Cold War: The Vietnam War

Jubayer Ahmed
Mr.Disiro period 8
Imagine a war without the use of weapons. The Cold War was a standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union without a use of arms (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). It was a period of time with great resentment and pressure. Even though both sides never had a direct military confrontation, they engaged in “proxy wars” and threatened each other with nuclear annihilation (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). For over forty years the Soviets and Americans competed against each other in areas such as military, technology and economy. The Cold War, unlike any other war was significant in American history because it advanced Americans in technology, limited the possibility of getting attacked by
nuclear arms and boosted the United States economy.
The Cold War began in 1945 after World War II and it was not a direct war between USSR and the US rather through technology and sciences (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). Radar, jet engines, rockets and atomic bombs were the types of technology invented during the Cold War (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). The need for new technology during World War II was the foundations for the number of inventions during the Cold War which lead to the space age and the nuclear arms race (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). The United States has technology such as spy planes and nuclear bombs (Stein 29). After the U.S bombed Japan with the atomic bomb in 1945, it led to the development of the hydrogen bomb in 1952 (Stein 29). The Soviets developed their hydrogen bomb in 1953 (Stein 29). This caused the nuclear arms race because each side was in fear of another (Stein 29). They both had enough nuclear bombs to obliterate Earth (Stein 29). In October 1957, the soviets launched Sputnik I which was the first space satellite to orbit Earth (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). After the Sputnik I launched into space it encouraged the Americans to launch Explorer I in 1958 (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). In April 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit Earth (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). In April 1962 the U.S had John Glenn orbiting the Earth (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). From 1962 to 1969 space engineering in the United States became more complex and they became the first to land on the moon in July 20, 1969 (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond). Over the next twenty years, the U.S and Soviet Union focused on creating new technologies such as space stations ,shuttles and weapons due to the fear of being attacked by one another (Historical Perspective: The Twentieth Century and Beyond).
The Cold War was a war without the use of weapons because both nations knew it would lead to Mutual Assured Destruction (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race).
It was a period of tension and hostility which lasted since 1945 to 1989 (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The Cold War did increase chances of getting attacked by the Soviets (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). Both U.S and USSR knew they would start another world war if they continued on producing weapons of mass destruction, so they agreed on many treaties to reduce the production of weapons in nuclear weapons (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the U.S and Soviet came to fighting each other with nuclear weapons (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The Soviets made an agreement with Fidel Castro to put their Missiles in their country and the missiles were caught by American spy planes (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). JFK decided to confront the Soviets publicly by going on television and thought of surrounding Cuba with a naval blockade (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The Soviet’s leader Khrushchev decided to remove their missiles from Cuba if America moved their missiles from Turkey (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The US agreed with their plan and also agreed on not invading Cuba (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The crisis was averted and lead to an era of “detente” or relaxation of tensions (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). In 1963, Kennedy and
Khrushchev agreed to sign the Limited Test Ban treaty (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The nuclear arms race continued until 1972 when the U.S and Soviet Union agreed to place limits on defensive systems in a treaty called SALT I (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). It allowed America to develop offensive weapons until SALT II where it limited the development of offensive weapons (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race) SALT II was signed by President Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on 1979 (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). During the late 1980s, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wanted to renew agreements on nuclear arsenals, so he and Ronald Reagan came up with the “zero option” the elimination of all nuclear weapons within few years (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). In 1987, they both signed the INF treaty (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty agreed to eliminate medium range missiles from Europe (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The INF treaty lead to the collapse of the Soviet empire and changed the arms race in a positive way (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). The possibility of getting attacked from nuclear arms was very slim for the United States (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race).
During the Cold War America’s economy was thriving (Downey 62).
Businesses grew and the US population increased (Downey 62). The Cold War period had many Americans with jobs (Downey 62). By the 1950s, prosperity became part of the American middle class and they had surplus money to spend on cars, houses and desires (Downey 62). Between 1945 to 1960 the US gross national product grew from $214 billion to $500 billion (Downey 63). The federal government kept the economy going by passing the GI Bill which helped veterans and their families buy homes and go to college (Downey 63). The Cold War created many factories, schools, roads and foreign aid programs (Downey 63). The living costs and consumer spending increased (Downey 65). Industries such as insurance, banking, communications, transportation and sales exploded along with industrial production (Downey 65). Electronic Computers were used in factories to increase productivity (Downey 65). By the late 1950s, automation or computers replaced a good portion of workers (Downey 66).America’s economy benefited their space program and led them landing on the moon first (Downey 66).Government spending played major roles in the growth of corporations (Downey 74). Blue collar workers were people who did manual labor and benefited from economy during the 1950s (Downey 74).White collar workers were skilled and professionals workers and profited during the 1960s (Downey 74). The American economy would have never been very successful
without the Cold War.
Because the Cold War forced the United States improve their technology, limited the chances of getting attacked by nuclear arms and enhanced the American economy, it is important in American history. The Cold War impacted both countries heavily. Even though it benefited the two countries it led to dangerous weapons that could destroy mankind and massive waste of economical resources (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). Without the Cold War we would not been in era of great technological advances and have less jobs (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). We also would have been more prone to attacks from foreign nations (Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race). Life today would have been much harder without the Cold War.