COLD WAR
At the conclusion of the WWII Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation controlled by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was located in the Soviet controlled section of Germany. Lack of agreement and compromise with the Soviet Union concerning the unity of Germany led to the beginning of the Cold War. The term Cold War was first used by an American Financier Bernard Baruch in a congressional debate in 1947. A cold war can be defined as a condition of tension and conflict short of an actual war as was the case with America and the Soviet Union. In June 1948 the three allies, France, Great Britain, and the United States, established the German Federal Republic in West Germany, which they controlled. The Soviet Union however opposed any government run by any western powers and took many measures to prevent this new government from staying in power. On June 24, 1948 the soviets began a blockade of all land traffic to the western zone of Berlin, hoping to starve it of supplies and perhaps breaking down. But the US, France, and Great Britain, would not back down to the Soviets and so they began to airlift all supplies to West Germany. After about a year on May 12, 194
In 1947 president Truman added to the anti-Communist feelings when he ordered a loyalty review board to conduct security checks of thousands of government employees and a few years later in 1950 Wisconsin's senator Joseph McCarthy accused regular people and government officials alike of being corrupted by communism. All these accusations and anti-Communist acts being passes made people believe that there were more communists in America than there actually were. Many of the accused where even convicted with out any evidence what so ever and many more resigned from their positions because of fear of being convicted of crimes that they haven't committed. People just got caught up in this communist chaos which led them to fear more than necessary. Obviously this violated peoples rights such as freedom of speech. The United States realized that the soviets expansionist aims threatened not only Europe but developing nations of the world as well. Under a normal democracy a person can not be convicted of a crime if there is no evidence linking it to him, but this was happening all over America out of fear and ignorance of both the government and its citizens. Meanwhile back in the United States fear of the Soviet Union and communism were rapidly growing. The United States was very fearful of a communist take over especially after a great nation of like China came under a communism regime. The unites states, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union held summit meetings in 1955 and in 1959 Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev visited camp David in the united states to discuss good will between the two nations. However later events would lead to an even greater hostility and tensions between the United Sates and the Soviet Union and relations would worsen once again. So in 1949 President Truman approved the Point Four Program which put aside nearly $400 million for technical development in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. These fears led to McCarran Walter Immigration act of 1952 which restricted the immigration of persons from communist countries, failing to consider that these people might just be trying to escape the communist regime By the late 1050's and early 1960 relations between the super powers were beginning to improve. Now practically the entire world was involved.
Common topics in this essay:
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Bernard Baruch,
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Acceptance Essays
