The Cold War

Darren Phothiraj

The Cold War

The Cold War is the term used to describe the rivalry between to United States and the Soviet Union. The war started on September 2, 1945 and ended in December 26, 1991. There were many negative results that the war created. Such as, the Korean War, the Warsaw Pact, and the Truman Doctrine. Although there were many conflicts and many mini wars throughout this time period, the Soviet Union and the United States made no physical combat directly towards each other. The closest thing physical conflict that happened between the two countries was when they both backed other countries that were fighting for and against communism.

In June of 1950, Joseph Stalin gave support to the North Korean Communist leader, Kim IL Sung on the surprise attack in South Korea. The Communist thought that the Americans will not do anything because they have returned all of their troops from South Korea. This attack surprised many American leaders, so President Truman decided that he will take a stand against the communist aggression. The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted the use of force in Korea. The United States ordered the Naval and Air Forces to protect the South Korean ground troops. Once given permission by the United Nations, President Truman sent ground troops to stop the invasion. While pushing back the North Korean troops, the United Nations surprise attack in Inchon pushed the North Korean troops back so far making a key victory for the United Nations. This attack made many North Korean Troops surrender, which pushed South Korea back in the United Nations hands. Then the Chinese backed the Soviet Union in the Korean War by sending a quarter million troops into North Korea pushing the United Nations all the way back Seoul. In July of 1951, the Peace Talk started. They discussed the location boundary between North and South Korea. When Dwight Eisenhower was elected he promised to end the war between North and South Korea. Then on July 27, 1953 is where the Armistice Agreement came into place.

The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance of eight communist nations and was formed in 1955. The main goal of the Warsaw Pact was to protect themselves against any NATO attack. NATO also known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization an alliance of nations that included the U.S, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This organization was formed to defend Western Europe from any kind of Soviet Union attack. Although the Warsaw Pact was officially renewed in 1958 for another 20 years, the transformation of Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980's weakened the organization. The alliance died in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Truman Doctrine was a pronouncement by President H. Truman. The idea of the Truman Doctrine was to help countries fight against the oppressors. The U.S sent aid to Greece and Turkey to help fight against