Blog #8: Was the cold war inevitable? the significance?

The Cold War followed shortly after the World War 2 as the different ideologies of the two super powers, Soviet Union and US developed. The conflict between the democratic nations and the communist nations intensified through various events leading and during the cold war. One of the first skirmishes of the cold war was an economic fight over the recovery of Western European nations. To prevent the weak European countries to fall into Soviet's communism, the Marshall plan was developed. The first event occurred on August 29, 1949 when the Soviet Union detonated an atomic bomb at a test site in Siberia. Then, on October 1st, 1949, the Chinese communists, led by Mao Zedong won a long civil war against Chinese Nationalists. The Gouzenko Affair also confirmed anti communist fears/ the "Red Scare"  in North America. The Korean War was also a war of democracy and communism as the North and South were divided and each supported by the US troops and the Soviet troops. The Suez Crisis occurred when Egypt with the new nationalistic government was determined to take the control over its own resources, such as Suez Canal. The Cuban missile crisis occurred when it welcomed the economic aid and military support from the Soviet Union and the US found out that the Soviet missiles were being installed in Cuba.

Was the Cold War inevitable? I think that the cold war was inevitable because the ideologies of the communism and democracy are so different that they would have had to have the war eventually in order to stop the conflicts arising between the two governments due to their ideologies. How did it affect Canada? It impacted Canada because it was the nation between the US and the USSR, the military was in the defence position against the Soviet Union, people's movements were restricted, people had to practise the duck and cover drills and they had to live under the fear of an atomic bomb attack or a nuclear war.  Canada joined in the Marshall plan and shipped $706 million worth of food, equipment, and raw materials to Europe. Between 1948 and 1953, Canada and US jointly contributed $ 13.5 billion in European economic aid. Also, Canada and United States developed organizations such as NORAD (North American Air Defence system) and DEW (distance early warning line). What was gained through the cold war or what is the significance of it? The significance of it is that the Soviet Union communism was crumbled at the end of the war and the peace was restored.Also, technology improved as the two nations competed and threatened each other with the technologies, such as sputnik, the first human-made earth satellite.