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COLD WAR ESSAY The cold war began because of the conflicting ideologies between Soviet Communism and American Capitalism and the misconceptions both countries had about each other. The fact that neither country would reveal anything about them selves added the mystique and created high tensions between countries. Spying was the only way for countries to get a good idea of what the other side was doing and get answers for many previously unanswered questions. Many people had doubts and fears about communism and this gave rise to many people who thought that communist sympathizers should be punished. The most popular of these hateful people by far was Senator Joseph McCarthy. The cold war came about almost directly after WWII.
By February of 1945, Germany's defeat was inevitable. The Russian army of 12 million soldiers had fully occupied Poland and was within the borders of pre-war Germany, ready for an assault on Berlin. The Western Allied army of 4 million men was located just west of the Rhine River (Gardner, 38), still advancing eastward. On February 3 rd, the Russian army was ordered to hold its position for one week. During the next seven days (February 4 - 11), the "Big Three" powers, headed by Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin, met in Lavinia Palace to determine how the war should be finished. (Rubin, 30) The main purpose of Yalta was the re-establishment of the nations conquered and destroyed by Germany. Poland was given back its independence and given its own national election in order to create a new, independent government.
Yugoslavia was given its own government as well which consisted of mostly old members under a new system. In both cases, Nazi and Fascist leaders were specifically prohibited. (Gardner, 49) Secondly, the Yalta Conference agreed to divide Germany into zones controlled by each of the three nations present. With the immense size of Stalin's army, Russia would take Berlin and control the eastern half of Germany upon its surrender. Stalin agreed to "unquestionably" join the war against Japan in two or three months after Germany has surrendered and the war in Europe is terminated. The treaty was signed on February 11 th, 1945. (furtado, 121) The public harshly criticized Roosevelt in 1946 when the agreements at Yalta became public. He was said to have given away Eastern Europe through trust in Stalin.
Roosevelt defended himself by saying that he had done the best he could and had hoped that the issue would be handled further by the United Nations. He also felt that Russia needed to be sweet talked in order to gain their support in the war against Japan. (Rubin, 24) To the surprise of Roosevelt and Churchill, Josef Stalin failed to keep his promises. He quickly prevented popular elections in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria by assigning permanent Communist governments to each and suppressing all democratic supporters. The response against Stalin was little, for his army extended across Eastern Europe and controlled the region by force. The United States, busy in its war against Japan did not want to lose an ally as powerful as the Soviet Union. (Furtado, 124) At first sight the U. S didnt want to get involved with foreign politics.
As soon as the propaganda spread the United states started to get involved because China was beginning to follow the ways of its neighboring Soviet Union. When the United states got involved it was an all out arms race to see who could create the best and most powerful weapons in the shortest time possible. (Herring, 106) The aim of both nations was to also decrease the amount of response time that was inherent in their nuclear defense system. The best way to do this was to put missiles as close to the other country as possible. The United States placed nuclear missiles in Turkey and the Soviets attempted to place missiles in Cuba.
These sites did not remain, but were ideal for eliminating lengthy response times. (Herring, 98) The second best solution came with the invention of the SLBM, or submarine launched ballistic missile. This weapon was able to fire a nuclear missile from an undetected location immediately offshore of the enemy's coastline. This missile would arrive at its target in a matter of minutes, possibly eliminating enemy response. Seems were a very dangerous weapon because they created the possibility of a nuclear victory. (Herring, 107) The other method of eliminating response time was by detection. At first, spy planes were used to fly over Russia and photograph missile sites within its borders. Shortly after World War Two, an American U- 2 spy plane was shot down in Russia.
It had been photographing inside the Soviet Union when it was surprised by a surface-to-air missile. The pilot was taken prisoner and the plane was dismantled for help in developing Soviet technology. Replacing the U- 2 in the late 1960 s was the SR- 71, a spy plane that flew higher and faster than any missile. Officially, the plane was used to fly extremely high along (but not inside) Russia's borders and, using extremely high-powered photography equipment, take pictures inside the country (Chad manning). Sputnik was the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth. People around the world could turn on their radio and hear the little satellite emit a constant beeping sound.
Little did the listener know that Sputnik was also the first spy satellite. Satellites were the best method of spying on the other nation during the Cold War. It was against international law to fire a weapon outside of the atmosphere, so satellites could not be destroyed. They were permitted to fly anywhere and take pictures of the other nation.
Spy planes were no longer needed as photographic equipment from the satellites was able to read license plates on cars. (Groliers) The technology was incredible. Eventually, the technology was used for good as the methods and devices trickled down to the scientific community. Today, the decommissioned SR- 71 spy plane is used by NASA for upper-atmosphere research. (Herring, 108) One very deadly occurrence that happened during the arms race was the Cuban missile crisis. The Cuban missile crisis is generally considered by most historians to be the closest the world has ever been to experiencing a nuclear war.
This event has been studied thoroughly by individuals eager to find how the crisis came about, how it escalated, and how the situation was eventually prevented. The crisis began on October 16, 1962 when President John F. Kennedy discovered that the Soviet Union was placing offensive missiles and nuclear weapons in Cuba that were capable of reaching the heart of the United States. (Furtado, 201) However, it was the culmination of cold war hostilities between the Soviets and the Americans that truly led to the Cuban missile crisis. The showdown was a standoff between Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Khrushchev backed down and agreed to remove all the Soviet missiles from Cuba. Some historians argue that he did so because he was at a disadvantage militarily and strategically, and he knew that the United States would likely defeat the Russians on the battlefield.
In fact, Khrushchev was convinced "that President Kennedy was now ready to employ the hemispheric superiority he possessed and, if necessary, the US strategic superiority against Russia" (Furtado, 223). There could be no disputing that the US missiles far exceeded the number, power and range of the Soviet counterparts. Khrushchev did have at least one advantage in the dispute. He knew that Kennedy had nuclear missiles in Turkey and Greece that were at least equally as threatening to the Russians as the missiles in Cuba were to the Americans. The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion showed weakness on the part of Kennedy that some Russian leaders felt could be taken advantage of and therefore pressed upon during the crisis. However, these advantages were not tangible, and could not actually help the Soviets if war began. (Rubin, 65) If they influenced the crisis in one way, it was actually detrimental to the Russians, for they helped to divide Soviet leadership on the issue.
Khrushchev's next problem was determining if Kennedy would actually deploy his weapons on both Cuba and Russia. All his sources led him to believe that Kennedy was firm and would do exactly that if pushed, and his position was firm. His intelligence was correct. "If the quarantine, as a show of determination [to the Russians], did not succeed, [the US] would then resort to bombing, possibly even an invasion" (Rubin, 89). Also, the Soviet Union knew that an American plan to invade Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro was imminent. With this knowledge, Khrushchev's choices were relatively limited, because war was no longer made sense.
The US promised that they would not invade and seize control of Cuba if the missiles were removed. For Khrushchev, a Soviet occupied Cuba without nuclear capabilities was better off than a US controlled Cuba. McCarthyism was not the effect of one individual. It was the collection of many complex factors that had been building in America for decades. The senator from Wisconsin merely served as a person they could watch to see their own fears personified. The Congressional proceedings may have simply been a power-grab for him, but for many others it was a symbol of something much greater.
Initially, Joe McCarthy was the validation a war-weary nation needed to prove its resolve to rid the country of the communist threat. (Chad Manning) However, the legacy of Joe McCarthy would have tragic results for the United States. It would appear that the post-war communist frenzy and this new "Red Scare" created the perfect environment for a man with McCarthy's naked ambition and contempt for the truth to rise to power. Partisan politics played a large role in allowing McCarthy to claim his seat. The Republicans were all too happy to have a weapon aimed at the Democratic White House.
Democrats were unwilling to speak out in protest, for they were afraid that McCarthy would label them "soft on communism" as they had done to Truman. However, even with the election of the Republican Eisenhower in 1952, McCarthy's attacks remained unchallenged for fear of being labeled a communist. (Furtado, 251) Estimates that possibly as many as 10, 000 people lost jobs due to McCarthyism. The State Department, the Army, Hollywood, and countless government employees were systematically denied due process because of the outbursts of McCarthy. The American Association of University Professors was forced to remain inactive during McCarthy's reign of terror. Their attempts to preserve liberty in the academic world were viewed as an attempt to support communism and encourage its support among the nation's youth. Blacklisting became commonplace as lives and fortunes were destroyed.
The Rosenberg trial brought to light the fact that death was the punishment that those of "questionable" guilt would receive. (Furtado, 280) The Cold war and the Events leading up to the cold war were all the results of misconceptions and misinterpretations of the truth. No one knew what the other side had in mind. Lack of communication almost lead to one of the deadliest wars anyone had ever seen. Hopefully future generations can look back and not make the same mistakes that our fathers and grandfathers did. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Cold war, Groliers encyclopedia CD-ROM, Danbury, CT, 1998 Members.
nice. com/Chadmanning/Collar/Facts. htm, April 4, 1993 Rubin Alex, The Cold War, web August, 23, 1996 Furtado, peter, The Cold War Years, Oxfordshire, BCA, 1993 Herring, Patrick, The Cold War, Pittsburgh, PA, Penguin Publishing, 1968 Gardner, Lloyd, The Early Cold War, NYC, Kun Kar publishing, 1983
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