Cold War DBQ Essay PDF

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DBQ essay on the Cold War...

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Miguel Alberca DBQ Essay (Cold War)

The Cold War was just that, a "Cold War", but despite it's namesake, the war itself has heated up multiple times. These rising tensions have even almost led to total nuclear annihilation for both combatants. Along with this, many other physical and philosophical "weapons" were also used by both side. One of the ultimate causes of the Cold War, besides the fact that the two participants had opposing views and governmental systems, was the creation of the Iron Curtain. This curtain was essentially an imaginary line drawn that separates Europe from the West. This effectively sealed off all of the East from any outside influence, in this case, the influence being democracy. With a clear line drawn in the sand, the East fell to communism in what we know as the Buffer Zone. Though, what the real kicker was, was the fact that Stalin had initially promised to grant free elections in Eastern Europe while at the Yalta Conference, obviously this didn't happen. And with that, the trust and peace that was supposed to be established, was promptly destroyed and so began the rollercoaster known as the Cold War. The happenings of the Iron Curtain acted as a wakeup call for the West because they knew that if that if they didn't act fast, that more nations were going to fall victim to the fast spreading threat of communism. So naturally, President Truman of the United States established the Truman Doctrine, whose main principle was to give support to any country or people threatened by the Soviet Forces or communist takeover. This idea was first expressed by Truman in a speech to Congress stressing the aid of Turkey and Greece. The idea was furthered when nuclear missile silos were placed in both Turkey and Greece, along with this the US provided aid financially with four hundred million dollars given. The US's support in the aiding Turkey and Greece displayed it's strict policy of containment of communism. On the other hand of the spectrum, the Soviets took the Truman Doctrine as an open declaration of the Cold War. Another example of the US and it's efforts to contain communism was the Marshall Plan. In a very similar fashion to that of the Truman Doctrine, the US granted a large sum of financial aid, twelve million dollars to be exact, to Eastern European countries following the miles of destruction that followed the events of World War II in order to help support in the rebuilding. As a result of the US's aid in Eastern Europe's recovery, they become democratic. Along with just being a prime example of containment, this also shows that the US has done it's fair share of research. The US learned not to repeat history and more importantly, it's mistakes, considering the fact that giving Germany the cold shoulder as well as reparation fees after World War I turned out to be a big mistake on the US's side, ultimately fueling fascism in Germany.

One major "weapon" used by both sides was the alliance system. The democratic side sported the US, Canada, Great Britain and many other nations in the NATO alliance which was established in 1948. Much like alliances of past wars, all parties agreed that an armed attack against one or more of them is considered an attack on all of them and any actions will be taken to maintain security. On the other hand, the Soviet's alliance, the Warsaw Pact, was formed at a much later date in 1955, consisting of Poland, the Soviet Union, Romania and a plenty amount of other nations. The satellites provided a buffer for the Soviet Union because the satellites themselves expanded the territory of the Soviet Union, providing the homeland with more protection. Finally, the biggest weapon of the Cold War and what was arguably the number one fearmonger amongst the people of both sides, nuclear arms. The arms race of the Cold War was, as the name states, a race between to two superpowers to develop and build as many weapons as humanly possible with many of these weapons being nuclear warheads and missiles. This buildup between the two powers led to a "balance of terror", which was considered a deterrent to war. But others knew of the potential of these weapons and feared total annihilation. In the end, despite many spikes in tension, the Cold War came to a relatively peaceful conclusion. With many of the satellites being freed and the USSR dissolving into nothing. Though, these examples of "weapons" both physical and philosophical displays how this war had an effect on people and brought together a country's best efforts to preserve their views and government, as well as oppose anyone or anything who is a threat to it....