ShirleyMarin HIS 113/ Final essay Prof.
IachettiDecember12, 2017 “Let us not bedeceived — we are today in the midst of a cold war.”The Cold War was a rivalry that developed after WorldWar II within the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies. The Cold War was based onpolitical, economic, and had only limited recourse to weapons.
Which I would begoing over what led to the Cold War from 1917-1948 from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Germany invading polandetc.The events leading up started with the Bolshevik Revolution(Russian Civil war) in Russia that occurred in Oct 1917 (Pre World War II). TheBolshevik party was membersof a faction of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party and were led by Lenin, seizedcontrol of the government in Russia. TheBolshevik party tried to educate theworkers and soldiers, convincing them to seize power and land for themselves.
First, the Provisional Government ordered a big war that ended up in ruin, withthousands being killed. In early October, Lenin convinced the Bolshevik Partyto form an immediate rebellion against the Provisional Government. One of theparty forces was the Red Guard that stormed the Winter Palace which made the ProvisionalGovernment officially fall to under Bolshevik regime. The USSR (Soviet Union) was formed in December 1922as the union of the Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Transcaucasian Sovietrepublic ruled by the Bolshevik parties. The USSR stands for the Union ofSoviet Socialist Republics.
In 1933 the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomaticrelations. The United States had broken off diplomatic relations with Russia inDecember 1917, after the Communist Bolshevik Party seized power and refused tohonor its debts to foreign countries. The main reasons surrounding theestablishment of relations included the settling of Soviet debts and the legalstatus of Americans living in the Soviet Union.Secondly, in 1939 Germany andRussia invaded Poland.German forces attack Poland on land and from the air, as Adolf Hitler seeks toregain lost territory and ultimately rule Poland. World War II had begun, TheGerman invasion of Poland was a key on how Hitler intended to wage war.
Thiswas categorized by majot bombing early on to destroy the enemy’s air capacity,railroads, and communication lines, followed by a massive land invasion with tremendousnumbers of troops, tanks, and artillery. Atthe beginning of spring of 1945, the Soviets were approaching the Germancapital of Berlin from the east and the Western Allies were approaching Germanyfrom the west. Realizing that defeat was forthcoming, Hitler commitssuicide on April 30, 1945, leaving Donitz to carry out the surrender of theNazis. On May 7, 1945, Germany signed a surrender at Allied headquarters,ending World War II.
TheTruman Doctrine was the name given to a policy announced by US onMarch 12th, 1947. The Truman Doctrine was a warning clearlymade to the USSRthat the USA wouldinterfere to support any nation that was being threatened by a takeover by anarmed subgroup. During the warconferences, Stalin had made it clear that he would allow free elections in theeast European countries previously occupied by Nazi forces and that had been liberated by the Red Army in itsdrive to Berlin. He wanted to put what Churchill was to call an “IronCurtain” around the USSR and thatmeant each eastern European country that was near to the Soviet border had tohave a communist government in power with leaders who would do what Stalinwished. Therefore, Poland, Hungary,Bulgaria and Rumania all ended up withcommunist governments and had leaders who looked to Moscow for advice asopposed to the people of the country they governed. The Truman Doctrine was to set the tone for USforeign policy throughout the world post-March 1947. Thus, it is necessary to saythat the Cold War was an important international conflict, which was based ondifferent locations and social positions.
The significance of the Cold War wasboth the United States and the USSR were founded on the ideas aimed atimprovement of human lives. However, different approaches to economy and socialdevelopment led to the conflict between two powers. The Cold War helped toshape Modern World, providing massive opportunities for economic and socialdevelopment of the nations. The collapse of the USSR and the end of the coldwar happen in 1989.
