Once, I was in Moscow and got lost. I asked a friendly-looking, older woman, but instead of answering me, she asked where I was from. When I told her I was American, she started shaking me and yelled, "American! Leave my country! Get out of Russia!" I realized that she was angry with me because she saw me as the enemy. For years, Russia and the U.S. were bitter enemies.

The Cold War started after World War II. Russia and the U.S. joined together to defeat Nazi Germany, but after that, many countries, like China and Viet Nam, turned to communism. This made the capitalist West very nervous. So in 1949, the U.S. made a pact with 11 countries that said they would all stick together if someone picked a fight with one of them. This agreement is called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Then communist nations made their own pact, called the Warsaw Treaty Organization in 1955. This basically split the world up into two teams, against each other.

In 1961, a concrete wall was erected between East and West Germany, to keep East Germans from "running away" to West Germany. People used everything from hot air balloons to small planes in order to cross the wall. One even jumped over with a pogo stick! Sadly, many were shot dead in the process.

By this time, people all over the world thought they would be better off without communism. All over Eastern Europe, protests started to break out. The Soviet troops tried to stop them, but one by one, the Soviet republics began to break away from their Union.

In 1991, some tried to overthrow Gorbachev, so he resigned, ending the Cold War, and breaking the Soviet Union into many independent countries.

Although we didn't actually have nuclear war, millions were killed in wars in Vietnam, Korea, Nicaragua, and other countries.

The war was also very expensive. Russia and the U.S. stockpiled $8 trillion worth of nuclear missiles. That's $1,300 for every person on this planet. Can you imagine what good could have been done with that money?! Of course, the Soviets had a harder time than the U.S. spending this much money. In some parts of the Soviet empire, toilet paper was considered a luxury.

And even though we're not close to nuclear war with Russia anymore, many people, like the woman in Moscow, still resent Americans.

And look at how we deal with communist nations today. We don't allow trading with Cuba at all, and any American caught "trading with the enemy" can be thrown in prison and fined thousands of dollars!

But despite our troubled history, every single Cuban, Chinese, Russian (except the one woman), and Vietnamese person I have met has been wonderful. They took me for who I am, not where I'm from.

Stephanie

Please email me at: stephanie@ustrek.org