the cold war

             In an age where the United States is clearly the lone superpower, it is difficult to imagine a time when our nation was afraid to go to war with another nation. The Cold War was a long time period spanning decades and several presidencies when hostilities between Russia and the United States were heated, but never reached the point of becoming a "hot war". A question that perplexes society today, in order to realize what had caused the Cold War, and to prevent such a large scale, high-risk conflict from ever reoccurring, is "was the Cold War inevitable?" To answer this question, the true nature of the conflict between the US and Russia must be examined, and when done so, it is clear that the Cold War could not have been avoided.
             The cultural differences alone, as well as the different nationalistic goals and values, created a barrier between the two world superpowers. Deeply rooted in the histories of the two countries, the hostilities between Russia and the US were unavoidable. Beginning in the early 1900s, during the Bolshevik Revolution, already, the United States began to see that the tides were changing in Russia (Collier, 25). An anti-capitalistic movement swept through Russia, culminating in Vladimir Lenin's takeover of the Soviet government. For the United States, British, and the capitalist nations around the world, the writing was on the wall. Communism was beginning to entrench itself into the foundations of the Soviet Union, and this realization began the slow but steady separation that ultimately led to the great schism between the US and the USSR.
             In the 1930s, during Hitler's rise to power in Germany, Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, secretly bargained with Hitler over the issue of Poland (Anderson, 16). Years of unsuccessful attempts to invade Poland by the Soviet Union had left her frustrated and craving Polish territory. After agreeing with Hitler to take a portion of Pol...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
the cold war. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:00, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/19872.html