The United States and Russia: A Cold and Complex History
the construction of the Berlin Wall which separated Communist East Berlin from West Berlin The Communists claimed that the wall was constructed to keep the fascist west from infiltrating the Soviet Bloc but in reality it was built to prevent the mass exodus to the West of those living under Communist rule In 1963 American president John F Kennedy showed his solidarity with the Germans saying that he took pride in the phrase I am a Berliner The speech may have reassured Germans but it did nothing to repair United States-Soviet relations Khrushchev scorned it only days later Another iconic Cold War moment came unexpectedly during a hockey game At the 1980 Winter Olympics a group of American amateur hockey players players was pitted against what was by all accounts the greatest team in the world the mighty Soviet hockey team a group of professional players who had pretty much decimated all opponents In a stunning stunning upset that was to shake up not only the sports world but the world at large the Americans defeated the Soviets 4 3 As the game clock was ticking down to zero and it became increasingly apparent that spectators were witnessing one of the greatest upsets in sports history American American broadcaster Al Michaels was moved to ask his television audience if they believed in miracles The moment transcended transcended sports for many Americans it represented a miraculous cultural victory over the powerful Communist regime which three years later President Ronald Reagan would call an evil empire Ending the Cold War A final iconic Cold War moment also occurred in Germany as American President President Ronald Reagan visited the Berlin Wall in 1987 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had begun to oversee a softening of the Communist country’s aggressive policies and cast himself as a man of peace but Reagan was not convinced Reagan seized the opportunity opportunity of his visit to Berlin to raise East-West differences and questions about Mr Gorbachev's commitment to ending the nuclear arms race and his internal liberalization policies 1 Standing Standing 300 feet 91 m from the barrier that divided East and West Berlin he said Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall At the time the Soviet news agency TASS called Reagan’s visit to the Wall openly provocative war-mongering 2 Nevertheless the wall’s gates were opened in November 1989 and over the next year the wall was gradually torn down How did relations between the superpowers superpowers get to the point where the Soviet Soviet Union and the United States were pointing missiles at each other on the brink of World War III How did the world get a resolution to the years of turmoil so that by 1991 in his farewell address Mikhail Gorbachev confidently asserted that The threat of nuclear war has been removed 3 Now in the early 21st century as Russian and American affairs have become increasingly entwined entwined and as Vladimir Putin seeks to gain back some of the lost Soviet 10 the united states and russia a cold and complex history
The Berlin Wall separated East Berlin from West Berlin for almost 30 years Republics what lies ahead for this relationship relationship To answer these questions one must look back at the entire history history of Russian-American relations delve into their cultural similarities and differences and consider the countries in the context of the world surrounding them iconic moments in russian-american relations 11
Chapter one early russian and american relations Given the often hostile relationship between Russia and the United States today it might be surprising to learn that such hostility was not always the case As political scientist Charles E Ziegler wrote American Russia relations were quite friendly and productive productive before the twentieth century 4 One historian John Lewis Gaddis went as far as to say that the bond between the two powers was the most consistently friendly relationship the United States would have with a major European power in the nineteenth century 5 It was not until the 20th century in general and particularly after the Russian Revolution following World War I that Russian and American interests began to diverge In the 18th century there was no formal relationship relationship between the Russian Empire and the English colonies as any Russian acknowledgement of America risked alienating Great Britain with whom Russia was often at odds even more so than with the United States Russia and the American Colonies There are documented instances of an informal relationship between the Russian Russian Empire and the American colonies In 1763 a two-masted sailing ship the Wolfe owned by a Boston merchant delivered to Russia a cargo of sugar indigo rum mahogany and sassafras all originating in the West Indies 6 The ship returned from Russia to New England with hemp iron and linen cloth 7 This commerce between Russia and the colonies was in clear violation of the British Royal Navigation Laws which forbade the colonies from engaging engaging in commerce directly with countries besides Britain According to Norman E Saul The British governor of Massachusetts Massachusetts was put on guard to interdict intercept this shipping but with no apparent result 8 Other ships from the colonies including vessels from New York and Philadelphia followed suit demonstrating the colonies desire to 12 the united states and russia a cold and complex history
gain economic independence from their colonial power the British Empire Communication between Russians and colonists took place on another completely different front This took the form of the acquaintance of M V Lomonosov and other Russian scholars with the works of Benjamin Franklin 9 Franklin was a much admired figure in Europe and Lomonosov a scientist interested in the study of electricity became familiar with Franklin’s famous famous experiments in the same area As a result of this correspondence Franklin’s reputation in Russia grew dramatically The esteem that Russians hold for Franklin is borne out by their printing of a postage stamp celebrating the American statesman and inventor during the Cold War period in 1956 Benjamin Franklin was admired by the Russians and they printed a postage stamp with his picture on it during the tense Cold War period early russian and american relations 13
