Why Did The Us Gain Power Essay

The Cold War had a significant impact on American foreign policy, changing it substantially in both attitudes to social and economic factors. The heavy influence of a difference in political standing between the Soviet Union and the United States, in conjunction with the high tensions that followed in the post war period, set the foundations for American foreign policy to adapt and change to better suit the developing political agender of the time. Socially, the two sides were heavily split, with the Soviet Union seeking communist support and allies whilst the US sought to counter their progress in a similar manner. Economically these relations with foreign countries that either joined the eastern or western blocs helped to further the

The years between 1860 and 1877 are filled with many developments in the views of the American people. The North consisted of free states based on an industrial economy while the South based its agricultural economy on the enslavement of colored males and females. The two sections of America had two very different views on how the United States should become a world power. Constitutional developments such as secession of the Southern states in 1860, the Emancipation Proclamation, and other acts and amendments contributed to more discontent throughout the country. Developments such as the Black Codes, Freedmen's Bureau, and the creation of the Ku Klux Klan contributed to the Social aspect of the argument. Problems like these had been amounting

The United States developed into a world super power following World War II. Many of the Allies were deeply affected by the war financially and were struggling, thus leaving a vacuum that needed to be filled. The United States was thrust into the position of “policing” and assisting nations around the world. The Cold War was in many ways a psychological illusion however there were many factors that led to this illusion which were well founded. The Cold War stemmed from a multitude of factors, the difficult war against Nazi’s and Japan, Stalin behaviors were not trustworthy, Berlin blockade, Poland puppet government, the fall of China, the build up of arms and the birth nuclear weapons all fed fear-based anti-communist policies. In

The Marshall Plan demonstrated US commitment to stop communism by providing economic and financial aid to Europe. A Strong Europe would lead the United States to create NATO to oppose Soviet aggression. NATO is a military alliance between western democracies and an attack on one is an attack on all (Doc C). The Soviets would create the Warsaw Pact in response and cold war tensions would rise again. Truman would intervene in the Korean War to stop the spread of communism and the Domino Effect (Doc E). The US is practicing containment with US Troops fighting in proxy

At the long awaited end of World War 2, Germany was divided into two pieces, one for capitalists and the other for communists. Berlin, the stronghold city of Germany at the time, was split into two pieces as well, one part for capitalists and one part for communists, all separated by the infamous Berlin wall. West Berlin was a pro-american island in a soviet sea, and when the soviet union decided to blockade any shipments into West Berlin, the United States had to take immediate action. America shipped in supplies to West Berlin by air! If it hadnt been for America and its allies supporting West Berlin, it could have easily been conquered by the surrounding communists. The Berlin Airlift displayed the fight that America put into containing communism and how hard they were willing to work to keep the red water as far away from them as possible. These diplomatic tactics saved Berlin and eventually led to the Berlin walls’ downfall, allowing the city to come together and live peacefully. This was one of the first major steps in stopping the spread of communism through

If one was to look at the world post WWII, it would be clear to see that the United States had the upper hand in comparison to the Soviet Union. While the USSR had mass casualties and destruction to deal with, the US only benefited from WWII, with an increased economy, and advantages from being pulled out of the Great Depression. The United States took action during the Cold War to try and restrict the USSR’s power. One of the major steps that the US took was to stop the spread of Communism. To prove this point, President Truman established the Truman Doctrine.

Yet, this hope was met with failure. In response to NATO, the Soviets created their own alliance called the Warsaw Pact which unified the Soviets and their satellite states. Overall, because of legislatures like Truman’s policy of containment, NATO, and The Marshall Plan, the United States funded billions to limit the Soviet’s from expansion as well as protect their own interests both domestically and

After the defeat of the Axis powers in World War II it was apparent that the victors would come out as the new world powers. With the United States and the Soviet Union being the strongest nations of the victorious Allies they were the two countries who emerged as the new world powers but their views varied drastically. The Democratic United States and the Communist Soviets butted heads about each others views and the U.S. wanted to halt the spread of communism so it couldn’t get to the rest of the world. The U.S. adopted a policy of containment to keep communism in the USSR and the other places it had spread. The U.S.’s main goal was to prevent the spread of communism and they did everything

Document Review Regardless of the alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union during World War II, the cooperation found during a time of war began deteriorating due to the differences of the two nations. Soviet leaders claimed that communism and capitalism were unable to exist peacefully. Tensions grew strong as the USSR began acting out, causing the beginning of the Cold War and eventually the “Red Scare” in America, resulting in a change in foreign policy. Hints of the Cold War began in WWII as the multiple delays in creating another front in Europe made the Soviets suspicious of their Western Allies’ motives.

Continuing to act as police of the world and leader of capitalism, Truman drafted the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, which complemented the Truman Doctrine, "was a program of large scale economic and military aid to Europe." Considered by some, this was the most "innovative piece of foreign policy in American History. Where over the next four years the United States contributed over $12 billion to a highly successful recovery effort." The Soviet Union stilled commanded a blockade on highway, rail, and river traffic to West Berlin. As a result, the United States responded by entering into a peacetime military alliance; this being the first time since the American Revolution.

The United States put the Marshall Plan into action, it was "a plan adopted by the United States for giving financial aid to European nations…"(Barnhart & Thorndike, 631). By 1960 Europe had fully recovered and life was better than before the war, the people of Western Europe received a lot out of the Marshall Plan. Eastern Europe had been allotted to USSR to take care of, Eastern Europe suffered due to the economic strategy of Josef Stalin. While all the progress was taking place in the west Stalin transported factories to the Soviet Union from the eastern countries to make Russia wealthy while the small eastern countries suffered great losses. Stalin then used the countries as buffer states to protect his country against war, war most probably caused by the United States.

During World War II the United States and the Soviet Union were allies, but by 1950, their relationship had disintegrated and the two nations were engaged in a “Cold War.” The “Cold War” occurred due to efforts by both nations after the war to maintain influence in regions like Eastern Europe for the Soviets and Turkey and Greece for the United States, but the “Cold War” wasn’t limited to these disputes. The “Cold War” was influenced by many factors on the United States side including the creation of and dropping of atomic bombs by the United States on Japan in 1945, the Truman Doctrine and the X Article in 1947, the Berlin Airlift and the Marshall plan in 1948, the formation of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1949,

The Berlin Airlift was Britain’s and the United States response to the Soviets blockade of all rail, road and water routes and communications with the West. After World War Two, Germany was split into sectors by Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia; Berlin was in the Soviet occupation zone, with only the west division of Berlin under the West’s control.[1] The Airlift took place from June 24, 1948 to September 30, 1949, even though the blockade ended on May 12, 1949. The airlift delivered 2,323,738 tons of food, fuel, machinery and other supplies to the people of West Berlin.[2] The Berlin airlift demonstrated to the World the Allies’ willingness to stand up to the Soviets and gave birth to such folk heroes as Colonel Gail Halvorsen,

The foreign policy of the United States during the Cold War fully supported the growth of democratic nations. The USSR, however, wanted countries to become communist like them. These opposing views led to tension between the two nations. As a result, in 1947, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine which stated that the United States would supply aid to any country as long as they pledged to be democratic. The Marshall plan was enacted in 1948 and it was similar to the Truman Doctrine except it provided financial aid to these countries. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States used its foreign policy to help countries resist communist influence.

If Berlin were to fall first, West Germany would be next, and if not willing to fight, communism would then run rampant (Clay, 1948). To avoid this, the Allies flew supplies into the city along three air corridors. Lasting from June 24th, 1948 to May 11th, 1949, 2.3 million tonnes of supplies was shipped throughout the airlift, keeping two million West Berliners alive. The U.S knew the Russians would not risk an outbreak of war by shooting the planes down, after all, what would people think of a leader who shot down planes carrying food and fuel to people in need? Despite this reasoning, and for the sake of security, the Americans stationed B-29 bombers in Britain-ready to drop atomic bombs on the Soviet Union if they were to shoot down the planes and launched a trade embargo against East Germany and other Soviet bloc countries. Berlin became a symbol of the Allies' desire to oppose further Soviet expansion in Europe. Ongoing migration from the East to the West impeded the Soviet's ability to run East Germany as they wanted