Background Of The Cold War - Term Paper Example

Background Of The Cold War Background of the Cold War Subsequent to World War II, the USA got ahead globally. Unlike other main participants of the war, it came out a stronger nation both in military and economic powers. The enemies of USA had before this war been crashed almost to the ground with the likes of Japan and Germany serving as major examples. Some had experienced significant destruction such as France and Britain, (this is despite their being on the winning side). Therefore, the case of the USA was in absolute terms a paradox. In the course of defining itself as well as protecting itself from the aggression of the Nazi Germany, the other superpower that took part in the WWII, (the Soviet Union) ended up as having the biggest army in the whole globe. Just like the USA, the Soviet Union had gained a lot of muscle since the Asian and European rivals had experienced gigantic losses during the war. Politics had it that immediately after World War II, the USA would emerge to the top as the nation with the most influence and power while the Soviet Union would come in second, but the second rankers were not satisfied with this fate. The Soviet Union was ready to do anything to move to the top of every nation in the world. But to make matters even worse, they were at a relatively distant second. This is due to the fact that even if the Soviet Union had moved strides ahead in given sectors, some had lagged behind. Hundreds of thousands of people and a good number of towns, cities and villages had been lost during the war. Reconstruction was the main task, which the Soviet Union faced after the war, thus. Also the nation had to prove that it had legitimacy in diplomacy following years of sidelining by other close countries and that the Joseph Stalin’s government would use other means other than military power to forge ahead. Origin of the Cold War and Causes Therefore, faced with all the forces from outside, it is usually argued that USA involved itself in this war that was to be known as the Cold War. It is in the 1990s, though, that it was clear to many about the boundaries that were brought about by the cold war. It is said that the Cold War was in existence for four decades and a half. That is, from 1945 to 1990 as Gregory and Balkin say in their book. This term “Cold War” can trace its origin from the speech of financier Baruch in 1947 and this signified a time period of hostility and rivalry that was first witnessed between the Soviet Union and the US and that was an issue of hostility short of combat only. (Gregory and Balkin, 2003 p263) The other perception with regards to the origin of Cold War is as presented by King Lisa in the ‘Origins of the Cold War’ study. The author puts it that it all started with the Hiroshima bombing where the US was the nation responsible and it happened in August 1945. The city together with half of its dwellers faced the worse end. Two days following this bombing Russia made a declaration of war against Japan. The war on Japan declaration had however not started in 1945, it had all began in the 1943’s Teheran conference where the Soviet Union made a reaffirmation that it would attack Japan subsequent to the loss to Germans. In other two conferences, Potsdam’s and Yalta’s, Russia also declared their entry into war with Asia came August 9th in 1945, just after the August 6th Hiroshima bombing, another atomic bomb hit Nagasaki. Following the surrender that happened later in mid August 1945 it rendered the planned attack on Japan useless. It is noted that Joseph Stalin was not convinced by the two bombings as the usual kind of occurrences in a war but as sabotage. It was a plan by Britain and the US to use these atomic bombs to put Japan out of the war just before Russians implemented their plan. This was just before Russia had accepted taking part in the war against Japan. Also the USA’s bombings of Japan were seen as a move to ensure that Russia did not get the territory that had been taken by Japan in the 1905 war between the two- Russia and Japan. It was as well viewed by the Russians as an intimidation to make sure that Germans and Russians did not experiment on how strong their atomic energy was just before perfecting a single atomic bomb. Upon the USA’s offer to share the nuclear capability existing among the greatest of powers following the period after the war, the Soviet Union turned down this call and dubbed it as unfair and suspicious. Therefore, the bombing by USA that marked an end to the second world war simultaneously started another battle known as the Cold War. The year 1945 was also a significant year since it is termed a major turning point in the world history as the USA took a position in the world as the largest super power of all countries. They had a very stable and strong but war oriented kind of economy. The nation also continued holding on to the existing suspicion with focus set upon the European countries from the generic perspective. (learner.org, 2011) According to Pillai in the buzzle.com website the expression Cold War is simply taken to mean that period of hostility and tension between the Soviet Union and the USA that occurred from mid 1940s through the late 1980s. It set in immediately after the WWII and the reference to it as Cold War was because there was no action between the two nations involved. The lack of any active war between the countries was viewed to have been because their deep-held fear that nuclear war would increase. Some of the indirect wars related to the Cold War are also mentioned. The indirect wars associated with the Cold War are the likes of Korean and Vietnam wars. The missile crisis of Cuba in the year 1962 which denotes the nearest position the world found itself- just inches from a nuclear conflict. It was reported by an American U2 spy that the Soviet Union had sent about 24 intermediate distance or range of firing missiles and 42 of medium range types of missiles to Cuba. Following the action by the Soviet Union, the USA made a threat to raid Cuba concerning the same. To curb USA’s move, the Soviet Union withdrew the missiles in agreement that the attack on Cuba would not materialize. Despite the fact that in the year 1949, China and Soviet Union had set out as allies, a clash between the two arose. America took full advantage of this conflict and in year 1971 the USA was in an alliance with this nation of China so as to sideline and contain the nation of Soviet Union. In the year 1980, the Soviet Union made an invasion on Afghanistan and this was followed by a boycott of the 1980 games of Olympics, which took place in Moscow, by the USA alongside with its allies. In return to the 1980 Olympics’ boycott by the USA together with its allies, the Soviet Union did the same to the 1984’s games of Olympics that took place in USA’s state of Los Angeles. In the same cycle, the USA went on to finance the guerrillas of Afghanistan to fight off the Soviet army troops. The war on Afghanistan was the major cause, among others, that led to the bankruptcy of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, the then US president, Ronald Reagan, termed the Soviet Union an empire of evil and his prospects were that it would perish. The president also made an announcement of a major build-up of weapons as well as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). To respond to this move by the then US president was not an easy task to the Soviet Union since its economy was too weak. In year 1985, Gorbachez took over leadership of the Soviet Union and towards the USA; he had a make up attribute that led to the numerous pacts’ signing with reference to the reduction of aims. Following these pacts, the Soviet Union came out of Afghanistan in 1989 and the following year had the Soviet Union make a reunification agreement with Germany. Just after the agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, there were the movements against socialist nations in the Eastern side of Europe and in year 1991, the Soviet Union caved in marking the termination of the Cold War. (Pillai, 2011) Stages of the Cold War As per the book of McMahon, the Cold War was in several stages. These stages were as follows: the destruction of the old order after WWII, the Cold War origins in Europe from 1945 through 1950, the Asian ‘Hot War’ from 1945 to 1950, the world Cold War setting in from 1950 to 1958, Détente in the years from 1958 to 1968, the Cold wars happening at home, the détente’s superpower’s rise and the fall, and lastly, the final stage of between years 1980 to 1990. 1. The destruction of the old order after WWII The conditions of Asians were undesirable following the end of WWII. For instance the Japanese that were left homeless were about 9 million. The Chinese industrial plant located at Manchuria lay in debris and even to make matters grave; approximately 4 million Indonesians died directly or indirectly due to the war’s impacts. A million Indians suffered famine related diseases and perished. Also other islands of the Pacific like Burma and Philippines faced a lot of difficulties. After the nations that were affected by the WWII came out weak and wrecked, it was the USA that came out stronger. It suffered few losses. 400,000 soldiers of the USA were killed in the course of the war, though. (McMahon, 2003 p3,4) 2. The Cold War origins in Europe from 1945 through 1950 Sherman continues to state that after World War II the USA and the Soviet Union broke their ties as allies. Most of the European states embraced the idea of communism since most countries which failed after the war thought that their former leaderships had caused the ultimate failure. To stop communism from spreading George Marshall, the Secretary of state in the US, made an announcement that there was to be a program to aid the nations recover fro WWII by giving them financial support. All the European countries in the Eastern bloc plus the Soviet Union declined the offer. Tension levels continued rising. (Sherman, 2004 pp2,3) 3. The Asian ‘Hot War’ from 1945 to 1950 The Asian continent slowly became captured in the Cold War trap. Vietnam and Korea became part of the war. Although it was deemed that Asia was not a big player in the Cold War, it was here that things turned hot. Starting with the Japan interest conflict between US and the Soviet Union. The US eventually dominated this influence over Japan and the two nations ended up entering a treaty that allowed the US to station forces in Japan’s territory at the Okinawa area that became a military base. Other powers associating with the USA were like China, though they turned against the US after Mao took over power from Jiang Jieshi in 1949. Vietnam also became an ally to the USA since it wanted support to gain independence from Japan. (Norton, et al 2009 p744) 4. The Cold wars happening at home The Cold War as Carson puts it in his book came to involve groups that were not part of it; generations that knew little about its essence and impact. For instance, most children that were there in WWII did not learn its purpose and now that there are grown ups, any confrontation between USA, and China and Russia on the other side would make no sense. The citizens would only guess the end effects of the occurrence in case Cold War became a ‘hot’ encounter since they would be victims. (Carson, 2005 p162) 5. The final stage of between years 1980 to 1990 Over the entire decade of the 1980s, the war in Afghanistan by the Soviet Union was increasingly frustrating. The Arms race costs were also rising and the difficulties of the Soviet economy alike. The citizens of the Soviet Union lost confidence in their government and attempts at home to rebuild confidence were futile. Over the period of 1989 to 1990, the wall of Berlin came down marking the uniting of Germany and 1991 saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union to its component nations. At a very highly remarkable speed, the cold war was no more. (americanhistory.si.edu, 2000) Reference: americanhistory.si.edu. (2000). The end of the cold war. Retrieved 23 April 2011 http://americanhistory.si.edu/subs/history/timeline/end/index.html Carson, Robert B. (2005). The Missing Link. Edition illustrated. Trafford Publishing. p162. Gregory, Ross and Balkin, Richard.(2003). Cold War America, 1946 to 1990. Edition illustrated, revised. Infobase Publishing. p263. King, Lisa. (2011). The Origins Of Cold War. Retrieved 23 April 2011 http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:VU04RXZd6oEJ:www.learner.org/courses /amerhistory/pdf/OriginsColdWar_L- One.pdf+cold+war+pdf&hl=en&gl=ke&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiNzf0YHOVEYUblNv KfjJNCa- oP0_d8ETbmRtv0SircLEhnwrtLoliZ7DQKD40GKaEGC2GwqJZV3afhzAl3qu8xWqO7 ZDWtWXSNCmtNFz7RcQiNrF__vVnaFCoXu5WXpx7dJAhx&sig=AHIEtbQTNW1cO QguvBQb7saxz2erm3TSMg McMahon, Robert J. (2003). The Cold War: a very short introduction. Edition illustrated. Oxford University Press. p3,4. Norton, Mary Beth, et al.(2009). A people and a nation: a history of the United States. Since 1865, Volume 2. Edition 8, revised. Cengage Learning.p744. Pillai, Prabhakar . (2011). What was the Cold War? Retrieved 23 April 2011 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-and-effects-of-the-cold-war.html Sherman, Josepha. (2004). The Cold War. Edition illustrated. Twenty-First Century Books. pp19-23. Read More