Cold War During World War

Cold War

During World War II, the United States and Soviet Union were one in their fight against the Axis powers led Germany. Adolf Hitler of Germany wanted to conquer Europe at that time. He instilled fear in the hearts of the Jews in Europe as Germany systematically persecuted and killed approximately two and half million Jews in various Nazi consecration camps. Germany was flexing its military might in Europe and the Soviet Union and Great Britain stood against the onslaught of the German military. The United States was not initially part of the war; the U.S. was primarily providing logistical support to the Allied powers which was then spearheaded by Winston Churchill's Great Britain in their defense against the expansionist policy of Germany.

The U.S. was brought into the war when Japan conducted an attack against its military base in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii resulting in substantial casualties and collateral damage on the part of the Americans. With Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had no further recourse but to go out of its neutral stance on the war and joined the Great Britain and Soviet Union to actively fight Germany and liberate European countries such as Italy from German control. As Germany began to lose its hold in Europe, the U.S. focused on Japan. With her new found military might, the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs in the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that made Japan concede in the war.

With the onset of World War II, the world witnessed the emergence of two superpowers - the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Rising from the ashes of World War II, the two countries began to consolidate their military and economic resources to advocate the ideologies that set them poles apart, the democratic U.S. And the communist USSR. This conflict is known as the Cold War era, a situation characterized by considerable tension between the two countries but they did not directly engage each other in an armed conflict.

In my view the U.S. And Soviet Union could not continue as allies during the post World War II because of the conflict in terms of their distinct ideologies. This key difference led both countries to pursue policies that are not congruent with their respective interest.

The U.S. has always seen herself as the bastion of democratic ideals wherein there are free elections, the liberties and basic rights of every individual regardless of creed and color are upheld and more importantly, a government in which the will of the majority is expressed. On the other hand, the Soviet Union, an advocate of communist principles put considerable emphasis on an iron hand type of rule grounded on a strong military, a government in which the will of the leaders are forcibly indoctrinated on the people under the pretext that leaders are working for the people's best interest. These differences are clear and manifested in the manner in which the superpowers operated their respective governments and in the same way deal with other countries in the international arena.

After the war, the Soviet Union developed a degree of mistrust towards its former allies most notably the U.S. The U.S.S.R. had other plans on Europe, the Soviets wanted to disseminate and inculcate the communist ideology in Eastern Europe. The Soviets disagreed with the plans of the Americans and British to install democratic forms of governments in Europe. The U.S.S.R. eventually had its way in Eastern Europe as seen with the triumph of communism in countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia. The U.S.S.R. even extended its communist influence in countries such China, Afghanistan and Cuba. The Eastern European communist countries were collectively known as the Iron Curtain.

In response to the efforts of the Soviet Union to increase her sphere of influence, the U.S. conceptualized the Truman Doctrine and implemented the Marshall Plan. Both policies were formulated with the specific intention of mitigating the spread of communism in the international community. The world during the Cold War era became a battleground of communist and democratic ideals. The Marshall Plan involves financial aid to countries ravaged by World War II. The U.S. is working on the pretext that helping impoverished countries to rebuild would rear them away from the clutches of communism because the U.S. believes that poverty and dissent are breeding grounds in which communism tends to thrive. The U.S. For that matter offered the Plan to Eastern European countries, but said countries declined with availing of the Plan because the U.S.S.R. provided for the funds that they needed.

Under the Truman Doctrine, the U.S. would explicitly oppose Soviet expansion in Europe. The manifestation of the operational implications of the doctrine is seen in the active role of the U.S. when it sent military and economic assistance to Turkey and Greece to curb the advance of communist ideals in the two countries. The Vietnam War is another key point in which the Doctrine was seen. The U.S. sent its military troops to aid the Vietnamese government from being overrun by the Soviet sponsored communist elements intent on replacing the government. As the Americans waged war against the communist movement in Vietnam it became a war of attrition for them as they subsequently withdrew their forces and conceded control of the Vietnamese government with the fall of Hanoi. These in my view are but a few examples of the proxy wars waged by the superpowers throughout the world in their quest to determine which ideology is superior.