The United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies during World War II against the Axis Powers. Although they had fought as allies, the relationship between the two was one of much tension. For a long period of time, the United States had been wary of the Soviet communism, and had concern about the Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s bloodthirsty, tyrannical rule of his own country. In turn, the Soviets had resented the Americans for their decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as the United States’ delayed entry into the Second World War. This delayed entry resulted in tens of millions of Russians losing their lives. The end of the war brought about an overpowering sense
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“On October 4, 1957, the first Soviet artificial satellite Sputnik was launched” (National Cold War Exhibition). To many Americans, the launch of Sputnik came as an unpleasant surprise. The Americans saw space as the next unexplored frontier, and thought it crucial to not lose any more ground to the Soviets. The R-7 missile’s astounding power—one seemingly capable of delivering into U.S. air space a nuclear warhead—made it an even more urgent task for the United States to gather intelligence on the activities of the Soviet military. On January 31, 1958, the United States launched their own space satellite, Explorer 1 (Dates and Events). Explorer 1 was designed by the U.S. Army and was launched under the direction of the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. With the launch of Explorer 1 came the beginning of what has become known as the Space Race. That same year on July 29, President Eisenhower signed a public order bringing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into existence. The federal agency was dedicated to space exploration along with several programs seeking to exploit the military potential that space had. However, the Soviets were still a step ahead of the U.S. with the launch of the first man into space on April 12, 1961. The next month, the United States launched Alan Shepard into space. After the successful launch of Shepard, President John F. …show more content…
Like many other leaders of Reagan’s generation, he believed that with the spread of communism anywhere came the threat to freedom everywhere. Because of this belief, Reagan worked to supply military and financial aid to governments and insurgencies against communism around the world. The Reagan Doctrine as it was known applied principally to places like Grenada and El Salvador. While Reagan fought against communism in the countries in Central America, the Soviet Union began to disintegrate. In 1985, in a response to economic problems and a growing political ferment in the USSR, Premier Mikhail Gorbachev took office. Shortly after taking office, he introduced two new policies that helped to redefine the relationship that Russia had with the rest of the world. The influence of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe began to wane. Four years later, every other communist state that was in the region had begun to replace their government with a noncommunist one. In November of the same year, the most visible symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, was finally torn down and destroyed. In the year 1991, the Soviet Union itself had completely fallen apart and was no more. With the end of the Soviet Union came the official end of the Cold
“On October 4, 1957, the first Soviet artificial satellite Sputnik was launched” (National Cold War Exhibition). To many Americans, the launch of Sputnik came as an unpleasant surprise. The Americans saw space as the next unexplored frontier, and thought it crucial to not lose any more ground to the Soviets. The R-7 missile’s astounding power—one seemingly capable of delivering into U.S. air space a nuclear warhead—made it an even more urgent task for the United States to gather intelligence on the activities of the Soviet military. On January 31, 1958, the United States launched their own space satellite, Explorer 1 (Dates and Events). Explorer 1 was designed by the U.S. Army and was launched under the direction of the rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. With the launch of Explorer 1 came the beginning of what has become known as the Space Race. That same year on July 29, President Eisenhower signed a public order bringing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) into existence. The federal agency was dedicated to space exploration along with several programs seeking to exploit the military potential that space had. However, the Soviets were still a step ahead of the U.S. with the launch of the first man into space on April 12, 1961. The next month, the United States launched Alan Shepard into space. After the successful launch of Shepard, President John F. …show more content…
Like many other leaders of Reagan’s generation, he believed that with the spread of communism anywhere came the threat to freedom everywhere. Because of this belief, Reagan worked to supply military and financial aid to governments and insurgencies against communism around the world. The Reagan Doctrine as it was known applied principally to places like Grenada and El Salvador. While Reagan fought against communism in the countries in Central America, the Soviet Union began to disintegrate. In 1985, in a response to economic problems and a growing political ferment in the USSR, Premier Mikhail Gorbachev took office. Shortly after taking office, he introduced two new policies that helped to redefine the relationship that Russia had with the rest of the world. The influence of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe began to wane. Four years later, every other communist state that was in the region had begun to replace their government with a noncommunist one. In November of the same year, the most visible symbol of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, was finally torn down and destroyed. In the year 1991, the Soviet Union itself had completely fallen apart and was no more. With the end of the Soviet Union came the official end of the Cold