The Cold War: One Of The Most Studied Nonwars Of Century - Essay Example

The Cold War: One Of The Most Studied Nonwars Of Century Abstract The Cold War is one of the most studied nonwars of century. This essay will examine how “the brave and essential response of free men to communistic aggression” justified the origins of the Cold War. As World War Two ended, the previous isolationism policy ended. Hold Rush was elected in 1934 and became the youngest person ever elected to congress. The views of most Americans isolationism ended with the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States declared war four days later and became a world player. Harry S Truman became the president after the death of FDR. He introduced the Truman Doctrine in order to stop the spread of Communism into the free world. His doctrine stated that the United State is a leader of the free world and must support freedom- loving people wherever communism was a threat to them. His doctrine was introduced to the free world on March 12, 1947. The point of the plan politically was to help all free countries especially Greece and Turkey. Due to the European crisis , Great Britain had stated they were no longer able to defend Greece and Turkey from the invading forces of Communism. He believed we should support Greece and Turkey economically and militarily. Truman’s government gave over $400 million to Greece, Turkey, and Italy to help contain Communism without sending troops over to Europe. It became a large part of his contain communism plan. The Marshall Plan 1947 was developed to help rebuild post war Europe. It was the soft portion of his policy. NATO , the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was developed in 1949 with 14 countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canadada, Belgium, Greece, Iceland, Italy, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Spain, NATO was created to stop Communist aggression and to keep the peace. The response of the Russians to NATO was a development called Warsaw Pact in 1955,. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955. The treaty was an initiative of the Soviet Union. It was in response to West German joining NATO in 1955.. East Germany, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and the Soviet Union were the founding members. The Cold War was born after World II until the 1990’s. It was a large conflict between the United Stated and Russia and the satellites. The war involved spies, espionage, weapon development and a nuclear arms race on both sides. The United States plan was to contain communism and keep it from spreading any further into the world. Truman office also used the Anglo-Christian church against the evils of communism. These actions changed the leaders of the church into warriors against communism.9 During the Cold War , we had international crises , however , we did not experience another world war. We had the Korean War from 1950-1953 and the Vietnam War from 1959-1975. The Cold War attention moved from Turkey and Greece to Asia . The American government became concerned about China overthrowing Korea. In June 1950, the North Korean troops began to invade Korea. The Korean War became a reason for the superpowers to have a war without really going to war. The US went to war because of the “Domino” theory. He was worried that if Korea fell then the next country to fall would be Japan. The Americans sent a large number of troops under General Douglas to defend and overthrow the communist movement. The Russians established a communist North Korea and the American established a democratic south Korea. The NSC-68 report was given to the president in 1950 and it advised him to build up the military forces of the United States. The United States and the Kremlin were in direct opposition to each other with ideas and goals. It was a fifty-eight page report which became the blue print for the Cold War. This report helped to shape the focus of the society of the United States for many years to come. It analyzed the two powers from a psychologically, military, political and economical standpoint. NSC-68 reported that the debates between was liken to a slave trader and one giving freedom. Dwight D. Eisenhower comes to power and the Cold War changes it’s look. Eisenhower held his campaign promise and ended the Korean war. Eisenhower was more concerned with domestic policies and worked to reduce spending. He was more concerned with cutting costs and became a popular president. He did not have the issue of Stalin expanding into Europe like Truman. He had issues at home. Joe McCarthy was on an anti-Communism campaign and he was using horrible methods. Eisenhower makes use of the CIA to work is foreign policy and it becomes a big disaster. The CIA is dropping bombs and pictures of spy U2 planes are taken by the Russians. On January 5, 1961 , a report was submitted urging the division of the CIA and director of the central intelligence agency. It was not worth the manpower, risk and money. Eisenhower gave up in defeat. The Vietnam War plays a part in the Cold War between the superpowers. The Geneva conference spoke about the war in 1954. Eisenhower would not sign the accord due to the “Domino Theory.” He did offer aid and the following February troops were sent to Vietnam. Truman and Eisenhower both did everything in their powers to prevent the spread of Communism into the free world. They used different tactics such as the military, the CIA , however, the goal was the same. Keep the world free and happy. They both felt a large responsibility to the free world. They used tools such as nuclear weapons, the NSC-68, the military and the love of the American people. References Emery., N. (2006, July 17). The Inconvenient Truth About Truman. The Weekly Standard, 7, 24-29. Kirby, D. (2000). Divinely Sanctioned: The Anglo-American Cold War Alliance and the Defence of Western Civilization and Christianity, 1945?48. Journal of Contemporary History, 35(3), 385-412. Read More