An In-depth Analysis: Causes and Effects of the Cold War Era

This essay critically examines the major causes and far-reaching effects of the Cold War, spanning from 1945 to 1991. It delves into the geopolitical tensions between the Eastern and Western Blocs, focusing on the roles of the United States, the Soviet Union, and other involved nations. The essay explores the political, social, economic, ideological, and superiority complex factors that fueled the Cold War, including propaganda surrounding nuclear weapons, differing political systems, war devastation, and disagreements over rebuilding Europe. Furthermore, it analyzes the significant impacts of the Cold War, such as the reduction in military spending in Russia, the rise of the United States as a superpower, the loss of life, proxy wars, and the development of modern technologies. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace in the aftermath of the Cold War and reflecting on the lessons learned from this historical period.

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MODERN HISTORY
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WHAT 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 involved
many 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.

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Causes 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 United
States 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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economic losses in the Second World War. Both the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc decided
to use different political systems of administrations. This direction made the two sides to apply
political sanctions that caused Cold War. According to Soviet Union Leader Sir Joseph Stalin,
the Soviet Union had lost over 20 million lives in the Second World War (Weiss 2013). In that
case, he decided to employ a different political system to govern the Soviet Union. This created
tension on the side of the United States of America. This resulted in the enactment of a new
political System by the United States of America. This tension resulted in Cold War.
Moreover, the other cause of Cold War was war devastation. The effects of the Second
World War made both sides to lose a lot of economic wealth and loss of millions of lives
(Barnett 2004). It was feared that each side would aim at recovering their economic status and
revenge for their lost lives. In that connection, a moment of distrust occurred thus causing Cold
War. The Soviet Union anticipated future attacks from the United States of America and vice
versa.
Furthermore, the disagreement over rebuilding Europe was another major cause of
Cold War. Europe was highly affected by the Second World War and in particular Germany after
the death of Adolf Hitler. The meeting held by the three leaders of the Allied Forces resulted in
distrust and mutual hostility. The decision to subdivide Germany by Stalin, Churchill, and FDR
of Allied forces was not taken in good faith (Bosco 2009). Disagreement arose when Stalin
raised the idea of absorbing Germany and other European nations so as to spread communism.
This resulted in the emergence of Cold War when Germany was split into different zones.
According to the arguments raised by some historians, Cold War was caused by
Soviet Union from one end and Americans on the other end. In that case, Soviet Union
backpedaled the agreement so as to allow the community they ruled to embrace communism.
Again, the people of Eastern Europe were allowed to determine their own fates. This resulted in
application of totalitarian rule that made the territories to fall behind the Iron Curtain. On the
other hand, the Americans ignored the decision of Soviet Union and their legitimate security
(Leffler 2008). The Americans started intimidating the world by use of atomic bombs. They also
wanted to recover from economic losses attributed by the Second World War by expanding their
influence in international level as well as creating market dominance. In that case, Soviet Union
retaliated causing the Cold War. The fact that Joseph Stalin was a dictator who used communism

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ideology to gain dominance in the world could as well contributed to emergence of Cold War.
This is because, the American joined the Cold War so as to limit Stalin from inevitable
totalitarian conquest.
Later on in the 1960s, other sections of the world started having Cold War. The Vietnam
War resulted in Cold War in Vietnam due to endemic government distrust and dishonesty
(Zubok 2009). From that time, Cold War has been caused by many factors in political, social,
economic and ideological differences in different parts of the world. However, in summary, the
main causes of Cold War of 1945 to 1991 were contributed by the following aspects.
1. The fear of communism by America and attacks associated with communist leaders.
2. The dislike of Joseph Stalin the leader of Soviet Union.
3. The fear of American’s atomic bombs by USSR.
4. The fear of Capitalism by the Soviet Union and attacks associated with capitalist leaders.
5. The actions of USSR in the Soviet zone of Germany.
6. The refusal of sharing nuclear secrets with Americans.
7. The expansion of west into Eastern Europe by USSR together with broken election
promises.
8. USSR feared attacks from the Americans.
9. The need for USSR to secure the western border.
10. Suspicion and distrust between the Soviet Union and America.
Effects of Cold War.
The impacts of Cold War were witnessed all over the world and they can be traced
from different perspectives such as political effects, social effects, and economic effects. From
the impacts of Cold War, we realize that war is devastating and very expensive.
Cold War took place in chronological order which resulted in different effects. There
was Cold War of 1947 to 1953, Cold War of 1953 to 1962, Cold War of 1962 to 1979, Cold War
of 1979 to 1985 and Cold War of 1985 to 1991 (Westad 2007). From that chronological path of
Cold War, the effects have been subjected to the society, both in the past and at present. To start
with, the major effect of Cold War was experienced in Russia where spending on military
matters was reduced drastically. This decision affected very heavily the military sector in Russia

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where many people lost their employment. The effect of Cold War in Russia can also be traced
on 1990 when Russia embarked on a capitalist economy. In that case, the country experienced
financial crisis associated with recession economic cycle. It is estimated that the financial crisis
in Russia was much devastating than what was experienced by the United States of America
along with Germany in the period of Great Depression.
Another effect of Cold War was worsening of living standards of citizens in areas
where Cold War was highly experienced. For instance in Russia. The living conditions in Russia
worsened in post-Cold War period but the country started recovery since 1995 (Fink 2017).
Again, Cold War resulted in superiority complex of United States of America. It is asserted that
the United States of America became a superpower in 1989 by holding military alliances with
over 50 countries worldwide. The deployment of over 1.5 million military troops to over 117
countries made the United States of America to become a superpower as a result of Cold War.
In addition, a lot of people lost their lives due to the effects of Cold War. For instance,
it is estimated that nearly 100,000 military soldiers from American origin lost their lives in
Vietnam War along with Korean War (Knight 2012). In that connection, the effects of Cold War
were associated with loss of property that was destroyed. This as well affected the economic
conditions in the counties. For instance, it is estimated that the United States of America used
over $8 trillion so as to service the war in Vietnam and Korea.
Finally, Cold War resulted in Proxy Wars and local conflicts. In that case, a lot of
interstate wars, revolutionary wars, ethnic wars and emergence of refugees was reported during
Cold War period (Westad 2017). However, numerous nuclear legacies are identifiable from the
Cold War. From the experience of Cold War, there has been the availability of modern
technologies for nuclear energy and power. The other positive impact of Cold War is the
application of radiations in medical treatment as well in healthcare improvement.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, despite the occurrence of Cold War from 1947 to 1991, the world has
tried to maintain peace via peace agreement signed after the Cold War. My wish from what
happened during Cold War period is to request the world to maintain peace so as to avoid the
devastating effects of war. In that case, let us use the skills acquired during the Cold War to bring

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positive changes in the world (Gaddis 2006). The use of nuclear energy and power can be used
positively in industrial production, environmental remediation, technological development and
scientific research. Again, it is important to curb the risks associated with nuclear along with
radiological terrorisms.

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