Reasons and Causes for the Ending of the Cold War: Demise of the Soviet Union

Reasons and Causes For The Ending of The Cold War: Demise of The Soviet Union

Carl Sandin

History 420 Professor Gianni November 13, 2012

While the United States and Soviet Union did join forces during World War II, against the Axis powers Germany, Italy, and Japan. There were several reasons why the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was a very tense one. .Americans had long been wary and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical, blood-thirsty rule of his own country. The Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. After the war ended, these grievances ripened into an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Many Americans were fearful of Russia’s expansion that they were trying to take control of the world. Meanwhile, the USSR came to resent the way America was building up their arms and the approach that Americans used an intervention approach to international relations. While it was a hostile environment and no one was the sole reason to blame the Cold War was inevitable.

When was the Cold War? The Cold War dated from 1945 -1980. Yes right after the end of World War 2. The Cold War was a term that was used to describe the relationship between the two countries, The United States and the Soviet Union, while these two countries never fought each other because the consequences would be to appalling- each country in a sense fought for their beliefs, using a term called client states who were willing to fight for their beliefs on their behalf. An example of this would be the Vietnam War. The Soviet Union supplied weapons to North Vietnam who was a communist country, while the United States supplied South Vietnam. 1 There was however one incident that almost pushed the envelope and that was the Cuban Missile Crisis. For thirteen day in October 1962 the world was at the brink of a nuclear war. A U-2 spy plane had photographed missile silos being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to know that he had these photographs so President Kennedy met with his advisors and decided to set a blockade with naval ships to prevent The Soviet Union for sending in more supplies. While the United States was not sure how Khrushchev would respond not only to the naval blockade but also to U.S. demands. Nevertheless, both leaders would sit down and come to an agreement that the Soviets would dismantle the sites, and in exchange the United States would not invade Cuba, this was due to the fact that both nations realized the devastation that both could cause in the event of a nuclear war. Also, in a separate deal the United States would remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey, that deal would remain a secret for almost 25 years.2 While there were many events leading up to the end of the Cold War such as the economy of Russia, to the number of treaties signed by both countries. In 1963, there were signs of a lessening of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. In his commencement address at American University, President Kennedy urged Americans to reexamine Cold War stereotypes and myths and called for a strategy of peace that would make the world safe for diversity. Two actions also signaled a warming in relations between the superpowers: the establishment of a teletype "Hotline" between the Kremlin and the White House and the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty July 25, 1963. 3

Notes 1. www.historylearningsite.co.uk 2. www.jfklibrary.org 3. http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/ltbt/index.html