Cold War

CONTENT

1.0 – Introduction 2

2.0 – The understanding of the term Cold War 2

3.0 – The causes of Cold War

3.1 – Underlying causes 4

3.2 – Immediate causes 5

4.0 – The political developments

4.1 – The political developments in Europe 6

4.2 – The new Soviet Empire 8

4.3 – The political developments in Asia 9

4.4 – The Formation of Military Alliances 10

4.5 – The Warsaw Pact 12

5.0 – Conclusion 13

6.0 – References 14

1.0 – Introduction

World war II ended with the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers in 1945. The Germany surrenders on 8 May 1945, the Allies accepted Germany’s surrender, about a week after Adolf Hitler had committed suicide. On the same day, Winston Churchill announced victory in Europe. This day marks the end of World War II in Europe. Street parties were hels all over Britain to celebrate the end of the war.

1945 Hailsham Road street party, Tooting, London

Even though the war was officially at an end in the Far East the war raged on, claiming more lives. Japan, did not surrender at the same time as Germany. It was able to hold out for another few months. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 respectively. After that the Imperial government sought the Emperor’s personel authority to surrender which he granted. He made a personel radio address announcing the decision. On 15 August 1945, Japan surrenders to the Allies. On 2 September 1945, having agreed in principle to unconditionally surrenders, ending the World War II throughout the rest of the world. (Lord Acton, 1960)

2.0 - The understanding of term Cold War

The Cold War is the name given to the relationship that developed primarily between the USA and the USSR after World War II. The Cold War was to dominate international affairs for decades and many major crises occurred between the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Hungary and the Berlin Wall being just some. For...