What are the major themes in the Cold War Assessing the threat of the Soviet Union?

Answer 1

Well certainly, both the US and the Soviet Union (led by Russia) had nuclear weapons targeting one another (and each others allies too). In fact, part of the Soviet threat was to see who would gain military superiority- the USA and its (Western) allies or the Soviets and their (Eastern) allies; this led to a massive arms race between both sides which each side eventually creating enough nuclear (and more traditional) weapons to destroy the entire world many times over until both sides,thankfully, saw how foolish and dangerous the proliferation of these weapons were to mankind. The perceived Soviet threat was more than an arms race, however. The Cold War also manifested itself as a battle of national pride, religious/moral principles, political ideologies, influence abroad, and, like any other war, for territory and/or economic resources. To begin with, the US, its European allies, and other other allies across the globe (including many Mid East/Muslim nations actually) were threatened by the Soviets due to the fact that communism basically saw all religions as a tool used by the elite to control/dominate the working classes. As a result, the Soviets essentially eliminated all(official) religion (and the influence of religious leaders to influence policy) within their country and countries they controlled; other nations across the globe, where religion(regardless of faith) played an important factor in the spiritual and political aspects of society were, thus, frightened by communism. Another perceived threat of Soviet communism was political; communism was a rejection of Western-style democracy because communists believed that such governments led to excess materialism, corruption, etc. while democratic nations believed that communism was a threat to personal liberties and that communism led to corruption by putting all decisions in the hands of a few party members (actually both sides were probably correct about the corruptness). These competing political ideologies faced off in countries across the globe following the second world war. Obviously, the Soviet Union simply "spread" their communist ideas to East European nations by installing puppet governments in nations where their armies had been occupying at the end of the war; these nations didn't have strong enough armies after the war to drive the Soviets out and the West was in no position to help. In addition to these European satelites, communism and democracy battled, literally, across the globe. Third world nations, from Asia (Vietnam,Korea) to Africa(Angola) to Latin America (Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua,etc) fought civil wars between supporters from both political camps; these nations were ripe for civil war due to their severe economic hardships. Communism appealed to the masses in such nations because it promised economic equality and a better life (although it would be an interesting debate whether communism actually did provide a better life)by redistributing the wealth/resources controlled by the wealthy few. The Soviets, thus, sponsored those that preached communism by supplying them militarily/economically; Western nations, as a result, then supported opposing forces (who preached democratic principles but were often wealthy and ruthless dictators) across the third world. Besides the deabate over political ideals, the Cold War was, most importantly (and just like almost any other war at its root cause), over wealth and gaining control over world resources. In addition to the East European nations the Soviets dominated by military force and, thus, controled their economies for the benefit of the Soviet Union, the Soviets also benefited whenever a new communist regime took over a country because, with shared political ideals, the new nation would also reject the West and then become another Soviet trading partner. Once again, Western nations were forced to oppose the spread of communism because their capitalist economies depended on the trade, resources and sometimes exploitation of these nations. Lastly the Cold War also became, in part, a battle between national pride; such battles ranged from scientific development (space race) to athletics(olympics). This was in part because the second world war left the US as the dominant (economically,militarily,politically) Western nation; conversely, the death, destruction and humiliation inflicted on the Soviets by the Germans caused them to do whatever was needed to protect themselves from having it happen again. So, although the Cold War was partially an arms race that manifested itself in nuclear proliferation, it was just as importantly a battle of political ideals for control and domination of the world's resources by forces of two nationalistically proud peoples.

Answer 2

The 3 N's, Nuclear, Nuclear, Nuclear. The CCCP had the power to wipe America clean and vice versa, a potential WW3 could have left Europe decimated, and the CCCP and the USA shells of themselves. Think always of Cuba, it could have been used as a base to fire nuclear warheads from, just as the Americans would have used Turkey.
Basically, the cold war could have ended in our MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction. Think Nuclear

Answer 3

The Russians are a sneaky people...they have always been building Nukes to blow up the world..there is so much that Ive read about what they do ..and I just cant get into typing it all on here...good luck with ur answer on this