felt threatened by the Soviet influence in other smaller countries where the United States had vast interests. In order to keep small nations from being overwhelmed by Communism, the United States decided to protect themselves by giving those small nations monetary aid under the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Finally, paranoia also fueled the vicious arms race that brought the advent of the H-bomb, the development of ICBM's with nuclear capability, and the escalation of the space program race. In addition, the fear that the United States was possessed by gave way to the U2 crisis as well as the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although some of the United States fears had some foundation, the Cold War can easily be seen to have grown extensively from the minds and imaginations of the American people rather than the actual events of Soviet aggression that took place. The Cold War, which is said to have lasted from the end of World War II to the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991. Intrinsically, this Cold War was a tense political period between the Democratic and Communist blocs, the East and the West, and most importantly, the United States and the Soviet Union. Although this period has now come to an end, many disputes have been raised concerning the initial conference at Yalta near the end of the Second World War, and the actual causes of the Cold War tensions involving Communist and American aggression. ...
