Fears of America and The Emergence of The Cold War

Emerging from World War II, was a 46 year conflict known as the Cold War. This war was again between the two most famous antagonists - the United States, and the Soviet Union. In February of 1945, the Yalta Conference took place. Instead of planning what to do before or during the war Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt were discussing on what to once the war was over. Within this conference, there were a few agreements made. First, was that there would be free elections in all of Eastern Europe, Germany would be split into four zones of occupation, the Soviet forces would join in the war against Japan after Germany’s defeat, and lastly, Stalin agreed to the Soviet Union’s involvement in the United Nations. I believe that the Yalta Conference lead us into the Cold War by practically handing over the control of Eastern Europe to the Soviet Union. When Harry Truman became president, while the world was divided in two; he knew he could not trust Stalin, and that the promises Stalin made - will not be kept. To figure out what to do, he asked George Kennan to help. Truman knew that George Kennan is an expert on the Soviet forces, and will know just what to do. When Truman asked Kennan for help, he responded with the “Long Telegram”. In short, he said that there is nothing Joseph Stalin fears more than being surrounded by non-communist states, and to avoid that, Stalin is going to push out. Predicting what Stalin would do, which is expanding outwards - Kennan suggests that instead of starting a war, they try to stop the spread of communism. From this, the “Truman Doctrine” emerged. This allowed for the United States to get involved and help ANY country in which there was a communist threat, for more than 40 years. Not only this, but the United States always wanted to help repair Europe after the war to make the continent less vulnerable to communism, which lead to the Marshall Plan. This plan allowed for European nation (that signed up) to receive cash, food, and other supplies needed - hoping that some communist countries would apply so the United States could pull them out from underneath Stalin. Stalin revolts with Communist Economy (Comecon). Comecon meant whichever one side of Europe you were on, West or East side, you either get your money for the Soviet Union, or the United States. This lead to the world being divided even further.

Moving into the early years of the Cold War, we’ll begin in Berlin, Germany. After being divided into two halves in 1947 - Soviet Union in the East, and the United States in the West, Berlin also got split into Western and Eastern halves. It was 180 miles inside of Communist controlled territory, leaving the US forces stationed there also surrounded. In 1947, came Germany’s economic recession and Berlin was hit hard. To counter this, the US leadership in West Berlin created a new currency back by US dollars; giving them new purchasing power (worth more than those in the East). In revolt, Stalin creates a blockade to cut off all of West Berlin from fuel, medicine, people, even food. An ultimatum was put into place of either the West gets rid of the new currency or they… die. In response to this blockade placed by Stalin, Western Europe and it’s US leaders, create the Berlin Airlift. This dropped off food, fuel, and other necessities to the West Berliners. Realizing this, Stalin removes the blockade, and West Berlin wins this first “battle”. Immediately, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) came into play when the United Nations convinced almost all of the Western nations into alliance. In response to this alliance, Stalin responds with the Warsaw Pact, which included the involvement of seven other countries into his defense.

The Korean War is an example of the United States Cold War Policy of Containment. This was placed in the Truman Doctrine. The United States will get involved and help any country in which there was a communist spread threat. They proved their loyalty to the policy when Truman sent almost all his army into South Korea during the Korean War (1950-1953), after the invasion of North Korea. The US joined forces with South Korea to fight against the spread of communism in the South. This leads to the next thought of the “Red Scare”. The Red Scare was the outbreak of intense fear about the supposed threat posed by Communists in the US. This represents the Cold War in America because the fear of the spread communism is practically why the Cold War even came about. If it weren’t for this fear, all the policies, divisions, alliances, etc., the Cold War might have not been a part of history.

After reading both the Vietnamese and American Declaration of Independence, there seemed to be similarities and differences. Both were writing been very strong men in power and were both based off the idea that “all men are created equal”. A similarity is definitely how Ho Chi Minh and Thomas Jefferson both wrote about the injustice the French and British brought to their countries and its people. They both talked about the 'inhuman' laws that were passed, and both talk about the unjust taxes imposed on them. For example, Ho Chi Minh said, 'They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people', and Thomas Jefferson said, 'For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent'. The most outward and obvious similarity is that they both just want the best, most positive, and free outcome for their nation. What I felt was most alarming and the strongest difference was in the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence when Ho Chi Minh wrote, 'To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol'. No where in the American Declaration of Independence, is there something THAT extreme that England imposed on America. I do think that the Vietnamese's' Declaration seemed to be much more brutal, unfair, and harsh. In the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence, Ho Chi Minh charged the French with disregarding the standards of Liberty, and Equality, weakening and turning their country upside down. He even says that they have acted on the opposite of the ideals of humanity and justice, and in 5 years, proven incapable of “protecting them” since they have have handed their country over to the Japanese twice. After all this, from 1940-1945, he describes his country as French colony and a Japanese possession.

Again, the fear of communism plays a part in the United States involving themselves in a war. Dwight Eisinhower created the term “Domino Theory”, which became a metaphor for the spread of communism. This theory said that if one nation came under the control of communis, the rest would follow. This was the reason for the United States involving themselves in Vietnam. They felt that if Vietnam fell under a communist rule, the expansion of communism would continue to spread throughout Asia, or even further. This war was exceptionally difficult for American soldiers for many reasons. The first main one was that the enemy was hard to identify, because it was a guerilla war. In Vietnam, the Viecong were peasants during the day and guerillas when it is time to fight war. Another reason, was about the unfamiliar terrain. The American soldiers were not trained in fighting on land with swamps, and dense jungles. Lastly, was Vietnam’s foreign support from China and the Soviet Union. They were given money and resources by these countries to aid the fight against the United States.

The Tet Offensive was a series of planned North Vietnamese attacks on almost every city and military base in South Vietnam. It was one of, if not the LARGEST military campaigns in the Vietnam War. Ho Chi Minh and leaders in Hanoi planned these attacks in hopes that this would weaken the American support in the Vietnam war, hopefully enough for them to withdraw completely. Some would say this was a “turning point” for the Vietnam War, for it played an important role in the start of US’ withdrawal. These attacks on South Vietnam cities, created destruction on their homeland. There were over 120 attacks in South Vietnam. Including, cities, towns, government buildings, and military bases. For example, the Battle of Hue resulted in the destruction of the entire city. There were so many US casualties following the surprise attacks, that they were calling over hundreds of thousands of new troops to help in the counteroffensive. The political leaders, and Americans believed the war would soon be won, but unfortunately that was not the case. Even though there was a lot of destruction, and a great amount of casualties, it was still a victory for North Vietnam.

The Cold War was beginning to be a very long struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. By the late 1960’s, the two superpowers agreed to the policy of “Détente”. This was a policy implemented to reduce the tension and hostility between the antagonists (this is what President M. Nixon was focused on). It was implemented because it would decrease tension between the United States and Soviet Union, increase trade between us, and reduce the threat of a nuclear war. The Cold War was then changing further because of President Reagan. He changed the nature of the war because of his anti-communism support, which is seen in the “Reagan Doctrine”. Reagan ordered a great increase in the United States Armed Forces and implemented many new policies toward the Soviet Union. In March of 1983, Reagan introduced a missile defense system called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI. This was a ground and spaced based anti-ballistic missile system to prevent missile attacks from other countries; especially the Soviet Union. Although it was a great idea, and could have been a military advancement; it was never officially implemented. Even though it was not implemented, it still posed a serious threat to the Soviet Union and knocked them out of the arms race. With the costs of the arms race, the challenge of keeping control of Eastern Europe became too much. The end of the Cold War came from this dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Berlin wall came down, borders opened, and the “Iron Curtain” was lifted. The Cold War had officially come to an end after 40 plus years. The one major impact of the Cold War that you can see in today’s present life is on international systems, and new technologies of war. Such as nuclear power and energy. Also, without this war, the United States could have possibly been conquered by Soviet Union and China, making it communist control - which no one wants.