The History of the Cold War
The Cold War, a conflict mainly between the United States and Soviet Union started after World War ll in 1945 because of the continuous buildup in tension and different political views over the years which turned into a huge divide in the world. Each nation did not want the other to gain more power politically, economically, overall to take over the world, viewing each other as a threat. The early years of the Cold War focused on the past differences during World War ll and authority over leftover land in Europe which broke the previous alliance between the U.S. and Soviet Union, “Disagreements and suspicions during World War II, fueled by conflicting values and worldviews, were followed by disagreements over the shape of postwar Europe” (Lecture A, Week 6). The United States was in control of the Western side while the Soviet Union was in power on the Eastern side. It was a battle over democracy versus communism leading to alliances between other countries supporting either the U.S. or the Soviet Union. Because of these alliances there were no actual battles in the U.S. or Soviet Union, instead there were proxy wars, political differences, and challenges to gain greater power by creation of stronger weapons. Leading up to the Cold War the United States was heavy on capitalism and democracy. Throughout the war, “American policy was motivated by an idealistic sense of mission to make the world safe for both democracy and American capitalism” (Lecture A, Week 6) which was completely against the objectives of the Soviet Union. The U.S. was in favor of expanding global trade and supporting other countries post war boosting the economy. Different from the Soviet Union the U.S. was very against communism and sought to defeat the idea with political power and bringing awareness to the downside of communism glorifying democracy.
The Soviet Union had objectives to expand land and wanted communism to control all of Europe. Implementing communism in involved countries, “the Soviet dictator initially tolerated non-Communist governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia, but he would use hard methods to install one-party rule in Poland and Bulgaria” (Roark, pp. 707) establishing the power and control of the Soviet Union. Surrounding countries were forced to convert to the communist power which gave progress in the war for the Soviet Union and alliances to form. The Soviet Union was against capitalism and democracy as they believed it would bring more war which is why the two countries had a strong rivalry. The United States had a strong policy focusing on the mission to end the rising power of communism. This created containment which was to stop the influence of communism leading to the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. These ideas and powers resisted communism and supported other nations affected by the Soviet Union lending military and financial aid. NATO was an alliance with other countries supporting the U.S.
Preventing the influence of the Soviet Union and to support conflicts relating to the Soviet Union. These systems gave power to the U.S. and went against communism effectively and influenced supporting allies to follow under the U.S.
