Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Cold War

The Cold War began immediately after WWII, was fought between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.), and was an idelogical battle between Communism and Democracy. The war was "fought" without any traditional battles, hence the term cold war. The fear of nuclear devastation directed the cold war, and many of the "battles" were symbolic, such as the race to the moon. It lasted until 1991, when the Soviet Union fell.

Here are your prompts:

Please list some of the key events of the Cold War? Briefly explain their significance.

Pick one of those events and describe how it is related to the world you live in now.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Cold War introduced America to a revatively new kind of warfare, Psychological Warfare. From the 1960's race for the moon through the fall of the Berlin Wall in the mid 1980's, Americans and Russians alike were bombarded with propeganda from their respective governments. Each claiming that if the other should get the upper hand, the world would end. The threat of "The Big Red Button" was rampant in propeganda of the day. Some major events that hepled perpetuate this were the Cuban Missle Crisis and The police actions in Korea and Vietnam.

Anonymous said...

Here are some of key events of the Cold War; you got the space race with the soviets, having a human walking on the surface of the moon and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

The Cuban missile crisis, countries these don’t do stupid things like unless they permission from other countries to do so. Plus countries fear nuclear because we has human beans have experienced what it can do and how much damage it can do and the aftermath of the fallout still in the air.

Anonymous said...

The Cold War was fueled by the hatred left over from World War II. Although the level of tension was extremely high, no missiles were fired. Civilians were hysterically frightened that communists had invaded their country. This lead to government officials exploiting this fear to gain more power.


An event that helped change America become what it is today was the race to the moon. The Soviets and Americans used space travel as a way to show off their technology (look how effeciently we can launch our missiles...err satelites!). If the events of the space race did not occur, America may have never attempted to land on the moon; an event that shows anything is possible with the right attitude.

Jessica said...

Some of the key events of the Cold War was the Space Race. Whch was a major component in the Cold War. The space race is related to the world today by its goes back to WW2.If WW2 and the Space Race hadn't happend the Cold War would have happend.

Cory Plough said...

@ Steven- Great answer. Answer to first prompt was right on the money.

Anonymous said...

A few big events that happened during the could war were The Marshall Plan, which was introduced in june of '47, and gave Europe a total of $13 billion, and the first testing of a nuclear bomb from the USSR in 1947.

One thing that effects me today is the testing of the atom bomb. There is and always will be a threat of nuclear attack because the technology exists.

Kyle said...

There were a lot of "battles/races" during the cold war. There was the race to the moon, the arms race, and many other. But lets go into depth with the arms race that occured.

Since the U.S.S.R fell in 1990, there were a lot of arms dealers going to The Ukrain because now Russia didn't have controll of them anymore. So lots of guns went "unamonted for".

Cory Plough said...

MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER BOTH PROMPTS

Anonymous said...

Some of the key events of the Cold War were the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US/Soviet race for the moon and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I think the fear of nuclear devastation still relates to the world we live in now and probably always will.

Anonymous said...

some key events in the cold war:
1.On February 3, 1945 Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt all met at Yalta in Russia to discuss the fate of Europe, Germany, and what peace meant to them and their countries. As expected, the conferences produced compromises. Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to temporarily divide Germany, one of Stalin's goals. In return, Stalin agreed to help in the Pacific against Japan and to attend an international meeting in San Francisco, which Roosevelt hoped, would be the start of a UN.

2.On October 14th, 1962 an American spy plane passing over Cuba discovered the 42 missile sites set up by Khrushchev. He built these missiles because he felt the US would react the same way to his expansion into Cuba as they did to the Bay of Pigs.

3.After WWII, the US, Britain, and France united their zones of occupation in Berlin to form West Berlin. Berlin, however, was deep within East Germany, which was Soviet territory. In an attempt to take over all of Berlin, Stalin closed all the entrances to West Berlin by train or car. This effectively blockaded Berlin. Stalin's goal was to starve the West Berliners into submission.


The Berlin Blockade is related to the world I live in today because like Stalin trying to starve the people into submission, my dad had grounded me to my room for 3 months, and he thinks he’s going to gain something out of it.

Anonymous said...

The Cold War was an entirely new kind of war that lasted almost thirty years. But instead of physical warfare, the battles were decided over the achievements of Democratic America and the communist state of the U.S.S.R. The main reason for it being a mostly weaponless war was the advent of the nuclear bomb. Because of the bomb there was fear, and because of the fear there wasn't any actual war.

Unfortunately, what's left over from the Cold war is the continued fear of the nuclear bomb. We send multitudes of troops into foreign lands to (among other reasons) neutralize the threat of nuclear power in the wrong hands. So although we're not fighting the same enemy, we're still fighting the same war, in a way.

Anonymous said...

The Cold War was a period of tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, running for about 40 years. One of the most memorable events from the Cold War was the "space race", a competition between the U.S. and Soviet Russia to see who could get to the moon and explore space before the other. Another was the building militaries of both sides and the nuclear arm race, which left most in fear of a nuclear war.

The exploration of space is now more common and advance in the modern world, where back in the times of the cold war, it was just beginning to flourish.

Anonymous said...

The cold war was a new and totally different type of war..to everyone. some of the main events in the 1960s were the space race with the soviets, having a human walking on the surface of the moon and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. I beleive that the fear of nuclear devastation still relates to the world we live in today and probably always will.

Anonymous said...

Good for people to know.

Anonymous said...

The Cold War was a long lasting conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. Also including other countries such as Britain, China and France. The war introduced the rise of technology. The development of weapons and the space race were two key events that took place.

Space technology played a big part in the long lasting conflict. The space race was about space exploration and the race between the Soviet Union and the United States. The main objective of it all was to send someone to the moon. This resulted in the launching of the Russian satelite, Sputnik and the Germans began experimenting with rockets in the 20's. So the discovery in science technology played a big part in the war.

Anonymous said...

Key events during the Cold War varied greatly. They included the Vietnam War, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Space Race.

The Cuban Missile Crisis links very closely to an event happening in present time. Recently, North Korea has had a desire to test missiles. The U.S. does not want this though, as the range of the missiles would allow them to strike Alaska. Even so, there are slight differences in these events. The Cuban Missile Crisis consisted of the Cubans aiming missiles at the U.S due to fear of an invasion. The country of North Korea states they only want to test missiles, but it could be a lie.

Anonymous said...

Some key events of the cold war was the fall of the Berlin Wall, the space race between the U.S. and the Soviets, the testing of nuclear bombs, and the Cuban missile crisis.

Well, I think one of these events that affects the world that we live in greatly would be the space race. This race of technology, of who could make it into space first and then who could go further, is what gave us the technology that we could branch of off to get the things we have today. It also made the creation of NASA possible, which gives us our eyes into the infinite space. So, I believe the space race has given us a lot of things in the present.

Cory Plough said...

@Devin- you made a great connection between the Cold War and modern times.

"The Cuban Missile Crisis links very closely to an event happening in present time. Recently, North Korea "

Anonymous said...

1. - The nuclear confrontation during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
- President Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
- Stopping the communists in Korea and Vietnam.

2. Kennedy's assassination made a change in our world today because many people liked the way he ruled the country, and took charge. However, because of the choices he made during his presidency, it changed our country just slight.

Cory Plough said...

@Brianna-

How did Kennedy's assassination effect the world you live in today?

Anonymous said...

The biggest compact that the Cold War had in this world was a demolishment of the berlin wall in the late 1980's. There was much tension between Soviet union and the u.s, if we came to WW3 this would have affected me in the world i'm living in today by not having countries threatning to launch missles at each other and having to re- create the duck and cover drill. Schools now days would would have to take precautions against a nuclear attack. I'm glad the berlin wall came down because there a little bit more peace in this world.

Anonymous said...

The fall of the Berlin wall, Senator Lyndon B. Johnson refined the importance of space technology by stating who ever controls space will control the world, between 1957 and 1965 the soviets publicized achievements by sending the first man and woman into space. In 1968 NSA received CIA reports of gigantic Russian rocked they believed to part of the soviet union program. US Army Red Stone’s first missile development.

An event that relates to the world now is missile launching . When the US Army Red stone
first starting building their missiles there were a lot of flaws in them lots of people were dying and there were tons of other problems as well but they were trying to stay secretive. However they kept trying to build new missiles and come up with new ways of designing them and finally it started to turn around. Now today with all this advanced space technology when they launch their missiles usually there isn’t any problems but every now and then I do see flaws when they talk about on the news. I do think though they have come along away since the first ideal development of the missile.

Cory Plough said...

@Jeremy - Great point about the missiles and good job tying the Cold War to now.

@Dalena- You are right, the fall of the Berlin Wall has definitely effected our sense of peace and reduced our fear of Nuclear attacks. Please address additional key events to give a more comprehensive overview of the time period.

Anonymous said...

The cold war did teach many people had changed the life to America. Isnt it after the WWI and WWII.My grandpa knew someone that was in the cold war.

Anonymous said...

Some key events of the Cold War. The fall of the Berlin wall,race to the moon, Cuban missile crisis, ect. The Cold War was a different type of war. The fase lasted many years.

The missiles are still dangers in todays world. There are still testing them and now are very powerful. Good thing there not lanching them today but if they did it would be unforgetable.

Anonymous said...

Winning the space race by landing a man on the moon in 1969.
The Cuban Missile Crisis of '62.
The Korean War 1950-1953.
The Vietnam War 1961-1975.
Assassinations through out the 1960's.

The most important one is the one when we landed on the moon. if that hd not happened we probably wouldnot have been able to inprove the tech to go farther in space to see what else is out there.


casey h.

Anonymous said...

Some Key events in the Cold War was Landing On the Moon first,and The Fall of the Berlin Wall. Landing on the moon first, was a huge win for America. If the U.S.S.R would had won, America probably would not have discovordy the technology to find out what was beyond the moon, the planets and the stars. Also, all the propaganda commericals and cartoons about ducking if a bomb were to occur had America scared, but there was no such thing that had happend.

Anonymous said...

The Cold War to me seemed like after-math tension left from the second world war. Fearing communism so much that they decide to go to war, and yet no missiles were fired. I think the only reason why their was a cold war was because of the fear of the atom bomb,communism, and for some a personal gain of power.

Lets see, isn't there somebody right now who is trying to bring communism into our nation? Trying to just slip it under the door stimulus package by package.

Anonymous said...

Main event of the cold war would be, Obviously the space race which a unspoken competion between the U.S and the Soviet union. To see who could make the furthest advances into space first.

I believe this affects the world i live in the most because the space race lead to the first men to walk on the face of the moon.

Dominique Romans

Cory Plough said...

HELLO CLASS.

Make sure you discuss multiple events from the Cold War when answering the first prompt.

Also, you may have dig deep to figure out the Cold War connection to your life but you will be able to do it. If you are stuck, do some extra research.

Matthew Q. said...

There were a lot of key events during the Cold War. Like the Space Race, Arms Race, and the break up of the Soviet Union.

The one that I think affected the United States the most was the Space Race. It was a great achievement for the United States to get. I really think it helped our advancement in our outer space technologies.

Anonymous said...

There are a couple of things the Cold War introduced. The first is having a war involving all talk and almost no action. This war was a mind game a psychological warfare I would say. So this is one of the things that made this war different from the other wars that had already happened. The other is who would get to the moon first? Both the American and the Russina goverment believed who ever went to the moon first the war would be over. Well the Americans made it first and after that the war was basically over. However there is still some controversy today if we ever really did make it to the moon or just acted it out on TV.

amanda v said...

Some of the key elements were that there was alot of anger between the US and the Soviet Union.
The space race and the competition between the two in technology was a constant.
There was a lot of spending at the time trying to gain power and knowledge of the nuclear bomb.

Today we also see alot of spending on the war in Iraq to make sure that the bomb does not get into the wrong hands.

Anonymous said...

in the cold war eveyone was afraid of each other cuz they thought the other had bigger bombs so they were afraid to attack and being attacked.

in the war we are in today we are afraid of what weapons we do not know they have and how they will affect the U.S.

caseyh

Chelsey Sanderock said...

I agree with Charles B. He is right about some of the key events of the Cold War but there are more. For example the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 that lead to the Atomic Age and the Atomic age lead to the Cold War and Neil Armstrong landing on the moon.


An event that is related to the world I live in now is when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. This event is related to the world that I live in now because Neil Armstrong had a positive attitude when he was landing on the moon and he showed everything that if you have the right state of mind then you can achieve anything.

Anonymous said...

Well their were a lot of thing that lead up to the cold war (with techanlly was never a actuall fight) but had a lot of arugiments and threats. it was because cuba wanted to arm them self. so one key event is the arming of cuba. the next ivent is the building of missels in cube. then the crissis with "duck and cover" and all the blockaids, and the disarments and the truse.

i believe one of the main events is the use to build superpower of a country. I usesd this example because i think this relates to today the best with all the consenet building of nuclar weapons and everydays growing super powers.

- Carlos Cardenas