Cold+War+Question+Set

Nik Jameson AP World History 5/4/09

__Cold War Questions and Primary Source Interpretation__

1. The end of the Second World War only led to the beginning of a major conflict between the remaining super powers of the world. By the time the war ended, the alliance that the United States and the Soviet Union had was disintegrating. These tensions led to the Cold War, which divided the world into the competing ideologies of capitalism (US) and communism (USSR). The Cold war also played a key role in forming new boundaries, while also forming new alliances. World War II's conclusion led to the division of Europe into two blocs. The first bloc was made up of the Western Europe and the United States, and embraced parliamentary governments and capitalist economies. The other bloc contained the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, who had communist governments. The reason that the two, once-allies, split, was due to the fact that when they once cooperated, they now focused solely on their national interests. This fact and the fact that their ideologies vastly differed led to tension which brewed into a great rivalry. After the division of Europe, the Western region adopted all of the US's political institutions, economic systems, and foreign policies, while the Eastern part of Europe did the same to the Soviet Union. The conflict, that began after the Second World War, completely divided Europe, but also spread and became a global conflict. After Europe split into west and east, Germany was split into west and east by the Berlin Wall, and eventually nations as far away as Korea and Cuba joined the conflict.

2. Although the Cold War was a major conflict in the Post-World War II world, it never completely evolved into a full-scale war between the two superpowers, despite the many crisis that occurred. There were many close-calls and narrowly avoided disasters, but nothing that happened led to a total war. For example in Germany after the Soviets blockaded all road, rail, and water links between Berlin and western Germany, the US and the British responded by designing an airlift that kept the city's inhabitants alive, fed, and warm. Though tensions remained high during this series of events, the Soviets called off the blockade and no real battle took place. Another near disaster was during the Cuban missile crisis, which nearly brought the superpowers to a nuclear exchange. This was because the Soviets deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, that were aimed at the United States (Cuba, along with the rest of the Western hemisphere, was supposedly off-limits to the Soviets, because it was under US influence). President Kennedy then blockaded Cuba, and demanded the removal of the missiles, which led to a tense two weeks. After the Soviets realized that they were on the brink of nuclear war, they removed their missiles, in return for the United States' promise not to overthrow Castro. All in all, there were many times when the Cold War could have turned into a full-scale, nuclear exchange. But all of these crisis or disasters were somehow avoided and the Cold War continued to be “merely” a series of conflict and tension that never completely led to warfare.

3. The Cold War had a number of effects on the nations who competed in it. On both sides of the “iron curtain” there were domestic societal effects on the inhabitants. The Cold War competition saw the United Sates and the Soviet Union committing their finances, military and diplomatic personnel, and goods to diverse countries, in attempts at gaining allies. The Cold War led to the female liberation movement in the United States. During the Cold War the United States believed in domestic containment, that women should live at home instead of work. But during the Cold War, a large number of women began working, who didn't work during WWII. These women resented feeling shameful at not living up to the US's domestic ideals. This led to the female liberation movement. Another effect that the Cold War had on societies was on black nationalism and the civil rights movement. Black nationalism spread into the United States, the Caribbean, and some parts of Africa, with the help of the music of the Jamaican singer Bob Marley. Marley, along with Martin Luther King Jr., urged people to stand up for what they believed in. During the Cold War the USSR put pressure on the US about it treatment of African-Americans. Soon after African-Americans began to assemble protests of southern segregation. Basically, the Cold War put pressure on many nations to change things that they had been doing throughout their history. But many of these changes have played an enormous role in shaping the world that we live in today.

4. Although many countries joined alliances with either the United States or the Soviet Union some nations, such as France, Czechoslovakia, China, and Hungary tried to chart their own courses during this era of bipolarity. The first attack and the bipolar word came from France's Preside Charles de Gaulle who wanted Europe free from superpower domination. France then went ahead to refuse to ban nuclear tests, and tested the nuclear bomb in 1964. Hungary embraced de-Stalinization, the process of ending the rule of terror, demanded democracy. They withdrew from the Warsaw Pact and broke ties to Moscow announcing their neutrality. But in the autumn of 1956, Soviet tanks entered Budapest and crushed the Hungarian uprising. Just twelve years after Hungary's attempt at independence, Czechoslovakia, under Communist Party leader Alexander Dubcek, launched a “democratic socialist revolution,” aiming for “socialism with a human face.” But just like in Hungary, Soviet forces crushed Prague liberal communism.

5. There were many factors that led to the end of the Cold War, and once the war ended, the world was positioned for the future as the Berlin Wall fell. One factor that led to the end of the Cold War was superpower leaders that were associated with the Cold War who lost their power and position. Richard Nixon's Watergate controversy led to him losing his presidency and led to the Cold War losing a superpower leader. Along with the leaders of the Cold War losing power, new leaders attempted to bring an end to the war. Mikhail S. Gorbachev arose and helped bring an end to the Cold War. The collapse of the Soviet Union went along with the end of the Cold War. At the end of the Cold War the world was positioned for an uncertain future. Ideological contest ended, after fifty years, in 1991. But NATO and the Warsaw Pact provided uncertain security, even though communism remained only in Cuba and North Korea. Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine was a United States foreign policy principle set by President Harry Truman, that called for the US giving financial aid and military aid to both Greece and Turkey. Truman felt the responsibility of helping Greece and Turkey because he did not want to see them fall under Soviet Union rule. In the end Truman provided Turkey and Greece with $400 million to help them end their economic and governmental struggles. According to Churchill and Stalin there were many issues between the superpowers of the world during the times of the Cold War.