Cold Wars Impact on America Politically, Socially, and Economically Es

Cold War's Impact on America Politically, Socially, and Economically As the Soviet Union approaches Berlin from the East, the allied forces invade from the west. Hitler’s German war-machine was crumbling. The United States had to make an enormous decision. Should they attack the Red Army of the Soviet Union? Should they keep the increasingly shaky alliance with the Russians and end the war in Europe? America chose to remain allies, resulting in a decision that affected the world for the next 46 years. World War 2 had concluded but now there was a new enemy, the Soviet Communist. The post-war world left the Soviets and the United States in an ideological power struggle. The origin of the cold war is hard to pinpoint. There were several issues and disagreements that led to it. The political differences between the 2 nations were absolute opposites. America was a democracy, a system that allows its citizens to choose the political party in which runs the government. The Communists were led by one of the most vicious dictators in human history, Joseph Stalin. America has a capitalist economic system that allows private ownership of business and property. This freedom allows citizens the opportunity for financial success. All businesses and institutions of the Russian socialist economy were owned, regulated, and operated by the government. The purpose of American government is to protect the individual rights of its citizens. The soviet regime stood for control. World War 2 had just ended, and these two super-powers were becoming agitated, leery, and even paranoid of looming intentions. Although U.S.S.R and the U.S. were allies in the war, the suspicion and distrust was radiating from both sides. The Verona Project ... ...mic age is unimaginable. Taxes were raised on Americans, giving huge amounts of money to the military and national defense. To conclude, the cold war had an enormous effect on nearly every aspect of American life. With varying results, some were good and others were bad. I sense that the Cold war was helpful to us as a nation. Russian competition pushed the U.S. toward improvements in technology, military, science, and education. In a world with 2 superpowers the U.S. was driven to be better than the competitor. But now we are alone at the top and there is nowhere to go but down. Hopefully the termination of the U.S.S.R. didn’t open up a spot for a new and better world power to emerge in the near future. Bibliography Present Tense: The United States Since 1945, Michael Schaller, Virginia Scharf, & Robert Schulzinger. Houghton-Mifflin, ISBN 0395745349, 2003