Events and Context
The Cuban Missile Crisis, in 1962, forced both the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union to realize the consequences of nuclear war. In 1962, Americans learned military construction was in progress in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade in order to stop the delivery of more missiles. The Soviet Union said it would remove its missiles if the US promised not to invade Cuba. In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to a treaty that would ban testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, The Test Ban Treaty. The government needed to be careful during this time period. It was their responsibility to not only protect itself from the threat of Cuba, but also to ensure their safety by not having to worry about nuclear weapons being tested in the atmosphere.
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Geographic features, political elements, and differing ideas are all major aspects of the Cold War and keeping the United States safe while preventing the spread of communism.
The distance of over 1,000 miles between the Soviet Union and the United States had its benefits, but also its downfalls. The fact that the two nations were this far apart made the threat of the nuclear arms race a reality. Both nations, despite the far distance away, were fully aware of what the other was capable of doing with over 3,000 nuclear weapons per side. The government had to flawlessly deal with a situation with so much at stake. They had the responsibility of keeping its people safe from nuclear war and knew that if either country used nuclear weapons, both countries would perish.
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Harry Truman had a responsibility of keep communism from expanding and maintaining peace during early Cold War. Harry Truman, 34th President of the United States, was in office during the Cold War. Through Guerrillas, the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and threatened to take over Greece in 1947. Truman asked Congress to aid both countries, naming the program-the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, which was, the American initiative to aid Europe, made great economic recovery in war-torn Western Europe. Truman was doing what he could to protect, not only the United States, but also other nations like Turkey and Greece. He did not want the Soviet Union to take over Greece in fear of the communistic government expanding. He had a responsibility of helping other countries refrain from becoming like the Soviet Union while also trying to protect them from potential threats coming from the Soviet Union.
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The reason for the Cold War was the two superpowers, The United States and The Soviet Union, opposing ideas on an ideal nation. The Soviet Union sought to have a world-wide revolution ultimately ending in a Communist utopia, while the United States believed in private enterprise and democracy. The Cold War was started from long lasting disagreements between the two nations and was fueled by opposing views on how each thought a country should be run. The government needed to stay calm in this situation despite how much they disagreed with the idea of a communistic government.
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