Cold War

It is very possible if an 18 year old in world war 2 and than 5 years later joined a second time or stayed in. The person could also make it through the early years of the Vietnam war. It is possible.

Although a multifaceted question, the simple answer is the easiest. When countries like (United Soviet Socialists Republic) USSR - now Russia, and China adopted the system of government known as Communism, other countries like North Vietnam and North Korea also adopted this system of government (willingly or otherwise). South Vietnam, on the other hand was an ally of the United States, partly because of Military interests (military bases) located in Vietnam. Communism had many conflicts with the American form of government (known as democracy). Overall, there was an "initiative" (conquest would be such a strong word here) to try and unify all of the Asian continent to adopt Communism as the leading form of government in all countries (including South Vietnam and South Korea). In the 1950's, the United States and other Allies defeated Japan on the East Asian front, and Germany plus Italy on the West European Front (continental perspective here). Upon the surrender of Japan at the conclusion of World War II, the United States needed to establish a military presence in that geographical region to enforce the terms of unconditional surrender. In so much, military bases were established on mainland Asia (on part of the US) in Korea and Vietnam. It is thought that the USSR's government felt threatened by the US presence so close to their international borders. In the process of advocating and spreading Communism and its interests, North Korea and later North Vietnam invaded their southern counterparts to A) take control of the democratic government, and B) drive out the American presence (military bases and the like).

They have had no plans for peaceful coexistence. For the past 60 years they have tried to influence other countries around the world and to push their communist agenda. This is what the Cold War was all about. The Soviet's pushing communist states and the Western nations doing everything to contain the communist party.

The Soviet Union, China, North Korea and North Vietnam.

A war is a conflict but a conflict is not necessarily a war. A war is an effort to exterminate an opposing side.

WAR- Noun

1. a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.

2. a state or period of armed hostility or active military operations: The two nations were at war with each other.

3. a contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns: the War of 1812.

4. active hostility or contention; conflict; contest: a war of words.

5. aggressive business conflict, as through severe price cutting in the same industry or any other means of undermining competitors: a fare war among airlines; a trade war between nations.

6. a struggle: a war for men's minds; a war against poverty.

7. armed fighting, as a science, profession, activity, or art; methods or principles of waging armed conflict: War is the soldier's business.

8. Cards. a. a game for two or more persons, played with a 52-card pack evenly divided between the players, in which each player turns up one card at a time with the higher card taking the lower, and in which, when both turned up cards match, each player lays one card face down and turns up another, the player with the higher card of the second turn taking all the cards laid down.

b. an occasion in this game when both turned up cards match.

9. Archaic. a battle.

-verb (used without object) 10. to make or carry on war; fight: to war with a neighboring nation.

11. to carry on active hostility or contention: Throughout her life she warred with sin and corruption.

12. to be in conflict or in a state of strong opposition: The temptation warred with his conscience.

-adjective 13. of, belonging to, used in, or due to war: war preparations; war hysteria.

CONFLICT- Verb

1. to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash: The account of one eyewitness conflicted with that of the other. My class conflicts with my going to the concert.

2. to fight or contend; do battle.

-noun 3. a fight, battle, or struggle, esp. a prolonged struggle; strife.

4. controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties.

5. discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles: a conflict of ideas.

6. a striking together; collision.

7. incompatibility or interference, as of one idea, desire, event, or activity with another: a conflict in the schedule.

8. Psychiatry. a mental struggle arising from opposing demands or impulses.

Both Russia and America wanted to try and develop a new "World Government" that allowed different interests such as America's government, with religion and freedom, but restricted many military ideas such as nuclear warfare and other such world laws.

US President Harry S. Truman can be criticized for allowing the USSR to dominate Eastern Europe following WW 2. He dis learn his lesson however, and decided on a containment policy to decrease the threat of an expanding communist threat.

He showed that by his actions in the Korean War. He forced North Korea to retreat back to its original border with South Korea. On the other hand, he failed to use the US monopoly of nuclear weapons to force Stalin into giving Eastern Europe its freedom.

The U.S did not go into the Cold War, it was a result of the world situation after the Second World War ended. The alliance between Soviet Russia and the rest of the allies during it was merely one of conveniance. Don't forget U.S and British forces invaded Russian to try and oust the communist regime there after the end of the First World War. Both sides mistrusted and feared one another and the Cold War was a part of this paranioa being played out. The Soviet state wanted a weak Germany (hence its carve-up) that could not threaten it as it had aleady done twice that cantury and created a buffer zone with the countries in the eastern block - or the Warsaw Pact. The Cold War was two conflicting ideologies of two great powers, yet neither had the will or the ability to defeat the other militarily. Thus as we have seen the COld War was won on the economic table. The Soviet state could not keep up with the free market economy and the flexibility it offered. Plus eventually soviet citizens wanted their slice of the cake; consumer goods. So well done Mcdonalds, coke, levi's, hollywood.... as much as I despised your greedy, repulsive and glutonous guts you probably helped defeat communism more than any gun or diplomat. Lots of love and fun, see you in the next cold war.....that will be the one at the moment I guess....

Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, Angola, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Cuba, and perhaps others in which armed conflicts were fought. Some Third World countries, although wars were not fought in them, were still part of the Cold War.

Korea was the FIRST "Hot" battle of the Cold War. Vietnam was the SECOND "Hot" battle of the Cold War. The Communists lost (or stalemated) with the first battle, but won the second battle. The communists were contained in Korea. They expanded in Vietnam.
The policy of containment in Vietnam was a US foreign policy to contain and isolate the spread of communism to neighboring countries. If communism were not contained in North Vietnam, then South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand would inevitably become communist as well.

It was feared that the United States would attack Communist China directly to stem the flow of Chinese fighting along side the North Korean army. The Chinese would then call on their Communist allies, the Soviet Union, to help the Chinese. The Soviets would then intervene either directly in China, or in a move to draw the United States off balance, the Soviets would launch an attack against perhaps Europe or Japan. In addition, it could not be certain if the United States or the Soviets would go nuclear in such an exchange. Thus, the Korean war could have turned into World War III. However, to forstall that, United States President Harry S Truman did not escalate the Korean "police action". Indeed, President Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur to ensure it did not happen. It was General MacArthur who advocated taking the battle to the Communist Chinese in their own country.

FDR did want the US involved in the conflict raging in Europe. He feared, rightly so, that the Germans might manage to subdue large portions of Europe, which they did. And that the goal of Hitler's Third Reich, a united states of Europe with Germany as it's head, was within grasp of Hitler. FDR also knew though that there were very strong anti-war feelings in the US. During WWI, the British had made the Germans out to be monsters because they desperately wanted the US' involvement. And at that time, all trans-Atlantic communication cables went thru Britain, so the British were able to cut off any pro-German coverage. There is a story of a reporter who was with the Germans during the initial invasion of Belgium and into France. He was shocked when he returned to the US to read about the baby killing Germans. He stated he had never seen this happen while he was there. So many in the US thought that the British were just trying the same trick all over again. And there was also, though many do not like to admit, a strong communist movement in the states. This movement was taking it's orders from Moscow and due to the non-aggression pact, they supported Germany (up until the Germans invaded the Soviet Union). FDR wanted the US in the war, but also realized that he could not declare war without Congressional approval and this he did not have. It took the bombing of Pearl Harbor to finally give FDR the reason to enter the conflict

The Soviet Union was a ruthless expansionist empire, as shown both by its actions, in overrunning Eastern Europe, and its statements, such as, most famously, that of Nikita Kruschev who said "we will bury you" in a UN speech (not very diplomatic of him). The USSR was also very heavily armed with both conventional and nuclear weapons. As a result, US policy was shaped by fear.

The Mujahedin forces that resisted the U.S.S.R during the Soviet Invasion were sponsored/advised by a covert branch of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The withdrawal of Soviet troops served as a theological victory for the United States, who at the time was in a Cold War with the Soviets. It also served to reinforce the Afghan mystique, that no invader has succeeded in taking Afghanistan from the Afghans.

The relatively bloodless conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union was called the Cold War. It lasted from the 1950s to about 1991.

Riding on a rocket and riding in the cargo bay of a space shuttle

Read about the Berlin Wall.

It divided the west and east of Germany, east was controlled by Soviet Union and west was getting help from Britain and United Sates. The Soviet union was spreading communism and the Americans wanted to spread capitalism.

The dates usually applied to the Cold War are 1947-1991. It had a lot to do with the Berlin Wall and the division of Germany after WWII, and tension between the USA and the USSR which resulted in the arms race.

The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War

The usual growing pains "brush wars" that 3rd world countries experienced. Vietnam was the only head-ache the US had to heavily deal with.

Yes. There's just one. It's you. Tool.

because they helped the soviets get info of the atomic bomb

Truman actually gave the command to detonate the first nuclear weapon & he was the US president in office when man left the old world (conventional) and crossed into the atomic age in 1945. When that A-Bomb went off, the cold war began...even though the Soviets didn't get their bomb until 1949 (stolen from the US via spies).

On the 20th of August 1968, troops and tanks from the Soviet Union and other members of the Warsaw pact invaded Czechoslovakia. This brought an immediate change in relations between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia and was due to increasing opposition to communism within Czechoslovakia, leading to reforms under Dubcek, and the reactions of Moscow to these reforms.

The first reason for a change in relations was the growth of opposition in Czechoslovakia to Soviet control. This was due to what the Soviet Union had done in 1948, they murdered Jan Masaryk. Once Jan was killed the elections were rigged and they put Antonin Novotny in power from 1957. Antonin was very unpopular amongst the Czechs as he was a hard-line communist who followed closely in the Soviet Union's footsteps and wouldn't introduce reform no matter what the Czechs wanted. He was very slow to flow Khrushchev's destalinization policy but he took much longer to release political prisoners who were jailed because of Stalin. This all caused more people to oppose the Soviet Union.

Furthermore the Soviets were concerned because: they didn't want the new ideas from Czechoslovakia to spread, Czechoslovakia was becoming closer to West Germany and industrial relations between West Germany and Czechoslovakia were improving. In 1968 on the 20-21 of August hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops along with troops from Bulgaria, East Germany, Poland and Hungary and were greeted with petrol bombs being thrown at them, as well as, buildings being set on fire, protestors assembling in Wenceslas Square, barricades being set up in streets, students tearing down street names to confuse invaders, students climbing into the tanks to try and argue with the Soviet soldiers as they were so desperate and the anti-Soviet broadcasters kept on broadcasting by moving from hiding place to hiding place but there wasn't any resistance by the Czechoslovakian army as they were ordered not to fight back and so around 100 people died, another thing that happened in 1968 was Dubcek and the other leaders being arrested and escorted to Moscow. These had consequences like the demonstrations, which continued going until April 1969, the Czech communist party being purged and the Brezhnev document - this doctrine redefined communism as a one-party system and declared that all member countries had to remain part of the Warsaw Pact