Dangerous Events In Europe example essay topic

Although it began in Europe the spread of the cold war to other regions was a much more dangerous development. To what extent do you agree with this judgment? Although the struggle of power between communist and capitalist countries started with the disagreement of Germany; it increased to Europe and extended towards other parts of the world throughout the decades of 1950 and 1960. With both ideologies determined to stop each other, there were some dangerous events in Europe where ideology clashed; yet luckily, no nuclear threat was used, only military warfare. Nevertheless, with communists determined to seek the "expansion of communism" around the world, and "secure" the USSR, the Cold War stretched towards other regions of the globe where the clashes of ideologies led to dangerous confrontation; highly more volatile than in Europe as it involved the use of potential military warfare and the possibility of a nuclear war. In Europe, the main disagreements came within Germany and Hungary.

In Germany, the first dangerous event was the Berlin blockade in June 1948. Stalin blocked all traffic, rails and roads to prevent the movement between the east and the west, trying to force the capitalist countries to leave Berlin up to a point of starvation. However Truman flew 13,000 tons daily for 324 days. It stopped in 1949 when Stalin admitted its defeat changing the soviet-American relations. If war had been established, the use of atomic bomb would have been used by the USA. The possible threat that Stalin demonstrated brought insecurity to west Europeans who desired security from communism that led to the establishment of NATO in April 1949.

To counter-rest the NATO, the Warsaw pact was established by socialist countries in may 14 1955, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and the Soviet Union were the founding members. They pledge to defend each other if one member was attacked. This divided the capitalist and the west in a dangerous situation that if one country attacked the other in result, they would create a 3rd world war (with the use of nuclear weapons) The Hungarian revolution (23rd October to 10 November 1956). It was a mayor incident on the cold war because communist military tanks of the communism were used to take back order from the capitalists resulting in a massacre. It started as a student demonstration, and March to the parliament building in Budapest to demand human rights, however he was killed when trying to broadcast his demands.

This resulted in violence and disorder and pro-communist government's fell. On the 4th of November, a large soviet force invaded Budapest to recuperate the country. 2,500 Hungarians died, 200,000 fled as refugees and mass arrests. This was the first incident where danger was present with the use of military warfare. The Berlin crisis (1958 to 1961) was another dangerous situation in which Khrushchev announced that the USSR no loner recognize the rights of the western powers.

In 1960 an American U-2 spy plane was shot down inside Russia which ruined the summit conference in Paris. In March 1961, soviet aircraft interfered with traffic in the air corridors. Khrushchev suggested Kennedy that they should withdraw from Berlin, about 200,000 refugees a year escaped from east to West Berlin and over 3 million escaped. In refusal to get out the Berlin wall was erected in august 1961.

It was a 28 mil- long monstrosity. On the other hand in other regions of the globe the clash of ideologies led to dangerous confrontation resulting in proxy wars such as the Korean and Vietnam War. The Korean War was a result of the agreement of the USA and USSR to divide the country in 2 sides along the 38th parallel. Russia in the north and Americans in the south.

In the south syngman Rhee. The following month, North Korea with Kim II invaded South Korea in June 1950; Truman decided to intervene by sending General MacArthur to support the south. USA and fourteen other countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Nationalist China, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia, Greece, Turkey, Panama, Philippines, Thailand and Britain) sent troops. They entered through Inchon near Seoul and fought capturing 2/3 of Korea reaching Yalu River, frontier of Korea and China. China alarmed by a fleet launched a counter attack of 300,000 men, making Macarthur retreat. Macarthur shocked, appealed for the use of atomic bombs to defeat the Chinese, however Truman didn't want to create a total war, so he decided to go for a limited war.

Macarthur was removed and peace talks started, these lasted 2 years and ended in July 1953 with an agreement along the 38th parallel. 4 million Korean soldiers died, 5 million homeless people. China relation with America was straight. While the USA supported the French in indo-china, giving up to 4 billion dollars of loans, china supported indo-china.

Leading to defensive agreements signed with Australia and New Zealand in 1951 and in 1954 with Britain and France set up the South East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). This was followed to a similar situation by the process in the domino theory by the Vietnam War. In which the north under the leadership of HoChiMin fought the south ruled President Ngo Dinh Diem. These events were a micro-climate of the Cold War which were much more dangerous than the events in Europe as they involved more countries, more deaths and the possibility of atomic bombs.

This was later followed by the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. That was done as a reaction to the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, where up to 5,000 people died. In one air attack alone, Cuban forces suffered an estimated 1,800. this was because USA wanted to force Castro out of the government to prevent the consolidation of a socialist regime. The Cuban missile crisis began on October 15, 1962 and ended 13 days later.

The incident was that American U-2 spy planes fly over Cuba and brought back photographs revealing that sites for medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles were under construction. At 2000 miles from the target cities, although it is argued by different historiographies. Khrushchev states that it was done for the Americans feel the same threat as the Russians with the Jupiter missiles in Turkey. Castro says that it was done to create solidarity between communist countries.

Other theories state that it was done to test Kennedy. Americans made a blockade to keep out 25 ships bringing missiles, they demanded the dismantling of the missiles sites and the ones established at a brink of war. With this, both sides realized how easy a nuclear war could have been established. Although no shots were fired, it nearly caused a 1st nuclear world war. In conclusion, the early stages in the cold war and the events in Europe were dangerous situation that led to a build up of tension however; they were less dangerous than the situation in other parts of the world such as the Korean War and Vietnam War which resulted in the death of thousands of people, lost generations and gave a path to the Bay of Pigs which resulted in more deaths and the path to the Cuban missile Crisis in 1962 which was the peak point in the dangerous events as it nearly activates a nuclear war and was evaded by very little.