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Server 9th grade Literature, 1st period 10 October 2011 The Cold War The United States and the Soviet Union shared a mutual distrust that existed years before the onset of the Cold War (Cold War). After World War II, the expansion of the Soviet Union was a threat to the western powers, while the Soviet Union feared that the western powers would overthrow their communist regime (Cold War). That was how the Cold War began (Cold War). The Berlin Wall was one of the events in the Cold War (Berlin Wall). Germany was split into two sides and the border was the Berlin Wall (Berlin Wall). On the west side is the Western Powers and on the East side of the wall is the Soviet Union (Berlin Wall). Since 1958 the Soviet Union wanted the Western Powers to leave all their occupation rights to the Berlin left over from the WWII; when Kennedy became president on 1961, the Soviet leader stepped up his demands and the United States pulled out (Berlin Wall). The Soviets promptly threatened to sign a separate peace with East Germany, thus in their eyes ending Allied occupation rights in Berlin (Berlin Wall). Sensing that the dispute was going to drag on, and unwilling to risk a nuclear war over Berlin, Kennedy took steps to ensure that the United States had sufficient troops in the city so that the Soviets could drive them out only at great cost (Berlin Wall). The leaders tried to end the dispute, but neither would cooperate (Berlin Wall). So the dispute just dragged on (Berlin Wall). On 13 August 1961 East Germany began erecting around West Berlin a nine-foot-walltopped with barbed wire and guarded by soldiersto keep

East Germans from crossing into West Berlin and defecting to the West (Berlin Wall). Many people fear of what would happen next (Berlin Wall). A lot of aircrafts flew over the Berlin Wall and dropped food and supplies for the needed (Berlin Wall). On October 3rd, 1990 west and east sides of Germany reunited as one again (Berlin Wall). Families and friends reunited with one another (Berlin Wall). There was joy on peoples faces again (Berlin Wall). Another event was the Korean War. The Soviet Union negotiated an alliance with Communist North Korea and attacked South Korea, starting the Korean War (Cold War). The war lasted for three years, from 1950-1953 (Cold War). Communist China supported guerrillas in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. In response, the United States helped establish the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and provided neutral Asian nations tremendous military support, though guerrilla warfare persisted (Cold War). There was also a race between the two superpowers, its the Space Race (Grant 20). The contest for prestige between the two superpowers was crucial in a world in which many newly independent former colonies were choosing between the capitalist and communist ideologies and economic system (Grant 20). The new colonies had a really hard time choosing which side (Grant 20). Although the United States soon launched its own first satellite, the Soviet Union maintained a lead in space exploration in the early 1960s (Grant 20). When the Soviet Union had the first man to orbit the Earth, the Americans started to desperately try to catch up (Grant 20). Many Americans were upset about this (Grant 20). The Americans tried to fight back with as many new ways to get to the moon (Grant 20). The landing of U.S. astronauts on the moon in July 1969 allowed the Americans to claim credibly to have won the space race (Grant 20). It shows that the western technology was more enhanced than the Soviet Unions. Many Americans was proud of winning the race (Grant 20). There was a lot of tension between the two superpowers; but when Mikhail Gorbachev took control in Moscow, knowing

that the Soviets economy is failing, he tried to reform economic restructures, openness, and democracy within Communist bloc countries (Cold War). Then in 1990 Gorbachev polices and Soviet Unions economy fail overthrew the communist governments in many countries (Cold War). The downfall of the Soviet Union officially ended the Cold War (Cold War).

Cold War. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.

Cold War. Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2011.

Grant, R.G. First Sputnik Launch Oct. 4, 1957. The Cold War. Mankato, Minnesota s6001. Arcturus Publishing Limited. 2008.