The Cold War Today

Barack Obama and the Russian leader recently signed off on an arms treaty document that decreased the amount of nuclear weapons each country had. Although it's not as bad today, the threat of a nuclear war is still a fear in some American households. At the end of the cold war, most Americans fear went away, but some remains. America and Russia hold about 90 percent of the worlds nuclear weapons. Signing this document shows the leadership obtained by these two nations. Many say it is a Win-Win situation for both countries. This document allows the two nations to rise to a higher level of cooperation.

USA!!

The USA is who I support in the war. The USA and USSR were allies during WW2, but as that war turned into the Cold War, the two allies fell apart. Russia threatened to spread communism throughout the world, and America was determined to stop it. Families in America created bomb shelters and schools created special drills in case a nuclear war was started. Americans couldn't go out of their own homes and not feel the fear that was being created from communist Russia. Although everyone was scared, America pulled through. Everyone pitched in, and helped contribute to the war. Because of all the help, Americans stopped the spread of communism to many countries and live without fear now.

Tensions: JFK Assassination

John F. Kennedy, the youngest of all the U.S's presidents so far, was assassinated on November 22, 1963. He was visiting Dallas, Texas and was in a sort of parade. We believe he was shot at by Lee Harvey Oswald. As the parade progressed through town, Lee positioned himself so that he was not seen. It only took him one precise shot at the president to kill him. Oswald was arrested and taken to a police station. On the way there, he was shot and killed by an anonymous person. Lee never had a trial or a sentence for jail. We never found out if it was truly him who killed the president. This struck fear into peoples hearts and created a major tension.

Tensions:U-2

The U-2s were planes with cameras that would fly over suspected places. The first time we sent a U-2 was against the Soviet Union. The piolet flew over and came back to the United states with pictures of their camps. The Soviets found out we had done this and became very angery. We promised we would not send another U-2 over their country. The tension built until Truman decided we needed to send one more plane overhead. Unfoutunetly the Soviets found out and the plane was gunned and the piolet captured. The only other time we used U-2s was during the Cuba missile crisis, which helped greatly to fend off Cuba.

Tensions: civil rights

Civil rights were a major tension during the Cold War. In the court case of Plessy verses Ferguson, in 1896, a new law was created. it was called "separate but equal." This meant that blacks must be treated to the same amenities as whites. Jim Crow laws were then established. They gave specific laws that blacks and whites alike must follow. Rosa Parks, a very important character in the fight for equality, was sent to jail because she would not give up her seat to a white man who was standing on the bus. She started a revolution for blacks to gain their rights. Soon, for 381 days, blacks protested and would not ride the buses. After the 381th day, segregation on the buses was removed. This was a small win compared to the thousands of other public places that still segregated and treated blacks without respect.

Tensions: arms race

As tensions raised, America and the USSR were competing to outdo each other in just about everything. After the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Japan to end WW2, it did not take long for the Soviets to create one of their own. Feeling pressured to outdo their opponents, the US felt compelled to make a bigger, better, and more destructive bomb. The US turned to J Robert Oppenheimer, the creature of the atomic bomb, to create the hydrogen bomb. On January 31, 1950, Truman authorizes the H-bomb. On November 1, 1952, the first test of the H-bomb follows through. Soon after, in August 1953, less than a year later, the Soviets have created their own H-bomb.

Tensions: space race

The space race started when the USSR created a successful satellite, and launched it into space. The satellites name was Sputnik. It was launched on October 9th 1957. Sputnik could circle the earth in a matter of hours. Scared, the US started creating satellites of their own.
Each attempt ended in a failure. The Soviets became a bigger threat to the US. Finally, on January 9, 1958, the United states launched their first successful satellite into space; the Explorer 1.

Complete overveiw

The Cold War was fought between two former allies, Russia (USSR) and The United States. Throughout the WWII, the two allies supported and helped each other. After the war, they were still close but when threats of communism and nuclear power were heard, the two allies quickly became enemies. The Soviet Union supported communism as a government and the United States strongly disagreed. We were scared of the "domino" effect, or that everyone would see communism as a better government and turn against us. Containment was the only other option the United States could think of. Soon, China turned communist and all hope for that country was lost. General MacArthur, the nations "hero", believed we should drop atomic bombs on China and show everyone that we were serious about exterminating communism. Korea was our next attack. Kim Il Sung, the communist leader, was fighting for communism. South Korea was all for nationalism, but North Korea had other plans. North Koreans only wanted communism. North Koreans stormed down on South Korea and drove them to the small part of Korea called Pusan. With the help of MacArthur, the South Koreans got there land back. Although MacArthur was a good military leader he was speaking out of term in office and was soon fired by Truman. The US didn't take this well but got over it.