The Ups and Downs of the Cold War

Although no war between the superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union was ever declared, the leaders of the West and East faced off against each other in what is known as the Cold War. Even though there were attempts to discuss being peaceful together during the 46 years of "war", these two nations fought overt and covert battles to increase their power across the globe. From the beginning to the end, the Cold War brought much fear and tension to the entire world. The Cold War is described as "the arms race between Germany and its neighbors as ‘a kind of "cold war" where there is no shooting but bleeding’" (Williamson). For my Cold War project, I made a chutes and ladders board game to represents the ups and downs of the war. I used 14 events: when the U.S. drops the atomic bomb, the Iron curtain, the Berlin Airlift, when China falls to communism, the Domino effect, when Russia drops their atomic bomb, hysteria, the launching of Sputnik, Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Wall was built, the U.S. gets a man on the moon, the Berlin Wall falls, and the end of the Soviet Union, or the end of the Cold War. If the United States had a victory, the little person goes up the ladder, but if the Soviet Union won an event, the little person goes down the slide. There are eight slides, and six ladders, meaning that the Soviet Union overall had more wins, but the United States stole the victory in the end. The United States had a couple wins in the beginning, but the Soviet Union took control during the middle of the war, which means there are many slides in the middle of my project. But in the end, the United States takes it to the top, with a sparkly ladder to prove it. Immediately in the 50s and 60s, there were many short term effects of the Cold War. Communism was looked at as the "evil" government and the United States feared that it would spread from country to country. Because of the increasing fear, many organizations and acts were started to put on end to the spread. One group, the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began to investigate allegiances of communism in Hollywood. "The committee believed that Communists were sneaking propaganda into films" (Danzer) and they accused people of working with communists, causing huge amounts of hysteria. In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed unknown communists in the state department, and eventually was calling everyone a communist. Not only were people afraid of being called a communist, but they also had to live in fear of having to eventually call someone they knew a communist. Panic was everywhere-having to always worry if a Russian atomic bomb was going to explode, not knowing if anyone was going to be called a communist, and always trying to compete with the Russians to try to be ahead in the race of war. Not only were there short term effects of the Cold War, but there were also long term effects as well. For example, the Berlin Wall, "a concrete wall topped with barbed wire that severed Berlin in two" (Danzer), stood as an ugly symbol of Communist oppression. Once it was torn down in 1989, it essentially ended all of the tensions that the hideous wall created. As well as the Berlin Wall, there were many problems with nuclear weapons. The Unites States and the Soviet Union were constantly racing to see who would use the atomic bomb first, and in 1945, the U.S. dropped the first bomb, starting the tensions of the Cold War that would last 46 years. The space race continued throughout the Cold War as the atomic bomb race did. In 1957, Russia sent Sputnik in space, making them the leader in the space race. However, in 1969, the United Stated sent the first man to the moon, which pushed them to be the leader. In the end, the super powers were both spending more than they could afford on the "bloodless war" (Williamson), which caused the Soviet Union to crumple, as the result to the end of the Cold War. Tensions, fear, and struggles filled the Cold War for 46 years. Even though there was no hand on hand contact, the events that shaped the war will never be forgotten. The Cold War had many ups and downs, but because of the perseverance and unity of the United States, they were about to steal the win of the long battle.