The search for truth is more precious than its possession
-Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Britain & Northern Ireland:
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Ireland was one of Britain’s many colonial states, and was finally
granted independence in 1920. However, Britain imposed a different identity
for those who lived in the north. This created an overwhelming feeling of descent
amongst the people of Northern Ireland, because the government was imposing
discriminatory acts on the minority which was denied some of the most basic
human needs which created an oppressive state. Trying to mislead other nations
that surrounded Ireland from identifying with the horrible atrocities they
were inflicting on its own people, the British government tried to exploit
the situation as a religious war started by the minority of Irish Nationalists
who are predominantly Catholic against the ruling British government who were
predominantly Protestant.
This violent 30 year war reached a breaking point on “"Bloody Sunday",
January 30, 1972, the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on a peaceful
demonstration in Derry, killing 13 unarmed Catholics” (Flashpoints). This action
by the government was retaliated against by the IRA and this struggle went
back and forth for years, and thousands of innocent lives were lost.
The United States of America & The Soviet Union:
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In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union began to expand communism
around the Europe in what was called the “Iron Curtain”. Joseph Stalin and
President Harry Truman began what is now known as the cold war. The cold
war wasn’t actually a war that involved fighting, but one that involved the
threat of fighting and the engagement of the nations of the world to join
one side or the other. The cold war also began what is known as the arms
race, in which the United States of America and the Soviet Union began to
stockpile weapons of mass destruction in order to put pressure on the other
side.
The cold war came to its two most climatic points when the Soviet Union created
the Berlin blockade which eventually led to the Berlin Wall, dividing Germany
in half, as well as the Cuban missile crisis in which the Soviet Union planned
on basing Ballistic Nuclear Weapons on the Island of Cuba.
This conflict even went on to have the President of the United States at the
time Dwight D. Eisenhower to add the phrase “under god” to the pledge of allegiance
which was said at almost every function within the country because communists
would not speak those words, and the government could slowly start to weed
out spies.
North Korea & South Korea:
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North Korea a communist state supported by the Soviet Union invaded South Korea
which was supported by the United States in 1950. The UN force led by General
Douglas Macarthur helped push the North Koreans out of South Korea, and in
essence stopped the spread of communism at the time. However, the United
Nations force was pushed back into South Korea due to the involvement of
Chine, which was also a communist lead state, who was not going to sit back
and watch the North Koreans demolished in the name of democracy. This involvement
led the UN force back into South Korea.
Although the war has ended the conflict is still raging. The North Koreans,
an economically weak nation, has on numerous occasions threatened to engage
in war again with South Korea and other nations as well if they are not economically
helped. This has become a major world concern since the government of North
Korea has opening said they would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to gain
the upper hand in a conflict.