Foreign+Affairs+during+Cold+War



Background info: The Cold War resulted from tension built from the culmination of the WWII. America were the first to have nuclear weapons and the Soviets had become their rivals in this. These countries never fought openly, but American and Soviet soldiers fought each other through many other wars and almost instigated a nuclear war that could have destroyed the country. During this period of "cold" war many treaties and policies were adopted to annoy and thrawrt soviet plans. Some of these policies include __The Truman Doctrine__ which was Harry Truman's policy aimed at the containment of Communism. At this point the Cold War was a battle between America and democracy and the U.S.S.R. and communsim with smaller countries in between who were forced to take sides in a conflict that would change the entire planet and military strategy. Leaders: The Country was led through this struggle for survival by many presidents, most notably Ronald Reagan who ended this terrifying war, but he was surrounded by controversy throughout his presidency. One of the most important events of the Cold War was the management of the Cuban Missle Crisis. This was closet that the world had seen to a nuclear holocaust. But, thanks to intelligent leaders this nightmare was avoided. The Cuban Missle Crisis had begun with the US.S.R. placing nuclear weapons in Cuba, causing a conflict because of its closeness to the U.S.A.\
 * Important Leaders || What they did ||
 * JFK || A strong critic of previous president's effort against the soviets, especially Eisenhower's. He started an nuclear arms race by increasing spending towards nuclear weapons in order to support his campaign concept of being "tough on the Soviets". John F. Kennedy was determined to harsh towards the Soviet Union threat. Starting with his inaugurial address where he proclaimed "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty." ||
 * Harry Truman || One of the leaders during the cold war who acted aggresively in office in an attempt to make up for his short comings.But,his actions led to the Soviets gaining strength in Europe. ||
 * Dwight Eisenhower || The 34th president of the United States of America, Mr. Eisenhower was a West Point graduate who became one of the U.S.A.'s most respected and successful military commanders. He ended the Korean War within six months of taking office and ensured that the U.S. kept even with Russia amongst the Cold War. ||
 * Generald Douglas Macarthur || One of the major decision leaders among the Cold War conflict. It is well known Macarthur wanted to bomb the Soviet Union while they still possessed an advantage in nuclear weapons. They had a 17:1 advantage at the time in which they ended the conflict. ||
 * Ronald Reagan || Techinally the controversial 40th president of the United States was responsible for ending the Cold War. He was able to do this through an aggressive approach towards ending the conflict. In 1983 he promised "Freedom and democracy, which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history" will prevail. He was eventually able to reach a resolution with Soviet leader Michale Gorbachev. According to CNN Reagan spent a grand total of one trillion dollars by his third year office. ||

Important Treaties:
 * Truman Doctrine- This policy developed by President Harry Truman gave $400 million to the countries of Greece and Turkey in order to help them resist the spread of communism and the Soviet Union. Originally Britain had been supplying aid to these two less powerful countries, but they were forced to stop sending their resources because of the Soviet Union's involvement. With this doctrine the United States was sending a message that they were and the U.S.S.R. were engaged within a cold war and that the U.S.A would do anything to ensure that the communism is contained.
 * Eisenhower Doctrine- President Dwight Eisenhower was one of the rare American presidents who was also a high-ranking military before taking the office of commander-in-chief. As a leader of the U.S.A. he issued what is known today as the Eisenhower Doctrine. With this doctrine the U.S.A. could help any country that needed help from an aggressive state; this focused on the threat of the U.S.S.R.
 * Reagonomics- This was Ronald Reagan's philosophy of cutting taxes in order to allow business to stimulate the economy without the government holding back these businesses. This economic system was given the name of Reagonomics by the media after the idea was introduced. In the end this system did not have a big impact upon the economy, but did see inflation rise because of some of President Reagan's policies.

Key Events:
 * Cuban Missile Crisis: This event between the United States and the Soviet Union is regarded as one of most dangerous parts of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis is the closet that these two countries ever got to having a nuclear war. It started with the U.S.S.R. putting their nuclear warheads on Cuba which lies only 90 miles from the U.S., automatically signally a red alert. Eventually an agreement was settled with Soviet Union pulling out of Cuba, but America was not allowed to invade Cuba or all previous settlements were null and void.
 * Iranian Hostage Crisis- In 1981 there was a revolution that would remain a constant throughout President Reagan's presidency. 66 Islamic students took over the American embassy as part of the Iranian Revolution that the country was undergoing. This conflict lasted from November 4th to January 20th, 1981. In the end this conflict furthered the hatred of the Middle East Islamic governments of the United States.
 * Bay of Pigs Invasion- This planned attack was a culmination of built-up hostility towards this neighboring state and the fact that they were in contact with the Soviet Union and had harbored the U.S.S.R.'s nuclear warheads. The groundwork was set in the Eisenhower administration and Kennedy became a target for the failure of this attack. The U.S. made a weak effort to disguise this invasion by making it seem as if the war planes belonged to Cuba, but this ruse failed. In the end tensions between these hostile nations escalated to an even higher level. The whole event was a complete failure on the part of the United States with over 200 men being killed and over 1,000 captured.

Cold War Video
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Works Cited:

1) [] 2) http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-112.htm 3) http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/cold_war.htm 4) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/10/eveningnews/main622398.shtml 5) http://www.carpenoctem.tv/military/mac.html 6) [] 7) Enduring Vision: A History of The American People