1. What were the goals of the Soviet Union after WWII? How did American media respond to the Soviet Union 's actions?
The Cold War represented a global competition that established political hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union for almost 45 years. From the times of Czarist Russia and the beginning of the American nation, these countries have taken seriously their mission to expand and shape global order. After World War II, both countries emerged as two major military powers, which encouraged them to compete for the control of the economic and political world. The post-war goals of the United States and the Soviet Union were mainly influenced by their desire to sell to the world their ideologies of capitalism and communism respectively. The Soviet Union goals after World War II were based on the superiority of communism as a political and economic system over capitalism, and the United States used the
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Once the war ended, Germany was temporarily divided into four different sectors for England, France, USA and the USSR. By 1946, when the Soviets were in control of Eastern Europe, an “Iron Curtain” consolidated the division of Europe into a West bloc that incorporated the western democracies, including the United States, and an Eastern bloc with the Soviets. Yet in 1949 Germany witnessed another division with the creation of West and East Germany, which put an end to any dialogue in favor of a reunified nation. These ideological conflicts and divisions that took place in Germany, particularly the creation of the Berlin Wall in 1961, symbolized the main conflict of the Cold war. Germany was not only the center for the conflict between capitalism and communism, but the outcomes of the separation of Berlin demonstrated to the world the superiority of capitalism over Soviet communism in the
During the long and gruesome second world war, the Soviet Union and the United States were allies because their mutual goal was to destroy the strong military powerhouse of Germany. After completing this daunting task, the United States and Soviet Union each became eager to obtain sole possession atop the international spectrum, meaning the world’s leading superpower. An era known as the Cold War began immediately following World War II and lasted well into the latter twentieth century, but this “war” was not the usual physical war that fills history but a bloodless war of social and governmental world dominance. Although the Cold War did not involve actual fighting and the loss of numerous United States soldiers’ lives, the tension filled
Communism began to spread during World War II due the success of the Soviet Union Army and the defeat of the Nazi Party. After the war, the Soviet Union wanted to convert more countries to Communism in order to protect themselves from potential attacks of common neighboring Fascist or Democratic nations. The United States and their Western allies worried that the Soviet Union, along with its satellite states, were attempting to over-expand their territory and force Communism on to the world. The political and military tension that resulted between these powers is commonly known as “The Cold War”, which lasted from 1947 until 1991 (“Cold War
Why Can’t We Be Friends?: The Rise of Tension between the US and USSR post-WWII Dating back to at least the start of communism, the world saw the gradual rise of the Cold War between the United States of America (USA) and the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Although the Cold War was may have been inevitable because of these countries differing visions of economic policy, governmental systems, and the postwar world in general, it was during the years 1941-1949 when it became imminent. In this time, suspicion and tension between the Superpowers increased due to the battle between communism and capitalism, as well as their different governmental systems.
After World War II Germany split into four parts controlled by Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union (Russia). During this time, the United States and the Soviet Union entered the Cold War, where the U.S. tried eliminating Communism and the Soviet Union's supply of nuclear weapons. Berlin the capital of Germany, became divided between the West which belonged to France, Britain, and the United States. East Berlin came under the control of the Communist Soviet Union. Many people didn't like Communism and wanted to escape.
A War of Ideas: Capitalism V.S. Communism With tension rising in Berlin, Germany, between Capitalism and Communism, a war of hostility broke out: the Cold War. The Cold War was a war between the western democracy capitalist United States and the totalitarian communist Soviet Union. These two superpowers held the fate of the world in their hands. Tension rose to an unbearable level during the Cold War, almost entering into World War III.
According to Document B, “Western zones unified and became West Germany, East Germany was communist, old capital of Berlin was divided up between the four powers”. This meant that through the this action, Germany had become divided through the economic systems that each side wanted to be a part of. After Stalin had blocked shipments, West Berlin had become a pro-American island in a Soviet sea, surrounded by communism, that “may have had to surrender if it had not been for the United States and its allies.” The Containment Policy had allowed the Americans to defend against communism and drop off supplies to West Berlin. This influence, although in one specific area had helped the United States not only win the cold war, but help to contain
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd American President, greatly influenced the development of the Cold War. He earned presidency of the United States in the year 1945, shortly after Roosevelt passed away and two weeks before Adolf Hitler committed suicide. During his 8 years of ruling, Truman believed that communism was not right, which led to tension between the United States and the Soviet Union, also known as the Cold War. Where both Soviet and American policies had divided Europe into a Soviet-controlled bloc in the east and an American-supported grouping in the west. He took the side of those who shared his beliefs.
The Berlin Wall is one of the most well-known symbols of the Cold War, physically representing the battle between communism and capitalism. Associated with it is an explanation as to why the communist system had a need to control what came in and out of its land. Building a literal wall through the city of Berlin, Germany, seemed to be one of their attempts to keep everything under their control. While the wall started out as a rather innocent border between territories, it eventually escalated into a nearly impenetrable barrier between families and friends alike. This division of a once united city started forming after the end of World War Two; regions began taking sides with one economic system over the over, bringing the rivalry between capitalism and communism into light.
Berlin was known as the centerpiece of the Cold War. Being the capital city of Germany, the desire to have power over it was extremely high. Germany was split into two, the East, taken over by the Soviet Union, and the West, taken over by the United States, Britain, and France. Tensions rose between each country on who would be able to have power over Berlin. Since the city was on the east side and up to 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Soviets had power; However, the West would not allow them to take over the capital city so easily.
he first chapter of The Cold War: A New History begins by comparing the United States to the U.S.S.R. and talking about the similarities between the two. It also talks about Communism and how Marx deemed it necessary in order to build up the economy. Lenin tried to implement Communism in Russia. They were not quite ready for that kind of system, so Stalin tried to modernize the economy. The U.S.S.R. had more casualties in World War II, but things were not necessarily looking great in America either.
Therefore, the Allies’ aim was to rebuild Germany’s economy. The Soviet Union disagreed with this plan immensely, and instead, they became busy with setting up Communist dictatorships in their conquered areas, such as the zone of East Germany. This major difference among these powers marked the beginning of the Cold War. The war was not of physical battle but of international diplomacy. Germany now became the prize struggle between enemies.
During the second half of the 1940s, the atmosphere of distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union became a confrontation between two models with pretensions of globalism, capitalism and communism. Each of them delimited their respective areas of influence and generated a climate of polarization, used by the two superpowers to mobilize their allies and hold their adversaries responsible for the increase in international tension, intensifying the dynamic of bipolar confrontation that led to the beginning of the "Cold War". For the government of the United States, the defense of the "National Interest" determined the way to exercise leadership in international affairs. Anti-communism became the mobilizing element par excellence of
As mentioned above, post WWII lead to the U.S and the Soviets to be the great powers of the world and later on after many altercations with one, another lead to the brutal Cold War between the two. So this lead to the main altercation, which was the Cold War. Where the “East,” which was represented by the Soviet Union and its allies called the Warsaw Pact. Their main focus was to destroy capitalism and spread Communism. On the other side, was the U.S. and their alliances which formed an organization called the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) and they were against this communist movement.
"The Cold War was an ideological contest between the western democracies especially the United States and the Communist countries that emerged after the Second World War" (Tindall 972). The United States and the Soviet Union had differences over issues such as human rights, individual liberties, economic freedom, and religious belief. "Mutal suspicion and a race to gain influence and control over the so called nonaligned or third world countries further polarized" (Tindall 945). After the WWII Soviets dominate European countries and thought the U.S. had the same motives.
America had free elections, a democratic country, and richest world power. America had freedom of media and was capitalist with the ideal of “Survival of the fittest”, while the Soviet Union was in the opposite situation. There were no elections, it was autocratic and was ruled by a dictator, had a poor economic base, there was total censorship, and it was a communist country with the ideal of “Everybody helps everybody” (History Learning Site). The main events and personalities of the Cold War were: the Iron Curtain, the Truman Doctrine, NATO, the Korean War, the Warsaw Pact, Sputnik, the Soviet Army, the Hungarian uprising and secret police, the Suez Canal War, the Berlin Wall, The Cuban Missile Crisis, Fidel Castro, The Nuclear Arms Race and Nuclear Winter, the B52 Bomb, the Russian Invasion of Afghanistan, and Project Azorian (History Learning Site).