The divided europe during the cold war |
HOW did it create a bipolar war?
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USA and USSR competing with warheads |
CAPITALISM VS COMMUNISM
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College Board Comparison
USA and the USSR had a clash of ideology on how the political structure should be for most, if not every country. This conflict caused Europe to split, having the political structure of the west of Europe primarily capitalist democracy, and over to the east a totalitarian leader who enforces communism. This iron curtain forced alliances with the same political structures, and made many conflicts during the Cold War. This also expanded new political structures to other countries which could work in their favor. If they were introduced to capitalism, the individual citizen has the chance to make his own way to become successful, however, still having the risk of failure. Communism could be great for countries who despise classes, and wishes for everyone to be equal with social and financial status. However, this means that people can not express certain freedoms that capitalist countries can have. There are different reasons why countries choose between the two political structures, and by choosing made many consequential after effects.
Berlin's split |
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COnflicts created by the cold war |
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ANALYSIS
After the end of World War II, there was a clear presence of disagreement between the USA and the USSR. It was no secret that the USA was in full support to capitalism and the democratic ideas. While USSR was opposite, being ruled by a dictator who is enforcing communism. After the Potsdam conference, the world spilt, and everyone was forced to take sides. Most of west Europe was in favor of capitalism, the countries were Great Britain, France, and Spain, which were supported by the USA. USA made vows against communism that should be taken seriously. USA created the Truman Doctrine, named after the US President Harry S. Truman, which stated that the USA will do everything in its power to contain communism. Another idea the USA made was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, to fight communism. This idea actually took place in 1949. Communism was a idea that supported poor countries, because it would mean everyone is equal. So, the USA made the Marshall Plan, which the USA gives Europe 13 billion dollars to help the economy. Communist were not blind towards the USA taking actions, so they had made organizations to counter the USA. The Warsaw Pact was the communist group against NATO, and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, or Comecon, was used to counter the Marshall Plan. This ideology clash caused USA and USSR to go to war, but not really. USA and USSR did not actually go to war, because that war has the potential to destroy both nations, and even all of humanity. The potential they had, were atomic bombs, and both were trying to mass produce it. So, both USA and USSR made an agreement called Mutual Assured Destruction, which means that since both countries have a lot of atomic bombs, they would be no benefit to take them out. Though the USA and USSR did not go to war, their ideas did. It influenced many wars, and the UUSR and USA supported their side.
John green talks about the clash of the usa and ussr |
Puppet pals 2: talking about the cold war |
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Analysis
The Cold War also made alliances between countries which are still enforced today. Both Great Britain and the USA are part of NATO, and are great trading partners. The support countries to become capitalist, because they can make profit of them, and make alliances with them. Present day Russia is still communist, the same as the USSR, but the leadership is different...politically speaking. The USSR also gained allies, such as Poland and Hungary, as well as to do good in industrializing. These factions made heated conflicts between many nations, and split many others. Below shows a map on the alliances during the Cold War, and almost every single country was supporting a faction.
Bibliograpy |
alliances of the world in 1959 |