The Superpower Confrontations between 1945 and 1962 years: the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade - Essay Example

Task History and Political Science The clash between the United s and the Soviet Union known as the Cold War has had a substantial impact in history. The term Cold War was used to express the fear of the two countries to go to war using nuclear weapons though there was a conflict between them. It was too dangerous to contemplate a direct armed confrontation posed by using nuclear weapons. People consider that the conflict went underway after the end of WW II, although the conflict can be traced to WW 1. During the two world wars, the two super powers were allies. Major developments that characterized the superpower confrontations between 1945 and 1962 included the development of a new U.S. policy of containment, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Blockade, and the Korean War (Kennan and John1). The effects of the cold war were felt almost worldwide. The hub of the conflict was the views of the two countries and their supporters. America was against communism while the Soviet Union was against capitalism. The two countries were against each other’s perspective because they believed that their rival was seeking world power domination. The leaders of the two nation’s different ideologies were central in the outbreak of the war. USA’s president Harry Truman harboured capitalist ideologies while The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin embraced communist ideologies (Moss, Janice and Jiu-Hwa 189). Development of a New U.S. Policy of Containment Containment first came into existence as a strategy by the US to limit and prevent the Soviet Union expansionism. It was a theory that saw communism as water trickling into countries that were considered weak. The US in a move to avoid this from happening engaged in strengthening those countries to protect democracy and open markets (Kennan and John4). The US developed a document that depicted the Soviet Union as aggressively expansionist that had to be countered. A policy of crusading activism was developed in times of Overwhelming Soviet power. It can be considered that the strategy was a success in the end. It spawned an unrealistic US American policy to the rest of the world as the supported authoritarian regimes because they were anti-communism. It created a dynamic in which the US seems to containing rogue state while engaging others. Containment led to government expansion, creation of more bureaucracies to deal with a wider insight of the world and creation of new organizations as well as positions, such as the National Security Agency. It also led to expansion shift from specialized diplomats toward political arrangements. In addition, social sciences in the universities received grants to develop new strategies as the Universities were contracted to develop new weaponry. The Marshall Plan During WW II, Europe was in turmoil. Millions of people had been killed or wounded. Industrial centres lay in ruins, most of Europe was at the edge of a food catastrophe as farming had been dislocated by war and infrastructure was a mess. US remained the only key power not heavily damaged. According to Findley and Rothney, they say that “although it makes minute sense to speak of losers and winners, after a conflict that mortally weakened every country involved except the U.S” (55). As Europe faced famine and economic calamity, the United States proposed to restructure the continent concerning political constancy and a strong globe economy. On 1947, in an inauguration address at Harvard University, Secretary of State George C. Marshall called for American aid in restoring the economic infrastructure of Europe. Western Europe accepted the Truman government projected legislation. The Economic Cooperation Act of 1948 that refurbished European productivity was an outcome of this. General Marshall earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts (Behrman i8). The nations assisted by the plan recovered economically in time.  From 1948 to 1952, European economies matured at an unparalleled rate.  Trade affairs led to the configuration of the North Atlantic alliance. Economic affluence guided by coal and steel industries shaped the European Union. The Berlin Blockade Its main cause was the Cold War, which was at the beginning level. In addition, the US and the USSR had different intentions for what they wanted in Germany. This difference in aspirations was the fundamental cause of the Berlin Blockade. U.S and USSR policy towards Germany varied that it was inevitable for war to break eventually. The fast intensifying Cold War anxieties occurred in 1948 when the Soviets imposed a blockade of Berlin. Three key actions led to the Soviet blockades of Berlin: First, the institute of the Marshall Plan for European Recovery was approved. Secondly, the London Conferences of winter and spring of 1948 joined Britain and the U.S; finally, the resultant London Program established a separate West Germany, and a different currency to hasten the end (Cherny 12). These actions prompted the Russians to stop all the roads and rail traffic in Berlin. This locked any ground access from West German to Berlin. The U.S supplied coal and food to the west by airlifting for 324 days (Moss, Janice, and Jiu-Hwa 201). Americans claimed that Stalin was forcing the USA out of Berlin and that the blockade was Russian Empire-building in Berlin. Stalin, however, countered that by introducing a new currency, the USA and Britain were aiming to ruin the East German economy. He added that the airlift was only propaganda intended to worsen the cold War. Finally, after his demands failed, Stalin bowed down forcing him to end the blockade in 1949. The Korean War The world almost came close to a third world war in Korea from 1950 to 1953. It was the only war when military forces of china, the Soviet Union and the USA met in combat (Malkasian 5). It was deemed to be the beginning of a larger destructive global war. The war was fought on the Korean Peninsula. Jet aircrafts of these countries fought over North Korea for air supremacy in the air. The course of the war was divided into two periods. One was of manoeuvre and the other of attrition (Cumings 4). The Korean War was a historically significant turning point in the Cold War. The conflict that happened in a small peninsula, in Korea, affected the entire international system and brought about balance of power between the two superpowers. This conflict helped the west to thwart communist aggression (Malkasian 60). Conclusion The Cold War was a long, intense struggle between two superpowers that had far-reaching effects around the globe. The outcomes of the war have brought about change in technology and balance of power, in the world. The war brought about balance in powers and dealt away with communism theories that were oppressive. It also established USA as a superpower that promotes freedoms, democracy and open markets. Works Cited Behrman, Greg. The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and the Time When America Helped Save Europe. New York: Free Press, 2007. Print. Cherny, Andrei. The candy bombers: the untold story of the Berlin Airlift and Americas finest hour. New York: G.P. Putnams Sons, 2008. Print. Cumings, Bruce. The Korean War: a history. New York: Modern Library, 2010. Print. Findley, Carter V, and John A. M. Rothney. Twentieth-century World. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Kennan, George F, and John Lukacs. George F. Kennan and the Origins of Containment, 1944-1946: The Kennan-Lukacs Correspondence. Columbia, Mo: University of Missouri Press, 1997. Print. Malkasian, Carter. The Korean War. New York: Rosen Pub, 2009. Print. Moss, Walter, Janice J. Terry, and Jiu-Hwa L. Upshur. The Twentieth Century: Readings in Global History. Boston: McGraw-Hill College, 1999. Print. Read More