ipl-logo

The Cold War: The Space Race

1847 Words8 Pages

After the conclusion of World War II, tensions arose between the USSR and the US between 1947-1991. During World War II, the two powerful nations were unalike in most ways–geologically, ideologically, and economically– but were unified with their goal to defeat their common enemies. But, after World War II, both superpowers strove to prove superiority over the other. One important distinction between the two were their support of different governmental systems, which created a large amount of tension because the US, filled with anticommunist sentiments, wanted to contain the spread of communism while spreading the ideals of democracy. Amongst this conflict of ideals, the issues extended to military power competition, consisting of an arms …show more content…

Furthermore, one long-term impact of the Space Race is the improvement of foreign relations as joint efforts between the nations achieved far more with cooperation rather than competition. The Cold War was between two superpowers, both of which tried to compete with each other relying on their own nation’s resources, but in doing so they proved that both sides were capable of great feats. Therefore, when the war ended with a period of detente, the two nations teamed up in 1975 to launch the Apollo-Soyuz project, the first joint US- Soviet space mission. NASA astronauts in an Apollo Command and Service Module met Russian cosmonauts in a Soyuz capsule, but most notably a jointly designed docking module fulfilled the main mission, evidently showing that two different nations with different space-craft had the potential to both dock in orbit. Moreover, the mission itself allowed both sides to alter misconstrued perceptions of the others. US astronaut Vance Brand, who was on the crew said in an interview, “ we thought they were pretty aggressive people and… they probably thought we were monsters, so we very quickly broke through that, because when you deal with people that are in the same line of work as you are, and you’re around them for a short time, why, you discover that, well they’re human beings”(Brand). Significantly, his words suggest a possibility, which has now become a reality with collaboration on the International Space Station as one example. The ISS is a

Show More
Related
850 Words | 4 Pages

The United States and Soviet Union had many ideological differences. The Soviet Union was the birthplace of communism and a huge proponent of it. Communism and capitalism are direct opposites. This caused tension between the countries which eventually led to the culmination of the Cold War. It was an obvious fact that the Soviet Union wanted to expand the size of its empire.

Read More
669 Words | 3 Pages

Following World War II there was an increase in international turmoil primarily involving the United States and the Soviet Union. During the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union became allies to combat the uprising axis powers. While their political policies and ideologies did not align, the two nations were unified in their disapproval of Nazi facism. The allies fought together for mutual benefit, but once World War II ended there was no common goal between the US and the USSR. Fundamentally, the United States was a direct opposite of the Soviets.

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Post World War II America was one of the most militarily active periods in American history, having been involved in three wars, spanning roughly from 1947 to 1992, in order to stop the spread of communism. Overall, the United States permanently broke its previous isolationist policy in an attempt to promote democracy throughout the world; however, the wars proved to have serious negative effects on America. America was impacted by the military involvement in the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War. Shortly after the end of World War II, America and Russia, the two super world powers emerging from the war, divided various parts of Eurasia—namely Germany and Korea—between themselves. Following America’s decision to maintain world

Read More
1659 Words | 7 Pages

Tensions between the United States and Soviet Union began as both of them wanted to

Read More
1083 Words | 5 Pages

Soon after the Cold War came to an end, the United States and the USSR both began military technological advancements. If the USSR could get missiles into space, they could set them off at anyone anywhere. In the interest of protecting America and possibly the rest of the world, the main objective for the Space Race was to protect us against missiles from the USSR military. These advancements led to a competition between the US and the USSR to see who would be the first to space. America and the USSR were two of the most powerful countries in the entire world at that point in time.

Read More
1241 Words | 5 Pages

The Space Race was a pivotal element in the Cold War, serving as a "high-stakes" arena for the United States and the Soviet Union to demonstrate their technological and even ideological superiority. With Engelhardt's cartoon, he gave my perspective on the Cold War change. He always aimed to illuminate the Cold War's political, military, and ideological dimensions. I had never understood the meaning of balance of terror until I realized it was about nuclear warfare. Instead of going into a blood-curdling war, the space race took its place, keeping millions of lives at peace.

Read More
983 Words | 4 Pages

The United States viewed the space race as a way to stop the spread of communism and prevent the spread of the Soviet Union's influence on Western European nations including France, Italy, and Greece (“The Space Race”). They also used their acomplishments to create new alliances or strengthen old ones as well as spread capitalism. While In the Soviet Union the race and war were seen as a way to strengthen and expand the communist system. They used their success to showcase the superiority of communism (Schlesinger,

Read More
308 Words | 2 Pages

After WWII the United States was a stronger country that was trying to use its power to bring about a new universal order that was based on democracy and capitalism (Schultz, 2013). However, the Soviet Union was not in agreement with this world order because they were in favor of a world that was commonly owned and a society that fought against authority instead. The viewpoints between the two countries turned into a struggle that turned into the cold war. During the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s this war was able to form the United States in their politics, economic life, cultural, and social developments.

Read More
459 Words | 2 Pages

But not everything was conflict and problems. With tensions between the US and USSR softening, the first cooperative Apollo-Soyuz mission is launched. With two separate flights, the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft dock in space, and the two commanders Tom Stafford and Alexei Leonov exchange the first international handshake. This act can be seen to symbolically end the Space Race, paving the way for future joint missions, such as the International Space Station and the Shuttle-Mir

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

To examine the Cold War consensus, one must discuss the Cold War. The Cold war was the tension between the United States, standing for capitalism, and the USSR, standing for totalitarianism and socialism, following World War II. Although it was not a physical war between the two superpowers, many proxy wars had came out of it as way to spread or combat communism throughout the Free World. The Free World, as the U.S. came to define it, did not necessarily mean free as countries were being ruled by military regimes and dictatorships, but free from communism(70). During the Cold War, the spread of communism frighted the American People.

Read More
1326 Words | 6 Pages

The Soviet Union and the United Nations, led by the United States of America, were engaged in political and economic clashes, known as the Cold War, from the late 1940s to early 1950s. The Soviet Union stood for a Communist government, a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. Communism gained power in the 1930s, from the Great Depression because everyone was then relying on the government to fix the crisis. The United States had a Capitalist government, where a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, and the people have individual rights. So with the two governments clashing, neither of the powers liked what each other stood

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

If anything, it kept tensions high between the US and the Soviet Union and it questioned who would make the first

Read More
496 Words | 2 Pages

"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.

Read More
1055 Words | 5 Pages

Introduction The world has seen a lot, but space exploration has had the most significant effect on the world since sugar. The space race and things like the Sputnik change the way the world thinks. While space exploration can be very expensive, space exploration has had the greatest effect on the world because it has exponentially changed the world in education, culture, global challenges, and has created life changing innovations for many people. The thought of "discovery" and "exploration" Space exploration has been the best thing since sugar because it brought the world together.

Read More
994 Words | 4 Pages

Proxy wars thus ensued, exemplified by the Vietnam War and Korean War. The asymmetrical distribution of power between the US and USSR resulted in hegemonic rivalry as the US sought improvements in non-economic aspects, causing USSR to perceive it as a threat (Wohlfort 1999, p. 27). Their rivalry resulted from each other’s pursuit of hegemony. The presence of proxy wars and tension between USSR and US affirms the idea of bipolarity being able to lead to

Read More

More about The Cold War: The Space Race

Related Topics

Open Document