The cold war was a war in which the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in. There was no actual fighting, only hollow threats and tension between the two. Many people thought that the Cold War would lead to a World War 3.
Background on Russia:
Joseph Stalin
Russia had a revolution back in 1917 to free the Russian people of the tsars, the cruel leaders that ruled. They were selfish and sometimes worse than dictators. Alexander Kerensky led the Russians in a revolution that was meant to bring peace, opportunity, and freedom. He did overthrow the tsars but then Vladimir Lenin, head of the Bolshevik party, overthrew Kerensky a few months later. Unfortunately for the Russians, Lenin proposed to experiment with the idea of communism. He ran a cruel, forceful, totalitarism-communist government. When he died, Joseph Stalin took over the reins and was worse than the tsars. He killed millions of people that said a word to oppose him.
Communism
Communism was invented by Karl Marx back in 1848. He wrote a book called Communist Manifesto all about the different style of economy. This economy was supposed to focus on classes. It was built as a model government that hurts the upper class so that the lower classes can be free. It was meant to destroy poverty.
Communism was designed to help society but it does not allow any freedom. The government controls everything. Below are the major
Karl Marx, creator of communism
rules of communism:
Abolition of Private Property.
Heavy Progressive Income Tax.
Abolition of Rights of Inheritance.
Confiscation of Property Rights.
Central Bank.
Government Ownership of Communication and Transportation.
Government Ownership of Factories and Agriculture.
Government Control of Labor.
Corporate Farms and Regional Planning.
Government Control of Education.
Communism also becomes totalitarian and begins to control the people that it is designed to serve. Russia defied the rest of Europe with communism and gave all the power to Stalin, and this cause many problems later on. Karl Marx is not to blame though, many communist governments stray from his guidelines of rules. Again and again the world has seen awful communist governments, and it only results in killing and oppression of the people. It is not a good form of government.
How it Started:
The Cold War started after WWII. The dictator of Russia, Joseph Stalin, had bravely lead his country against Nazi Germany, on the side of the Allied Forces with the United States and England. After the war the Allies were deciding what to do with the war ravaged countries. the Democratic countries such as the US wanted to see Democracies set up in these countries. While communist Russia believed in starting Communism in these freed countries. Russia held control of countries it had captured in WWII and made the decisions for them. The relations between the US and Russia fizzled over the disagreement of letting countries control themselves. This is what started the threats, fears, and anger of the Cold War.
Truman's Reactions:
Truman was still cleaning up the messes of World War II when he was forced to make two plans, the Marshall Plan and the Truman
President Truman giving his Truman Doctrine
Doctrine to help the countries in Europe. He wanted the so called "Iron Curtain" to stop it's control over Europe and the rest of the world. This was the beginning of the cold war.
Truman Doctrine: This was a generous act. This act was against communism. It was offered to any nation threatened by communism and the Soviet Union. We spent over $400 million on Greece and Turkey to help free them and protect them from the Soviets. This act officially started the cold war which would last for over 40 years.
Marshall Plan: This was one of the United States most generous things that they have ever done. It offered money, workers, and supplies to rebuild any countries that were hurt by World War II. Japan was helped by General Douglas McArthur and was led to becoming a democracy with a new constitution. 15 other nations also accepted help from the world superpower United States. The Soviet Union did not ask for help.
Berlin Wall
The white space in West Berlin was where the US held a democracy
Germany's capital was Berlin. In West Berlin at the end of World War II was where the US army was encamped ensuring that a free democracy would take place. In East Berlin, Russian forces (they were allies) were encamped. They refused to leave Germany and controlled everything in it except for the tiny free piece of Berlin that the United States were encamped in. German people wanted to flee to West Berlin but getting there, getting out of the Iron Curtain, was nearly impossible. It became more impossible when Russian forces built a 7-foot-high wall between East and West Berlin, cutting the city in half. This wall stayed up for all 40 years of the cold war.
Throughout the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union competed on many terms to determine who was the most powerful. They tried to control space in The Space Race, they tried to beat each other in new technology and the worst thing they did was the arms race, where they built a deep supply of weapons, so many bombs that they could both blow up the world three times each.
The first nuclear bombs had been used in the Cold War by the allies. The bombs were kept a large secret from everyone but the Soviet Union during World War II had spies that informed Stalin about the developing super weapon. The U.S.S.R. then began to make their own bombs. They found uranium in the Eastern European countries that they were taking over and used that uranium to built a giant stockpile of the dangerous bombs. The worst part was that both countries had enough that they could (as said above) blow up the world three times. Any conflict, for example the Cuban Missile Crisis could trigger World War III.
During the 40's and 50's the tension was horrible and probably was the worst part of the cold war. In the 60's it wasn't quite as bad. China, which had been taken over by communists in 1949 was beginning to split away from the U.S.S.R.. New nations were making huge economical growth like West Germany and Japan. China was getting along with these new nations and joined the United Nations in 1971.
Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The cold war had had less tension in the last decade and a half but this invasion had the United States and Soviet relationships deteriorating again. President Carter was big on human rights and the Soviet Union wasn't. That hurt the relationship between the two superpowers pretty badly. When the troops invaded, the United States protested and even boycotted the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow to show how little they liked the invasion. When Ronald Reagan came into presidency he wanted buildup of military forces. This did help a little as it was this time that the Soviets began getting scared and began to realize that their communism economy couldn't compete with the United States'.
Gorbachev Brings New Hope and a Close to the Cold War
Mikhail Gorbachev was the first of the new generation of Soviet leaders after Stalin's generations. This was a good generation. As soon as he got into office, Gorbachev began reforming the government. He changed economy and sped up the industrialization. He also supported openness. For example, someone could now insult communism and not get killed, unlike the other dictators of the country. He destroyed the communist party when they opposed his new changes by holding an election and letting the people vote them out. Gorbachev also helped get relations with the United States back on track. He and Ronald Reagan began meeting and proposed a number of treaties for the destruction of the nuclear weapon stockpile. Gorbachev also withdrew troops from Afghanistan. When Reagan went out of term and Bush came in, they made the START program. This reduced the stockpiles of long range nuclear missiles. In 1989 the Soviet Union stopped it's rule of the Eastern European nations. He brought the end of the Cold War.
Cold War
The cold war was a war in which the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in. There was no actual fighting, only hollow threats and tension between the two. Many people thought that the Cold War would lead to a World War 3.
Background on Russia:
Joseph Stalin
Russia had a revolution back in 1917 to free the Russian people of the tsars, the cruel leaders that ruled. They were selfish and sometimes worse than dictators. Alexander Kerensky led the Russians in a revolution that was meant to bring peace, opportunity, and freedom. He did overthrow the tsars but then Vladimir Lenin, head of the Bolshevik party, overthrew Kerensky a few months later. Unfortunately for the Russians, Lenin proposed to experiment with the idea of communism. He ran a cruel, forceful, totalitarism-communist government. When he died, Joseph Stalin took over the reins and was worse than the tsars. He killed millions of people that said a word to oppose him.Communism
Communism was invented by Karl Marx back in 1848. He wrote a book called Communist Manifesto all about the different style of economy. This economy was supposed to focus on classes. It was built as a model government that hurts the upper class so that the lower classes can be free. It was meant to destroy poverty.Communism was designed to help society but it does not allow any freedom. The government controls everything. Below are the major
Communism also becomes totalitarian and begins to control the people that it is designed to serve. Russia defied the rest of Europe with communism and gave all the power to Stalin, and this cause many problems later on. Karl Marx is not to blame though, many communist governments stray from his guidelines of rules. Again and again the world has seen awful communist governments, and it only results in killing and oppression of the people. It is not a good form of government.
How it Started:
The Cold War started after WWII. The dictator of Russia, Joseph Stalin, had bravely lead his country against Nazi Germany, on the side of the Allied Forces with the United States and England. After the war the Allies were deciding what to do with the war ravaged countries. the Democratic countries such as the US wanted to see Democracies set up in these countries. While communist Russia believed in starting Communism in these freed countries. Russia held control of countries it had captured in WWII and made the decisions for them. The relations between the US and Russia fizzled over the disagreement of letting countries control themselves. This is what started the threats, fears, and anger of the Cold War.Truman's Reactions:
Truman was still cleaning up the messes of World War II when he was forced to make two plans, the Marshall Plan and the TrumanTruman Doctrine: This was a generous act. This act was against communism. It was offered to any nation threatened by communism and the Soviet Union. We spent over $400 million on Greece and Turkey to help free them and protect them from the Soviets. This act officially started the cold war which would last for over 40 years.
Marshall Plan: This was one of the United States most generous things that they have ever done. It offered money, workers, and supplies to rebuild any countries that were hurt by World War II. Japan was helped by General Douglas McArthur and was led to becoming a democracy with a new constitution. 15 other nations also accepted help from the world superpower United States. The Soviet Union did not ask for help.
Berlin Wall
Throughout the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union competed on many terms to determine who was the most powerful. They tried to control space in The Space Race, they tried to beat each other in new technology and the worst thing they did was the arms race, where they built a deep supply of weapons, so many bombs that they could both blow up the world three times each.
The first nuclear bombs had been used in the Cold War by the allies. The bombs were kept a large secret from everyone but the Soviet Union during World War II had spies that informed Stalin about the developing super weapon. The U.S.S.R. then began to make their own bombs. They found uranium in the Eastern European countries that they were taking over and used that uranium to built a giant stockpile of the dangerous bombs. The worst part was that both countries had enough that they could (as said above) blow up the world three times. Any conflict, for example the Cuban Missile Crisis could trigger World War III.
During the 40's and 50's the tension was horrible and probably was the worst part of the cold war. In the 60's it wasn't quite as bad. China, which had been taken over by communists in 1949 was beginning to split away from the U.S.S.R.. New nations were making huge economical growth like West Germany and Japan. China was getting along with these new nations and joined the United Nations in 1971.
Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The cold war had had less tension in the last decade and a half but this invasion had the United States and Soviet relationships deteriorating again. President Carter was big on human rights and the Soviet Union wasn't. That hurt the relationship between the two superpowers pretty badly. When the troops invaded, the United States protested and even boycotted the 1980 Olympic games in Moscow to show how little they liked the invasion. When Ronald Reagan came into presidency he wanted buildup of military forces. This did help a little as it was this time that the Soviets began getting scared and began to realize that their communism economy couldn't compete with the United States'.
Gorbachev Brings New Hope and a Close to the Cold War
Mikhail Gorbachev was the first of the new generation of Soviet leaders after Stalin's generations. This was a good generation. As soon as he got into office, Gorbachev began reforming the government. He changed economy and sped up the industrialization. He also supported openness. For example, someone could now insult communism and not get killed, unlike the other dictators of the country. He destroyed the communist party when they opposed his new changes by holding an election and letting the people vote them out. Gorbachev also helped get relations with the United States back on track. He and Ronald Reagan began meeting and proposed a number of treaties for the destruction of the nuclear weapon stockpile. Gorbachev also withdrew troops from Afghanistan. When Reagan went out of term and Bush came in, they made the START program. This reduced the stockpiles of long range nuclear missiles. In 1989 the Soviet Union stopped it's rule of the Eastern European nations. He brought the end of the Cold War.