The Cold War
The Cold War was an extremely long war that last from 1945 until 1990. It did not clearly start until 1945, but strained relations remained between the United States and the Soviet Union since 1917. The ending of WWII and the struggle between Communism and Capitalism, led to this unique war. This unparalleled war was between the Capitalist countries, including the United States, or the Eastern bloc and the Communist countries, including the Soviet Union, also referred to as the Western bloc. It was a unique war because it was not exactly declared war of battles, advances, and retreats. It was a war of ideas between the Free World and Communism (Lucas, P 1). Suspicion, mutual distrust, and misunderstandings between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies characterized the war. These conditions almost led to a Third World war at certain times. The United States and the Soviet Union both accused each other their ways because the United States wanted a free world with independence and democratic parties while the Soviet Union tried to control most of Eastern Europe, which was considered crucial to the country's interest. The United States was angered with the Soviet Union for wanting to expand Communism across th
In 1917, the Soviet Union became communist and established a Communist dictatorship. Throughout the 1920's and 1930's, the Soviet Union wanted the destruction of capitalism and world revolution, which was totally against the United States ways. Because of this, the United States would not even give the Soviet Union diplomatic recognition. These reasons made strained relations between the United States and the Soviet Union, and it led to the Cold War. The Cold War started in Europe after the Soviet Union lengthened its control throughout Central and Eastern Europe. In East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, the Soviet Union was inflicting communist routines. The war was then extended out of Europe and into Asia when North Korea invaded South Korea, and before it when China became the People's Republic of China in 1949. Much influence was put on numerous countries in the Third World by the Soviet Union, the West and to a lighter extent, China, which took the Cold War global. During the 1980's, many changes occurred in Russia along with Poland. In Poland, Lech Walesa's Solidarity trade union was granted status, but after a short amount of time, martial law was imposed in Poland. Leonid Brezhnev was the Russian leader, and his doctrine of suppressing revolts and spreading Communism was a danger. Also, his policy stated that once a nation became communist, it was always communist. Reagan wanted to disprove that theory. But he died in the early 1980s and Yuri Andropov took over. Andropov stayed the course, and also wrote a blistering letter to Reagan about his policies. Oddly enough, he died days later after Reagan received this letter. Less than a year after assuming power, Andropov died. Konstantin Chernenko assumed power. He died after a short while in office. Then came Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev was different from his many recent predecessors: while he was a Communist, he also knew he had to reform the USSR and wasn't such a hard-liner. He also did not say he wanted to keep satellite states; in fact, later on, he advised them to pursue independence. Gorbachev also lasted a while in office, unlike Andropov and Chernenko. The country also faced problems in the 80s. Russia was fighting in Afghanistan, then they finally pulled out after eight years; it was an embarrassment (Macqueen, P. 26). Gorbachev was able to develop a relationship with President Reagan that helped reduce Cold War tensions. However, the USSR was afraid of the US, and especially of SDI. At every chance, Gorbachev told Reagan that SDI must be stopped, but Reagan never backed down from his policy of "peace through strength". Russia was losing its negotiating power. Their economy was a shambles, the US economy was booming, and Russian people lacked food. Now the Soviet Union had to deal with a stronger, more united America. Numerous other incidents like the ones in 1950's occurred in later decades. One happened in 1968 in Czechoslovakia when the Soviet Union went to bring down the Czech's reformist government. Another was when the Soviet Union went into Afghanistan to make sure their communist government would not be overthrown in 1979. The United States also supported the overthrowing of Fidel Castro in 1961, and in 1983, the United States invaded the island of Geneva to get rid of their Marxist regime. Also between 1965 and 1975 when the United States went into Korea to help the South Koreans defend themselves against the communist North Koreans. The North Koreans were being helped and aided by the communist countries, one being the Soviet Union. In the mid-1970's, Moscow helped to keep Marxist regimes in power by helping to send Cuban troops to both Angola and Ethiopia. In the early 1980's, Moscow used threats of using force to keep the Solidarity movement from overthrowing the communist regime in Poland. The middle of the 1980s was a defining point in the end of the Cold War. Reag
Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Cold War, Eisenhower Khrushchev, soviet union, Chernobyl Ukraine, Eastern Europe, Angola Ethiopia, SDI Democrats, House INF, Reaganomics Soviet, Bureau Soviet's, cold war, united soviet union, united soviet, eastern europe, third world, nuclear weapons, communist countries, eastern bloc, gorbachev tried, north koreans, policy peace strength, gorbachev tried reform, led soviet union, soviet union near,
Approximate Word count = 2877
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
