About the Cold War

The

Cold War was a war that was between the United States and the Soviet Union and

their allies. This war began in 1947 after World War II and ended in 1991.

During World War II the United States and the Soviet Union they fought together

against the Nazi’s (Britannica). When the United State and the Soviets came out

of the war they were the two strongest countries. Things started to go south

around 1945 and these two strong countries started to disagree and conflict

started to happen, this is how the cold war got its name. In my primary source

it talks about how there is a weapon that will whip out millions in seconds

(Britannica). I picked this to be my primary source because it touches on all

of my other sources. We will be talking about the atomic bombs, the Berlin

Airlift, and containment.

During

the Cold War, at all the schools the kids would practice the “Duck and Cover.”

They practice this for safety reason because to protect them from the atomic

bombs. You will know when an atomic bombs hits, it will have a bright light so

bright you wouldn’t be able to mistaken it for anything else. The explosion is

so powerful that it is very capable of knocking you down, break windows and

knock buildings down. If you are exposed to an atomic bomb you can get a

serious burn. To prevent from getting this burn or getting hurt from the atomic

bomb you duck and cover. You get under a desk if you are around one and duck

down and you cover your back of your neck. The atomic bomb was such a big deal

that they were teaching about them in schools. They were teaching students

about how we could be attacked with a warning or without a warning. It will

more than likely hit with a warning and there will be a sound that goes off

almost like we have now a days when there is a tornado. They have the people in

uniform watching for planes or anything to drop a bomb so they can warn us to take

cover. If you have anything to cover yourself with like a blanket or a jacket

you should cover as much skin as possible so you don’t get burnt by the bomb (Administration).

From 1945 to 1989 the United States and the Soviets started going at it. They

were the two strongest countries in the world, this is about the time the Cold

War began and atomic bombs were coming into play. The United States were

getting their people ready and teaching them what to do in case they got hit by

one of the atomic bombs, this is when the “Duck and Cover” came in play. In

1949 the Soviet Union exploded their very first atomic warhead. “The Soviets

supported the communist government of North Korea invaded U.S supported South

Korea in 1950, setting off an indecisive Korean War that lasted until 1953”

(Britannica).

The

Berlin Airlift happen in June of 1948. The Berlin Airlift is when the Soviet

Military was forced to take the following actions to save their economy and

their population. They had to stop all things coming in and out of the Soviets

land in Germany. They were even refusing people who were traveling via ground

or water coming from the western regions. The Berlin Airlift was the first big

episode of containment. Following World War II the United States adopted a plan

called the Marshall Plan, this is basically where we are going to bail out the Western

Europe including the areas that we are controlling in Western Germany. We are

doing this to make communist less attractive, because we want the societies to

bounce back as quick as possible. Berlin is in soviet influence but the United

States and the allies have half of Berlin under their control; also known as West

Berlin. Stalin puts up the blockade and shuts down the roads. He makes it to

where if you are trading you aren’t going to be able to use those roads to

trade goods. It isn’t long after Stalin does this the people of Berlin are

losing electricity, they are getting hungry and running out of much needed

supplies such as medical supplies etc. The Berlin Airlift is episode of

containment to save West Berlin from communist expansion. The United States and

their allies (Great Britain, Canada, and Australia) fly over West Berlin for

about a year dropping supplies. By the end of the airlift they were actually

transporting more goods than they were before the airlift. Stalin really saw that

Germany and Berlin under Soviet control and that isn’t going to happen. The United

States and their allies secure Berlin during this airlift and made sure that

the spread of communist doesn’t happen. The Soviets soon build a wall on the

East German side to make sure West Berlin doesn’t influence them in any way (Lemza).

In

1947 a man who worked for the United States government names George Kennan,

came up with a foreign policy also known as containment. Kennan said that the

United States should try to stop the spread of communism. What Kennan wanted to

make sure the United States government to work to hold in borders of communist.

During this time the president was Harry Truman; he was the same man who made

the decision to drop the atomic bomb. He also came up with something called the

Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine is his idea to stop the spread of

communism. Around spring time communist in Greece were fighting to rule the Western

Monarchy government. Other countries in the eastern Mediterranean were at risk

for falling into communism. In March the president asked Congress for a $400

million for military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. World War II

really weakened economies; Truman feared that economic collapse would open

Europe to communism. He believed that the United States economic and military

depended on a strong democratic Europe. The next step in the United States

policy of containment was the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan happened because

of how weak Europe was after the war. Truman was afraid that if the economies started

falling that they would turn to communism. George Marshall came up with the

Marshall plan and his whole plan with this was to aid Europe. What I mean by

this is that the United States was going to send money to countries in Europe

that had been weakened by the war. The Money was going to help them build a

capitalist economy and avoid communist revolution. The Marshall Plan was

designed to stop the spread of communism. France, Great Britain and other

countries all accepted money from the United States. Obviously all the

communist countries denied aid from the United States because they didn’t want

the U.S. to have any type of influence in their economy. All the Western Europe

that accepted aid from the U.S. what you began to see is that they began to recover

(Containment).

During

World War II the United States and the Soviet Union they fought together

against the Nazi’s. When the United State and the Soviets came out of the war

they were the two strongest countries. Things started to go south around 1945

and these two strong countries started to disagree and conflict started to

happen, this is how the cold war got its name. A man who worked for the United

States government names George Kennan, came up with a foreign policy also known

as containment. Containment is holding back the spread of communism. For us to

prevent this president Truman came up with the “Truman Doctrine.” The next big

thing was the Marshall Plan; this came in effect because how weak Europe was

after World War II. He was afraid that the countries’ economies would fall and

they would turn to communism. The whole reason for this plan was to give aid to

the countries in Europe that had been weakened by the war. President Truman had

the idea of dropping atomic bombs. When all of this came into play they came up

with the “Duck and Cover” for protecting themselves from the atomic bomb. The Berlin

Airlift all began because the Soviets didn’t want the U.S. bring in goods. The U.S.

found a way around it and started flying over there and dropping goods from the

planes. By the end if the airlift they were actually sending more goods over

there than they were before the Berlin Airlift began. The Soviets soon build a

wall on the East German side to make sure West Berlin doesn’t influence them in

any way.