Essay, Research Paper: Cold War

The Cold War
After World War II Russia had East Germany and the rest of the allies had West Germany. George Marshall started a plan that gave European countries billions of dollars to stable the boarders. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was an alliance that was designed to provide linkage to stop the spread of Communism. The NATO was an alliance that used nuclear weapons to defend it's self against Russia. The Soviets then had the bomb after 1949, this created a standoff between the NATO alliance and Russia. Ronald Reagan's policies provided constant pressure against the Soviet Union that held lead to the defeat of communism. This stand off with nuclear weapons was known as the cold war. The cold war stayed cold and never became "hot" because of Mutual Assumed Destruction known as MAD. The NATO alliance and Russia both had nuclear weapons, neither of them decided to use the nuclear bombs because both sides knew it would lead to mass destruction, for the other side and also possibly for the whole world. Each side knew that if they launched a nuclear attack that the other side would send a nuclear attack in return. Neither side wanted to be the cause of mass destruction and a return attack on their own side.
The cold war ended because of the failure of Communism. On August 1991 the Communist state known as the Soviet Union collapsed. Many things lead to the failure of Communism. Communist was well designed for military strength and intimidation. Communism stunted human creativity and prosperity where it was imposed. The majority of citizens were not given any say in the most basic decision about their lives. They were not allowed to determine for them selves where to live, where to work, what to read, or how to educate their children. The supposedly good part of Communism was it's vision of universal human brother hood, however there was no place for community, love, or friendship in Communism. There was also no room for God or religious beliefs in Communism. Communism was not successful in the Soviet Union, which made other countries realize that a democracy was a better for of government than Communism. The end of the Communist Soviet Union and the end of the idea that Communism could be an effective form over government made the Cold War come to a conclusion.



Bibliography


Schweikart, Larry. Readings in Western Civilization, Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publishing, 1999.


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