Free Essay About Cold War

The term Cold War has always been used by many to describe the relationship between the Soviet Union and America from 1945 to 1980. The Cold War started as soon as the Second World War ended. It would have been termed World War three by the free society. However, that whimsical name (Cold War) was preferred because there was no military confrontation between the two nations. Many factors led to the emergence of the Cold War, and it had many impacts.
The first reason that resulted in the start of the Cold War was the idea of the Soviet Union to spread communism to the whole world. The idea alarmed many American strategists who only supported democracy. To prevent communism from spreading, the Truman Doctrine was developed. Its aim (Truman Doctrine) was to provide both military and economic aid nations such as Turkey and Greece, which were under the threat of communism. Truman’s administration saw the need to support Greece and Turkey for they were vulnerable to Soviet Union influence. George Marshall was also of the same opinion because the poor European countries would be at the mercy of the Soviet Union. He also argued that Europe needed help from the Americans.
The second reason that led to the emergence of the Cold War was the atomic weapons that had been acquired by America. The American officials were encouraging the development of nuclear weapons particularly towards the end of the Second World War. Plans to develop an advanced hydrogen bomb were also in the pipeline.These atomic weapons made the Soviets to panic and start making their own atomic bombs.
The actions of the Soviet Union, which indicated that they wanted to take control over E.U (Eastern Europe), is the third reason that led to the emergence of the Cold War. One of the leaders who was weary of the threat posed by the Soviet Union was Winston Churchill. He argued that the Soviet Union was interested in pursuing an expansionism policy. The American government could not allow that to happen in the Easter Europe.
The other reason that contributed to the start of the Cold War was that the United States and the Soviet Union feared getting attacked, a process that would lead to mass destruction. This fear was evident in the response made by the Soviet spokesmen to Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech. The gist of the speech was that the United States and the Soviet Union should not pursue another war.
Last but not least, the other reason that contributed to the emergence of the Cold War was the dislike that the United States’ president had on the leader of the Soviet. This was due the Soviet Union’s actions of occupying a part of Germany. On the other hand, the Soviet Union did want to be attacked by the United States using Western Europe as a conduit.
The dispute between the Soviet Union and the United States had very many impacts. The first impact of the Cold War was that both the U.S and the Soviet Union started building ballistic missiles and atomic weapons. The United States viewed the Soviet Union as its main enemy and therefore required missiles that could move for long distances. The U.S managed to develop a hydrogen bomb in 1952 and the Atlas Missile in the year of 1957. On the other hand, the Soviet Union started developing long-range missiles. In a speech, John Kennedy reported that the Soviet Union had developed ballistic missiles. The new weapons had the capacity to hit out at far distances.
The other impact of Cold War is that it led to the signing of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The counties with knowledge of nuclear technology agreed that the technology would not be leaked to non-nuclear states. The aim was to prevent a full-blown nuclear war.
The Cold War is also believed to have played a part in the destructive dispute of the Korean War. It was during this time of Cold War that South Korea was invaded by North Korea. At some point, the U.S made a desperate attempt to stop further incursions by writing a letter to the Soviets, urging them to persuade North Korea to stop further military action. Ironically, the Soviet Union did not respond as the ambassador expected. They argued that they had no business with the Koreans, and therefore only those countries which had any interest in Korea could convince the North Koreans to withdraw from the South. In addition, they argued that by withdrawing their forces (Soviet) from that region (Korea) earlier than the United States, they had signalled that they would not interfere with matters of other states.
The other impact of the Cold War is that it led to the emergence of the Berlin Blockade. The main aim of the Berlin blockade was to limit the free movement of people. The success of the Berlin Blockade was due to the Berlin Airlift. Many prominent people such as McCarthy started a political campaign that made many Americans dissociate themselves with people from the Soviet Union. McCarthy was of the opinion that the country was harbouring too many communists. Many people were subsequently tried and executed for suspicions that they were communists. However, eventually, communism collapsed. Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, and the General of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, decided to meet in Moscow in the year of 1988. In this meeting, the two came up with new ways through which their societies could relate. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Islamic fundamentalism replaced the communist ideology.
The other impact of the Cold War is that it led to the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). This organization was created in the year of 1949 by the U.S, Canada, and other Western Europe nations. The aim of NATO was to ensure security against the Soviets. The countries would support one another in case one of them was attacked by the Soviet Union. On the other hand, the Soviet Union responded by forming the Warsaw Pact in the year of 1955. The pact involved Eastern Europe countries and the Soviet Union. The signing of that Warsaw Pact was a symbol that Soviet Union dominated the Eastern part of Europe.
Last but not least, due to the collapse of the Soviet and the end of the Cold War, the United States became the sole superpower of the world. The U.S became the strongest and the most productive nation in the whole world. There was a move from bipolarity to uni-multipolarity, meaning that projection of influence by one nation had begun. That is what has made the United States to be the superpower until today.
Conclusively, there were very many factors that led to the emergence of the Cold War. The U.S and the Soviet Union played an important role in the emergence of the Cold War. Their contribution later led to very many impacts (among them being the development of the nuclear weapons by the Soviet and the United States). The greatest impact of the Cold War was that it enabled the United States to become a superpower and the collapse of Soviet’s idea of communism.