Essay on Cold War for Ss310 Kaplan - 729 Words

SS310-02 Unit 2 Assignment: Cold War July 19, 2011 The Cold War was a state of political, military, and economic tensions and hostilities between the Communist World, primarily the Soviet Union, and the Capitalist Western World, the United States and its allies. The Cold War lasted over 40 years because the beginning and ending of it leaves room for some debate. Some sources say it started in the mid to late 40’ after the Second World War while other historians date it back to 1917 with The Bolshevik Revolution and ending in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In that case the Cold War then lasted for over 70 years. The periods when tensions were at the most high were from the late 40s to the 70’s. The international†¦show more content†¦The US demanded that the Soviets begin nuclear disarmament in Cuba to which they initially refused. The US then did a military â€Å"quarantine† of Cuba to prevent the Soviets from delivering any more missiles to Cuba. The Soviets considered this an act of war and a nuclear war almost ensued until both sides finally came to terms. The Soviets agreed to remove their nuclear missiles from Cuba while the United States agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey. This was undoubtedly the closest time during the Cold War when the US and the Soviet Union almost came into direct military conflict through nuclear war. I believe the only real threat to American families during the Cold War was the ideological stress and pressure that came with not being associated in any way with communism. The times and people then were a lot more conservative and not as liberated were there thinking as they are now. In 2011, if I was accused of being a communist or communist sympathizer it would be met with little to no ramifications. During the Cold War, the same accusation could be met with social ostracization and career damning effects. I honestly wouldn’t do anything more as far as protecting my family. I live in the Midwest so I don’t really fear a nuclear threat. Worst case scenario if a nuclear war of some sort began I’m sure Central Iowa wouldn’t exactly be a hot spot to