The Global Cold War - Essay Example

? Cold War Larry Barras Historical Contexts & Literature Lib 316 Prof. Stiene 16 May Cold War According to diplomatic terminologies, there are three basic types of wars. They include the hot war, warm war and the cold war. The cold war is the term used to illustrate the association between the Soviet Union and America (1945-1991). In essence, the war can be described as the persistent state of military and political tension between the two states. The Soviet Union and its associates were branded as the Eastern bloc while the United States and their allies were referred to as the Western bloc (Leffler, 2008). This paper will address the cold war topic into details. The cold war was the tension that existed between the Western and Eastern blocs. After, the end of World War II, an English journalist named George Orwell used the term cold war in his essay (Lewis, 2006). As stated above, the cold war was led by the United States, its NATO partners and the Soviet Union together with its satellite associates. Some of the Soviet Republics included Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Eastern Finland, Lithuania and Eastern Romania. These territories were liberated and were transformed into satellite states (Leffler, 2008). The United States was the Western bloc (Western world) while the Soviet Union was known as the Eastern bloc (also communist world) (Tyull & Enright, 2011). The war commenced after the triumph of their wartime coalition against Nazi Germany. This success factor triggered political and economic differences among these two superpowers. The main wary factor in the war period was the introduction of weapons of mass destruction. Before the war had commenced, the two superpowers fought together as friends during World War II, since; they had one enemy in common (Arne, 2007). The reason behind the naming of the war originates from the fact that the war did not involve direct military action because both sides were in possession of nuclear weapons. This war was caused by several issues. Some of the prevalent issues include Truman’s dislike of Stalin, Russia’s loathe of capitalism, secrets in nuclear power, fear of attack by the United States, need to secure the western border and the aim of spreading communism in the world (Brown, 2011). These among other factors are some of the main causes that led to the rise of the cold war. However, this rivalry was presented through espionage, aid to client countries, rivalry at sport competitions, massive propaganda campaigns, technological contests, military federations and making pleas to neutral nations. One of the most evident expressions of the conflict is the Space Race which was related to technological improvement. These were some of the proxy wars that the Soviet Union fought with the United States (Leffler, 2008). Additionally, both parties sought for a detente so as to relieve the military and political tensions (Arne, 2007). However, in the 1980s, the Western bloc increased their military, economic and diplomatic pressures. This was the period when the Soviet Union faced economic stagnation. According to researchers, the cold war was the first-ever war between the social and economic systems (Tyull & Enright, 2011). In this period, the prime minister of Britain, Winston Churchill felt that the Soviet leader; Joseph Stalin was quite untrustworthy. Stalin was viewed as distrustful after Truman informed him of a new weapon that he was to use against the Japanese. In addition, Stalin knew about the weapon’s power after reports of Hiroshima went back to Moscow. He also asserted that World War II was an inevitable case of capital imperialism and that the implications of the war reoccurring were exceptionally high. The Soviet Union had a vast army known as the Red Army that was headed by the Zhukov while the United States region were in possession of the atomic bomb which was recognized as the most destructive weapon of mass destruction in the world (Tyull & Enright, 2011). Patton who was one of the leading generals in the Western bloc recommended that the bloc should fight the Red Army of the Soviet Union. In 1946, Churchill talked about the iron curtain that was to hit Europe. He delivered this statement through a speech in Missouri. This speech encompassed an Anglo-American deal that was based on fighting the Soviets. Between 1947 and 1953, there was the rise of the restraint through the Korean War. By 1947, the U.S president Harry Truman was urged to counter the Soviet’s influence (Tyull & Enright, 2011). Afterwards, the American government adopted a restraint whose goal was to halt the spread of communism (Pipes, 2003). Truman also gave a speech for allotment of $400 million to intercede it the war. He also unveiled the Truman Doctrine, which viewed the difference between the two blocs as rivalry between totalitarian and free regimes. Later on in 1947, the United States, France and Britain attempted to make a treaty with the Soviet Union. In accordance with the Truman Doctrine, the United States endorsed the Marshall Plan, which was a pledge of economic assistance to all countries in Europe including the Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan was aimed at rebuilding the economic and democratic systems of Europe. Furthermore, the plan also stated the European’s affluence was reliant upon the economic recovery of Germany. A month later, Truman signed the National Security Act thereby creating a fused National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense. This roused fear in Stalin who was reluctant of a reconstituted Germany, since; this would pose a threat to the Soviet Union. In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union accomplished a coup d’etat in Czechoslovakia (Eastern bloc) (Sanders, 2005). In overall, the two policies led to enormous help in economic and military aid. Furthermore, Greek won the civil war with assistance from the United States. Later on, Stalin came up with the Berlin Blockade which prevented aid from the United States from reaching the citizens of West Berlin. However, this led to the Berlin airlift program that was performed by the United States together with its associates. All these factors were associated with the spread of communism in Berlin (Brown, 2011). In 1949, the United States among other countries signed the North Atlantic theory (April 1949) which also led to the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1950, the United States formalized a series of alliances with many countries. In 1953, radical changes were made in the political leadership of both blocs. After Stalin’s death, the Soviet leadership was taken up by Nikita Khrushchev. To some extent, his death in 1953 calmed down the tension in Europe. This made the Soviets form the Warsaw pact in 1955 due to their large network of treaties. In addition, the Hungarian revolution was also formed in 1956 (Sanders, 2005). Khrushchev always threatened the West with their nuclear power stating that they had the potential of wiping out the European countries and the United States. In November 1958, he made an attempt to turn Berlin into an independent country. In this period, there was also the commencement of the European integration which was a fundamental derivative that originated from the war. This integration was promoted by both Eisenhower and Truman. After this, there was a worldwide competition in the 1950s which entailed the wars of national liberation, Iranian and Guatemalan coup d’etat (1953) and the Congo crisis (1954) (Tyull & Enright, 2011). In 1962, Khrushchev had learned about the plan that America had towards Cuba. The plan which was entitled Cuban project had been approved by the CIA in order to overthrow the Cuban government. This became visible with the Cuban Missile crisis that occurred in 1962. Afterwards, his friends were able to overthrow him, therefore, leading to his retirement (Sanders, 2005). They did so because he had become an embarrassment especially when he was given the accountability of erecting the Berlin wall. He was regarded as a Marxism-Leninism individual. In the final years of the war, the tensions mounted between both sides. There was also a disagreement between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. The Soviet military were in support of the Marxist government. An aspiring presidential candidate; Ronald Reagan had immense interest in the cold war which was revealed through talks by Richard Allen (Lewis, 2006). In 1980, Reagan was quite lucky to defeat Jimmy Carter and became the president. He promised to defeat the Soviet Union, eradicate communism and increased the military spending on wars (Pipes, 2003). He even labeled the Soviet Union as an evil empire. By 1985, Reagan had developed the Reagan Doctrine that was aimed in anticommunism. Even the pope in that period; Pope John Paul II had focused on how to alleviate communism (Brown, 2011). Other countries like Poland also came up with their regulations that were aimed in protecting the communism factor in the region (Pipes, 2003). In conclusion, the paper has clearly analyzed the cold war era. The analysis presented shows that the Soviet immensely invested in the defense sector (Lewis, 2006). In 1988, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan. Hungary and Berlin became independent, Germany was reunited, and the Warsaw Pact marked an end. This significantly lowered the tensions that existed between the two blocs. In this period, the Soviet Union was facing a stagnated economy that was caused by a drop in oil prices. This situation forced employees to come up with mechanisms of investigating methods on how to solve the situation. In addition, they were forced to surrender some powers. In addition, the Society Union was officially dissolved in 1991. The cold war was declared officially at the Malta Summit on December 3, 1989 by George Bush (Arne, 2007). References Arne, O. (2007). The global cold war: Third world interventions and the making of our times. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brown, A. (2011). The rise and fall of communism. Oxford: Ecco Press. Leffler, M. (2008). For the soul of mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War. New York: Hill and Wang Publishers. Lewis, J. (2006). The cold war: A new history. New York: penguin publishers. Pipes, R. (2003). Communism: A history. Harvard modern library. Sanders, T. (2005). Encounters in world history: Sources and themes from the global past. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishers. Tyull, V. & Enright, B. (2011). Historical Contexts and Literature. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Read More