The Effects of the Cold War on the Americas - 2241 Words

The Effects of the Cold War on the Americas For nearly fifty years, the world lived in fear as two super-power nations quietly battled for power, respect and popularity of their respective political views. The Cold War arose out of the ashes of the failed alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union in World War II. Many different factors could be linked to the actual cause of the Cold War, however many agree that the political future of Eastern Europe was the major spark that ignited the battle between Communist Russia and Capitalist America1. The American fear of the spread of communism and their ambition to penetrate the Iron Curtain only added fuel to the fire that had been burning for some time already. Although the†¦show more content†¦However, that is not to say that they were the only region of the Americas that was affected. It is important to note that the Cold War was not necessarily a war against the Soviets, but rather a war against Communism, and any nation who supported it, and the United States was driven to put an end to the spread of it, no matter what part of the world in which it existed. The central focus, outside of Russia, for the US was Cuba and Fidel Castro - the Anti-American, Pro-Soviet leader of the revolutionist country. Castro, although not originally a communist, had plans of revolution that the US felt would undermine U.S. interests throughout Latin America, thus President Eisenhower planned to overthrow Castro via a CIA-led invasion12. As Castro learned of this, he established diplomatic relations with the Soviets, and signed and economic aid agreement with the Soviet Union and arms agreements with various East European countries, thus becoming the chief military and economic backer of the Soviet Bloc13. This was the groundwork for what would be the biggest threat to our world up to that point in history Ââ€" the realistic threat of an all out nuclear war that was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In order to offset Americas nuclear upper hand and to deter a U.S. invasion of Cuba Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev deployedShow MoreRelatedThe Cold War and Its Effect on The History of America Essay1706 Words   |  7 Pages The Cold War was the ideological conflict between the two superpowers of the world, the democratic United States of America and the communist Soviet Union. For over fifty years the two superpowers fought each other indirectly for power and control of the world. The Cold War started after the end of the Second World War in 1945 when the eyes of both superpowers were no longer looking at Nazi Germany, but instead at each other and the fate of the rest of the world. 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