The History of the Cold War Essay - 4156 Words

The History of the Cold War The Cold War is the term used to describe the intense rivalry between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics and its allies. The Soviet Union and its allies were refereed to as the Eastern Bloc and the United States and its allies were referred to as the Western Bloc. The Cold War period lasted from the mid-1940’s until the late 1980’s. During this period international politics were shaped by this intense rivalry between this two great blocs of power and the political ideologies they represented. The United States and its allies represented democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union and its allies represented communism. The Cold War was truly a global conflict more†¦show more content†¦The Nazi-Soviet pack allowed Hitler to invade Poland and then fight France and Britain without having to worry about the powerful Soviet army. (6) A surprise attack by the Germans on the Soviet Union on June 1941 ended the Nazi-Soviet p act. This drove the Soviet Union to join the allies, but they found no love in the hearts of the United States and Britain. It was only Germany’s might and murder policies that held the Grand Alliance together. (7) As the tide turned in favor of the Allies in the eastern theater, the side where the Soviet Union was fighting on, the soviets army was pushing into several Eastern European countries which were formerly allied or controlled by Germany. As the soviets controlled occupied these countries, they were able to control them. The same fear that had arisen in 1812 arose again: Would Russia become so powerful that it, instead of Germany, would threaten to dominate Europe. (8) To avoid this nightmare Britain and the United States invited the Soviet Union to a conference to discuss how to establish a durable peace. The â€Å"Big Three† met at Yalta, a resort on the Black Sea shore in the southern part of the Soviet Union. At the final diner at Yalta, hosted by Stalin o n February 8, in a toast to Churchill and Stalin, President Roosevelt said he felt â€Å"the atmosphere between them was that of a family.† (9) Harry Hopkins, one of Roosevelt’s closest advisors and his special envoy to other heads of the stateShow MoreRelatedThe Cold War : A New History1650 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cold War lasted for forty years, from 1945 to 1985. Few historians took the time to address the events as they unfolded thus leaving most people with little or no explanations of the development of the war. During this fearful period, nine presidents served Americans and each president thought that the war carried a lot of dangers for forty five years. Accordingly, young Americans, Soviets and other citizens of the world require the services of a scholar with extraordinary gifts to provide insightRead MoreEssay on A History of the Cold War2808 Words   |  12 Pagesrecesses of the city from which he had tried to escape.† This excerpt, from The Col d War: From Yalta To Cuba by Robin W. Winks shows how, despite its name, the Cold War was anything but cold. World War II is considered by most experts to have ended in 1945, when the Japanese signed an unconditional surrender to Allied powers. Although World War II ended, the Cold War was just warming up. A very big part of the Cold War was the arms race. When the United States of America dropped the first atomRead MoreThe Cold War Really Shaped History1983 Words   |  8 Pages The Cold war certainly shaped history in the 1900s as a major global threat due to vast political and military tensions. 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The American revolt against the arrogant, totalitarian regime set a precedent for the future events in which the nation came together to oppose anything that went against the concept of democracy, and capitalism. Communism, or Marxism posed as a huge threat to the free mined Western societies, thus resulting in world wars that left perilous aftermaths, and bred an ongoing conflict between the two global political establishments. The Cold War, which is most commonlyRead MoreThe Cold War : A New History By John Lewis Gaddis Essay1711 Words   |  7 PagesI chose The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis for my book to review. I originally read parts of this book for History of the International System, but we did not read the entire book in class, only certain chapters. It’s been two years since I’ve picked up the book, and after reading about the Cold War in the context of U.S. foreign policy rather than simply an international history class, it seems like an entirely new book. I really like how the book into broken up into a series of themesRead MoreRethinking Cold War History, By John Lewis Gaddis1340 Words   |  6 PagesGaddis, John L. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press1997. We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History, is a book about the Cold War. This book was written by John Lewis Gaddis. John L. Gaddis is a Cold War historian. He portrays the Cold War in English and through the dialect of others. The thesis of this book is, I seek to situate this book at a particular point in time, not to claim timelessness for it. This is what I think we know now but did not know