The Cold War significantly influenced the world’s powers’ military, political, economic and social status. The Cold War affected USA’s military status in various ways, both positively and negatively. However, most of the effects of the Cold War made the USA military stronger and more dominant than other world powers’ militaries.
The Cold War resulted in an expensive and massive investment in military resources by USA and USSR. The investments made the American military strong as they sought to outdo the Russian military. Many soldiers were recruited to the Army and made the army large. The large army required upkeep, and they also needed to be paid. This created a negative impact because the country spent too much on salaries and maintenance of the army. Even though the military was so strong due to the cold war, the nation’s economy was adversely affected.
The Cold War was fought in many countries such as the developing nations and I Europe. As Russia strengthened other communist nations and providing them with military aid, the USA also sent its Army to some of its capitalist nations. The USA had its military train the Cuban rebels with the aim of overthrowing Fidel Castro. The Army was also in West Germany during the division of Germany. Even though the American military did not take part in any international conflict directly, they were active. The country spent its resources on these activities hence; the military gained experience in international conflicts. This made the American army stronger.
The Cold War was also responsible for extra training of American soldiers. The soldiers were given comprehensive training on how to deal with many probable attacks. The soldiers were taught how to fight in tough rugged terrains in developing nations. They also learnt how to fight in air, sea and land attacks using new techniques. The invention of new arms led to increased expertise and experience. The soldiers could now deal with a wide variety of attacks if they arose.
The arms race that took place during the Cold War resulted in increased strength of the US military capabilities. The Americans developed new, strong and modern weapons for their military. This equipment such as new warships and airplanes made USA the strongest military power. This made USA the strongest and largest military power because of its modernized military weapons and well trained soldiers. It is not clear which of the two nations won the arms race, but it is clear that at the end, America became the strongest military power in the world.
The nuclear war that occurred between Russia and America was also influential in making America the strongest military power. The nuclear war peaked in 1961 when USSR implanted their missiles in Cuba. The solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis can be used to show that America had a strong military. When America threatened to invade Cuba, Russia promised to leave Cuba fearing that any military attack would favor USA. Therefore, the nuclear war contributed heavily to America’s rise to become the world’s strongest military power.
Therefore, the Cold War was instrumental in America’s development into a world power. The country increased the size of its army, increased their training and experience. The army was also boosted by the development of new weapons and nuclear arms. USA’s army’s developed into the world’s best military because of the Cold War.
References
Lacquement, R. A. (2003). Shaping American Military Capabilities After the Cold War (illustrated ed.). New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Saull, R. (2001). Rethinking Theory and History in the Cold War: The State, Military Power, and Social Revolution (illustrated, annotated ed.). New York: Routledge.
