Cold War again.....

The past few days in class we have been discussing the events that started the Cold War. Fear and mistrust seem to be a major part of the tension between the United States and Soviet Union. As Nicole stated “Communism was not trusted by the West, and democracy not trusted in the East”, but as I stated in my previous post these tensions were caused by economic factors. I don’t think that either the US or USSR were overly worried about the whole idea of different ideologies spreading but the fact that the spreading of the others ideas meant less power, and less power meant less money. Being on top was the major driving force behind many actions taken by each nation and the production of nuclear weapons contributed to this idea: the dropping of the atomic bomb did end WWII but it was also a display of power by the United States. This display of power sparked the nuclear arms race which made tensions rise even higher.  

The Cold War

The Cold War was caused by a combination of economic interests and the need for power. Tensions arose even before World War II when the United States and the Soviet Union decided to form an alliance against Nazi Germany, but this alliance was basically formed just to defeat Germany not because either nation was interested in staying alliances. After World War II this alliance ended and the fight to gain unclaimed territories and spread their beliefs began. The United States ended the World War II by dropping the Atomic bomb which sparked the beginning of the Cold War. The nuclear arms race started to take effect and nations such as the United States and Soviet Union started creating nuclear weapons. At this point I think that leaders were doing all they could to keep their nation safe. After the war nations were looking for economic security and to ensure safety and gaining as many followers and territory was how leaders planned on accomplishing this.

WWI brought about many new ways of dealing with unwanted pressure from other nations. As the quote states the use of brutal and murderous force became the new way of dealing with problems. The Paris Peace Conference which was signed in 1918 was held to discuss the post-war world where leaders of 32 states attended, but the conference was dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central powers.  The Treaty of Versailles which was a result of the Paris Peace Conference put most of the blame for WWI on Germany, which started the rise of Hitler.

  After the war the Central Powers were now on the bottom and were fighting hard to try and regain their status of before the war. Economic situations and emotions of citizens allowed for the rise of powerful and aggressive leaders come to power. Hitler had the ability to persuade and manipulate people into agreeing to his beliefs which were a major factor in how he gained power and created the Nazi army.

 Hitler was power hungry and that is what drove many of his actions which is a major difference between Nazi Germany and the United States. He in a sense believed that if he erased an entire race that would put him one step closer to his goal of world dominance. I don’t think the US or any other nation had the same intentions as Hitler did. I think it can be said that the US, Britain, and many other nations committed atrocities but not on the same scale as Germany. 

Education

Education is changing. Recently school cuts have had a huge influence on how schools are being run. Classes are being eliminated, teachers being let go, and tuition costs are rising. In Bloomfield I’ve seen many changes take place: good teachers were asked to leave, supplies are limited, and some classes don’t even have text books. Students planning on furthering their education might be limited due to the rising tuition fees. If students do pursue a higher education will the current job market allow them to tackle the huge amounts of debt they will have, or will people decide that college isn’t worth it. This is a growing problem that our nation has found a temporary solution for, but as this continues problems are going to occur. Is this showing that we the value of education is going down? Education is so important that I don't agree with all the cuts being made.  I think that we found  and ran with the easiest solution instead taking to time to figure out a different plan. If this continues I think that we might see a downfall in the number of students continuing school after high school and in high school more classes will be cut that could be beneficial.    

WWI Question 80-98

Martin Gilbert states that the use of chlorine gas was to break the trench lines but the use of the gas just created a stalemate. What adaptions did other nations use to defend themselves from this gas?

World War One

The war on land, the war at sea, and the war at home all played a role for the victory of the Allied powers. The allied powers I think were more economically stable and were able to provide more resources. I think the most significant was the war on land for one example the Schlieffin Plan. This plan was devised to avoid a two font war so Germany planned on moving through Belgium quickly to get to Paris, but this plan didn’t work as they had hoped. Their troops were finding it hard to keep up with the marching schedules and when Germany reached France and began to fight Germany started to fall behind. I think a big reason the plan didn’t work is because Germany was overconfident in their military powers and didn’t plan for anyone fighting back. Since Germany was falling behind this was a major blow to the Central Powers and allowed the allied powers to gain more ground.

Germany and WWI

Fritz Fischer is a Post-Revisionist and argued that Germany was largely responsible for starting the war. Germany was aware that their actions could lead to a war but thought it was worth the risk. They didn’t expect Russia and the French would get involved, but that it would cause their alliance to weaken. Germany overestimated their abilities and thought that they could overpower everybody else, and they underestimated the abilities of the rest of Europe. Fischer states that “Germany demanded that the ultimatum to Serbia should be drawn up in those sharp terms..” meaning that Germany pushed for a localized  war with Austria-Hungary and Serbia. As events progressed and Russia, the French, and other nations decided to join the war Germany tired to pull out of the war because they realized that they couldn’t overpower the other nations.