The USSR was equally responsible for starting the cold war in 1945 and for keeping it going through the Vietnam War (which ended in 1975) as the US and her allies were. Contrary to the popular belief, it should be noted that the US shares the responsibility of causing the Cold War with the USSR. Both the Soviets and Americans have their different views of who started what, but not one nation is to be blamed for the Cold War along with the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The USSR wrongfully takes most of the blame for starting the Cold War. To put it plain and simple, Thomas G. Paterson says, “The Soviets acted; the Americans reacted (Paterson, 5). He is referring to the soviet’s alleged violation of the Truman Doctrine which basically …show more content…
Americans were terrified of depression after WW2 and would do anything to prevent it. Paterson’s view on this was, “Another reason Americans felt compelled to project their power was their calculation of economic need and fear of depression”(Paterson 6). Many Americans tried to defend their controversial economic and political expansions by believing that,“The American system became dependent upon economic expansion- at least Americans thought so- and that outward thrust sent the United States into the Cold war confrontation with the Soviets” (Paterson 6). The United States’ efforts to become an economic power was taken as a threat by the Soviets which was what caused lots of conflicts. Referring to a previous quote, “The Soviets acted; the Americans reacted (Paterson, 5), Paterson describes“The United States was not simply reacting to Soviets machinations; it was acting on its own needs and ideas in a way that made American behavior alarm not just the Soviets but America’s allies the British and French as well” (Paterson 6). Their sudden need for economic expansion was threatening to a number of countries. Along with economic expansion is global expansion. The US realized the lack of protection it had from foreign enemies so, “American leaders worked for ‘defense in depth’, a series of overseas bases in both the pacific and atlantic worlds to deny a potential enemy …show more content…
The Cuban missile crisis occurred when the US, afraid of totalitarian Castro, tried to carry out a plan to invade Cuba and cause a revolt against Castro. When it failed, Khrushchev began to place missiles in Cuba, the US panicked. Khrushchev’s response to American’s fears was, “Your rockets are in Turkey. You are worried by Cuba… because it is 90 miles from the American coast. But Turkey is right next to us” (Glencoe 670). Peace was quickly settled by US president Kennedy and a nuclear war was averted. The US and USSR were both involved in the Vietnam war on opposing sides, which also caused a lot of tension. The USSR was aiding North Vietnam who wanted to make South Vietnam communist and the US was trying to keep Vietnam from becoming communist because of their belief in the Domino theory, which stated that if one Eastern Asian country fell to communism, so would the rest. Although Vietnam lost to communism, no others were
The USSR wrongfully takes most of the blame for starting the Cold War. To put it plain and simple, Thomas G. Paterson says, “The Soviets acted; the Americans reacted (Paterson, 5). He is referring to the soviet’s alleged violation of the Truman Doctrine which basically …show more content…
Americans were terrified of depression after WW2 and would do anything to prevent it. Paterson’s view on this was, “Another reason Americans felt compelled to project their power was their calculation of economic need and fear of depression”(Paterson 6). Many Americans tried to defend their controversial economic and political expansions by believing that,“The American system became dependent upon economic expansion- at least Americans thought so- and that outward thrust sent the United States into the Cold war confrontation with the Soviets” (Paterson 6). The United States’ efforts to become an economic power was taken as a threat by the Soviets which was what caused lots of conflicts. Referring to a previous quote, “The Soviets acted; the Americans reacted (Paterson, 5), Paterson describes“The United States was not simply reacting to Soviets machinations; it was acting on its own needs and ideas in a way that made American behavior alarm not just the Soviets but America’s allies the British and French as well” (Paterson 6). Their sudden need for economic expansion was threatening to a number of countries. Along with economic expansion is global expansion. The US realized the lack of protection it had from foreign enemies so, “American leaders worked for ‘defense in depth’, a series of overseas bases in both the pacific and atlantic worlds to deny a potential enemy …show more content…
The Cuban missile crisis occurred when the US, afraid of totalitarian Castro, tried to carry out a plan to invade Cuba and cause a revolt against Castro. When it failed, Khrushchev began to place missiles in Cuba, the US panicked. Khrushchev’s response to American’s fears was, “Your rockets are in Turkey. You are worried by Cuba… because it is 90 miles from the American coast. But Turkey is right next to us” (Glencoe 670). Peace was quickly settled by US president Kennedy and a nuclear war was averted. The US and USSR were both involved in the Vietnam war on opposing sides, which also caused a lot of tension. The USSR was aiding North Vietnam who wanted to make South Vietnam communist and the US was trying to keep Vietnam from becoming communist because of their belief in the Domino theory, which stated that if one Eastern Asian country fell to communism, so would the rest. Although Vietnam lost to communism, no others were