In order to completely understand Stalins seemingly fanatic desire for increased security, one must understand the degree of destruction the Soviet Union endured at the hands of the German forces and their allies during the Second World War. ... They looted and destroyed 40,000 hospitals and medical centers, 84,000 schools and colleges, 43,000 public libraries (which contained approximately 110,000,000 volumes), 44,000 theaters, 2,800 churches and 427 museums.8 Additionally, the Soviet Union desired to maintain its Eastern and South-Eastern European territory in order to create a united Slavi...

• Word Count: 5160
• Approx Pages: 21
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

But the kulaks were essentially a figment of Marxist propaganda (there existed no real difference between these "wealthiest" peasants and all other peasants), and collectivization reaped disaster--the government persecuted and killed the peasantry, famine swept the country, and as many as ten million may have died. ... He seems to have been contemplating further anti-Semitic measures, and possibly a purge of his associates in the Party, when he died on March 5, 1953. ...

• Word Count: 5151
• Approx Pages: 21
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Background and During the Cooling of Relations The Second World War drastically changed the political map of the world, and especially the European continent. The basic premises of the new alignment of the world developed in the final stages of the war. The anti-Hitler coalition, the main role which played the great powers - the US, the USSR, England, and at the last stage of the war France - increasingly reflect the new balance of power in the world. Neither Britain nor France, nor even, defeated Germany could not play in the post-war period of the previous role of the guarantor of balance a...

• Word Count: 4151
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Cold War Tensions with the United States and Russia have been around for quite some time. Russia and the United States were allies during World War II, but soon after they became enemies. After W.W.II, even though the Soviet Union had a strong military, it was encircled by hostile capitalist governments and felt that if communism was to remain strong, it needed to form an alliance with other communist countries. Also after the war, Germany was divided right through the middle of Berlin, Germany. West Germany was democratic and East Germany was communist. ...

• Word Count: 3726
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

You Can Kill ten of my men for every one I kill of yours, but even at those odds, you will lose and I will win" (Lowe 10). Ho Chi Minh to the French, late 1940's Western Civilization, as we know it today, has been shaped by the many revolutions that nations throughout the land have participated...

• Word Count: 2963
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School