MODERN HISTORY1MODERN HISTORYBy NameCourseInstructorInstitutionLocationDate
MODERN HISTORY2WHAT WERE THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF COLD WAR IN 19TH CENTURY?Introduction. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze the major causes of cold war in the 19th century along with the impacts that came along as a result of the cold war. Therefore, this paper analyzes part of modern history where many countries involved in making this history. There are a number of wars that have affected the world in a particular period of time. For instance, from the year 1914 to 1918, the world experienced the First World War which involvedmany nations such as triple alliance (Beevok 2014). These wars moved chronologically with time and the causes and effects were associated with different attributes of superiority complex. Later on, the world experience the Second World War between the years 1939 to 1945. These wars have been caused by human activities and the effects of these wars have been absorbed by the same human beings. Other wars included the Gulf War. For the purpose of this paper, we consider Cold War that occurred after the Second World War of 1945. Therefore, the causes and effects of Cold War will flow chronologically between the years 1945 to 1991. To begin with, the first question that comes to mind of any historian is, what is Cold War? Cold War can be defined typically as a state of fear, the geopolitical tension that occurred after the year 1945 when Second World War ended. Cold War took place between different world powers such as the powers in the Western Bloc and the powers in the Eastern Bloc between the years 1947 to 1991 (Beevok 2007). It involved superior powers such as the United States of America, NATO, and the Soviet Union. For clarity, the powers in the Eastern Bloc were formed by the Soviet Union together with its satellite states (Beevok 2012). On the side of Western Bloc, the United States of America together with NATO allies combined to respond to Eastern Bloc. Along with these two blocs, other western colonies joined the Cold War in 1947. These other parties included Congo, Indonesia, and Vietnam. From that background, this paper aims to answer the analogy of what caused the Cold War and the impacts of this war on the entire world and especially the participants of the war.
MODERN HISTORY3Causes of Cold War. Cold War was caused by many factors that were rotating between the Eastern Bloc and the Western bloc. These causes are traced from different perspectives. They can be traced from political aspects, social aspects, economic aspects, ideological aspects, and superiority complex. According to the article published by George Orwell in the year 1945, one of the main political cause of Cold War was propaganda. This propaganda was based on the aspects of the development of nuclear weapons. According to the article, it was anticipated that there would be a nuclear superiority between the superpowers in Easter Bloc and Western Bloc. This propaganda made geopolitical tension to increase in the Western bloc and in the Eastern Bloc. This is because the complexity of nuclear weapons in terms of damage cannot be underestimated. These weapons have been described by military analysts as weapons of mass destruction (Gilbert 2004). Therefore, each bloc feared since in case one bloc possessed nuclear weapons, then they could have been used to victimize the other bloc. More damage would have been caused to millions of people and property if any bloc used these weapons to fight against their competitors. Devastating effects of nuclear weapons were mentioned by the presidential adviser and America financier Bernard Baruch in the year 1947 at a speech that was offered to a State House in Columbia. Another cause of Cold War was differences in political ideologies. These ideological differences were traced from the former Allies involved in the Second World War. The different ideologies were attributed to conflicts over Europe. By the end of the Second World War, Europe was completely torn by the effects of the war. According to the article written by Noreen Gunnell, many ideas were raised on what Europe will become after the Second World War (Beevok 2013). Many people said that Europe will never regain the superiority complex. This was not well coming to European nations. It automatically caused Cold War as Europe tried to regain the lost glory. Another major cause of the Cold war was the difference in political systems. Just after the end of the Second World War, there was a friendship that seemed to exist between the UnitedStates of America and the Soviet Union (Bosco 2014). The World was regaining peace. However, there was the emergence of tensions which were exacerbated by the loss of lives and
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