Cold War paper

The role of America at the end of World War II was where the origins of policing the world originate. America had been engaged in a very costly war in terms of dollars as well as lives. But, despite the expense the United States came out of World War II better than any other nation that was involved. The Second World War was a battle between the Allied and Axis Powers. The Allied Powers consisted of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and France. This war was seen as the fight against Nazi Germany, and therefore resulted in a majority of the battles fought on German and Russian soil. The aftermath left the Soviet Union in bad shape. Close to twenty million Russians had died fighting the war, which accounted for about eight percent of their population. Conversely, none of the fighting was done on American soil, and while the United States suffered in terms of casualties it was nothing compared to the loss Russia had endured. Because the war would not end until the Axis Powers fully surrendered to the Allied Powers, the United States was forced to use the first atomic warfare in history. The atom bomb would later serve as America's greatest possession.

Stalin, the Premier of the Soviet Union

. . .

View the whole essay, without interruption

The next step in Truman's agenda was to work with Congress to pass the National Security Act of 1947, which was designed to strengthen defense operations. 903) Americans were again beginning to see the capitalist society they fought for, and the confidence level of the country continued to rise throughout the 1960's. 875) Between the creation of NATO, the National Security Act and CIA, and the Marshall Plan, America was dictating their position with Russia and communism. In his telegram, Kennan described the Soviets as insecure, inferior, and less advanced than Americans. Twelve nations agreed to sign this pact that stated "an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. They backed this idea of aggressive behavior, rather than a passive approach to the Cold War. Conversely, postwar liberal such as Henry Wallace, "a Progressive Party leader, continued to seek cooperation with the Soviet Union and defended the participation of Communists in their organizations. America was now the wealthiest country in the world and Americans had "accumulated savings of $140 billion" in 1945. 871) Considered by some, this was the most "innovative piece of foreign policy in American History. This act created a single Department of Defense, and created the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA. The first in a series of measures was a postwar conference involving President Truman and the Soviet Foreign Minister, V. "As Russia came into contact with the economically advanced West, fear of more competent, more powerful, more highly organized societies," (Gorn, p.

Approximate Word count = 1286
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Simply subscribe to view this paper, and 100,000 others.