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United States History
During World War II, USSR joined forces with USA with one common purpose in mind, to defeat Hitler and liberate Europe. Stalin had made an agreement with Hitler at the onset of World War II but after Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 this agreement was quickly forgotten. USSR thus entered into a military coalition with the Allies in order to achieve success over Nazi Germany which it viewed as its greatest threat. However, soon after the end of World War II as discussed by Berkin, Miller, & Cherry, the previous hostilities that had existed between the East and the West reemerged (792). This was the beginning of a new war between the East and the West, or more specifically between USSR and USA, the Cold War.
Soon after World War I the Soviet Union had made plans to replace capitalism with communism in the West as well as in the world. It had intended for a new world order based on its own political agendas. Thus as World War II was coming to an end the Soviet Union took this opportunity to make fresh demands in its European stronghold, Eastern Europe. It cited “defensible” borders and “friendly” regimes which it equated with the spread of communism (Berkin et al 793). The United States had no intention for allowing this to happen since it had already declared that it was aiming, post-war, to restore self-governance and independence to several countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It was USA’s intention to not only promote in these countries it’s belief in equality, liberty and democracy but also to encourage open trade between America and Europe, for two reasons: one, to create markets for it’s own industrial and agricultural products, and two, to ensure that Western European nations would be able to freely export their products therefore contributing to the rebuilding of their economies. Thus the United States was aiming to provide the stability needed for peaceful reconstruction as well as to promote economic development both in America and Europe. USSR had other plans. In both World War I and II the Soviet Union had been invaded via Western Europe and some of the Western European nations had also participated in these invasions. To protect itself from further such invasions it was dedicated to install “friendly”, that is, communist regimes in those Eastern European countries which it had liberated and thus was in a position to influence the form of post-war governments these countries would establish. Thus USA’s declaration on war on communism was the primary issue that led to conflict between USA and USSR after World War II.
In the United Sates’ view, these intentions of Stalin’s USSR were an indication that it could, and probably would, invade the rest of Europe, which it did, by invading Poland and Yugoslavia. Thus in a bid to prevent the Soviet Union’s conquest of all of Europe, USA started off an arms race that would eventually lead to the production of the world’s most destructive weapon ever by America, the atomic bomb in 1945 (Berkin 795). It has been argued that the United States dropped the bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki not to defeat Japan but actually to threaten the Soviet Union, thus resulting in fear and insecurity in USSR and prompting Stalin to put in countermeasures to protect his territory. The arms race during the Cold War led to the firm establishment of the iron curtain with the production and use by both sides of nuclear missiles and nuclear bombs among other nuclear weapons. The arms race and establishment of the iron curtain led to further division between USA and USSR (Berkin 796).
The arms race soon developed into a space race. USSR launched the first ever satellite to orbit the earth from outer space, Sputnik I, using a missile in 1957. In the same year the Soviet Union launched its second satellite, Sputnik II, with the first living creature to go into outer space, a dog named Laika, Not to be outdone USA rushed to launch its own satellites. In 1958 it launched Explorer I, its first satellite. Soon after this, the Soviet Union launched Vostok I with the first human being ever to orbit space. Yuri Gagarin completed one orbit aboard the satellite. USSR followed this up in 1963 with Valentina Tereshkova becoming the first woman ever in outer space. The United States finally achieved victory with its Apollo II mission in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first ever human being to step on the surface of the moon. The space race was thus not only a chance for both countries to show off their technological and intellectual supremacy but was also responsible for the rift that continued to grow between the world’s two superpowers.
Work cited
Berkin, Carol., Miller, Christopher., & Cherry, Robert. Making American: A History of the United States since 1865, Volume II. Florence: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
