Expert: Paul Sutton - 5/23/2006

Question
how did the after mathlead of world war II led to the cold war and how did the cold war shape the world we know now?


Answer
Greetings

The day World War 2 ended in Europe is when the cold war started.  The Soviets and by this I mean Stalin saw the end of the war as an opportunity to extend communism and Stalin’s power base.  Communists all over Europe tried to take over countries; they were successful in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and East Germany because of the presence of the Soviet army.  In Greece there was a civil wars between communist and noncommunist forces.  The US and Britain saw this as a blatant attempt to take over the control of Europe just librated from the Nazis.  The reasons for the Stalin were many fold not just the spread of communist ideas.  One to build a buffer so that the Soviet Union could not be invaded again.  The Russians have a long memory and the Invasion by Napoleon in the early 19th century and Hitler’s Invasion starting in 1941 was on the minds of Stalin and his military.  With the end of war in the Pacific; Korea was cut in 2 with the Soviets running the north and the US running the South.  Starting in 1950 the Korean War broke out.  In 1949 the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb.  IN 1945 then President Truman proposed that the US would give up it atomic weapons in exchange for the Soviets not developing atomic weapons.  The Soviets said no to this.  During the development of the A-bomb the Soviets had many spies gathering information on the Manhattan project (the American Atomic bomb project).  Soviet fear and aggression and American resolve not to give in to the Soviets lead to the cold war.  

The world today is still dealing with end of the USSR and that is what ended the cold war.  The Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan led to the Taliban eventually gaining power and starting a new age of terrorism.  Sad to say the US should have left Afghanistan alone and let the Soviets conquer it. With the end of the cold war American nationalism has waned and that left the US vulnerable which allowed the attacks of Sept 11.  The Clinton presidency saw a massive shrinkage in the US military and US Intelligence agencies.  This created the opening terrorist needed on Sept 11 2001.  The cold war divided the planet in to mostly 2 camps; one community (USSR, China, and East Europe) and US and it allies.  The cold war brought about huge technology changes, computers, space travel, and nuclear powered navy vessels are just a few examples.  Several of the East European countries once under the thumb of the USSR are now joining NATO and even helping the US in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The Cold War also forced the US to deal with China.  IN 1972 President Nixon went to China to open diplomatic relations.  This was done for several reasons.  One to pay off the Chinese to stop there support for North Vietnam; and second to have help against the USSR.  China and the USSR had a falling out over how to spread communism in the early 1960s.  The US used this wedge to foster closer ties with China.  The world soon opened for China and today we see China’s economic explosion and sadly a future war with China over Taiwan.

I hope this helps and enjoy the links





http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/coldwar/index.shtml

http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1946_timeline.html