Free Essay About «the Cold War And Decolonization»

After the ending of the Second World War, the world became bi-polar and has been divided into the spheres of influence of the two superpowers. These superpowers were the United States and the Soviet Union. However, domestic, social, economic and foreign policies of these countries were fundamentally different. For example, for the countries of Western Europe was developed a Marshall Plan - the package of measures and economic assistance aimed to help rebuild the shattered economies of Western Europe. Moreover, the Government of the United States proposed a Marshall Plan for Eastern Europe, but the Soviet Union refused from help for its satellite countries. It should also be noted that in contrast to the Soviet satellite countries (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, etc.) Western European countries have maintained their sovereignty de facto and made their own decisions relating to foreign policy. For example, the United States has made very great efforts to create the NATO and to convince France to become a member of NATO. While the events in Hungary in 1956 and the brutal reaction of the Soviet Union proved that the Hungary independence was only de jure. Another feature of the Cold War period was that in the world has begun the process of decolonization - former colonies began to demand independence from their mother countries, and many countries became independent. However, independence of new states was often used by the superpowers to expand their influence in various regions of the Earth.
In conclusion, it should be noted that an integral part of the Cold War was the economy. Economy has become one of the decisive factors of the ending of the Cold War. The Soviet-Afghan War and the orientation of the Soviet economy on heavy industry and military spending drained the economy of the state and were a key factor for the emergence of such phenomena as perestroika and glasnost. With the advent of these factors, and such factors like the expansion of human rights in the USSR and reducing tensions between the superpowers, process of disintegration of the USSR rapidly accelerated, which has led to the end of the Cold War.