULLIET 822) • Although there was disputes much was accomplished as can be seen with the Marshall Plan that was set up by the United States and it provided $12.5 billion to aid friendly European countries in need. (BULLIET 823) • The Communist had a command economy in which the government regulated goods and set prices. On the other hand, Capitalism was based on supply and demand, which is what determined the prices of goods. These economic differences caused many problems. (BULLIET 822-826) • The capitalistic societies showed great prosperity around the 1950s as their average wages increased and their unemployment decreased. (BULLIET 825) • However, the Communist society was also well advanced as their command economy brought many natural resources, a large population and abundant energy. (BULLEIT 825) • This constant competition that took place between the Communist and the Capitalist as they both tried gaining allies was one of the most decisive factors in the Cold War. (BULLIET 822) http://aftermathnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/bretton_woods_1944.jpg
Associated Political Conflicts • The Cold War sparked many political crises throughout the world. (PRINCETON 254) • The Cold War caused the Berlin Crisis of 1961 in which the Soviets influenced Germany to build the Berlin Wall. The main purpose of this wall was to prevent people from fleeing to the noncommunist Western part of the city. (PRINCETON 253) • After World War II the United States took control of South Korea while the Soviet Union took control of North Korea. When North Korea invaded South Korea the United nations was called upon to come for the defense of South Korea. This conflict erupted into the Korean War, which was very destructive. (BULLIET 826) • The Cold War had a big impact in the United States decision to join the French in the Vietnam War as they feared that a communist victory would encourage communist movements throughout Southeast Asia. This War ended in a disappointing loss for the United States. (BULLIET 828-829) • Cuban Revolution in which the Soviets influenced a communist government in Cuba. (BARRONS 408) • The Cuban missile crisis was a prime example of the hostility between the United States and the Soviets along with other nations that they influenced. The Soviet leader Khrushchev and he Cuban president Fidel Castro deployed missiles in Cuba in reaction to the United States efforts to overthrow the Communist government of Cuba. (BULLIET 829) • The fact that neither side actually used any of their nuclear weapons shows their common fear in the use of nuclear weapons which was most likely because they feared the others retaliation. (BULLIET 830) VIETNAM WAR KOREAN WAR http://www.war-books.com/CH47ChinookPhotoforVietnamAirWarPage32Enlarged.jpg http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/images/korean-war-artillery.jpg
BIBLIOGRAPHY Andrea, Alfred J., and James H. Overfield. Human Record. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Armstrong, Monty. Cracking the AP World History Exam. 2009th ed. 2008. Bulliet, Richard W., Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, Steven W. Hirsch, Lyman L. Johnson, and David Northrup. The Earth And Its Peoples A Global History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. D., John McCannon Ph. Barron's AP World History--2008 (Barron's How to Prepare for the Ap World History Advanced Placement Examination). Danbury: Barrons Educational Series, 2008. Spodek, Howard. The World's History Combined (2nd Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2000. "Causes and Effects of the Cold War." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html>. "Fall of Communism." Future Home Page. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1969_detente/fall_of_communism.html>. "Germany: fall of the Berlin Wall." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. 29 Mar. 2009 <http://www.essortment.com/all/berlinwallfall_rgvq.htm>.