The Cold War began in 1947 right after World War II. Although USA and USSR were friendly allies during World War II, there were some differences in government between the countries that stirred up some serious trouble. The Soviets believed in communism as their form of government and U.S. believed Democracy was best for all. Communism was threatening to spread to America and that scared many Americans out of their whits! In order to maintain the peace within the country, USA chose Containment as their foreign policy but Americans didn't believe that was enough. Many thought that Communism would have a domino affect, if one country was under their rule others would follow. In order to prevent this from happening, the U.S. did everything they could to support the anti-communistic nations around the world. During the Civil War in China, United States supported nationalists. The U.S did everything they could to help nationalists like sending military supplies but we weren't prepared to actually fight. Right after the Chinese Civil War, the Korean war broke out and the U.S was once again forced to take sides in order to preserve another "domino" from falling. The Korean War lasted 3 years, from 1950-1953, and it resulted in the splitting of the nation down the 38th parallel. North Korea was now communist while South Korea wasn't.
Since more nations were being taken under Communism, Americans were still very afraid they would be next and their freedom would be taken. This is the reason why Americans looked up to General Douglas MacArthur, the war hero they believed could help them preserve their precious democracy. But MacArthur kept making promises he couldn't keep, for example he kept pushing us to go to war and once we were in he promised all solders would be back by Christmas. President Truman didn't buy into his game, therefore he fired him and many Americans were very upset. He didn't let this bother him though because Truman knew that what is fair, isn't always liked.
Shortly after the Korean War, both superpowers inhabited new leaders. Dwight D. Eisenhower was now president of the United States and after Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev took over as the leader of the Soviet Union. The two nations were in competition to see which one could develop new equipment faster. The Soviets sent Sputnik into space and that wasmajor blow to Americans, so the U.S drastically changed their school's curriculum in hope that more young students would be interested in math and science. Though the Soviet Union was the first to get an object into space, America was the first to create the hydrogen-bomb, a bomb 67 times more powerful than the atomic bomb.
The Cold War were hard and long years for America. It was a time were many innocent people were accused of being communists, the time where Americans were very scared, and years that still affect us today. Many historians argue that the Cold War ended with the destruction of the Berlin Wall but the Cold War was finally over in 1991 after many peace treaties between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Since more nations were being taken under Communism, Americans were still very afraid they would be next and their freedom would be taken. This is the reason why Americans looked up to General Douglas MacArthur, the war hero they believed could help them preserve their precious democracy. But MacArthur kept making promises he couldn't keep, for example he kept pushing us to go to war and once we were in he promised all solders would be back by Christmas. President Truman didn't buy into his game, therefore he fired him and many Americans were very upset. He didn't let this bother him though because Truman knew that what is fair, isn't always liked.
Shortly after the Korean War, both superpowers inhabited new leaders. Dwight D. Eisenhower was now president of the United States and after Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev took over as the leader of the Soviet Union. The two nations were in competition to see which one could develop new equipment faster. The Soviets sent Sputnik into space and that wasmajor blow to Americans, so the U.S drastically changed their school's curriculum in hope that more young students would be interested in math and science. Though the Soviet Union was the first to get an object into space, America was the first to create the hydrogen-bomb, a bomb 67 times more powerful than the atomic bomb.
The Cold War were hard and long years for America. It was a time were many innocent people were accused of being communists, the time where Americans were very scared, and years that still affect us today. Many historians argue that the Cold War ended with the destruction of the Berlin Wall but the Cold War was finally over in 1991 after many peace treaties between the Soviet Union and the United States.
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