Early Cold War Essay Example for Free

Early nippy struggle EssayThe term Cold warfare was first introduced by Bernard Baruch, an American businessman and political adviser to every hot seat from Woodrow Wilson to John F. Kennedy (Bernard Baruch). It was a time of mutual distrust between the linked States and the Soviet amount of money and their respective eachies which begun later on(prenominal) being War II. From Democracy in Americas author, Alexis de Tocqueville, There are comparable a shot ii great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing toward the same goal the Russians and the Anglo-Americans. . .. separately seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its detention the destinies of half the world (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). The primary concern of the fall in States during the early years of the Cold War was the political threat of the spread of Communist ideology from the Soviet Union (Zinn, 1980). Further backwards in i ts history, Russia exhibited radical tendencies by overthrowing Tsar Nicholas, followed by the Bolshevik Revolution, the unification under Lenin where Communisms seed began to sprout and continued by Stalin (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War).A history of military hitch in Eastern atomic number 63 climaxing in 1948 in the overthrow of the republican government in Czechoslovakia by a communist coup were thr bear as examples of Soviet expansionism. This re top doged the American public of the atrocities of Hitler (Zinn, 1980). And with him in mind the get together States and its western European allies began to see Stalin as a threat (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). The more idolatryful concern was the Soviet Unions revitalizing industry after staidly scathed by the aftermath of World War II and its increasing military strength (Zinn, 1980).The United States easily exercised its economic might by refusing to aid any post-war reconstruction in Russia as approved by the U. S. Congress in 1945, a major about face in insurance indemnity under the lease-lend Act of 1941 wherein the U. S. shipped huge amounts of war equipments to Russia (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). Coming from the huge gains of World War II, the United States was also wary of regimes opposed to its capitalist structure.That fear was best exhibited by the emergence of Soviet Union as a global power with an ideology opposed to democratic and industrial capitalist principles of the United States (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). Americans generally fear revolution. They fear win over real, fundamental social, economic and political change (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). Fro all its democratic talk, America has a history of suppressing true liberalism and radicalism. The Soviets also had their plough allocate of fears in the early years of the Cold War.After World War II, Stalin feared that democratic principles would be agonistic upon the Communist tenets of the Sov iet Union. He believed the two principles cannot co-exist. As he warned in his spoken communication, capitalism and imperialism made rising wars inevitable (Episode 2 Iron Curtain 1945-1947). Stalin also was aware of the United States expanding influence all over the world. He was wary of this move and pressured Turkey, a country located strategically on the gray borders of Soviet Union, for a Soviet military presence in the Darnanelles and the Bosporus.Turkey was then influenced by outstanding Britain and eventually aided by the United States. The atomic bomb that was dropped in Japan started the concept of the atomic arms race which the Soviet Union was interested to join. But Stalin received intelligence reports that the Americans would not share atomic secrets with the Soviet Union (Zubok, Cold War Chat). The mutual distrust and fears of both the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in actions that further shaped the history of the Cold War.The United Statess fear of the possible spread of Soviet Communist ideology led to their policy of containment. What is now known as the Truman Doctrine paved the way to the formal declaration of cold war against the Soviet Union. This was the famous speech of President Truman to the U. S. Congress asking for $400 million to aid Greece and Turkeys fight against fabianism (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). The containment policy of the United States involves military interventions to countries where Communism was viewed to thrive.The most famous display of the containment policy was the Vietnam War which started in 1950 under President Trumans administration. Armed with the U. S. Congress resolution named Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, President Johnson further escalated the war by bombing north-central Vietnam and continuing to send as many as 540,000 troops by the end of 1968. As more Americans left and died in Vietnam, the anti-war sentiments back home edit pressure on the government. The Nixon years saw the continuance of the Vietnam War with the expansion of hostilities in Laos and Cambodia.Nixons Vietnamization policy of providing military aid but not troops proved to be a temporary success. A 1972 preliminary peace draft in Paris was initially rejected. By 1973, Nixon convinced Hanoi and Saigons President Nguyen van Thieu to sign the Paris Peace Agreement which ended the hostilities between the United States and the elective Republic of Vietnam. The containment policy also played a role in the creation on April 4, 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), onlinely an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe.This was the outcome of Europes fears of another Soviet aggression in the guise of Stalin when they were just about to rebuild after Hitlers dictatorship. Western Europe also needed the assurance of the United Statess protection darn they started to rebuild from the ruins of World War II. NATO members common grounds are said to include the same d emocratic ideology and capitalist structure of economy (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). In the late 1940s to mid-fifties both the United States and Soviet Union sought to build their military arsenal.For the United States, this gave way to military integration, the passing by Congress of the National protective covering Act in 1947 which created the Department of Defence, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). On the Soviet side, they detonated an atomic bomb of their own in 1949. The first H-bomb was also detonated by the United States in 1952. Not to be outdone, the Soviets detonated a fusion bomb in 1953 (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War).NSC-68, a policy the United States adopted in 1950 raised defense spending to staggering amounts, up to $60 billion dollars, a symbol of Americas finis to win the cold war regardless of cost (Kreis, The Origins of the Cold War). Although the Cold War has now officially en ded, the United States, the precisely legitimate superpower left, continues to establish a world order that caters to its capitalist structure. Military interventions have been part of its policy if it serves U.S. interests. During the Cold War, the goal was the containment of Communism. At the present, terrorism is the new strife cry. It is said the United States owns a very large percentage of the worlds wealth piece it tries to suppress those who oppose to its capitalistic tenets. Currently, we are seeing the emergence of a possible superpower like China. It has been known as the sleeping giant and could be a contender to displace the United States from its current status.Whether there will be another Cold War by any other name, only time will tell. References Bernard Baruch. Answers. com. Retrieved 10 December 2006 from the net http//www. answers. com/topic/bernard-baruch Cold War (1998). CNN. com. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World broad Web http//www. cnn. com/SPE CIALS/cold. war/episodes/02/ The Origins of the Cold War (2006). TheHistory Guide Website. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web http//www. historyguide.org/europe/lecture14. html Zinn, Howard. (1980). A Peoples History of the United States. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the World Wide Web http//www. writing. upenn. edu/afilreis/50s/zinn-chap16. html Zubok, Vladislav Dr. (1998, October 4). frigorific WAR chat moderated by COLD WAR reporter Bruce Kennedy for CNNs COLD WAR series. COLD War Chat Dr. Vladislav Zubok, Historian. Retrieved December 10, 2006 from the Web http//www. cnn. com/SPECIALS/cold. war/guides/debate/chats/zubok/