The year of 1945 was a time of relief for America and its people. That year was the end of World War II. Germany had lost and the time for rebuilding was near. However, the peace did not last long between the Soviet Union and the United States. A difference in political and economic views caused a rift in the Soviet Union and United States relationship of convenience. The Soviet Union was running on a system of government called communism. Communism's theory of a government run by the economy was the complete opposite of America's dedication to independence. This difference caused great tension between the two nations and became a Cold War. The Soviet Union believed that communism was going to overcome capitalism and that they will win the Cold War. America's retaliation to the Soviet Union's spreading of communism was containment. Containment is the attempt to stop the spread of communism. The Cold War split the world into two large groups, those who were under communist rule and those who were against it. The United States was dedicated in their fight against communism with instances like the Truman Doctrine, which vowed to support anyone who was being threatened by communist rule, and The Marshall Plan, which gave over 10 billion dollars to European countries in the effort to rebuild the damage done during World War II. By 1947, the United States and Soviet Union were constantly on their toes and pushing boundaries to see who would gain the upper hand in the Cold War.…
As World War Ⅱ came to a close in early 1945, the president of the United States, the prime minister of Great Britain, and the leader of the Soviet Union met in the USSR to discuss post-war efforts that would be made regarding the “Big Three” and other European countries.…
One major factor that could easily be blamed for starting the Cold War is the USA’s own economic interests. Truman desperately needed large businesses to continue to be profitable in order for the USA to avoid entering another economic downfall, and the business boom after the Second World War contributed greatly to the temporary security…
A capitalist state, a Communist state and a colonial power all joined power during World War II and formed the Grand Alliance. The United Stated which was led by Franklin Roosevelt, the Soviet Union which was led by Joseph Stalin and Great Britain which was led by Winston Churchill united powers as they all shared one main objective. The three leaders were famously known as the big three, they all agreed on the common understanding that defeating Hitler was vital for national security and World peace. The Grand Alliance was the result of Adolf Hitler’s reign over Germany. His growing power, rising popularity and controlling authoritative threated many countries particularly Great Britain, the United States and the USSR and as a result the three main powers joined forces in order to avert Hitler from occupying ,controlling many more countries and expand the Nazi ‘sphere of influence’.…
This was set off by the Truman Doctrine - the first formal policy of containment. As the Soviet Union continued their geopolitical expansion, the Truman Doctrine acted as the foundation for the decisions made by the U.S in the following years. As Foner notes, “it set a precedent for American assistance to anti communist regimes throughout the world, no matter how undemocratic, and for the creation of a set of global military alliances directed against the Soviet Union” (Foner 711). With this, Harry Truman showed that the United States was ready to use their policy of containment, to push back communist…
The communist soviet was expanding and the West was trying to contain that expansion. The Truman Doctrine (1945- 1953) was all about stopping the soviet and communist expansion wherever necessary.…
The United States foreign policy during the Cold War was containment, specifically of communism since Americans were still afraid of another Red Scare. The Marshal Plan enacted by president Truman provided financial aid to European countries. Encompassing 16 countries, the marshal plan allocated $13 billion to support Europe, preventing economic depression or recession and ensuring that Europe would not turn to communism as a result. Truman’s Truman Doctrine also changed the way America acted with foreign countries and allowed America to assist free nations who are resisting communism. One example of this would be the Berlin Airlift as the Soviet Union sought repercussions from Germany and wanted to prevent them from gaining power, so the Soviets invaded Germany.…
The Cold War marked a period in history when the United States and the Soviet Union experienced tension. This tension was highlighted by various events that took place in different areas of the world. The Cold War was given that name because of the relationship that developed mainly between the United States and the Soviet Union, this all started in late 1945. During this time major crises occurred, two of those being the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Airlift. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day confrontation between the United States and Cuba with the Soviet Union on their side. The Berlin Airlift was when Russia started to isolate the territories of Germany under their rule.…
Truman started his operation of the containment policy through a speech, called the Truman Doctrine., where he talked about how we need to defend countries that are being oppressed from their freedom, and in the case of the Cold War, it was communism. In the Doctrine, Truman mentioned how Greece and Turkey were the first to ask for urgent assistance and to provide it, Truman asked for Congress’s support and with it, both countries freed themselves from the communists threats from Soviet Union, Later this policy becomes known as the Truman Doctrine. Around the same time, Western Europe was in chaos , trying to recover their economy, therefore communist was appearing utopian to them. Before things worsened, a Secretary of State, Marshall, created the Marshall Plan, in hopes to bring capitalism at a rise not a decline, and later vastly helped Western Europe. Truman sided with Marshall and convinced Congress to financially aid many Western European countries. In addition, it boomed the Western European countries’ economy because Marshall thought that for freedom from communism includes the emergence of political and social parts of a country where they can co-exist. As tensions kept rising, America was struggling to maintain the policy. China already had turned communist and now America had to prevent Korea from turning communist also. Using the help of the United Nations,…
Only time will tell if this New Cold War will come to fruition, or if it’s just a scare tactic for countries involved to not continuously continue down a certain political and military path.…
While the end of World War II brought peace and prosperity to most Americans, it also created a heightened state of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Fearing that the Soviet Union intended to "export" communism to other nations, America centered its foreign policy on the "containment" of communism, both at home and abroad. Although formulation of the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and the Berlin Airlift suggested that the United States had a particular concern with the spread of communism in Europe, America's policy of containment extended to Asia as well. Indeed, Asia proved to be the site of the first major battle waged in the name of containment: the Korean War.…
Although the Cold War had many negative influences on global society, it also helped to create a stable political world, as evidenced by the fact that during the Cold War era, civil wars, nationalistic uprisings, and ethnic cleansings were almost non-existent. As well, the world economic situation was subsequently greatly improved by the military build-up caused by the Cold War. The implementation of the American "Marshall Plan" and the Communist "Molotov Plan", the nuclear arms race, and the global military build-up all served to create global political stability and economic prosperity.…
Once allies in the WWII against Germany, the United States and Soviet Union became enemies very quickly. The Soviet Union was flexing its muscles setting up pro communist regimes throughout Eastern Europe. America then had to reluctantly reverse its stance of not getting involved in European affairs and introduced the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine pledged to aid European countries be threatened by communist subversion. Whole soldiers of these two super powers (Soviet Union and the United States) did not battle each other directly.…
The existing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union proceeded to spike between 1945 and 1950. The disputes between these two countries pressured them to start a war. Of the post World War II goals that contributed to the Cold War, there were a prominent few, including the “Iron Curtain”, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. During the Cold War, competition for methods of weaponry skyrocketed. Some of said tactics were Satellite nations, the Space Race, and the buildup of arms.…
In 1947 the United States and Soviet Union were officially at odds with one another. Both disagreed on ideas on how to handle Europe. This eventually led to a standoff between United States and Soviet Union but it was on Europe’s soil. The Truman Doctrine and The Marshall Plan were used to stop the advancement of Soviet Union into surrounding countries. The U.S. felt that Soviet Union wanted to spread Communism around the world and Soviet Union felt that the United States wanted to spread Democracy in Europe. So to put a stop to it all containment was needed. This consists of using the military and economic persuasion to the surrounding countries and trade partners with Soviet Union.…