The Cold war began in 1945 before WW11 even ended. Guns, tanks, and bullets were all present, but not used at first. The United States and the U.S.S.R. were in an indirect war with one another. Both sides were heavily armed, but were only fighting an idea. By the end of the war, the United States had endured both success and failure. In this essay, I will cover just three examples of what the U.S. gained and lost. .
After some great success stories there is another side to the Cold War. We called this the Vietnam War. This was, in my opinion, one of Americas most remembered incidents. Approximately 3 million U.S. Citizens were sent to Vietnam to fight a war which seemed to have no cause. By the time the grueling battle ended, over 2.5 million soldiers died from both sides. I say this is an ultimate failure because the United States and South Vietnamese were unsuccessful in preventing North Vietnam from uniting both sides, North and South Vietnam under a communist rule. The South fell to Communism and the U.S. lost too many men in the process and failed at the attempt. Personally, how can you fight an idea, and expect to win?.
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In 1947, the Marshall Plan was submitted to the Unites States Congress. The plan provided a very large amount of financial help to countries who needed restoration. This idea included Europe, the Soviet Union, and communist countries. Not only would this money help rebuild countries suffering after WW11, but the participating countries would become U.S. allies. This plan was a miracle to European countries. The United States gave sums of 11 billion dollars or more to provide food, repair, and hope to Western European countries and to Japan. Eastern Germany was never rebuilt due to the fact that Russia refused the aid of the Marshall Plan. On the other hand, Western Germany was recovering fast. Their economy was rising while Eastern Germany was still suffering. The plan not only encouraged peace, but the ideas of ridding the world of Communism.
