Cold War Backdrop
The Cold War started around 1947 and ended in 1991. It was a period of political and military tension between the U.S and the Soviet Union where the U.S. was backed by NATO and its allies while the Soviet Union was backed by its fellow members of the Warsaw Pact. World War II had just ended and many countries were destroyed both physically and economically. The U.S. and the Soviets were brief allies against the Nazis during WWII. Because of this they left WWII stronger than everyone else and were pretty much the only two superpowers left. However they had huge economic and political differences.
It’s called the Cold War because although each superpower possessed nuclear weapons, they never actually fought directly. Behind this was the idea of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). This meant that both countries felt threatened by what the other could do to them so in the end neither made any moves. Instead, they tried to spread their influence by using psychological warfare and also indirectly fighting in what are called proxy wars. Proxy wars were when there would be two groups fighting and the U.S. would back one and the Soviets the other. They wouldn’t declare war against each other but they would be indirectly fighting because they were supplying the fighting countries with back up.
The Cold War began because of a few key issues. The Soviets didn’t trust the U.S. because we refused to share information about the atomic bomb with them when we first got the technology. Some people believe that Truman did not want to appear soft against the Soviets and against communism and that is why the cold war began. Another reason is that the Soviets wanted to secure their borders and the Cold War resulted from how the U.S. responded to those actions. On top of all of this, the history between the U.S and the Soviets has been shaky to say the least. The U.S. broke off relations with the Soviets after the Bolshevik Revolution. Then, the U.S. reopened diplomatic channels but only because we were desperate due to the great depression. Then, later we were Allies in WWII but it was not a friendly alliance. The U.S. asked the Soviets for help in the Pacific Theatre versus Japan but the Soviets never helped. The Soviets often asked the U.S. to open up a second front against the Germans to take some pressure off of their borders. Neither country really helped the other. This created an overall sense of distrust between the two countries. At the end of the day, the U.S. was capitalist and the Soviets were Communists so the relationship was destined to fail.
The Cold War was mainly between the U.S. and the Soviet Union but almost every country in the world was involved to some extent. The U.S. was backed by the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Soviet Union was supported by its fellow members of the Warsaw Pact. On top of all of these allies there were key countries where events took place. The most important are Cuba, Korea, Afghanistan, Germany, and Vietnam.
It’s called the Cold War because although each superpower possessed nuclear weapons, they never actually fought directly. Behind this was the idea of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). This meant that both countries felt threatened by what the other could do to them so in the end neither made any moves. Instead, they tried to spread their influence by using psychological warfare and also indirectly fighting in what are called proxy wars. Proxy wars were when there would be two groups fighting and the U.S. would back one and the Soviets the other. They wouldn’t declare war against each other but they would be indirectly fighting because they were supplying the fighting countries with back up.
The Cold War began because of a few key issues. The Soviets didn’t trust the U.S. because we refused to share information about the atomic bomb with them when we first got the technology. Some people believe that Truman did not want to appear soft against the Soviets and against communism and that is why the cold war began. Another reason is that the Soviets wanted to secure their borders and the Cold War resulted from how the U.S. responded to those actions. On top of all of this, the history between the U.S and the Soviets has been shaky to say the least. The U.S. broke off relations with the Soviets after the Bolshevik Revolution. Then, the U.S. reopened diplomatic channels but only because we were desperate due to the great depression. Then, later we were Allies in WWII but it was not a friendly alliance. The U.S. asked the Soviets for help in the Pacific Theatre versus Japan but the Soviets never helped. The Soviets often asked the U.S. to open up a second front against the Germans to take some pressure off of their borders. Neither country really helped the other. This created an overall sense of distrust between the two countries. At the end of the day, the U.S. was capitalist and the Soviets were Communists so the relationship was destined to fail.
The Cold War was mainly between the U.S. and the Soviet Union but almost every country in the world was involved to some extent. The U.S. was backed by the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Soviet Union was supported by its fellow members of the Warsaw Pact. On top of all of these allies there were key countries where events took place. The most important are Cuba, Korea, Afghanistan, Germany, and Vietnam.