Eastern Europe The Soviets example essay topic

War is normally associated with destruction and death to end a conflict or some sort of disagreement but that is not always the case. After World War II the United States and the Soviet Union began a war that would span decades yet there would be no direct battle between the two nations. This time is called the Cold war because of its lack of battle between just the two nations. Even though it was never the soviets verse the Americans the Soviets often fought the Americans. What could have went so horribly wrong that two nations who at one point were fighting on the same side can suddenly disagree so violently that they aid others to fight each other? The reasons are many and in-depth but it all started at the end of World war II.

When the smoke cleared after the last battle of World War II two powers arose. One a democratic society the other a socialistic society neither wanting one to be better than the other. Central Europe, mainly Germany, was the center of the disturbance at the end of the war. The reason that Germany became such a volatile area is because the Soviets controlled one half while the Allies controlled the other and neither was willing to cooperate with the other. As Germany was being divided most of the other European countries were suffering and in need of aid. The United States gave as much aid as they could but there was no possible way to relieve everyone.

All over south eastern Europe Communist and socialist parties were rising and gaining power blaming capitalism for all of their hardships. This only increased the Soviets strength and threatened the peace that was starting to come over Europe. The reason that the soviets were looking for backing was because with the US's use of nuclear weapons there was no army that could match their sheer power. To try and even level the power struggle in 1945 the United Nations was started with the United States and the Soviet Union as two of the members of the permanent Security Council. With the US and the Soviets being allowed to veto anything that the UN decided it became a stagnant with each side vetoing the other sides ideas or anything that may help the other side. With nothing getting done in the UN the United States were looking for other ways to handle the Soviets.

That is when George Kennan came into the picture with this idea of containment. Containment is stopping Soviet expansion with negotiations instead of force. The negotiations are backed by force by that is a last resort. In 1947 the containment policy was implemented.

To father push containment the United Sates was offering aid to countries that were destroyed by war and also met certain requirements. Western Europe agreed and took the aid while Eastern Europe refused the aid and its restrictions. For the first time Europe was definitely divided into two halves. Winston Churchill referred to the division as an "Iron Curtain " drawn down the middle of Europe. To strengthening Eastern Europe the Soviets planned to eliminate any noncommunist power from the area.

The Czech Communists and the Chinese Communists both over threw the existing government and took power. This put an even stronger strain on the Cold war and its participants. In June of 1948 one of the biggest struggles between the US and the Soviets was started when the Soviets put up a blockade in Berlin preventing anything from one side of Berlin to the other. The United States answered this with a airlift that could not be stopped without an act of war. In May of 1949 the blockade was lifted.

This was the first big victory for Western Europe. As a final step of containment North America and Western Europe formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This pact stated that these countries would help each other against any aggressive action toward one of them. For the first time the Soviets were seen as the enemy of the free world. This gave containment a strong military backing that it had not had before. In 1949 the Cold war gained a possible violent and devastating twist when the Soviets detonated their first nuclear weapon, years before the US thought they would be able to.

This redistributed the power and the United States was no longer alone at the top. With the balance of power shifting back to even More problems were arising in Asia. In October of 1949 China fell into Communist rule making Eastern Europe and now Asia almost completely Communist. This made the US very nervous and soon it was seen why. Korea was falling into a civil war between the Communist led North and the Nationalist led South.

The United states was backing the South while the Soviets were quick to back the North. For the first time the U.S. and the Soviets will be at war. This was not a war between America and the Soviets they instead were just supporting the side they believed in without actually declaring war on each other. The dividing line was the 38th parallel with both sides often crossing it but neither side completely taking over the other side. General MacArthur led the UN forces during the battles and all the way up to the Chinese border ignoring their threats that they will go on the defensive if pushed. When he reached the border the Chinese followed through with their threats and entered the war.

The war closely resembled a tennis match until 1953 when Stalin died and a armistice could be signed. The Korean war marked the last time blood was shed over the Cold war but it still had many years to go before it would finally come to an end with the collapse of the Soviet Union.