Cold War Cause And Effect Essay

The Cold War had a variety of causes and consequences that affected the world superpowers at the time. There were many positive and negative effects of the Cold War. Most of these effects fell in favor with the U.S. and led to the demise of the Soviet Union. Even though the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies during World War II, they disagreed on the way they wanted to bring about change in the world and thus became enemies. “Together, these nations and others brought about the downfall of Hitler's Third Reich. When the war ended in 1945, these two countries emerged as world super powers” (Sullivan). Following WWII, the U.S. and the Soviet Union had many disagreements. The U.S. did not like the actions of the Soviet Union in the part of Germany in which they occupied. The U.S. also did not like the fact that the Soviet Union was trying to spread communism across the globe, because the U.S. followed a democracy. “Most significant, both sides feared that the other would win the 'war of ideas’” (Suri). Both superpowers also saw each other as a hostile threat; therefore, the U.S. tried to counter this threat …show more content…
After the war, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union were left with a gigantic amount of nuclear weapons, compared to what they had before. Moreover, U.S. formed the military bloc, NATO, while the Soviet Union formed The Warsaw Pact. These led to proxy wars, like the Vietnam War and the Korean War. Towards the end of the Cold War-era, living standards of fallen in the Soviet Union, causing them to collapse thanks to their economic weaknesses. With this, The Warsaw Pact became non-existent, and former Soviet republics, like the Baltic States, became independent. With the fall of the Soviet Union, communism no longer has a major influence upon the world, and the U.S. became the only superpower of the the world at the