The Cold War: The Space Race

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The nuclear bombs the United States dropped on Japan changed the world forever. They represented the dawn of the Nuclear Age and the end to warfare as we knew it. No longer could two nations with nuclear weapons could go to war with each other with out risking mutually assured destruction. The end of World War II demonstrated the awesome power of these armaments and depicted the United States as the leading world super power. That lasted until the summer of 1949 when the Soviet Union tested their first atom bomb. Now there were two player in this fight and on opposite sides of the “Iron Curtain” Following the splitting up of lands that were seized by the Nazi 's in WWII, the Untited States and its allies consolidated in western Europe …show more content…
Instead of direct conflict they pushed and pulled for positioning in what was known as the Cold War. The Cold War represented the American public fear of communism and led to the “space race” as a way to try and gain a leg on Russia. If the United States could control the air and the space above, than surely they would be the leading super power again. The Space Race lasted from 1955 to 1975 as the worlds most daring competition for superiority. The military helped fun the project because it meant more advanced rockets that could be used to transport their nuclear warheads further distances. This competition pushed the Cold War further as the Soviets began expanding to other countries in the East and in the …show more content…
The technological advancements that led to the atom bomb that won the war, also led to the Cold War. This cast a shadow over eastern Europe as NATO allies and Soviet Russia both puffed out their chests in an attempt to back the other down in some sort of primitive contest. It greatly pushed technology, and the men walked on the moon, but the Cold War on Earth continued. This pointless posturing during the Vietnam War sucked funds out of the United States government. President Johnson fought back with plans to lower poverty rates and defeat racial segregation, but couldn 't fully reach his goals due to the over sea wars to contain Communism. The Great Society made huge leaps, but it could have been even more had the Cold War not spent all the funds. After all was said and done, the United States experienced a huge economic crash in the 1990 's, but who knows if this would have been the case if the Cold War hadn 't been drawn out for so

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