Cold War Dbq Essay

The existing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union proceeded to spike between 1945 and 1950. The disputes between these two countries pressured them to start a war. Of the post World War II goals that contributed to the Cold War, there were a prominent few, including the “Iron Curtain”, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. During the Cold War, competition for methods of weaponry skyrocketed. Some of said tactics were Satellite nations, the Space Race, and the buildup of arms. Originally, The United States and the Soviet Union formed a bond simply because of their mutual fear that the Nazis would gain control over Europe. After the war was over, restructuring of Europe commenced. When this began to happen, a power struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States developed. The tension continued to rise, but neither wished to go to war because of the whopping number of lives taken from World War II, therefore, the term “Cold War” makes sense.
Winston Churchill gave his famous “Iron Curtain” speech on March 5th, 1946, which mainly focussed on changing the world’s view of Stalin and his dictatorship.
Citizens were blind to Stalin’s cruel dictatorship, simply because they needed some kind of leader. Churchill stated in his speech that, the “Iron Curtain” separated West and Eastern Europe. The East European government adopted a communist system and fell under the control of the U.S.S.R. (Doc #1). This created tension, induced by ideology differences. President Truman made up a plan, in which he felt that there should be a policy of the United States to provide financial aid to countries who are trying to avoid domination from other countries. Truman gave $400 million in aid to Turkey and Greece (Doc. #2). This heightened pressure between the U.S. And other countries because of how strong the U.S. obviously was, compared to any other country. This was also a threat to other
countries. Marshall, secretary of State, stated that the vast amount of political, economical, and social damage Europe were going through would not only effect the continent itself, but the world as a whole. He stated that this was a major concern, and the U.S. should do everything in its power to fix this torn continent. He stated that without the assistance, there would be ongoing hunger and poverty (Doc. #3). Marshall gave $13 billion to Europe to aid the damage. The Truman Doctrine, and the marshall Plan, were both attempts to maintain successful political, economical, and social stability throughout the world to prevent the post war downfall from occurring once again. Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union, captured Berlin. This upset many countries and so, NATO was born. They believed that an attack on one country was an attack on them all. The arms race occurred as a result because the countries stated that armed forces would be used if necessary to protect a country who had to undergo an armed attack.