Looking at the Cold War is difficult to do even when we are in class. One of the projects that we typically do is to look at a multitude of events that fall into the ideological conflict that takes place between the forces of those who want a capitalist economy (and say that democracy is important) and those that want a command economy (and communist ideas but really dictatorships). Before we get to this events we should get a brief look at what the Cold War is.
Lets start with A Cold War Analogy
Then move on to some overviews by John Green and the folks at Over Simplified.
Over Simplified History of the Cold War part 1
Over Simplified History of the Cold War part 2
After watching an overview of the Cold War (and assuming that you have done your homework), answer the following question:
What were people on both sides of the ideological spectrum (capitalism/democracy ..... to ...... command/communism) afraid of? How did that fear make them do things that were unsafe?
Post responses below in the comments.
They were afraid of first hand fighting because they didn't think they could win hand to hand so they turned to indirect fighting. They didn't want to loose what they had built and made for themselves so they would do whatever they had to.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S is afraid of communism spreading all over the world that it will take over the whole world while the USSR is afraid of their country going down hill so to stop that they make allies that have the same type of government.
ReplyDeleteThey both were afraid that the other was out to get then because of things they have done in the past. They both wanted the most power which made conflict between them. This ultimately resulted in them both using dangerous weapon such as nuclear ones in effort to try and keep their empires staple and big. As well as be better than the other.
ReplyDeleteThe Americans were afraid that the USSR wanted to ruin democratic and capitalist institutions. The Soviets were afraid that the U.S wanted to use its money and also their power to control Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S were afraid that communism would keep expanding because communism could take everything form them and around the world. They also feared that USSR wanted to destroy democratic and capitalist institutions. The USSR feared that US wanted to use its money and power to dominate Europe and destroy the Soviet system. Both sides ended up building the most dangerous weapons such as the atomic bombs and other nuclear weapons that could destroy the whole land. This was to in order to keep their empires more strong for them to win.
ReplyDeleteThey both were afraid of one another and their intentions. They both resulted in nuclear weapons to keep their homelands structured and stable but at the cost of greater things.
ReplyDeleteThe US was afraid of communist expansion and that this would cause people not to buy their industrial goods. They wanted containment and this fear brought the arms race into play. This fear also created people to think that communism had snuck into their own government and created the Red Scare. The Soviets saw America's rebuilding efforts, in Europe and Japan, as the US wanting to use their power to dominate Europe and destroy the communism. This brought them fear of being destroyed. All this fear on both sides created people to think they needed Nuclear weapons. These weapons were so powerful that they could create massive destruction.
ReplyDeleteI think both of the nations were scared of one nation having more power than the other. That fear pushed them into almost having Nuclear wars multiply times and citizens in each nation trying to survive with the low economy spending ( Mostly in Russia .3.)
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid of communism expanding and taking everything away. They also didn't want the USSR to destroy democratic institutions as well as capitalist institutions. They all were in fear and that is where the dangerous nuclear weapons would come into play. They could destroy and kill tons of people.
ReplyDeleteThe United States was afraid of the USSR spreading Communism and therefore causing countries to not buy their manufactured goods. This fear led to the Red Scare and various other ways of imprinting the idea that Communism was bad and would only cause harm into the minds of U.S. citizens. The Soviet Union was afraid of the United States causing the failing of their Communist regime, and just their fail in general. These ideas led to both countries testing various dangerous weapons, each trying to outdo and intimidate the other.
ReplyDeleteCapitalists were scared of communism spreading, there were many differences between them as economic systems. The Red Scare made them fearful as well and caused chaos. The Capitalists saw Communism as a sign of the Soviets, therefore a threat to Americans. I think the Communists were scared of the capitalists because of their weapons. They were both scared of one nation having more power and that led them to using dangerous weapons to prove they had money and power.
ReplyDeleteThe Capitalists were afraid of Communism. These people were afraid of direct fighting or war and causing the spread of communism throughout America. These people didn't want to cause chaos and panic throughout their countries and to avoid such things they used very dangerous military weapons to show their dominance. Money and power was their main goal in showing their dominance and they were to do so by any means necessary.
ReplyDeleteAmericans were wary of Soviet communism and concerned that the tyrannical ruling would take control of the world. The Soviet Union sought to expand communism, while the U.S. sought to stop it. The fear that both sides of the war felt lead to advancement in technology, such as nuclear weapons and atomic bombs, in an effort to protect their ideals. The desperation threatened to result in mass destruction.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S feared that the USSR wanted to destroy all democracy/ capitalist institutions, which caused people to buy industrial goods. The fear rate was so high, it caused the Red Scare and other ways for citizens in the U.S, to go against the communist. The Soviets feared that that U.S wanted to use its money and power to dominate Europe, and eventually destroy the Soviet's system. This led to the creation of deadly weapons, that could wipe-out the human race, and showed the power/wealth each nation had.
ReplyDeleteThe capitalists were afraid of communism spreading. The USSR wanted to ruin democratic and capitalists institution. They were scared that the U.S. was going to use their money to get Europe.
ReplyDeleteThe past affected what they were afraid of. They were afraid of eachother and if they were out to get them. The were afraid of expanding the communist bc it might affect their trading of goods. Their rebuilding of products and things also brought fear of communist. They were afraid of being destroyed. Them being afraid, brought the want of nuclear weapons. And these weapons were no joke, they could destroy just about anything
ReplyDeleteThe US was nervous about the idea of world wide communism and they wanted to stop it. Both the USSR and the US had been working on modern technologies making the war much more catastrophic. They also didn’t want war to break out and in the end that would effect their trade system and the production process of their weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe people on both sides were scared of conflict between each other in my opinion, and that fear caused them to do unsafe things because they didn't want that to affect their economics and other problems retaining to their empire.
ReplyDeleteThe capitalists were afraid of communism spreading, and the communists were afraid of having a weak government. They both tried to get stronger until war broke out and lots of destruction was caused when it didn’t have to be caused.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy was afraid of the spread of communism. While, communism was afraid it was going to overthrown and caste away. This made both sides very scared, and when people are scared the only sensible thing they think they can do is go to war. Which is exactly what they did.
ReplyDeleteBoth were afraid of each other, capital didn't want communism to spread and communism doesn't want it's government system taken and replaced. This grew tension between, capital and communism. Both didn't want to start a war because of the new advanced weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe US was afraid if the communists expaned people would stop buying their industrial goods. They also thought communism was sneaking into their government. Their fear resulted in the creation of nuclear weapons. The Soviets realized Americans wanted to take over Europe and destroy communism. Their fear is also what lead to the involvement of nuclear weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe capitalists were afraid of communism spreading, and the communists were afraid that their government was going to weaken. Their fear made them attack others and war break out.
ReplyDeleteThe capitalist/democratic side of the spectrum was scared of the growth of communism which would cause a decrease in the sales of the U.S manufactured goods. The communists were scared of being taken over by the U.S and having communism be led to an end. This fear lead lots of Americans to believe that communism was a horrible thing which caused lots of chaos.
ReplyDeleteThe United States capitalists feared losing their freedom, that the Soviets wanted to destroy capitalism, as well as defectors to Communism were hiding among them. American citizens feared that they'd get blown up by the Communists as well. This fear in part gave the US another reason to bomb Japan, as an intimidation tactic. In turn, the US decided to stabilize Latin American governments. That plan backfired and led to masses of violence. America ended up sending troops into Vietnam to fight the Communist Vietcong. The Vietnamese were hiding in the jungle, so American soldiers often ended up catching civilians in the line of fire. During Reagan's presidency, he acted very toughly against Communism, and that stressed out the Soviets. America stocking up its nuclear arsenal put stress on the rest of the world when they lost bombs.
ReplyDeleteThe Communist Soviets feared that The US would use their wealth and power to dominate Europe and destroy the Soviet system. They didn't want to lose their sphere of influence, so they helped other countries fight against capitalism, rather than actually going to war. They helped North Korea during the Korean War, and Invaded Afghanistan. They also crushed Hungarian and Czech uprisings. The Soviets sent their own spies to the US, and immediately arrested American spies. The Soviets too lost some bombs; no one knows how many.
Both ideological sides, led by The US for capitalists and the Soviets for communists had their share of dangerous actions. They had a standoff at Checkpoint Charlie at the Berlin Wall that nearly started World War III. There were plenty of small proxy wars that lead to tons of human suffering. There was also the Euro Missile crisis, and the Soviet Afghan War.
The United States feared the spread of communism and the Soviets wanted to expand communism. This made many Americans grow concern that the Soviets' power would take over the world. This fear and need to come off as superior led to the United States' technological advance of deadly bombs and other weapons. This fear took over and made them do unsafe things to assert their dominance.
ReplyDeleteThey were so afraid of the other side hurting their country or their beliefs, they went through great length to make sure to hurt the other countries before they hurt them. This ended up in many people dying from both ends hurting both of the societies and economies.
ReplyDeleteTwo super powers are faced with a decade long war. The cold war lasted from 1947 to 1991, a war between the US and the USSR. The U.S. feared communism would spread all over the world. The USSR feared its power was threatened. This race between two top nations could have left the world in shambles from a catastrophic disaster.
ReplyDeleteThe cold war was a long declared war between two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. The war was declared post World War II in 1947 up until 1991. Both nations felt threatened by each other, causing conflict and a race to be better than the other nation. As they were a constant threat to each other they both went about it in different ways. While the USSR continued to take over multiple nations, pushing communism ideals, the US put in orders of containment. Containment is the prevention of other countries influence to spread around the world.
The US was afraid the USSR’s spread of communism would have a long-term effect on the United States. If the spread of communism did take place it could hurt the US economically. Preventing other nations to support trade, and the US could not sell their goods or receive other’s goods. An example of this is President Truman’s pledged to protect the middle east from the spread of communism and keep them free. This pledge allowed the US to maintain oil trade with the middle east.
The USSR feared their own power was constantly threatened. At the beginning of the war Russia felt Germany was still a threat because of how much of an impact the war made on the Soviet Union. They were also afraid the US would use their money to overtake Europe and spread capitalism. This would cause them to lose power and communism would decline.
The cold war put the world in danger. As technology advanced the more dangerous the war became. It would not just affect these two nations but other surrounding nations. The US and USSR fought in an arms race. The arms race was a competition between the two nations to see who could build a bomb to create the biggest nuclear explosion. Both nations threatened to use these bombs on each other. As these bombs became stronger an agreement was made, Mutually Assured Destruction, known as “MAD.” This doctrine had to be put in place because once nuclear bombs were used it was a threat to end all of humanity. William Faulkner described the war as one simple question that many have asked during this era, “When will I be blown up?”
To conclude, the cold war was a fierce war between two superpower nations. The US was afraid of the spread of communism. The USSR consistently felt threatened by other nations. Finally, the cold war put humanity in danger. This war was a fight to see who was the best.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C72ISMF_D0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79TpDe3t2g&t=319s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HjvHZfCUI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIYy32RuHao
Just to make sure you are clear, there was no declared war between the USA and the USSR (ever). That is why this is called a "cold" war.
DeleteThank you very much for the clarification. I misunderstood.
DeleteThe United States were afraid of the expansion of communism. The USSR were afraid that they would eventually loose power. They both wanted to make sure that they overall were the best nation but they didn't want to start a war.
ReplyDeleteThey were scared of someone getting more power then them because they were very power hungry. Also they didn't war because they felt the may not recover from it.
ReplyDeleteThe US was afraid of losing a strong free market oriented Europe and Asia, so we could continue to sell the products we were manufacturing in the US. The Soviets were concerned with a powerful Germany invading them again, so they used bordering countries to make a communist buffer between them and Germany. The US thought communism would continue to spread which was a threat to the US economy. Both countries were full of pride so they competed in arms races and astronomical achievements.
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid of the overruling expansion in communism. They were also afraid that it would get used against them.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviet Union was scared that America was going to use its power and financial resources to take over Europe and destroy the Soviet Communism. America was afraid of communism, and a possible uprising of it in their own country. Both countries were in constant fear of each other, and as a result both of them began to build nuclear weapons, which were unsafe and could destroy larges masses of land.
ReplyDeleteThey were both afraid of an atomic apocalypse. America was afraid of communism over spreading, and communists were afraid of democracy expanding. because of this, there was many threats that never actually went through. This is why it is called the cold war. There was a lot of tension and fear, but there was never a actual war. There was many close calls, and points that almost lead to war, but never did. Both sides were afraid that the other side would bomb them, and then a huge atomic outbreak would occur.
ReplyDeleteThe people in the nations were afraid of having their country took over by different styles of government/religions. So because of this, nations went to war with each other. If a nation was taken over by another government, then that other form of government would lose power and get a different national leader/president, which could have a dangerous risk for the people in that nation being taken over.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviet Association was terrified that America was going to utilize its capacity and budgetary assets to assume control over Europe and devastate the Soviet Socialism. America feared socialism, and a potential uprising of it in their own nation. The two nations were in steady dread of one another, and subsequently them two started to construct atomic weapons, which were dangerous and could decimate larges masses of land.
ReplyDeleteThe US feared the spread of communism, and the USSR feared losing power to a capitalist country. Both wanted to be on top, and both despised the other’s form of government. We can see the US’s fear of communism after WW1, when the First Red Scare occured. During that period fear of radical ideologies, including communism, was widespread, and it fueled the climate that surrounded the Cold War. It’s apparent in the way we shilled money and men into the opposition of communism that we were afraid of it’s spread, from the Berlin Airlift, to the Space Race, to the Vietnam war, where we fought tooth and nail to stop the spread of communism in Asia.
ReplyDeleteThe USSR feared losing its power, especially to a capitalist country. Part of the communist ideology is that their form of government is not only better but completely superior to the capitalist system, and that capitalism isn't an effective or fair form of government, and especially in a Stalinist USSR, keeping people believing in that is important. When people saw the prosperity of East Germany, the USSR knew it had to stop people from going there. When people saw America working on space technology, the USSR knew it had to do it faster and better. All because of the fear that their system of government would prove lesser to capitalism .
On both sides we see millions of dollars going into space travel, we thousands of men sent off to war, we see hundreds of weapons being stocked. The fear of proving to be the lesser form of government kept both countries to commit to more and more to stop the other. Bombs, wars, whatever it took.
The US was afraid of the spread of communism and the soviets were afraid of the collapse of their country and those fears caused them to construct nuclear weapons to protect the nation.
ReplyDeleteBoth were afraid that the other one was going to gain more power. This caused fear on both ends which resulted in war. The U.S was scared of communism while the USSR was scared of losing all their power.Both were wiling to do whatever is took to stay on top.
ReplyDeleteEach side feared something coming from the other side. The USA feared the spread of communism because they believed it was a bad form of government. The USSR, on the other hand, feared losing their status of power and strength. Both sides feared straight-on war, and therefore the cold war was born.
ReplyDeleteWell, the cold war started because of the soviet union wanting to spread communism. And America was scared of the spread of communism, so Truman made the Truman Doctrine. which just is him pledging to send money to any nation to resist communism and avoid the spread of it. Moreover the fear that Truman, and Lenin had about communism, and capitalism made them build deadly weapons, like bombs. And that is why in the cold war there was little to no direct fighting, both america nor soviets had declared war on one another.
ReplyDeleteI meant Truman and Stalin
DeleteFear of each other, the USSR didnt want to lose their mighty power and the US were scared of communism. Fearing of the outcomes, this birthed the cold war
ReplyDeleteThe U.S was afraid that communism would spread and they wanted to stop it completely, but both sides were working on new technology which would make the war way more chaotic then it already would’ve been. But they also didn’t want a war because it would effect their trade system.
ReplyDeleteThe united feared the spread of communism and thats what the soviets wanted do. And the government was afraid they were going to lose their power.
ReplyDeleteThe United States were afraid of communism spreading in the U.S. while it was being spread in Russia. The USSR were afraid of losing their status and "superiority." This caused both sides to do things that were dangerous and unsafe. Both were feared things from the other side.
ReplyDeleteUS was afraid of communists expanding people, because of this people stop buying their industrial goods. The rebuilding of products which brought more fear. Their fear had took over and made them do bad things.
ReplyDeleteThey both put so much at risk and I think it was under the impression of fear. So, I believe that they were both scared.
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid of each other. The progress, development and advancement of each other. They were in competition with each other each country was striving to become the superpower.
ReplyDeleteThey begin making unsafe decisions and producing weapons of mass destruction. Their fear caused them to make decision that costs a lot of peoples livelihoods, death and destruction when they decided to war against each other.
When soviets made their own atomic bomb they knew if cold war broke out between america and soviet union it would be dangerous. In october 1961 US tanks rolled up to the crossing point at charlie checkpoint, they both showed up to show off strength, they stayed for hours while other countries prepared for nuclear armageddon which was unsafe for other countries and could destroy the world.
Both of them feared they were out to get one another. They both wanted to make sure that power was theirs, so they built deadly weapons in order to protect themselves from fear getting to them and convincing themselves that they were being targeted.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. was afraid of Soviet/ communist domination. They thought the way communist people lived was poor and that communist would be bad for their economy as well. They would use their powers that they had in Europe and else where to prevent that from happening. The Soviets wanted communist domination and didn’t want the U.S. to get in their way but neither governments or economies wanted to take the risk of new tech weapons attacking them. So they created mini battles in other countries that they supported and ended up effecting other people.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S was scared of communism and the USSR was scared to loose power and control causing conflict that lead to the Cold War
ReplyDeleteThe U.S was afraid of having democracy taken over by communism and the USSR was afraid of fighting the U.S because they didn't have the numbers to fight back so in they tried making laws or deals with the U.S to avoid that happening.
ReplyDeleteThe US was afraid of communism taking over and the USSR was afraid that they couldn’t match or beat their opponent. They knew that they had strong opponents with strong ideals behind them and they feared their ideology. No body wanted to be taken over because of their strong mindsets or because they had a better system or army behind them. They started to make desperate decisions to keep their own minds clear and to scare away the idea that they themselves could be overthrown by someone else.
ReplyDeleteThe US was afraid of communism. They were democratic and wanted the people to have a say as well. The US didn't want the ideas of communism to spread. USSR thought the complete opposite. They had a dictator as well as a communist party. They USSR wanted reparations from Germany to keep power.
ReplyDeleteAmerica was afraid of the spread of communism but the USSR thought differently. The USSR didn't want to be over powered
ReplyDeleteThe US greatly feared the spread of communism, which at the time threatened to spread to America and ruin our country's economy and customs. The Soviets during this era felt threatened by America's military power. Foreign policies had been casted by the US to keep communist expansion at a minimum, but with this came the risk of putting the US on the wrong side of conflict. Both countries also competed against each other to assert their dominance, which at a point nearly pushed the two countries to nuclear war.
ReplyDeleteThe United States was afraid of communism spreading, the USSR was all for communism. They feared of having a failed government
ReplyDeleteThe US feared communism spreading across the world, and Russia was afraid of capitalism effecting the rest of the world. The US feared communism because they were scared it would effect the economy, but Russia wanted to spread, as well as advance their military power so it can equal or be greater than the US.
ReplyDeleteThe US wanted to stop the spread of communism and they were afraid it would take over their democracy. The US and USSR both increased their technology but US had an advantage and they had more missiles than the USSR.
ReplyDeleteCapitalists were afraid of Communism, the citizens were afraid of direct fighting or war and causing the spread of communism throughout America. The only way to make a point was having better technology and money, money and power was superior.
ReplyDeleteThe United States was scared of communism spreading and taking over the world. The USSR was afraid of a weak government, and thus began aiming to be the world superpower.
ReplyDeleteThey both were afraid of being overpowered as a whole. Both wanted their sides to be superior and wanted the upper hand. But someone was going to have to hold more power eventually. And that's what caused the most fear. Being weak and useless.
ReplyDeleteThe United States were afraid of communist spread and the Soviets were afraid of capitalist spread. The Soviets wanted their military power to be as good or better than the US.
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid of each other which made them want to make nuclear weapons to protect themselves.
ReplyDeleteCapitalists were in fear of communism spreading and taking over because they would have more power over capitalists. The USSR is in fear of being defeated by the US. They don't want the US to use its wealth to control Europe and dominate them.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot on democracy and commuism. People uses differnt ways to slove things that aren't right. I think the government is pretty dangerous because they can do whatever they please and that what makes it dangerous.
ReplyDeletethey were were afraid of the democracy
ReplyDeleteThe United States feared communism was expanding and the Soviets decided to broaden communism. This left many Americans increasingly worried that the influence of the Soviets would conquer the world. The terror and desire to appear as superior has contributed to the technical development of lethal bombs and other weapons by the United States. This paranoia has taken over, making them do dangerous things to claim their superiority.
ReplyDeleteEveryone was scared that one person was going to rise to the occasion and take over the world
ReplyDeleteBoth sides were afraid that the other would destroy what they had built for themselves so they fought eachother to keep what they had standing with no risk
ReplyDeleteThey both wanted the most power which made conflict between them. The US didn't want the ideas of communism to spread.The Soviets wanted communist domination and didn’t want the U.S. to get in their way.
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid the spread and communism and the both wanted power which created conflict between the two
ReplyDeleteBoth sides were afraid of nuclear war and destroying the war because of the resude and damage that it will cause. The soviet union also didn't want the U.S with their money getting in the way of the spread of communism so but no noticing their people are in economic failure. The United also didn't want the spread of communism so they tried to use money and a better economic vision to persuade the fall of it.
ReplyDeleteThey were afraid of Communist expansion and they had conflict because they both wanted all the power
ReplyDeleteDemocracy and Communism were and sometimes still are scared that one of the sides will get to influence the entire world and the other will lose. I think they are both scared of losing power or losing what seems to be a big competition at who gets to rule the world. They are also afraid that which ever side wins will tarnish the world with their power.
ReplyDeleteThey were both afraid one another would gain more power which caused one another to react by trying to take each other down which caused lots of conflict
ReplyDeleteThe Democratic countries preferred their market economic system, the freedom of speech, free elections, and the ability to vote for different political parties. They feared that the communist would take their system of government away. The communist leaders would grow in terror of their own citizens preferring a democratic system more than a communist system. Communist made several threats to the democratic countries then became concerned that their threats would intimate democratic countries to start an attack. With all of the anxiety and worry Communist then kicked off the first attack on Democratic countries.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides were afraid of their enemies' government spreading across the world. This led both sides to make rash decisions, such as creating large, untested weapons to showcase their power.
ReplyDeleteBoth sides were afraid of each other spreading their form of government across the nation. In turn, it caused them to increase military power.
ReplyDeletePeople on both sides were afraid of each other. The capital didn't want communism to spreading while communism didn't want their government system to be abolished and replaced. Because of this fear, tension grew between the capital and communism. Leading both sides to increase their military weaponry.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to delete this one and it won't let me.
DeletePeople on both sides were afraid of each other. The capital didn't want communism to spreading while the communist didn't want their government system to be abolished and replaced. Because of this fear, tension grew between the capital and communist. Leading both sides to increase their military weaponry.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy was afraid of the spread of communism.communism was afraid it was going to be overthrown. This made both sides very scared, and when people are scared the only think of fighting and violence, and for them going into war was just that.
ReplyDeleteCapitalists were afraid of communism and losing influence among democratic countries. Communists were afraid of being overthrown after lots of unrest. There was a lot of tension, and they both didn’t want a war but they expected one, so the tension continued to grow especially as they built nuclear technology.
ReplyDelete