War With The Soviet Union example essay topic

The Causes of the Korean War The causes of the Korean War have always been vague in history. It's hard to recognize the real source to all the controversy occurring at this time. We know that North Korea started the war literally. And obviously their troops crossed the 38th parallel en masse, beginning an invasion that would take them within weeks to tip the Korean peninsula. Although knowing who started it, doesn't exactly explain the origins and causes of the Korean War because of several reasons. First, the conflict was internal before it came international.

Second, soviet expansion into Eastern Europe that threatened West European and American security. Third, Western softness early made things worse; the west led the Soviets forward by appeasement. The problem was the insufficient western toughness. These are all little conflicts that occur through out this time, but we all know a big factor in the cause to the Korean War/ "Cold War" resulted from the ending events in World War II.

During World War II, a common enemy forced communist and democratic nations together in a shaky alliance. Once the shooting stopped, however, political and economic differences divided the globe along new lines. The cold war was the bitter state of indirect conflict that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union, which began hereafter WWII. This conflict developed out of long-standing disagreements between the two nations.

Diplomatic relations between the US and SU broke down after the war, due to their beliefs of communism and capitalism, which created new goals for the two powers in the postwar period. Through out the time of World War II, Korea, a small country lied at the point where three great Asian powers meet- Japan, China, and the former Soviet Union, was being ruled by Japan. Following the defeat of Japan (destruction of 2 Japanese cities with the use of atomic bombs) in World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union jointly occupied the country. The United States stayed south of the 38th parallel and the Soviet Union stayed north of it. The 38th parallel was the latitude line established after World War II that divided North Korea, which was allied by the Soviet Union, from South Korea, which was allied by the United States. Joseph Stalin, the leader of Soviet Union, refused at this time to allow free elections in the Soviet controlled territories and imposed communism instead, creating satellite states.

Therefore the areas were divided in western and eastern blocs according to their beliefs in communism and capitalism, which included the United States, Great Britain, and France, who all rejected the practices of Stalin. This time after, communist influence was spreading rapidly around the world. Knowing this situation the Americans were in, they needed to act fast on preventing any more capitalist nations from, becoming "infected". Diplomats hope to international peace and understanding.

So, American policymakers succeeded in securing the support of the United States Congress for the United Nations. The United Nation charter pledged that member countries would seek to settle their disagreements peacefully. It also committed them to try to stop wars from occurring. Despite the wonderful approach to the UN and the fact that the Soviet economy was in ruins following WWII, American leaders still perceived a serious threat to United States interest from the Soviet Union. In order to address their concerns, they developed a policy know as containment. This was the policy that intended to prevent communist power from expanding beyond its geographical boundaries.

Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the US, had a chance to use containment in 1947. He was afraid that Greece and Turkey might embrace communist strategies to ease their economic troubles due to the informing from Great Britain that it could no longer provide those two nations to the US. Therefore Truman needed to have general support, so he took this liberty to scare the country. By this he came up with the Truman Doctrine, the policy pledging the United States supports for "free people" resisting communism. This was a threat to Stalin's view, which created even more of a conflict between the nations.

In the aftermath of WWII, Europe was in state of ruin. The US sought to relieve some of this suffering. So in 1947, secretary of state, George C. Marshall carried containment a step further. Marshall proposed an aid program called the Marshall plan, which called for all nations of capitalism and communism. This was to give economic recovery from the war and rebuild the ruin continent.

Not many nations benefited from the Marshall Plan, although the US was rewarded with strong trading partners in Western Europe. West Germany as well benefited. Since Berlin was split up between four allies, located in the soviet zone, the SU reacted by blockading all around. This risk was not something Truman did want to take because this may start a war with the Soviet Union by forcing open transportation routes; nor did he want the Soviets to have West Berlin. Instead he moved supplies into West Berlin by plane, calling this the Berlin Airlift. Finally the Soviets ended the blockade in 1949, and the airlift ended a few months later.

This was considered the first victory for the west in the cold War. The tension through out this time drew the western powers together to form a peacetime alliance for security against the soviet threat. That when they came up with NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Conversely, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw pact, an alliance between the USSR and its satellite nations.

The policy of containment soon was broadened to apply not only to Europe but also to Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. The Cold War still continued over many conflicts that were being executed from the start of the war. It was rather an ironic war because the main instigators in the conflict, the United States and the Soviet Union, the superpowers, never actually engaged in open welfare with one another. However many still lost their lives over what boiled down to economic and political ideology. To break down the points, The Soviet Union was a Communist country, ruled by a dictator, who cared little about human rights. The USA was a capitalist democracy, which valued freedom and feared Communism.

In the aims of this difference, Stalin wanted huge reparations from Germany, and a 'buffer' of friendly states to protect the USSR from being invaded again. Britain and the USA wanted to protect democracy, and help Germany to recover. They were worried that large areas of Eastern Europe were falling under Soviet control. Not only did Stalin literally want to take over because of his distinct belief in communism, but he also held a grudge, in which he wanted to get back for. The Soviet Union could not forget that in 1918 Britain and the USA had tried to destroy the Russian Revolution. Stalin also thought that they had not given him enough help in the Second World War.

As for Britain and the USA they could not forget that Stalin had signed the Nazi-Soviet Pact with Germany in 1939. Obviously neither side trusted each other. Every action they took made them hate each other more: which of course caused the Korean War.