Under these conditions, questions were raised regarding what kind of an international order would emerge to replace the bipolar order that had evolved after the Second World War. In this way, the USSR came to an end, to be replaced by the Russian Federation which experts predicted would be occupied with internal questions for many years to come. Second, the Soviet Union itself collapsed, with many of the republics constituting the union declaring their independence. First, the Warsaw Pact that had been established under the leadership of the Soviet Union collapsed, thereby ending the “perceived” threat of Soviet expansion toward Western Europe. Two major developments brought about the conclusion of the Cold War. Presumably, all countries would now gravitate toward competitive politics and market economies. The competition between the free world characterized by politics of liberal democracy and economies driven by market forces and the socialist world run by authoritarian single-party regimes and state-operated economies had been concluded in favor of the former. Strategic Deterrence (collection of essays, articles, and other resources covering the Navy's role in this important Cold War planning concept)Ī Brief History of U.S.When the Cold War ended, the world rejoiced that a problematic state of international relations had ended. Operation Crossroads (Navy Library documents) Operation Crossroads (overview by Kati Engel, NHHC Communication and Outreach Division) Navy Cold War Aviation Incidents (Excluding Korea and Vietnam)įorward Presence in the Modern Navy: From the Cold War to a Future Tailored Force, by Thomas G. and Soviet Navies in the Cold War (Colloquium on Contemporary History No. 6, 18 December 1991)Ĭonflict and Cooperation: The U.S. Stalin's Cold War Military Machine: A New Evaluation (Colloquium on Contemporary History No. Marolda, Senior Historian, Naval Historical Center Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991, by Edward J. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991," by Edward J. Finally, the Truman administration adopted a broad "Containment Strategy," in simplest terms a major effort to build a wall around the Communist world that would be defended by the armed might of the United States and its allies. The United States Navy, its warships and aircraft-and above all its Sailors- guarded the ramparts of the containment wall from the beginning of the so-called "Cold War" to its victorious end.Įxtracted from "The U.S. government strengthened political ties with many like-minded anti-Communist governments around the globe. American taxpayers provided billions of dollars to restore the war-ravaged economies of Western Europe, under the Marshall Plan, and the similarly devastated Japanese economy. Truman, had already taken economic, political, and military steps to deal with the new threat posed by the Soviet Union and its allies. The United States, under the leadership of President Harry S. In 1949, Mao Tse-tung and his Chinese Communist armies pushed the forces of the Chiang Kai-shek government off the mainland of Asia and established the People's Republic of China. Kim Il Sung and his Korean Communist supporters engaged in a vicious struggle for political control of the Korean people with Syngman Rhee and his anti-Communist adherents. Ho Chi Minh led Vietnamese Communists and other nationalists against the French colonial government in Indochina. In the Far East, regional Communist movements took the lead, but received military assistance from Moscow in efforts to eliminate opposing movements and governments. In 1948, the Soviets sparked a confrontation with the United States and its European allies over control of Berlin, the occupied and divided capital of the defeated German nation. He put diplomatic and military pressure on Turkey and Iran in the Middle East and supplied war material to Communists fighting to overthrow the government of Greece. Working with local Communist leaders and movements in the years after the war, Stalin eliminated the political and economic independence of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and other nations in Eastern Europe. The USSR, under a murderous dictator, Joseph Stalin, acted to solidify the wartime conquests of the Soviet Red Army and advance the cause worldwide of Marxism Leninism, an ideology that subverted the very ideals most Americans then held sacred. Soon after helping defeat Fascist tyranny in World War II, American Sailors faced a new global threat to the United States and the values for which their nation had long been a standard bearer democracy, basic human rights, and freedom.
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