A Bi-Polar World
The American Position
- Americans come out of WWII even richer than before
- Own 20 billion in gold reserves of a World total of 33 bil.
- Largest, Navy, airforce and monopoly on nuclear weapons
- Largest trading and industry in the world
- Influence in Asia and Europe
- 1919 exaggerated
The Russian Position
- Largest army in the world
- Production not at pre war levels
- Stalin looked inward again and put effort toward Communism at home
- Began to influence over satellite states in Eastern Europe
- Many POWs kept on working in Russia
- Show Trials returned
- Very opposite in the united states- believe in different things
Causes of the Cold War
- War of ideologies
- Communism vs. Democracy (capitalism) (east vs.west)
- Causes:
- Nationalism - both USA and USSR take actions throughout Cold War to protect their interests
- Imperalism- Many imperalist nations are gone, USA and USSR take over this role worldwide
Fears and Concerns in the Cold war Era
- The Domino Theory- a metaphor that the USA used to describe the fear of allowing countries to go Communist and then their neighbours would follow course ( eg. Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe)
- Satellite States and the Iron Curtain- Many Easter European states (that Russia had occupied) became puppet communist governments
USA response to Cold War Concerns
- The Department of Defence - includes all facets of military
- The National Security Council- advises President of matters concerning defence
- The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - espionage and intelligence collection
- FBI - Internal Agency
Summary
Americans came out of world war II richer than ever, and very opposite to the Russians. Americans very against communism and Russians tried to bring communism home. Domino theory was fear that all countries were to fall to communism