history lecture wk 3

Lecture Summary Sample

I chose to summarize this week’s lecture on the Cold War. I learned that the U.S. and their Western allies won the Cold War because they patiently abided by the doctrine of  containment and were able to avoid military conflict with the Soviet Union.

 The Cold War’s origins begin around/after WW2. President Roosevelt, whom Stalin had good working relations with, died shortly before WW2 officially ended, and many of Roosevelt’s advisors left. This put inexperienced leaders in charge of America and made a Cold War more likely. However, the Soviet Union and the USA had come together mainly over a common enemy during WW2: Germany. When Germany was defeated, they fell back into old fears and suspicions toward each other. By the middle of 1946, a full-blown Cold War was happening.

In terms of strengths and weaknesses, the West had better government than the East. The West also had better wealth and industry, as the only industrial power in the East was Russia. The Soviets had a slight edge in science and won the first few rounds of the space race, but the West also did well with science. The East won in population. However, the Soviets lost the population advantage in the 1960’s because of the  Sino-Soviet split when China and the Soviet Union, previously allies, turned against each other. The military power was a draw. The Soviets had a strong army because of their size and proximity to contested areas, but the U.S. Navy dominated the seas. The Soviet Union had an advantage in soft power because the U.S. still struggled with things like segregation and colonization. However, the West dominated in history.

Given the West’s edge over the East, American diplomat  George Kennan came up with the doctrine of containment, a blueprint for the West to win the Cold War. His doctrine said that to win, the U.S. must patiently contain the Soviet Union and stop it from spreading. To do this, the U.S. would play to its strengths: money, alliances, and military power. His other requirement was that the U.S. must not push the Soviet Union out of any territory they already controlled, as this could likely start a real war. Kennan believed if the U.S. could do this and stay out of any military conflict, then the Soviet Union would be less of a threat and eventually collapse.

From 1947 to 1956, the foundation for containment was laid. President Truman gave a speech known as the  Truman Doctrine, saying the U.S. must help protect nations from falling to the Soviet Union. To do this, congress approved military and economic aid for countries threatened by communist forces, giving 400 million to protect Greece and Turkey. When the Soviets tried to cut off all roads and railroads leading to Berlin to push the West out, the U.S. and Great Britain stopped them with the  Berlin Airlift, flying supplies to the citizens of Berlin instead. Congress also approved  The Marshall Plan, which spent 13 billion dollars on nations to help them recover and strengthen after WW2. This led the U.S. to take control in forming  NATO, a military alliance with almost all the countries receiving aid from the Marshall Plan . The U.S. also took the lead in creating a democratic West Germany and incorporating it into NATO. In 1955, the Soviet Union created something similar to NATO, the  Warsaw Pact with  their countries . However, the difference between NATO and the Warsaw Pact was that countries could leave NATO if they wanted, but countries in the Warsaw Pact could not. When Hungary tried to leave, the Soviets invaded them, and though Hungary asked for the U.S. to help, the U.S. refused because of containment. They feared if they interfered with territory the Soviet Union already controlled, they would start a war.

From 1957 to 1979, diplomatic relations really helped keep military conflict from happening between the East and West.  The Soviet-American Summits had U.S. presidents and Soviet leaders meeting to resolve tensions and create diplomatic agreements. However, there were some close calls. In 1962, the U.S. found out the Soviet Union was placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy adhered to containment and ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, playing to the U.S.’s strengths and avoiding an invasion. The Soviet ships turned back because they didn’t want to fight either. It was the diplomatic relations developed at The Summits that helped diffuse the  Cuban Missile Crisis.  The  Vietnam War also caused a scare. Under President Kennedy, many advisors were sent to South Vietnam to help them resist a communist rebellion supported by North Vietnam, Russia’s ally. The advisors weren’t successful, so President Johnson sent troops to Vietnam. It was a long, bloody war, with U.S. troops not being fully removed until 1973.

In the final years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union finally got worn down, as Kennan predicted. In 1979, the  Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to fight an insurgency for close to a decade, while America supplied these rebels. This was draining for the East. The final straw for Russia was when  Mikhail Gorbachev took power. He instituted the  perestroika reform. Under this, the government began to withdraw its subsidies from industries, and it introduced things like private ownership and incentives, but these things produced short-term pain. The second reform was  glasnost, which gave Soviet citizens more freedom to voice their feelings about their government. This unleashed a huge amount of criticism of Gorbachev and communism. Gorbachev’s final reform was the repeal of the  Brezhnev Doctrine. This was issued in 1968 and said that countries could not leave the Soviet alliance or the Warsaw Pact. Once Gorbachev repealed it, the Warsaw Pact alliance fell apart. The German people began tearing down the Berlin Wall, and one by one, every country in the Soviet Union left. By 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved.

Lecture Summary Sample

I chose to summarize this week’s lecture on the Cold War. I learned that the U.S. and their Western allies won the Cold War because they patiently abided by the doctrine of  containment and were able to avoid military conflict with the Soviet Union.

 The Cold War’s origins begin around/after WW2. President Roosevelt, whom Stalin had good working relations with, died shortly before WW2 officially ended, and many of Roosevelt’s advisors left. This put inexperienced leaders in charge of America and made a Cold War more likely. However, the Soviet Union and the USA had come together mainly over a common enemy during WW2: Germany. When Germany was defeated, they fell back into old fears and suspicions toward each other. By the middle of 1946, a full-blown Cold War was happening.

In terms of strengths and weaknesses, the West had better government than the East. The West also had better wealth and industry, as the only industrial power in the East was Russia. The Soviets had a slight edge in science and won the first few rounds of the space race, but the West also did well with science. The East won in population. However, the Soviets lost the population advantage in the 1960’s because of the  Sino-Soviet split when China and the Soviet Union, previously allies, turned against each other. The military power was a draw. The Soviets had a strong army because of their size and proximity to contested areas, but the U.S. Navy dominated the seas. The Soviet Union had an advantage in soft power because the U.S. still struggled with things like segregation and colonization. However, the West dominated in history.

Given the West’s edge over the East, American diplomat  George Kennan came up with the doctrine of containment, a blueprint for the West to win the Cold War. His doctrine said that to win, the U.S. must patiently contain the Soviet Union and stop it from spreading. To do this, the U.S. would play to its strengths: money, alliances, and military power. His other requirement was that the U.S. must not push the Soviet Union out of any territory they already controlled, as this could likely start a real war. Kennan believed if the U.S. could do this and stay out of any military conflict, then the Soviet Union would be less of a threat and eventually collapse.

From 1947 to 1956, the foundation for containment was laid. President Truman gave a speech known as the  Truman Doctrine, saying the U.S. must help protect nations from falling to the Soviet Union. To do this, congress approved military and economic aid for countries threatened by communist forces, giving 400 million to protect Greece and Turkey. When the Soviets tried to cut off all roads and railroads leading to Berlin to push the West out, the U.S. and Great Britain stopped them with the  Berlin Airlift, flying supplies to the citizens of Berlin instead. Congress also approved  The Marshall Plan, which spent 13 billion dollars on nations to help them recover and strengthen after WW2. This led the U.S. to take control in forming  NATO, a military alliance with almost all the countries receiving aid from the Marshall Plan . The U.S. also took the lead in creating a democratic West Germany and incorporating it into NATO. In 1955, the Soviet Union created something similar to NATO, the  Warsaw Pact with  their countries . However, the difference between NATO and the Warsaw Pact was that countries could leave NATO if they wanted, but countries in the Warsaw Pact could not. When Hungary tried to leave, the Soviets invaded them, and though Hungary asked for the U.S. to help, the U.S. refused because of containment. They feared if they interfered with territory the Soviet Union already controlled, they would start a war.

From 1957 to 1979, diplomatic relations really helped keep military conflict from happening between the East and West.  The Soviet-American Summits had U.S. presidents and Soviet leaders meeting to resolve tensions and create diplomatic agreements. However, there were some close calls. In 1962, the U.S. found out the Soviet Union was placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy adhered to containment and ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, playing to the U.S.’s strengths and avoiding an invasion. The Soviet ships turned back because they didn’t want to fight either. It was the diplomatic relations developed at The Summits that helped diffuse the  Cuban Missile Crisis.  The  Vietnam War also caused a scare. Under President Kennedy, many advisors were sent to South Vietnam to help them resist a communist rebellion supported by North Vietnam, Russia’s ally. The advisors weren’t successful, so President Johnson sent troops to Vietnam. It was a long, bloody war, with U.S. troops not being fully removed until 1973.

In the final years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union finally got worn down, as Kennan predicted. In 1979, the  Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to fight an insurgency for close to a decade, while America supplied these rebels. This was draining for the East. The final straw for Russia was when  Mikhail Gorbachev took power. He instituted the  perestroika reform. Under this, the government began to withdraw its subsidies from industries, and it introduced things like private ownership and incentives, but these things produced short-term pain. The second reform was  glasnost, which gave Soviet citizens more freedom to voice their feelings about their government. This unleashed a huge amount of criticism of Gorbachev and communism. Gorbachev’s final reform was the repeal of the  Brezhnev Doctrine. This was issued in 1968 and said that countries could not leave the Soviet alliance or the Warsaw Pact. Once Gorbachev repealed it, the Warsaw Pact alliance fell apart. The German people began tearing down the Berlin Wall, and one by one, every country in the Soviet Union left. By 1991, the Soviet Union had dissolved.