... the danger in a situation such as the Berlin crisis, one must look beyond the statistics and military buildup and into the mindset of the heads of the powers involved to determine whether war was an viable possibility, or simply a political device. Although allied in World War II ... into their jurisdiction. The three powers replied that no unilateral treaty could negate their responsibilities and rights in West Berlin, including the right of unhindered access to the city. Although the ultimatum's deadline passed without acquiescence from the West or decisive action from the Soviets, its"...

• Word Count: 2678
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... Council and the State Duma. The upper chamber, the Federation Council, is elected on a territorial basis to ensure the representation of the smaller national groups. The Federal Assembly forms committees and commissions to resolve issues and is empowered to pass laws. The Russian Federation is made up of 21 autonomous republics with the capital being in Moscow. The Federation has a three-branch system ... of government, consisting of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The legislative branch is a bicameral federal assembly; it consists of the State Duma and the Federal Counci...

• Word Count: 4632
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... no longer support Greece against communist forces, President Truman stepped in with what was called the "Truman Doctrine." The Truman Doctrine was the beginning of American policy for the Cold War. This policy was called "containment": The USA would support any country threatened by communism, so that communism ... couldn't spread any further- it would be "contained". Truman said, "I believe it must be the policy of the U.S to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." This was a very threatening speech directly aimed ... har...

• Word Count: 3123
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... was obliged to proclaim on its front page of 28th August (1998), the headline: "Muscovites' faith in capitalism crumbles."" Just a few days later, the Sunday Times on the 30th August (1998) commented on the collapse as saying "in the bad old days when Russians were red - which may yet be remembered as ... the good old days - they used to preach that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction. Nobody predicted that the best way to bring about the down fall of the capitalist system might be for Russia to ... These conditions do not exist in Russia, the legal system remains anti...

• Word Count: 3517
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... States Treasury, so too, it wields undeniable power over executive policy decisions. This made détente an even more attractive proposition for both the president and Congress. One of the great advantages of détente policy, which was a welcome reprieve to the administration as well as liberal Democrats, was the probable reduction in military spending due to the arms reduction treaties ... dissented previous policies on the Cold War relative to its dealings with Moscow. First, there was a resonating chord that seemed in harmony with American society. Secondly, the liberals defiance of exe...

• Word Count: 3059
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to be an issue that was led to the Russian revolution. The peasants and the urban workforce were always linked and the growth of politics within this workforce led them to be quickly turned against the government especially the restrictions that the government had set against their protests ... spiked the need for revolution than any other time before. Trotsky and the Revolution As mentioned earlier, there were many who thought revolution of the Russian government and leadership were a good idea but there were different approaches that many wished to use. For instance, there were those ...

• Word Count: 3845
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... countries" and the only way to do it was "socialism in one country to ensure global domination, "Stalin said. At the completion of two of the five year plans the USSR was turned into a modern state, able to resist Hitler's invasion. There was genuine communist enthusiasm among the ... young "pioneers" or soviets. There were huge achievements in the building of new cities, built wholly around industry, bringing new life to previously derelict areas. Dams and hydroelectric power plants were built all around the ... hour shifts. To ensure that inevitable absenteeism didn't occur, labour b...

• Word Count: 2886
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950. This was viewed as a communist led attack and also a test to see what the Americans or the United Nations would do. A conflict of three years followed with American and Chinese involvement on opposite sides. The political tensions between communist and democratic countries were extremely high and still exist to this day though the ... aid to Turkey and Greece was the moral action to take. Young states that, the doctrine has been seen as the US declaration of Cold War, the end of isolationism and beginning of a policy of support for regimes solel...

• Word Count: 2699
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography

... on the environment. Quite differently behave open systems. They will sooner or later need to establish a balance between its resources and the resources coming from the external environment. The imbalance of resources in certain conditions can lead to a nonlinear system development and even to disaster. So it was in the Cold War. The socialist system did open, integrated into the international ... community and, most importantly, in the opposing capitalist system, in several stages. First it was in the political sphere: participation in the work of the United Nations, bilateral and multi...

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

... invasion took place, the Russian forces took over multiple infrastructure buildings, government buildings, and telecommunication posts. This invasion was a strategic move to target Eastern Ukraine where a majority of its citizens were Russian speakers. Since the invasion the tensions have escalated to combat between the anti-Russian Ukrainians and the Russian army. From peaceful protests in Kiev, to combat ... that if Ukraine fell to the Western powers by joining the interstate coalition, the West would be in Russia's backyard, which threatens their security. Russia, acting out of this f...

• Word Count: 3290
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... root from two essential conflicts: firstly, the US-Soviet opposition and secondly, from the 1970s onwards the Sino-Soviet split; and from one essential alliance: the US-Japanese partnership. Each of these bilateral alliances or oppositions affected in some way a third party. "The most well-known and widely debated triangle being the Sino-Soviet-US grouping with at least 4 possible ... long run Japan's ability to counter the geopolitical challenge from China depends on maintaining a robust alliance with the US." Furthermore, in the post Cold War era, the island of Taiwan is reshaping poli...

• Word Count: 4761
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... called production goods such as manufacturing machinery over basic consumer goods such as clothes and other staples. During this period the Second World War broke out and drained most of what was left of the already impoverished state. Yet after the war national unity was strengthened as well is the Soviet military machine. The Soviet Union became a super power, the U.S. being ... house arrest, but within three days the reformers had restored Gorbachev to power. He immediately resigned as Communist party general se! cretary, suspended party activities, and placed reformers in charge of t...

• Word Count: 3016
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... a statement saying that the bombings in Cuba were ". . . carried out by 'Cubans inside Cuba' who were 'in contact with' the top command of the Revolutionary Council . . . ." The New York Times reporter covering the story alluded to something being wrong with the whole situation when he wondered how ... could now take on anyone who interfered with American interests. In late 1958 Castro was still fighting a guerilla war against the corrupt regime of Fulgencio Batista. Before he came to power, there was an incident between his troops and some vacationing American troops from the nearby A...

• Word Count: 4207
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... defenses actually reversed detente and increased the uneasiness between the two superpowers. Allen Lynch writes: The strong ideological tone adopted by the Reagan administration in 1981, together with its downgrading of arms control, eventually shattered a strong consensus in Moscow that there were strict limits to hostility intrinsic to the Soviet-American relationship.(3) Reaction in Moscow was reluctant and reserved, however ... even in the remote way that Yeltsin and his contemporaries represent. This process began with Gorbachev's shifting responsibility for policy from the Party to...

• Word Count: 3267
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... by Yeltsin employing Soviet-era coercive measures. Paternalism, clientelism, and military intervention prevailed over legal methods and legal institutions. Lilia Shevtsova considers the Chechnyan war a byproduct of the Yeltsin regime's reliance on personal politics. She writes "Yeltsin saw the war as a chance to flex his muscles...neutralize the conflicts within his own regime; ... Federation as a whole in the next section, but note that these concerns are magnified in the peripheral areas that lack developed agricultural and industrial economies. Issues of more effective regional and e...

• Word Count: 4108
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography

... and facts about communism and socialism is significant before proceeding into a more detailed discussion. I SOCIALISM Several thinkers and social observers declare that socialism is a tempered form of communism, while others claim them to be two distinctly different and opposite theories, communism being a cruel and brute disenchantment and socialism being an enlightened and successful theoretical orientation ... the political-economic system is primarily based on private ownership and profit, creativities and full expression human potentials are virtually eliminated, the individuals li...

• Word Count: 5382
• Approx Pages: 22
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Brest Fortress and the city repeatedly passed from one country to another: on February 9, 1919, the Polish troops occupied Brest-Litovsk, advancing towards Minsk. On August 1, 1920, the Red Army seized Brest-Litovsk and its fortress. The Soviet power lasted in the city for 18 days. On August 19, 1920, the Polish troops recaptured Brest. On March 18, 1921 ... places, shooting accurately, so that our losses rose even higher'.  On June 23, after an artillery bombardment the Nazis launched another offensive, resorting to a "live shield" of captured Red Army wounded and medical personnel. T...

• Word Count: 9116
• Approx Pages: 36
• Grade Level: High School

... political prisoners). Stalin preferred to conduct the overall military operations in the lower Volga region himself, much to the chagrin of Leon Trotsky, who by now was the supreme commander of the Red Army. Ultimately, though, Stalin's defense of the region proved unsuccessful, the Red Army units in the area lost 60.000 men while he was there, and the Whites were later able to ... argued that all non-Bolsheviks should be ruthlessly oppressed. Thus ended the final chapter in the Civil War, and the final military operations in which Stalin played a part until WWII. Lenin and Stalin. Stal...

• Word Count: 7507
• Approx Pages: 30
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... political prisoners). Stalin preferred to conduct the overall military operations in the lower Volga region himself, much to the chagrin of Leon Trotsky, who by now was the supreme commander of the Red Army. Ultimately, though, Stalin's defense of the region proved unsuccessful, the Red Army units in the area lost 60.000 men while he was there, and the Whites were later able to ... , and Stalin argued that all non-Bolsheviks should be ruthlessly oppressed. Thus ended the final chapter in the Civil War, and the final military operations in which Stalin played a part until WWII. Stalin was...

• Word Count: 7028
• Approx Pages: 28
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... he stated, "there will come a time when the liberated people will rush into science, knowledge, art, literature, and architecture, and will show world the wonder of new achievements in every kind of field" (Bown 21). Indeed, after Lenin brilliantly executed a Revolution, the time had now come for him execute and establish a political system, which in turn would generate a new Soviet ... forces that wish to create a new art and culture for Soviet Russia, is good, quite good The violent tempo of this development is understandable and beneficial but of contemporary culture, I have the cour...

• Word Count: 4641
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Introduction Joseph Stalin was born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili in the village of Gori, in the Russian province of Georgia, on Dec. 21, 1879. His father was a shoemaker with a penchant for drunkenness, who left Gori when Stalin was young to seek employment in the city of Tiflis. Thus Joseph's mother, Yekaterina, made the more profound impact on his life--it was she who directed his education ... one another, and granted Stalin permission to take over the Baltic States and eastern Poland, and prosecute a war in Finland. But in June of 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union in blatant defi...

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

... "in the days ahead, only the very courageous will be able to take the hard and unpopular decisions necessary for our survival," Profiles in Courage cemented JFK's reputation as an intellectual, a thinking man's politician, and made him a darling of the New York and Washington press. Accusations that the book had been ghostwritten were brushed aside. Today, however, there is a great deal ... book was Kennedy's," Sorensen would say later. "The responsibility for the book was Kennedy's." The writing, meanwhile, save parts of the introduction and of the last chapter, was Sorensen's. At the ...

• Word Count: 8348
• Approx Pages: 33
• Grade Level: High School

... the 1950's party slogan "The Soviet today is our tomorrow" was no longer suitable. Based on the inappropriate Soviet model, Chinese infrastructure was in need of overhaul. Seriously underestimating the fanaticism and potential influence of the Red Guards (supported by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)), Mao unleashed them against his own system, expecting to shake out the bourgeois elements in the party ... events until it became obvious to him that the Liuists, who had nearly rebuilt the nation, were in fact revisionists threatening the socialist ideal. Having established a huge source ...

• Word Count: 4647
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... in numbers and equipment. By their use a weaker force can overcome its stronger and better organized opponent" (Miksche 25). A quote from the godfather of Communism Karl Marx captures the ideal theme behind Partisan Warfare. Marx realized that any mass of people, without coordination, could fight on a common front against an enemy with superior organization and communication. It is this concept ... complete halt, which is entirely probable considering Germany soon retreated further west into Ukrainian and Polish territory. Even after the German Army had been entirely driven out of the S...

• Word Count: 2793
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... sites on October 14, 1962 (Finkelstein 42). Premier Nikita Khrushchev had previously told the United States government that the Soviet Union had no intention of placing missile sites in Cuba. However, after finding photographic evidence to the contrary, the United States and John F. Kennedy, the President at the ... around the East Coast of the United States. Both authorized "Air Force interceptors flying in the United States to carry nuclear weapons," and also readied the full B-52 bomber squadron on October 21 and 22, 1962 (Thompson 257). President Kennedy, after deciding on a course of...

• Word Count: 2834
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography