Verified Document

Cold War Europe At The End Of Essay

Cold War Europe at the end of 1945 was devastated. There was no real strong government, millions of people had been killed, and much of Europe's infrastructure as completely broken, most public services ineffective, and starvation was rampant. However, because the United States had never been invaded, and the war won by the Allies, President Truman and his staff were more determined than ever to bring democracy to the rest of the world. The Marshall Plan, for instance, was an economic incentive to help Europe rebuild. However, because Europe was in such turmoil and there was somewhat of a power vacuum that France, England, the United States, and of course, the Soviet Union, wished to fill.

Because of the disaster after World War I and the ineffectiveness of the Versailles Treaty and Reparations, Truman's administration believed that it was crucial to allow Germany to move back into the Greater...

However, the Soviet occupation of 1/2 of Germany and Eastern Europe made that impossible. In the political arena, Europe had the difficult task of setting up complete new governments; economically, they had to rebuild their own infrastructure and transportation network; socially, the situation was even more dire -- missing persons, displaced populations, and refugees complicated the already underperforming systems.
This was now called the Cold War, a period of tension between the West (the U.S. And Allies - NATO) and the Soviet Union (the Warsaw Pact). Tensions heightened after the surrender of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy when Josef Stalin of the U.S.S.R. occupied Eastern Europe and created, as Winston Churchill called it, "An Iron Curtain." On one side, the Cold War was seen as a reaction to American aggression after World War II. America had not been invaded, and had an…

Sources used in this document:
This was now called the Cold War, a period of tension between the West (the U.S. And Allies - NATO) and the Soviet Union (the Warsaw Pact). Tensions heightened after the surrender of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy when Josef Stalin of the U.S.S.R. occupied Eastern Europe and created, as Winston Churchill called it, "An Iron Curtain." On one side, the Cold War was seen as a reaction to American aggression after World War II. America had not been invaded, and had an economy that was growing stronger and indeed was one of the only major powers whose homeland was untouched by the ravages of World War II (with the exception of Pearl Harbor). Compare this to the Soviet Union, with 30+ million dead, 25 million homeless, almost 1 million acres of productive agricultural land destroyed, and the infrastructure of the transportation system in shambles, and most major cities and industry ravaged. After the fall of Germany, the Soviets may have been on the winning side, but their economy was in shambles and they were in a position in which their entire internal structure was at risk -- and facing an ever powerful United States who, in one fell swoop, became the only nation on earth to harness the power of atomic weaponry.

Enter into this period a telegram known as the "X Article," written by George Kennan, Deputy Mission Chief in the Soviet Union between 1944-46. Kennan wrote this article as a telegram, published in Foreign Affairs magazine in July 1948. Kennan's analysis of the Soviet Union states that they do not see the possibility of long-term peaceful coexistence with the capitalist world. Their aim is to advance the socialist cause, and capitalism was a menace to socialism. The U.S.S.R. would continue to build up its client states, and would use controllable Marxists within the capitalistic world as its allies. Further, Soviet aggression was not really aligned with the viewpoints of the Russian people or with the economic reality of the modern world, but more in historic Russian paranoia and xenophobia.

The United States, through a series of foreign policy and espionage efforts, knew that the U.S.S.R. was vulnerable. In fact, research showed that at that time (the late
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Cold War the End of
Words: 1161 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

This is in fact what drove most European wars in the past. By reverting back to that system, Europe placed itself in the path of potential skirmishes as seen in previous generations, "Europe is reverting to a state system that created powerful incentives for aggression in the past," (Mearsheimer "Why We Will Soon Miss the Cold War" 1990:1). Smaller powers, now with a stronger more independent voice, have a

Cold War on Europe, European
Words: 1657 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Moreover, ending the cold war enabled the formation of international alliances that help and support members, and also fight together against common enemies. Bibliography Cold War, MSN Encarta, Encyclopedia Article, Microsoft Corporation, 2006 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569374_1/Cold_War.html, last accessed on February 27, 2007 Walter Lippmann, the Cold War: A Study in U.S. Foreign Policy, Harper & Brothers, 1947 Cold War, Wikipedia, the Free Online Encyclopedia, February 24, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_war,last accessed on February 27, 2007 Proxy War, Wikipedia, the

Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy
Words: 1375 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Cold War Truman 1945-1953 and expansion of communism As the 21 century approaches, there was every indication on the firmness of Present Harry S. Truman's reputation on the subject of his stewardship of foreign policy even though, as luck would have it, he took over Oval Office in the year 1945 inexperienced in affairs of the world. As he was approaching the end of his reign in the White House, there were

Cold War November 9, 1989
Words: 870 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

As counties in Europe began to align themselves behind the Soviet sphere of influence or the U.S. - Western influence each side looked to fortify their positions. For the U.S. this meant the development of the policy of containment of the Soviet advance. Containment developed along a number of varying lines including political diplomacy, military expansion, and economic aid. President Truman articulated an economic aid package, the Truman Doctrine which

Cold War Prior to World War II,
Words: 1684 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Cold War Prior to World War II, American foreign policy had been predicted upon isolationism. Afterward, determined to avoid the mistakes of the pre-war period, American leaders embarked upon an unprecedented era of worldwide commitments. This included entry into a number of alliances with foreign nations, interventions in foreign conflicts (either covertly or overtly) and an unlimited commitment to maintain the nation's military readiness. In doing so, they irrevocably changed this

Cold War and the U.S. Asia and Globalization
Words: 2263 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Cold War and Globalization The Cold War, and the U.S. And Asia and Globalization What was meant by the Cold War? Before defining the cold war, authors Bentley and Ziegler go into great depth to lay the foundation for the origins of the Cold War. More than sixty million people perished during WWII (965), including twenty million Soviets, fifteen million Chinese, six million Poles, four million Germans, two million Japanese, three hundred

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now