The Cold War
A BiPolar World
The American Position
The Russian Position
Causes of the War
Causes
Fears and Concerns in the Cold War Era
The American Position
- Americans come out of WWII even richer than before
- Own 20 billion in gold reserves of a world total of 33 bil.
- Largest navy, airforce and monopoly on nuclear weapons (until 1949)
- Largest trading and industry in World
The Russian Position
- Largest army in the world
- Production not at pre-war levels
- Stalin looked inward again and put the effort toward communism at home
- Began to influence over satellite states in Eastern Europe
- Many POWs kept on working in Russia
Causes of the War
- War of Ideologies
- Communism vs. Democracy (capitalism) (east vs. west)
Causes
- Nationalism - both USA and USSR take actions throughout Cold War to protect their interests
- Imperialism - Many old imperialist nations are gone, USA and USSR take over this role worldwide. (Eg. Vietnam and Afghanistan)
Fears and Concerns in the Cold War Era
- Fears and Concerns - West feared a communist revolution worldwide (com inform replaced comintern)
- Russia fears counterrevolution from within helped by money from the west
- The domino theory - a metaphor that the USA used to describe the fear of allowing countries to go Communist and then their neighbours would follow course (eg. Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe)
"The Cold War isn't thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting."
- Richard Nixon
- Richard Nixon
Fun Fact
It cost the US 8 trillion dollars.
Subjunctive Question
If the Cold war had become a real war, who would have won?
Summary
The cold war was Between the US and Russia and never actually resulted in a real war. It was in intense political tension between communism and democracy.