/ Published in History Essay Paper

Sample History Paper on The Trailfire on the Cold War

  1. https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-cold-war-timeline-2

This cite gives an insight into the Cold War timeline. The timeline starts with the Yalta Conference that was held between 4th and 11th February, 1945 and ends with the end of the Soviet Union on 26th December, 1991.

  1. https://www.space.com/17764-laika-first-animals-in-space.html

One of the major events during the Cold War was the Space Race.  This refers to the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 20th century in terms of dominance in spaceflight capability. As can be seen in the page above, one of the major Space Race occurrences was on November 1, 1957, when the Soviet Union sent Sputnik II to space carrying a dog that was known as Laika. This was the first time a living creature was sent to space highlighting the Soviet Union’s dominance in terms of space capability at the time.  This marked the beginning of the use of animals in understanding microgravity’s impact on a number of biological functions. It set the stage for the use of all kinds of animals by astronauts including tortoises, beetles, flies, spiders, fish, rabbits, and others.

  1. https://www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html

Another major occurrence in the Space Race context came on April 12, 1961 when a Russian known as Yuri Alekseyvich Gagarin became the first human to enter space. As outline in the page above, Gagarin’s flights lasted about 108 minutes as he used the Soviet Union’s Vostok spacecraft to go around the earth for a little more than one orbit. The flight saw Gagarin become a cultural hero in the U.S.S.R and is still regarded highly today. Several artefacts, statues, and busts are displayed in Russia’s space museums today in honor of Gagarin. The first flight of a human into space came at a time when there was strong competition for technological supremacy and dominance in space between the Soviet Union and the U.S. Thus, the Soviet Union made a big step with the flight and the fact that it had already sent Sputnik (first artificial satellite) into space in October 1957.

  1. https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1736.html

Nuclear proliferation was also part of the Cold War. The first of nuclear proliferation was in October 14, 1962, dubbed the Cuban Missile Crisis. A spy plane belonging to the U.S. gave reports on sighting the Soviet Union’s nuclear missile base under construction in Cuba. As outlined in the page above, there was a serious nuclear confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The construction of the nuclear missile base in Cuba had received the support of Cuban President Fidel Castor following Cuban intelligence of the U.S.’s intention to overthrow him. The Soviet Union’s Khrushchev then came up with a proposal to install nuclear missiles in Cuba that were aimed at the U.S. Despite the hard positions taken by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a compromise was found resulting in the prevention of a nuclear war.

  1. https://www.sciencealert.com/chernobyl-s-transformed-from-nightmare-to-sanctuary-since-the-accident-33-years-ago

Another incidence involving nuclear was the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the then Soviet Union. It is considered one of the worst nuclear disasters in world history. As indicated in the page above, the explosion occurred during a technical test on April 26, 1986. The incident resulted in the emission of radiation that was 400 times more than that emitted when the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan’s Hiroshima. The explosion of the nuclear power plant had an adverse impact on the human population and the environment.

 

Tagged under: