Cold War essay help (1 Viewer)

[CaseyLS]

I need some help for an esssay for a test tommarrow. I have picked the Cold War essay and I have come up with this outline. What should I add.HIST 252A / TEST PREPARATION #3





ESSAY QUESTIONS: Two of the following questions will be included on the final test for the course, of which you’ll choose one.



Many historians have claimed that the pursuit of the Cold War sharply altered the priorities of Americans both at home and abroad. What was the Cold War? Who fought it and why? What were some of its most important or critical periods? In what ways did this change their priorities in domestic and overseas policy?

Outline:
I. What was the Cold War?
1.Conflict that did not result in fighting among the 2 head powers.

II. Who fought and why?
1.The conflict was between the USSR and the USA.
2.They fought to instill their economic principles on other nations.
3.The Soviets supported communism while the Americans supported capitalism.

III. Important or Critical Periods?
1.Central American Governments
a. Panama Canal 1964
b. Dom. Republic-1963 Jaun Bosch(elected), then ousted, supporters tried to regain control in 1965, after 4 days LBJ sends in Marines and sets up
right of center interim gov in 1964
2. Cuba
a. CIA backs Fulgencio Batista 1950’s
b. Gov over thrown by Fidel Castro and company
c. Failure 1961Bay of Pigs use Cuban exiles for covert failure
d. Cuban missle crisis-1962 Kruschev puts nukes in Cuba
13 day stand off tensions high
3. Vietnam
a. Keep Vietnam from becoming communist
b. failure- fighting on foriegn soil, little support from home, ill feelings of those who got out of it,
4. Afghanistan
a.CIA backing Muhajudien fight against Soviets
b. Soviets Vietnam they lost for many of the same reason

IV. Domestic
1. McCarthism

V. Foriegn
1. Interventions
2. Fair Deal

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I wouldn't give odds on this thread staying non-political, but while it does I'll just add this:

You forgot Korea. But that's OK, pretty much everybody does.

Also the Cold War was not limited to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Winston Churchill was the one who came up with the term "Iron Curtain", the British intervened in the Greek civil war that followed WWII to defeat the communists, the French fought the communists in Vietnam before the Americans became involved, and NATO was founded by the western European countries in partnership with the U.S. and Britain to defend against a feared Soviet invasion. There was also the Chinese civil war that followed WWII, and ended with Mao victorious on the mainland, but his enemies holding Taiwan (and the Chinese permanent seat on the new U.N. Security Council.)

The cold war was fought between the western democracies and the Soviet Union and its allies. Nor was the battle simply about economic systems. All Soviet satellite states were one party "democracies", and generally police states. A lot more was at stake than who owned what. (Although the west supported non-democratic governments when strategic advantage required it.)

Many of the cold war battles did not involve the west attempting to impose capitalism on anybody, but rather defending indigenous capitalists against Soviet-sponsored revolutionaries. Others didn't, but the whole thing isn't quite as black and white as you indicate above.

Finally don't think that the war was bloodless. In addition to the many proxy wars fought in Third World countries during the conflict, a lot of soldiers, sailors and covert operatives on both lost there lives in secret missions that could not be acknowledged at the time, in some cases even to this day. Those people are all just as dead as any soldier killed on the battlefield, and as much combatants as anyone who stormed the beaches at Normandy or Iwo Jima.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Joe

 

[CaseyLS]

Thanks, My God I cant believe I forgot Korea I mean come on the 2nd TV series of all time had a lot to do with the Korean Conflict

Yeah I could easily see this going political so everybody play nice so I can get as much help as possible.

 

[Kenneth]

I would lump Korea, Vietnam, and Afganistan under a limited war section. Because nuclear weapons made global conflicts impossible it changed the whole landscape of geopolitical warfare.

I would also put something about the Berlin Airlift in the essay around the Cuban Missle crisis.

Finally, you probably need to put a section on Star Wars since it essentially ended the cold war by bankrupting the Soviet system.

Kenneth

 

[Kenneth]

double post

 

[Mike Voigt]

One could, quite realistically, throw in the German reconstruction after WW2 into there, also. W/o the assistance & direction from abroad (Marshall Plan, WEU, NATO, german rearmament - pretty much against the majority wishes at the time in Germany, too) the picture in West/Central Europe would have been totally different... and that includes certain VERY strong leanings by certain German politicians towards the Soviet Union. Not to be confused with Realpolitik, though.

Also, Africa/MidEast is not really mentioned. There were a ton of conflicts in Africa as a result of the Cold War - see Angola (Cuban), see Libya, see support of the Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian governments by the USSR, see Arab/Israeli conflict, etc., etc. Mozambique.

South America. Trials by the Soviets to gain a foothold. Usually did not work, but see Sendero Luminoso (Peru/Ecuador), see some of the still-active rebel forces.

See Nicaragua, Sandinista movement. Strong influence from abroad, though home-grown. Net result out of some of the tensions.

See Panama - General Torrijos. Support by US of a (very benign, as such things go) dictatorship. See Cuban influence in Panama towards end of Torrijos era/President Royo.

See U2 incident. See Iran (Shah).

Lots of stuff. A fascinating period, more so to me as I lived through some of the latter in a couple Latin American countries.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

There was no such thing as the "cold war". Tens of thousands of Americans, and many more from other countries, died in full combat in what should instead be called "World War III".

A better outline would be:

The battle of China
The battle of Korea
The first battle of Poland
The battle of Hungary
The battle for Suez
The battle of Vietnam
The battle of Cuba
The battle of the streets of the US
The battle of Czechoslovakia
The battle of Cambodia
The battle of Iran
The second battle of Poland
The battle of Afghanistan
The battle of technology
Victory

 

[Mike_Mig]

Maybe it's just me, or the way I read the question or the outline, but make sure you focus on how these critical periods shaped domestic and foreign policies of the United states. And maybe not just governing policies, but also some bit on how the public's attitude during the cold war helped shape these policies. Such as instead of just saying that we fought in Korea over the Communist influence there, I don't really know much about Korea, describe how over a period of time the American public's feelings towards Communism became more hostile, with this feeling of agression in the nation led the US to war, later describe how even up to Vietnam the feeling of hostility was still there in the public's mind, but slowly changed as the reality of the conflict became clear. Thus the American people became disenchanted with the war in Vietnam, which then led to the withdraw of American forces.

I read the question more like this "describe some major points in the cold war and how these changed government policy."

I rambled there a bit and I guess maybe I don't make a lot of sense, but I tried.

Mike

 

[Grant B]

You might mention out CIA involvment in overthrowing the Chilean government. Even though it was elected, it was seen as left wing or Communist, even if it wasnt. Pinochet cmae to power and the elected officials tended to disappear.

We tended to lump nations into 2 piles no matter the true of the matter....hence we supported many dicators and occasionally helped bring down democratic ones.

 

[Philip Hamm]

How about the nuclear arsenal buildup and the open air nuclear weapons testing in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. There's a great site about US nuclear testing right here. Very factual. I'm sure they have information on Russian nuclear testing as well including the "Tsar Bomba" the largest bomb ever produced, scaled down to half yield it was 50 megatons.

 

[Kenneth]

Some other topics you could possibly put in there (depends how long an essay you need):

Pre-Cold War World War II impacts - The fire bombing of Dresden was considered by some historians to be an attempt to show the Russians (who captured the city shortly after the bombing) the true convential capability of the West. The atomic bomb use in Japan, in addition to attempting to reduce Western casualities, was also designed to end the war before Russia got involved in the campaign against mainland Japan. This prevented dividing mainland Japan (like Germany was divided), although Russia did receive some northern Japanese islands for their limited role.

The Rosenbergs - Although clearly guilty looking back, they were early victims of the cold war.

Spys and counter Spys - lots of good stories of double agents on both sides.

Kenneth

 

[CaseyLS]

Hey guys thanks for your help. I just got done with the test and I feel I did alright on it.

Thanks again