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.