0
Cold War
The nuclear arms race divided the world in a struggle as costly as any another war. East vs. West, Communism vs. Democracy, the Bear vs. the Eagle; all these were major factors in the lives of millions for 4 decades.
6,177 Questions
What was the Alger hiss trial?
Alger Hiss was accused of being a Soviet spy in 1948 and convicted of perjury in connection with this charge in 1950. His guilt has been argued every since and never settled
Who was the Britain leader during Berlin Airlift and what he had done for Berlin Airlift?
The British leader during the Berlin Airlift was Prime Minister Clement Attlee. Under his leadership, the British government played a crucial role in the operation by coordinating the airlift of supplies to West Berlin after the Soviet Union blockaded the city in June 1948. Attlee supported the decision to sustain the city's residents through the airlift, demonstrating a commitment to countering Soviet aggression and maintaining Western influence in Europe. His administration worked closely with the United States and other allies to ensure the success of this critical humanitarian operation.
Why did communists leaders feel they had scored a victory in Korea?
Because they had pushed the US/Allies south and were approached by US/Allied forces for negotiations.
What role did Korean play in the cold war?
It provided democracies and communist countries with an opportunity to indirectly fight one another :)
-Apex-
How did the Cold War between US and the Soviet Union grow out of World War 2?
At the Yalta Conference of 1945 the Western Allies had given Stalin the right to keep the countries that Russia had liberated from the Germans within his 'sphere of influence'.
Stalin's wish was only partly dictated by ideological motives such as 'the spread of World Communism'. Mostly it was dictated by Russian fear. Russia had sufferered innumerably larger losses than all the other Allies put together in WW 2. It did not even want to consider a renewal of the war in the form of a concerted action to "defeat" Communism: both Britain, France and the USA had actively fought the rise of Communism only two decades ago on Russian soil and several of the eastern liberated countries had been actively fighting Russia alongside Nazi Germany.
The Allies had conceded eastern Europe to the Soviets because at the time they were in dire need of Russia's armies to finish the job and do most of the battlefield dying for them. After 1945 they started sorely regretting their generosity, but not unnaturally Stalin held on to what he had been given. It did however quickly sour relationships, which were worsened further when Stalin (unsuccesfully) tried to force the Allies to give up their toehold of West Berlin in his newly Communist eastern Europe.
The clincher was Russia's development of an atomic bomb of their own, a thing which the US strongly supected could only have been done through espionnage within the USA on a massive scale. It was this last development which led to an unprecedented arms race in building litterally thousands of atomic missiles on both sides.
So finally it was the combination of traditional anti-Communist feelings in the West, resentment against Russia for holding on to the conquests they had been allowed in Yalta, and the subsequent arms race that led to the Cold War that was to end only in 1990.
What was one reason the US sought to build up it hard power at the beginning of the Cold War?
To protect itself and its NATO allies -apex
What events signaled the end of the Cold War?
The end of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union was not based on just two events. The cold war began to lose steam with Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of perestroika (reform and/or restructuring of the Soviet Union) and glasnot (openness). It was not Gorbachev's intention to bring communism to an end but that was the result. It was the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the incredible and rapid events of 1989 in Eastern Europe) which brought the end to the Soviet Union and the cold war. Once the Soviet Union no longer could afford to finance their satellite states or provide military assistance, the Eastern Bloc of countries were in no position to fight off the brave citizens who protested, demonstrated, and demanded reform. They lost their power and one by one, communist countries faded from the globe to be replaced with a new Socialism and their own form of democracy (think Poland and Solidarity, the overthrow of Ceausescu's Romanian Dictatorship, Hungary removing the barbed wire from its border with Germany, the Velvet Revolution and Velvet Divorce of Checkoslovakia) The changes came with a flurry in 1989 and concluded with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991.
600
What did the Suez crisis show about power in war?
Even if the Soviet Union and the United States were not directly involved, the cold war influenced decisions.
In the cave Výstupek from the area Moravský kras survived secret headquarters for the occasion of nuclear war. It is one of the many similar.
Which long-standing institution became compromise after the cold war?
The military-industrial complex
What did the Suez crisis show about powering the Cold War?
Even if the Soviet Union and the United States were not directly involved, the cold war influenced decisions.
How did the superpowers react to the existence of to China's?
After the takeover of mainland China, the US supported the ousted Kuomintang, and it was the Republic of China (based in Taipei) that represented China in the UN (due to the influence of the US and the West).
The USSR supported the People's Republic of China. They boycotted the UN during 1950 in protest at Mao's exclusion, which allowed the US to gain the backing of the UN in the Korean War (the USSR could have vetoed this had it been in the session).
Brinksmanship and sabre rattling continued from the mainland across the strait. In response, the US pledged military support for Taiwan should she be invaded. Following the Sino-Chinese split in the late 1950s, the US began developing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic. But it was not until 1976 that the PRC replaced Taiwan as the official representative of China in the UN.
The Cold War was a prolonged period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and its allies and the United States and its allies, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1991. It was characterized by ideological conflict between communism and capitalism, leading to an arms race, proxy wars, and significant political and military competition. Unlike traditional wars, the Cold War did not result in direct military confrontation between the superpowers but involved espionage, propaganda, and influence over other nations. The conflict ultimately ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, marking a significant shift in global power dynamics.
Was the Congo crisis a part of the cold war in Congo?
Yes, the Congo Crisis (1960-1965) was significantly influenced by the Cold War context. During this period, various factions in the Congo received support from both the United States and the Soviet Union, as each superpower sought to expand its influence in Africa. The political instability following Congo's independence led to the emergence of different ideological groups, making it a battleground for Cold War rivalries, particularly through the involvement of figures like Patrice Lumumba and Mobutu Sese Seko. Thus, the crisis exemplified how local conflicts were often intertwined with global Cold War dynamics.
Which region experienced the greatest conflict at the end of the Cold War?
Eastern Europe experienced the greatest conflict.
How did the end the cold war affect African governments?
African countries no longer received Soviet aid and weapons
Africa wasn't an issue during the cold war; they had their own problems...called APARTHEID.
Not sure of your context, but MAD during the cold war referred to Mutually Assured Destruction. It was a deterrence theory that was based on the assumption that neither side would launch an all out nuclear attack because they knew the other side would do the same, thus ensuring that neither side survived.
Why did the cold war result in an arms race?
Because there was no true defense against nuclear weapons.
Once both sides had nuclear weapons, the only way to "protect" themselves from the other side was to have so many more nuclear weapons that even if their enemies used all of their nuclear weapons, there would still be nuclear weapons to shoot back with. That way, nobody would use nuclear weapons, because they could never actually "win" that way. This thought process was referred to as Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD.
How the cold war influenced the development and early goals NASA and spaceflight programs?
The Cold War significantly influenced NASA's development and early goals, as the U.S. sought to demonstrate technological superiority over the Soviet Union. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 spurred an urgent response, leading to the establishment of NASA in 1958 and prioritizing manned spaceflight, satellite development, and scientific research. This competition not only fueled investments in space technology but also aimed to achieve milestones like the Moon landing, which symbolized national prestige and technological prowess. Ultimately, the Cold War context helped shape a robust and ambitious space program that laid the groundwork for future exploration.
What are some negatives of the cold war?
The Cold War led to significant geopolitical tensions, resulting in numerous proxy wars and conflicts around the world, which caused loss of life and destabilization in various regions. It fostered an arms race, particularly in nuclear weapons, creating a constant threat of nuclear war. Additionally, the ideological divide influenced domestic policies, leading to repression and human rights abuses, as governments justified actions in the name of national security. Economic resources were often diverted to military spending rather than social programs, hindering development in many countries.
What was the Significance of the Iron Curtain?
The strict separation of the European countries under Soviet control and the West European countries most of all caused a great difference in post-WW 2 development. Western Europe - including even Germany - got a lot of financial support from its 'leader' country USA under the Marshall Plan to get back on its feet again economically and from the mid Fifties on, started to prosper again.
Russia on the other hand was dealing with East European countries that more often than not had supported Hitler - often with their troops - to invade and fight the USSR. Stalin therefore had good reasons not to feel too kindly disposed to them. Moreover, while the US economy had experienced a mighty upsurge in its economic growth as a result of the war - and so had the money to help Europe, the Soviet economy had suffered heavily by the invasion and Stalin saw taking anything he needed out of the countries under his control as a form of justified repair payments. All of this meant that Eastern Europe's economies were and remained backward until the fall of the Iron Curtain around 1990.
Why did the east built the Berlin wall?
Anyone who had skills that could be sold in the West, like doctors and engineers, were defecting from East Germany to West Germany. (Oh yeah...they forgot to tell you. The East Germans built another "wall" - well, fence - along the border between East and West Germany.) The Soviets told East German dictator Walter Ulbricht to think of a way to stop the defections from happening, and Ulbricht decided to build a wall all the way around West Berlin.
Why was the Berlin airlift risky?
The planes were being overworked, and so were the crews. A cargo plane back then wasn't very big, so to supply an entire city they needed a lot of airplanes. (If we had to do the same operation now we'd use C-5B airlifters and would need just a couple of them an hour.) There was always the risk the Soviets would bring some antiaircraft guns into the corridors. AND no one had ever tried supplying an entire city by air before.
What action provided vital supplies to Berlin when Stalin blockaded the city?
A continuous airlift of goods from Western Germany to Berlin.
