Introduction
The cold war began due to the difference in the political, economical and military that existed between the USA and the Soviet Union after the Second World War. According to the records, it is estimated to have begun in 1947 and possibly ended in 1991. During the tension between these two countries, other parts of the world had their own share of problems such as the Berlin wall, the Cuban missile crisis, Hungary war and Vietnam war. The term cold war was first brought into the limelight when a journalist George Orwell used the word to mean “you and the atomic bomb”, which was a book. The book simply states that man is the one that ruins themselves using the weapons they create and therefore, they are leaving the world to be conquered by other animal species.
In the fourteenth century Don Juan Manuel also mentioned the cold war when he adamantly referred to the Christian and Muslim conflict (Smith). He mentions that the hot war is very fierce, which usually ends in either death or peace therefore, meaning that “cold war neither brings peace nor confers honor on those who wage it”. The cold war has therefore, been defined as the process in which different nations have conflicts due to their different ideologies in the political and economic aspects. It is not clear as to how the cold war began but signs show that according to history it is the reign of the super powers the USA and USSR and their allies after the Second World War. They began competing in everything such as economy, weaponry and political. The cold war comprised of the USA and the USSR. The USSR was a combination of different countries such as the Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, and Latvia.
The causes of the cold war
According to history, there are many causes of the cold war such as dissimilarity in ideologies in areas, such economy and politics that will cause clashes between two or more countries.
Difference in political ideologies
Many countries in the world are either communist or capitalist. Communism nation is usually a state with a dictator because the state comes first before the citizens. The capitalist nations will always have the citizens need come first therefore, it believes in people having their freedom. It has been argued that the cold war mostly began due to formation of communism. The soviet nations were communist therefore; they were going to have many problems with the capitalist nations. The Soviet Union began spreading their communist ways to the west and was shut down therefore, started the conflict and hatred. This caused the soviet and the USA to clash because they both believed that the other ideology could be a threat and should be eradicated and also they both wanted the other to imitate their ideology. This is one of the major reasons that cause cold war in the different parts of the world currently. This is because there are different countries at the present that are either communist example Cuba or are capitalist example USA.
Conflict in according to history
Countries such as the USA and the Britons would never forget that the soviet countries had made a pact with the Nazi Germans. The only reason that caused the Soviets to break away from the Germans was that Hitler betrayed them (Smith). This shows that the Soviets did not believe in the western reforms thus they could end up betraying them. In 1918, the USA and the Britons destroyed the Russian revolution. This caused a major dislike for them by the Soviet Union. This kind of competition to show their superiority led to formation of nuclear weapons. This kind of conflict is also experienced in modern day Korea where the north and South Korea have had never-ending conflicts that have led to formation of nuclear weapons.
Lack of trust
The mistrust or lack of trust of two countries will cause suspicion of everything the other is doing. This made the cold war to continue without any signs of it stopping. These can also be seen when the USA and soviet union thought that what they were doing was right and what the other people were doing was wrong. This caused them to act in ways that will cause the downfall of any of them thus prompted more and aggressive ways to destroy the other.
Different aims of actions
After the World War II Germany was almost destroyed, therefore, other countries tried to fix it. The Soviet Union wanted to take over Germany and let it be part of them. The Britons and the Americans tried to change Germany for the better meaning that they wanted them to have freedom to do whatever they wanted to do. The other major reason that caused the USA and the Britons to want to help Germany be free in conducting business was simply that they could trade with them and increase their economy. This caused major disagreement between the two superpowers in a conference after the World War II. This disagreement is what caused some of the issues that later led to the continuation of the war. This can also be seen in many other countries where we find a country wanting to control another all because they will benefit from them. Good examples of these countries that start the cold war are the people’s republic of china and the Taiwan people.
Modern day cold war
Cold war is a never-ending problem for most countries because of political, economical and weaponry power. This has led to many problems that result to war and destruction of property. Cold War roots can be seen from the past where the conflict originally began. These wars have continued to the present while other wars just began recently.
The North and South Korea cold war
The North and the South Korea conflict began back in 1945 after the World War II. Due to their difference in political and economical ideology, the cold war started in 1950. The South Korea has gotten help from the USA in cases where the north could strike. This is because the North Korea has formulated plans in which they test the nuclear weapons in February 2013. The united states have enabled the South Korea a way to curb the nuclear but in accordance to the cold war it is possible to have small incidents where the war could lead to an outright war between the two countries. According to the BBC reporter Lucy Williamson, the south has been threatened by Pyongyang the leader of North Korea in that he promises to attack the remote side of the South Korean island. The South Koreans then will have all the assistance they need from the American ally.
This was directly mentioned by the spokesperson for the defense ministry who said specifically, “ Both nations are allowed to jointly respond to the North's local provocations, with the South taking the lead and the US in support. It will have the effect of preventing the North from daring to provoke us.” In 2010, the North Korea began the shelled border that led to the death of 26 sailors whose warship sank mysteriously. When the north was confronted for sinking this warship, Pyongyang outright denied the allegations. The united nations have made sanctions against North Korea because of the nuclear testing. This has caused harsh reactions from Pyongyang who also has a negative response due to the military drills between the South Korea and America.
The Cuban and US cold war
The Cuba and USA are well known to have difference in political ideologies. This is because the Cubans are well known to be communist while the USA is capitalist. The two countries began having problems with each other way before their independence. The United States influenced and controlled the economy and the politics of the country. In 1959, the Cuban revolution led to the difference between the USA and Cuba thus led to conflict. The USA ended up forming an embargo that made it illegal for any U.S. citizen to do any sort of business with the Cubans (Stanton). This was also because the Cubans government adopted communism while the U.S. government wanted them to be capitalist.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton caused the boundaries of going to Cuba to lessen due to the cultural educational exchange. His administration also approved the baseball team to play with the Cuban baseball team. When president bush took over the relationship began to deteriorate again because they opposed the government of Fidel Castro. This caused to form extra restrictions against travelling to the Cuban country. When this suctions were made then president bush stated that “We're not waiting for the day of Cuban freedom; we are working for the day of freedom in Cuba.” It was claimed that the Cuban government had continued with the programs of the biological weapons by John Bolton who was the United States secretary for the gun control and the international security. This claim was said to have been fabricated thus meaning it was untrue (France-Presse).
When president Obama took over the government lessened the restrictions that were created by former president Bush administration. The restriction changes are found in areas such as trading with Cubans, travelling to Cuba and also permitted internet access to Cuba that will enable the Cuban and American scientist to work on projects that will benefit both countries. This may show good signs that the two countries will have better relationship but recently when hip hop artist jay-z and wife singer Beyonce went there for their fifth year anniversary it created a lot of problems thus showing the most people in the united states still do not have confidence in Cuba due to their communist governance. This shows that the Cuban and US cold war will never end.
The Russia and USA cultural cold war
There has been a lot of difference between the Russians and Americans due to the cold war that happened in 1947 to 1991. This was due to their different political and economical ideology. This difference also occurs in the cultural aspect where the two countries still have problems. When the Russian banned giving loans to any of the Americans institutions that caused many museums to cancel any show that was due to occur (Burns & Stoilas). The American government took action by making sure that the 38 artifacts that were 6to be shipped to American museums will arrive. There was a judge that ruled the Russian government to return monuments to Jewish community that was confiscated during the Bolshevik revolution. This court ruling was not considered valid by the Russian government. This is what caused the Russian government to seize any loans to the art museum in Americas in fear that Chabad will confiscate the items. According to the Russian ministry of culture, they will only allow loans of artifacts to the U.S. when they promise to safeguard their items.
In conclusion, the cold began due to many problems such as different political and economical ideology of different countries. There is also the formation of nuclear weapons that in some countries find it evil thus will cause a lot of damage therefore, they tend to oppose its formation. The North Koreans are notorious for testing nuclear weapons this has led to a lot of conflict with the South Korea. This has caused the South Korea to form collision with the USA who will help with military training and military assistance in case a full-blown war occurs. The cold war will never stop because many countries will try to impose their ideologies to others so that they can boost their economy and gain an ally.
Bibliography
Burns, Helen and Stoilas, Charlotte. "US-Russia cultural cold war continues." The Art Newspaper (2011).
Causes of the Cold War.
France-Presse, Agence. "Cuba: U.S. locked in Cold War." The Raw Story (2012).
Smith, Joseph. The Cold War 1945–1991. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998.
South Korea, US sign military plan against North 'provocations'. 25 March 2013.
Stanton, Hal. "America's Secret War Against Cuba." true tv (2011).
