“Hot” Spots in the Cold War Essay

The period of the rimed war has turned into the dramatic stage of fight amongst the two homos largest powers the joined States and the U. S. S. R. The frore contend remains a peculiar moment for the U. S. , when the majority of the American mint could check their strength and endurance. It did non matter whether the U. S. was promoting the politics of Soviet Containment, or was involved into Cuban projectile Crisis, whether the U. S. was flooded with McCarthyism ideas, or was building Levittown to restore the American dream every those actions were later(prenominal) included into the set of events under the general title The Cold War.Containment of the Soviet Union became American constitution in the postwar age (Stanley 11). It is interesting to note, that while the U. S. was fighting against fascism and took the Soviet Union as its all(prenominal)y, all anti-communism ambitions were neutralized or simply muted. The Cold War has started immediately later on the end of the WWII and raised numerous issues in the political relations between the two super-states. The idea of political containment belonged to George Kennan in his article published in 1946, he discussed and evaluated the sense of insecurity the U.S. S. R. traditionally experienced (Stanley 8). As a result, the discussed insecurity sense made it possible for Kennan to suggest that Moscows pressure to expand its power had to be stopped through self-coloured and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies (Stanley 18). On the one hand, the policy of Soviet Containment supported by Truman was the nub to protect the U. S. territory from external phalanx banes. On the other hand, Truman has evidently overstated the threat coming from the Soviet Union.As a result, the policy of containment has generated mass anti-communism which some durations bordered with hysteria. Consequentially, the get together States containment policies gave rise to the well-known McCarthyism and were also displayed in the U. S. involvement into the Cuban projectile Crisis. McCarthyism is a boundary describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in the period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s (Stanley 24).This term has for long been connected with the name of Senator Joseph McCarthy, but it has currently expanded its heart and soul to more general definition of anti-communist policies in the U. S. Joseph McCarthy has actually been the initiator of the discussed policy which later turned into the whole cultural phenomenon. In his speech on February 9, 1950, he announced that he had a be given of 205 a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party (Stanley 25).McCarthys speech and ideas were later reflected in the ruse of loyalty-security reviews, blacklists, and even arrests. As a result of mass anti-communist campaigns, twelve kB people lost their jobs without any hope to find new habit negative loyalty reviews made it impossible for a person to go employed (Zinn 411). In reality, such policies could eventually turn into a vitriolic war and have involved the United States into the actions which made the threat of the atomic war as close as never before.The realization came with the events which were later called The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the critical hotspots in the history of the Cold War. Its origins were rooted in both Containment and McCarthyism policies, and supported the depict of opposition towards the Soviet power. In 1962 the Soviet Union was searching the means of strengthening its position on the international political arena. The Soviets could achieve that post only by strengthening their military potential (Stanley 32).As Khrushev treasured to place the Soviet missiles in Cuba, Fidel Castro was looking for the ways of protecting his verdant from the U. S. intervention. However, Kennedy was awa re of the Soviet and Cuban plans On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union (Stanley 33).In order to eliminate the threat of military conflicts between the U. S. and Cuba, the Soviet Union had to refuse from the idea to conciliate their missiles on the Cuban territory. As the country found itself in the eddy of political and military conflicts, the common people had to restore the country by and by the WWII, and had to prove to themselves that they were able to survive the difficulties of the Cold War. Levittown has become the brightest display of how people were trying to improve their living even under the pressure of McCarthyism and Containment.In 1950s, William Levitt actually created the prototype of a middle-class American suburb small, satisfied and c ozy houses for medium families have attracted attention of numerous architects and economists. By the fourth dimension the town was completed, it included buildings, swimming-pools, schools, churches, 17,000 single-family houses, and occupied 5500 acres of Bucks County in Pennsylvania (Zinn 407). However, the historical meaning of Levittown was not in the way it was constructed, but in the time period during which it was created.Levittown has given the rise to creating affordable housing and has served the pattern of non-compliance with the principles of the Cold War. In his town, Levitt was able to present a new form of perfection American life, one that combined the idealized middle-class life of the prewar suburban communities, with the democratized life of younger GIs and their families (Zinn 409).Works CitedStanley, George Edward. America and the Cold War (1949-1969). A Primary Source of History of the United States. World farmers calendar Books, 2005. Zinn, H. Peoples Histo ry of the United States 1492 to Present. Harper Perennial newfangled Classics, 2005.