Superpowers: The Cold War And The Vietnam War

The Cold War was a long period of tension between the democracies of the Western World and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. The west was led by the United States and Eastern Europe was led by the Soviet Union. These two countries became known as superpowers. Although the two superpowers never officially declared war on each other, they both sided with different countries in proxy wars such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War. They also fought each other in the arms race and the space race during the early 1960s.

The Cold War began shortly after the end of World War II in 1945. The Soviet Union had belonged to the Allied Powers however, the rest of the Allies did not trust the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin and feared he would
Eisenhower.

George Kennan, in his “Long Telegram” from February 22, 1946, wrote in his part of the telegram that was the “projections of Soviet outlook in practical policy on official level” that, “the Russians will participate officially in international organizations where they see opportunity of extending Soviet power or inhibiting or diluting power of others.”

I saw this part of the telegram as his way of saying Russia would be involved in international organizations like the UNO (United Nations Organization) if there was something for them to gain from their participation. Going off this point Kennan also wrote, “Russians will strive energetically to develop Soviet representation in, and official ties with, countries in which they sense strong possibilities of opposition to Western centers of power.” This statement holds true particularly to the situations in Syria, Crimea, and the Ukraine where Russia has been trying to develop their representation in opposition to our ideals. To this opposition, the US has responded and is currently siding with the Ukraine as far as that situation
The incident caused Eisenhower to cancel an important summit meeting with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was scheduled for later that month.

The spy plane itself was technologically advanced for its time and was able to travel at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet and was equipped with high end photography equipment. The CIA assured Eisenhower that the Soviets would not be able to shoot down the high-altitude planes with their weaponry.

On May 1, 1960, a U-2 spy plane disappeared while on a flight over Russia. The US government issued a cover statement based on what the CIA had told Eisenhower would happen if the plane was shot down. The plane would self destruct and the pilot would have to kill himself in the event that it was shot down. The cover statement had stated that a weather plane went off course and supposedly crashed somewhere in the Soviet Union. Khrushchev then revealed not only the wreckage of the U-2, but also the captured pilot, alive. Eisenhower then had to publicly admit that it was our spy