The Marshall Plan: A Turning Point in the Cold War
The most significant event during the Cold War was the implementation of the Marshall Plan. It is necessary to mention that Italy and France were experiencing rapid communist expansion. These concerns prompted Truman and Marshall to suggest the European Recovery Program.
The latter provided $13 billion in economic aid to European nations (Corbett et al., 2022). Although such a decision could be too costly for the US, it would serve as a solid foundation for enhancing and developing US-European political and economic ties. Subsequently, it gave a considerable boost to the global economy during that period.
Soviet Opposition to the Marshall Plan
However, the Soviet Union considered this aid a form of bribery, the primary aim of which was to destabilize communist positions and prohibit communist states of Eastern Europe from accepting US financial help (Mazzie, 2012). However, this was only partially true—the Marshall Plan’s main purpose was the recovery of the post-war economy and building up productive economic relations in the long run.
Long-Term Impact of the Marshall Plan
Given the provided rationale, the Marshall Plan seems to have worked, and the Soviets’ misinterpretation only hindered Eastern Europe’s economic revival. Thus, the Marshall Plan was both a necessity for the global post-war recovery and the foundation for great US-European relations.
Reagan’s Role in Ending the Cold War
It seems reasonable to state that Reagan made a considerable contribution to ending the Cold War. This was primarily manifested in the policy that his government implemented. Reagan neglected his predecessors’ efforts to defuse political hostilities between the US and the USSR and instead initiated a massive military buildup and rhetorical campaign against the Soviets (History.com, 2021).
The latter was unable to match the United States’ enormous defense expenditure, which, along with Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost, contributed to the erosion of Russia’s communist ideology. Moreover, Reagan came up with the significant “Tear down this Wall” speech that marked the end of the Cold War to an exact extent (Pruitt, 2021). Many perceive it as a precursor to the shifts then occurring in Eastern Europe. Thus, Reagan had a significant impact during the Cold War, both through his words and actions.
References
Corbett, P. S., Janssen, V., Lund, J. M., Pfannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2022). U.S. history. OpenStax. Web.
Mazzie, M. (2012). #2 Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan [Video]. YouTube. Web.
History.com. (2021). Three U.S. presidents close chapters on the Cold War. Web.
Pruitt, S. (2021). How Reagan’s ‘Tear down this Wall’ speech marked a Cold War turning point. History.com. Web.