USA all the way!

America the beautiful, Stars and Stripes forever, I'm proud to be an American. Those are just a few popular songs that American musicians have dedicated their time to show their nationalism toward USA. The Statue of Liberty, the Bald Eagle, the Liberty Bell, the US flag, Mount Rushmore are just some of the symbols of this amazing country. Who wouldn't want to be a part of this wonderful nation? Here we have democracy, you have rights and a say in how your country will be run. Doesn't everyone want that? We don't only try to make our country better but we also try to help others in order to make this world a better place. Our foreign policy is containment. We want to contain the bad communism inside those communist countries, so that we can spare those small countries the horror of trying to live in a communist world. We knew that we could not slip up on this task because the USA believed in the Domino effect and how if one more country became communist, all of the rest would come crashing down. In order to achieve these goals, the Truman Doctrine, Eisenhower Doctrine, and the Marshall plan were put into effect. So, the United States wanted to share the love and spread democracy.

Cold War today, is START the way?

Recently Obama signed an arms treaty with the Russian president. They called the treaty START, which stands for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. This treaty's goal was to reduce nuclear weapons between the two countries. They are trying not to continue with the destructive nature of the Cold War. This does send other messages to other nations though. It might say how nuclear power is too powerful for this world to use. We should not destroy each other. It is not right to kill other humans in such massive numbers then justify it by fighting for your country. I think that their goal was to try to eliminate nuclear power. Obama and the Russian president are working toward peace, and I think other nations look up to them because they are superpowers. This shows how there is still problems between the two countries but they are attempting at peace.

U-2 Woo Hoo!

There was even more tension in the sky. Eisenhower was sick of flying through the Soviet Union and always getting shot down, so he proposed "open skies." That was of course not accepted by Khrushchev. After that the CIA began having secretive flights over the U.S.S.R. They flew in such high altitude, Soviets' defense could not reach them. The U-2 took detailed pictures. Eisenhower discontinued the flights and Fancis Gary Powers was the last pilot. He was shot down and Khrushcev claimed he was captured and confessed everything. 38 years later, we finally realized he was lying. This war has led to sneaky, secretive tactics and in the end that added more tension.

Space Race

Sputnik-

There was tension in more than just military and political aspects during the Cold War. There was also competition in the space race. Sadly, the Soviets were first to launch "Sputnik" in the sky. It was a very big, new discovery for the world. Yes, it was a great contribution to the scientific world but it was a threat to everyone else. Now the Soviets had a big space machine that could go anywhere in the world! Americans felt like they had a giant target on their back. We felt we needed to step it up. So we improved our schools in science, math, and foreign language. Now, the war has moved to every aspect of our lives. It has created tension everywhere.

Craziness in Cuba

In 1961, Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba, declared himself a Communist and the Soviet Union was helping him, so, Eisenhower, in his last days in office, cut off relations with Cuba. Before this, the U.S. was with Cuba but we lost thier support because us and many Cubans felt that Castro was a traitor. In 1960, Eisenhower got the CIA to train hundreds of Cuban exiles for an invasions of Cuba in hopes of overthrowing Castro. Then, Kennedy came into office and decided to approve the plan despite some doubts. April 17, 1961, about 1,400 Cuban exiles landed on the Bay of Pigs and sadly nothing went as planned. The Cuban air force could not be knocked out, and when they landed on the shore 20,000 Cubans and Soviets were there to greet them with tanks and jet aircrafts. After this event, Kennedy talked with Castro and paid a $53 million ransom in food and medical aid. In 1962, the American U-2 took pictures proving that Cuba had nuclear missiles that could reach America. Khrushchev and Kennedy made an agreement where the missiles would be removed from Cuba if America did not invade Cuba. The missiles were a constant worry in American's minds and the tensions between us and the Soviet Union was a constant worry in the new president, Kennedy's mind.

Communism extension causes Cold War tension

-Mao Zedong

Another event that caused tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was the Chinese civil war. The Communists were led by Mao Zedong in the North and the South was led by Chiang Kai-shek who believed in the nationalists. Obviously, the United States wanted to help the Nationalists by sending them $3 billion dollars in aid. Even though we supported Chiang, he was not a good leader because he pocketed some money that America sent to him. Sadly, Zedong got more support, specially of peasants. The U.S. tried to keep peace between 1944-1947 even though it was not working well. The U.S. did not send troops but sent military supplies for support. in May 1949, Chiang and his remaining government fled to Taiwan. Because of this Communism overflowed in China. Americans were blaming Truman for not containing Communism in Asia. Then, the red scare was spreading and we felt powerless.

Anyone mention tension?

The Korean War created a lot of extra tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S was supporting the south with the anti-communist leader, Syngman Rnee, while the Soviet Union fought for North Korea and communist leader Kim Il Sung. The United State's goal was to contain communist and that involved Korea. The Soviet Union was boycotting the United Nations starting in meetings in January of 1950. In June of 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea by crossing the 38th parallel. Truman ordered naval and air support and 90% of the South Korean troops were American. The troops were led by war hero General Douglas MacArthur. South Korea was holding them off at Pusan. MacArthur took a risk and eventually got back the control of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. Continuing with his excited comeback, MacArthur crossed the 38th parallel pushing North Korea to the Yalu river. After that incredible war tactic, MacArthur suggested attacking China to Truman. Truman had his reasons why not to but MacArthur continued to push and eventually lost his job. In 1953, a peace treaty was signed at Panmunjom ending the Korean War.

Cold War- Sorrowful Summary

Throughout World War Two, the Soviet Union and the U.S.A were together on the allies side. Now, differences in government has torn the two countries into enemies. America's prideful nature made them want more countries to have democracy, but more than that they did not want communism to spread. They wanted to contain it in the stubborn communist countries. Between 1945 (when World War Two ended) and 1947, there had been constant tension between the U.S and the U.S.S.R over the issue of how Germany should be governed. In 1947, America created a policy whose goal was to prevent the Soviet Union from spreading its communist influence. The leaders of the superpower nations are Harry S. Truman (U.S.A president) and Josef Stalin (Soviet Union). Europe had many disagreeing governments which made Winston Churchill claim that there is an "iron curtain" over the continent. This created a barrier for information and communication. The United States created policies and helped stop Communism spread in both Europe and Asia. There was also a civil war in China. The North was led by Mao Zedong, who believed in Communism, and Chiang Kai-shek for the South and Nationalists. The US was, of course, supporting the Nationalists so we sent them military supplies. We helped South China despite the fact that we were not ready to fight. Following the civil war in China, the Korean War broke out. Kim Il Sung was communist and leading north Korea. Syngman Rnee led south Korea with his democratic/anti-communist ideals. Again, it was obvious the US favored the South because they were not Communist. This all came about because Japan took over Korea 1910-1945 and the Japanese south of the 38th parallel surrendered to America while the North surrendered to the Soviets. North and South Korea were fighting long and hard between 1950-1953. Throughout this war Truman and General Douglas MacArthur (a war hero) were butting heads. Eventually, Truman fired him because he was causing too much stress throughout the White House. After the Korean War, Dwight D. Eisenhower became president and Stalin was killed and Nikita Khrushchev took over. Khrushchev gave an ultimatum about Berlin in 1958. The ultimatum was rejected. Then the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962 with President Kennedy, almost making it a nuclear war. Then in the late 1970's came the "second Cold War." This was a whole new round of tensions between the countries including the Soviet Union fighting against Afghanistan. During this time the Soviet Union's economy was not running smoothly and the Berlin Wall came crashing down. Through the years America and the Soviet Union have signed treaties in order to remain peaceful. The official ending of the Cold War was in 1991.