Cold War

Because he had a lot of swags

Reconstruction of government was a problem for the former Soviets. They had to reorganize the government they'd had before they were absorbed into the USSR or create completely new governments.

There was also the issue of a poor economy. The Soviet people had always been relatively poor, but the final years of the nation had been hit with extremely hard times. Along with constructing the government, they fifteen new nations had to build an economy.

{| |- | I know many people that fought in Korea. As a veteran, I often meet with them. Most veteran's groups will have such individuals. The number of World War 2 vets is shrinking rapidly, with Korean right behind. The bulk of the groups are currently Vietnam Vets. |}

Winston Churchill described the boundary between Eastern and Western Europe as an Iron Curtain that kept democratic western influences out of the Soviet controlled Eastern Europe through military force.

China

It made the people edgy. Many of the youngers in the 50s and 60's and 70's... all they heard of was WW3 talk. We grew up never knowing if some incident would trigger the war. We never knew enough about what was going on, because we werent told enough. We werent told enough because intelligence services cut the public out of the loop and said nothing much at all about the cold war and as a result the people mostly lived in the dark; and that's where Satan lives and that's from where he spreads his fear. US intelligence services became psychotic about secrecy. There was little caring communication from groups like the CIA so the kids became wilder and sought relief from fear in drugs, alcohol and music. Yet...through it all God kept the balance of power and the bombs never went off.

containment-

Peacekeeping organization? The United Nations didn't begin peacekeeping operations until the aftermath of the 1954 Suez Canal invasion by Britain, France, and Israel.

The soviets soon realized that their efforts in blockading Berlin were unsuccessful since the British and Americans were flying in supplies, and so the Soviets lifted the blockade in May 1949.

In many ways life in East Germany, like in most Eastern Bloc countries, was drab and dreary - and of course regulated by the state. The economy was not very well geared to consumers. The essentials of life (food, housing, basic clothing, public transport) were cheap. Most other things were regarded as luxuries and were quite expensive. There were very few shops apart from those selling food. There were of course the much resented restrictions on foreign travel ... Also, one had to be careful what one said, too. On the positive side, educational standards were high. Obviously, this is only a thumbnail sketch.

Johnson was unwillingly caught up in the hot battle (Vietnam War) of the Cold War. Johnson was the US's only Presidential Administration to be destroyed by the war. He went on nation wide television and flat out said he would not run for president again, and would NOT ACCEPT nomination for the presidency of the United States. He was truly fed-up with the war.

Korea & Vietnam were full scaled LIMITED wars (no nukes) against communism during the cold war. Cuba was covert, with operations extending into Central and South America, led by one of Castro's most able Lieutenants (See: Che Gueverra). The only time Cuba nearly went "hot" was during the Cuban Missile Crisis of '62; and that confrontation was against the Soviet Union...not Cuba. The Soviets backed down...obviously, no nuclear war occurred.

There are four seasons in Korea. Spring is warm, summer is hot, fall is chilly and winter is cold

The CIA actually offered military support, consisting in weapons, to Afghanistan in their conflict against the Russians.

You can watch "Charlie Wilson's war" or read the book with the same name.

You use the word "hostilities" which to most people means actual war.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and The United States Of America never came into direct military conflict. They did not actually fight each other, ever.

What they did do was to use other countries to fight for them, as surrogates, or stand-ins. This happened in Korea, and in Viet Nam, and in Laos, and in Cambodia. Another example was the use of spies, to try to learn the military secrets of the other side's plans and new weapon systems. Again the use of surrogates was common.

The term "Cold War" is used to describe the period from 1949 to 1990, when the two world super powers were face to face and threatening the whole world with total destruction. The combined Atomic and Nuclear weapons of the USA and the USSR would have killed man kind, and burned the earth to cinders. Total combined mass murder.

One of the reasons that the cold war started was nuclear weapons. When two countries both have that much destructive power, they begin to wonder if they trust that sort of power in the other country's hands.

Ideological differences were another big reason... the US hated Communism, and the USSR hated Capitalism. Both sides wanted to spread their form of government to other countries, so there was a lot of tension there.

I think there was also personal dislike between world leaders, and that is how it began.

The Berlin Wall was not meant to solve Germany's problems. It was meant to resolve the issue of Germany -as- a problem.

After WWII Germany was partitioned. England, France, and the U.S got West Germany and Russia got East Germany. Russia wanted to dismantle Germany so that there would never be another World War. (Germany started the Second World War and was unfairly held responsible for the First World War.) They also wanted to turn Germany into a security-zone, a sort of buffer against any future invasion from the West.

This was a problem because the Americans had a very different goal in mind. They wanted to rebuild Germany and establish a functioning, democratic system so that the Germans could choose their own destiny and reunify via self-determination. They would be respected as an independent sovereign nation…which the Russians saw as a threat.

At first the Russians wanted to stay forever but it wasn't really an option after a while. So, everyone agreed Germany would eventually have to be reunited and left alone. The United States wanted it reunified as a modern, democratic power. The Russians wanted it reunified as an agricultural, communist power that would ultimately be just another puppet-state in the Soviet Sphere of Influence.

The Americans were afraid that the Russians would want to invade West Germany and take over by force. They were also worried that after turning over power to the German people they would willingly go red. When Russia built the Berlin Wall these fears were assuaged. It sent a message to the world that Russia was not in a position to annex West Germany and that the German people did not -want- communism. They had to be -made- to accept it with a concrete barrier.

So in this way it was a temporary solution to the "German Problem." As to whether or not it solved Germany's problems (possessive now,) the answer is...sort of yes but mostly know. It depends on what you mean by "Germany's problems."

At the time there was no unified Germany. There was West Germany and East Germany. East Germany had a problem with citizens flooding into West Germany. Doctors, lawyers, scholars, and the likes wanted out. This was an issue because they played a vital role in the community and economy and without them East Germany could not function. So the Russians built the Berlin Wall to keep them in and for the most part it worked. There were occasionally people managing to slip past, but by and large it was effective.

So in that sense, yes. It solved -EAST- Germany's problem with emigration. On the other hand it caused a lot of serious issues and ultimately did more bad than good. As a whole it served to keep Germany disunited until it was finally dismantled.

Incidently, you can still buy pieces of the Berlin wall at gift-shops and the likes.

America and Russia, and the cold war was pretty much all a bluff. Russia said we are making a nuke. And then America said if you are building one we are building 10 and this just kinda escalated into the cold war. Neither country had nukes though. It was called the cold war because there was no gun fighting, infact it was fighting with words. A fake fight with words actually, because nothing either country said was true.

Most are still in Russian hands. The Ukraine got some. The remainder have disappeared and have not been satisfactorily accounted for.

The conflict in Korea escalated , because 1. North Korea invaded South Korea. 2. The UN became involved in the conflict in an attempt to stop war. and 3. The United States sent in troops and medical units to support South Korea.

The Stalin Line was the line of fortifications along the western border of the Soviet Union that began in the 1920's. This was to protect the USSR against western aggression, made up of concrete bunkers and gun emplacements.

South Korea and South Vietnam received financial assistance.

From Stalin's death in 1953 until right after Kennedy's death (1963) in 1964.

His reputation preceded him (WWII) and his diplomacy skills.