The Cold War Escalation between the United States and the Soviet Union - Essay Example

? The Cold War refers to the conflict between the Soviet led Communist Bloc and the Western Democracy led by the USA. For more than 40 years the conflict shaped the world with a massive military buildup, a never ending nuclear arms race, intensive espionage and fierce technological competition as each side tried to get the upper hand. It was called the Cold War because it never escalated into an armed conflict. It started at the end of World War 2 and the battle ground ranged from neutral nations to newly independent African nations, Asia and even outer space. It was fought on many fronts, Economic, Diplomatic, Propaganda but never a full scale military engagement (Go). There were deep rooted ideological, economic and political differences between the two countries before World War 2 and these intensified after the war ended. Ideological differences arose from the fact that the 2 countries had apposing systems of government. Power rivalry ensued after the decline of Europe, with power split between the USSR and USA, both seeking to dominate each other. The Yalta-Potsdam Conference, George Kennan’s Telegram, Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Berlin Wall and U2 Crises were events that were largely responsible for increasing the tension between the two super powers and escalating the Cold War. Finally the Cuban Missile Crises, the event at which the world almost witnessed World War III, was the worst event of the War (Cold War 1945-1960). There is no clear indication as to when the Cold War started. The only reason that kept Soviet and the West together as allies was Hitler. They both wanted to eliminate Hitler’s Nazis but for different reasons. Stalin wanted Germany to fall because he did not want events like the Nazi’s invasion of 1941 to repeat whereas the America and Britain wanted Germany to be Capitalist trading partner and a state that could prevent the spread of Communism in Europe. After 1945, conflicts and misunderstandings arose aggravating the situation between the two super powers of the world. Signs of conflicts were seen in the Yalta Conference of February 1945; when the allies sat down to decide how they would Divide Germany after the war. Germany was supposed to be divided into four zones between USA, Britain, France and USSR. Problem arose as to what type of government will be established in Eastern Europe. At the end of the conference, the allies agreed to set up Democratic governments in the countries by holding free elections, but the way the two sides interpreted ‘democracy’ and ‘free elections’ sow the seeds for a future conflict. Five months later the allies met again at Potsdam. The situation in these few months had changed due to a number of factors; Roosevelt (who was pro Stalin) had died and was replaced by an aggressive anti-communist, President Truman, on the other hand Stalin ordered to arrest Poland’s non-communist leader. So the tension about Eastern Europe at Yalta now surfaced as an open disagreement and the outcomes of the conference remained merely the same (Cold War 1945-63). In 1946, George Kennan, a US diplomat stationed at Moscow sent a ‘long telegram’ to America that the Soviets needed to be stopped. The Telegram informed the Americans about the Soviet ideology. This became the basis for America’s Cold War policy against USSR. Truman Doctrine, was introduced as a result of the telegram which meant that the US should stop the further Communist expansion by any means possible. In March of 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech in which he said that Eastern Europe was dominated by the Soviet’s totalitarian control and so was cut off from the rest of the world by an ‘iron curtain’. This aggravated the tension so much that Stalin took Churchill’s Speech as a declaration of Cold War. George Marshall, American General after returning from Europe convinced the Congress that the only way to stop the spread of Communism in Europe was to provide economic support to the countries which were very poor and about to turn into Communist States. The Congress injected 17 billion cash aid under the Marshal Plan, soon after Czechoslovakia turned communist in February 1948. Americans portrayed the Cold War, as a War against Stalin’s Communist ideology and aggression which was partially true. Stalin wanted a buffer of states around Russia but it was Truman who adopted anti-communist stand against Stalin. It was America who made military intervention in Greece whereas Stalin on the other hand never sent any army into any Eastern European state. So 1948 marked the complete involvement of USA and USSR in a Cold War. The first direct confrontation of the Cold War arose out of disagreement on the treatment of Germany. During 1945 to 1948, USA and Britain were trying to restore Germany and in their attempts of restoration they joined their two zones. Soon after this, they expressed their intent to form a new country called West Germany and introduced a new currency in the region. Stalin took this as a direct attack and on 24 June 1948, stopped all road and rail traffic into Berlin. Stalin’s rationale for doing so was to protect East Germany from the new currency where as the Americans saw this as Stalin’s strategy to force West Berlin to surrender. American General Clay wanted to invade East Berlin but Truman did not want a war with USSR, so for 11 months, America and Britain supplied West Berlin by air. Stalin could have attacked American planes but he too did not want a ‘hot war’ to take place. Finally in May of 1949, borders were re opened. Soon after that Western Allies set up NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) against Russia. Britain, France and America combined their zones to from Federal republic of Germany (West Germany). As a reaction to this, in October 1949, Stalin formed the East Germany as German Democratic Republic. After Berlin blockade the America and USSR were now competing openly for world domination. June of 1950 brought the Korean War, when America and Russia fought with each ‘through people’ yet again avoiding a direct armed conflict. After World War II, Korea was divided into North Korea, which went to the Communist and South Korea which went to the non-Communist. In June of 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea and gained control of the south except for a small area of Pusan. America was not prepared to see Communism spread like that but as it did not want to attack directly, Truman persuaded United Nations to oppose North Korea’s attack. The UN Forces led by American General MacArthur, were sent to south to push the North Koreans back. From the North Korean’s side, Russian Soldiers dressed up like North Koreans had come to the war as ‘advisors’. In 1953, Eisenhower became the President of America. He brought the Korean War to an end by threatening to use atomic bomb. In the same period, Stalin also died and was replaced by Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev expressed that Cold War had to end and be replaced by ‘Peaceful co-existence’. Soon after that the situation worsened when Russia began the ‘arms race’ by developing the Hydrogen bomb in 1953 and a space race by sending their first satellite, Sputnik in 1957. America also joined Russia in the arms race – in 1955 NATO formed an army in West Germany which led to Russia signing the Warsaw Pact (a military alliance of Communist countries) against NATO. America used U2 planes to spy on Russia which increased tension when the Russians shot down the U2 planes. During 1950s many people were fleeing from East Germany to West Germany. This came out as an embarrassment for the Communists. At Vienna summit, Khrushchev demanded Americans to leave West Berlin. Kennedy refused the demands of Khrushchev and increased spending on arms. On 13 august, Khrushchev closed the borders and built a wall, which became a symbol of Cold War (Cold War). The two powers came at the brink of war when the Cuban missile crises took place in 1962. As the Americans were becoming more and more aggressive against the communists, the Communist leader Fidel Castro feared invasion of Cuba. As a result, he made a deal with Khrushchev to place nuclear arms in Cuba in order to scare the Americans. On 14 October 1962, the U2 planes took pictures of missile site being built on Cuba. The world came closest to Mutually Assured Destruction. Luckily, Khrushchev and Kennedy were able to reach compromise before an all out war. It was agreed that Russia would remove missiles from Cuba and in exchange US would dismantle the American missile sites in Turkey. Although it took another twenty seven years but the Cuban Missile Crises marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War (Events that escalated Cold War tension ). The war escalated only due to misunderstandings between the two powers and ideological differences. Every step taken by one party was a mistake to another party which increased tension and finally brought the two parties to war. The Cold War indeed took a heavy economic toll on the world. At the end of the Cold War, many countries including the Soviet Union suffered economic stagnation. The whole world suffered economically due to the war, as countries could only trade with those countries which belonged to their bloc, example India. However, in 1970s, US President Nixon brought a shift in American Policy which was away from confronting the Soviet Union and towards detente, i.e. a policy of mutual acceptance and peaceful co existence. Several countries suffered huge losses of life and after witnessing the arsenal build up of the two world powers, the whole world indulged in the arms race by developing military arsenal for their defense thereby shifting the world focus from economic growth to military defense. The Effects of the War were far reaching leaving US as the sole super power in the world. Works Cited Cold War. 18 Dec 2011 . Cold War 1945-1960. 18 Dec 2011 . Cold War 1945-63. 18 Dec 2011 . Events that escalated Cold War tension . 17 Dec 2011 . Go, Pauline. The Effect of Cold War on the World. 18 Dec 2011 . Read More