Cold War Dbq Analysis

In the late 1940’s, the United States and Soviet Union had become locked in a Cold War. The war was a dreadful time for both sides, keeping all citizens on edge. The war didn’t only affect the two superpowers prepared to fight though; it also affected the rest of the world. The Cold War had a large impact on developing countries like India, Cuba and Egypt. Depending on whom each country allied with, it either prevented or helped each country’s reform, development and independence.
Because of the war, the US and the USSR needed the support of other countries in case a battle broke out. They used allies for military support or even just as a trading partner. They bribed some developing countries to be on their side, since they knew they needed
The governments of the countries each country supported heavily influenced the leaders or Cuba, Egypt and India. Egypt was solely influenced by the USSR, and slowly made their way towards communism. Anwar Sadat, ally of dictator Nasser of Egypt, spoke to the Egyptians, claiming they were strong enough to make the decision of peace and war (Doc. 2), meaning the government could make these powerful choices by itself. If the government could decide whether or not to go to war, it could decide to tell it’s people what to do, which it wound up doing. Now, Egypt had come to a time where they could “no longer raise the standard” (Doc. 2) of its people, so the government took a stand. It slowly reformed its government, presenting more and more ideas of communism every step of the way until it wanted a social revolution. Cuba’s aid came from the USSR, so once its revolution turned radical, it started to develop communist habits. Castro wanted to make conditions equal for all people in Cuba, so he started a land reform seizing and distributing land to the poor. Conditions were poor in Cuba, death rates stagnated at a high percentage, illiteracy increased, and it lacked many important necessities (Doc. 3). Reform swept throughout the country and became very successful, especially in social welfare. Welfare is a way to bring equality to a country, which is a communist state of mind. Since
Although by definition each had become an independent nation-state, they didn’t achieve that goal themselves. They received help from the USSR and US, which means they were dependent on these countries. For a country to become independent, it needs to learn how to stand up on it’s own or else it will fall right back down. The war did affect each country’s independence because it lead to them not actually having any. Cuba’s economy depended on Soviet support and American trade. Latin America supplied all the materials for manufactured goods and then wound up paying high prices for those products, therefore countries that traded with Cuba dominated the economies (Doc. 3). Egypt also depended on the two superpowers for economic support. Once America had cut off their aid, the Soviets couldn’t match it and Nasser’s social programs became too expensive. Anwar Sadat said, “We can no longer enjoy the products of our hands and the fruit of our labor in a world where plunder prevails and flourishes,” (Doc. 2). He’s trying to say that the Egyptians couldn’t enjoy the products that came from their own raw materials because other countries like the USSR took advantage of the cheap goods, and took over their economy just like in Cuba. India welcomed foreign investment, which means that their income didn’t exactly come from themselves and they were depending on the foreign