FREE ESSAY ON THE COLD WAR BEGINNINGS

THE COLD WAR BEGINNINGS

Although the Soviet Union and the United States had been allies in World War II,
disagreements over the organization of the postwar world led the two countries to compete
militarily and politically through the next several decades. In the 1950s this
competition was particularly intense, resulting in the Cold War and in regional proxy
wars. The U.S. perceived Soviet support for the spread of communism as a strong threat,
and American foreign policy attempted to contain and thwart communism around the world.
U.S. foreign policy during the 1950s was shaped largely in response to perceived threats
from the Soviet Union; U.S. participation in the Korean War and American response to the
launch of Sputnik illustrate the Soviet influence on U.S. foreign policy.
The Korean War was the result of the division of Korea into communist North and
capitalist South. When the North invaded the South, the US saw it as a bold communist
effort at expansion. Compounding the United State's fears, the attack was endorsed by the
USSR, and partially lead by Red China. The US feared that communism would spread
throughout South East Asia should the communist forces takeover the whole of Korea. This
would thus allow them to be able to strike any where in Asia or the Pacific. In response,
the US sent her own forces in to oppose those of the North Korean communists, and later
the Chinese forces. In effect, the Korean War was a proxy war between the main communist
and capitalist forces. The Korean War helped further shape the US policy of containment
towards the Soviet Union and other communist forces. This is evident in General
MacArthur's pleas to President Truman to expand the war into mainland China, which Truman
denied and subsequently led to MacArthur's dismissal. Thus the US participation in the
Korean War showed the United State's policy of containment towards the Soviet Union,
which was in turn used in regard to other communist nations as well.
The impact of the Sputnik launches by the Soviet Union further shows their influence on
US foreign policy. In addition to initiating the space race between the United States and
the Soviet Union, the Sputnik series of spacecraft also had alarming military
implications. The intercontinental ballistic missiles that were used to launch the
Sputnik satellites were also capable of traveling from the Soviet Union to military
targets in less than an hour—much less than the several hours required for
conventional bomber aircraft. President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the United States reacted
to the space race by signing the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which
created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Eisenhower also
established the Advanced Research Projects Agency, a division of the U.S. Department of
Defense. This caused a serious revision of the scientific and technological capabilities
in America, and caused President Eisenhower to issue new funding for improving upon
education in America in science and engineering. The quick Soviet lead in the space race
did cause much panic, which shaped American policy both at home and abroad. Trying to
downplay the significance of the Sputnik launches, the government vainly attempted to
defame the Soviet feat. This new development in the Cold War caused the US to go further
into a new rivalry with Russia, the space race.