Such as in source 8 which claims the USA wanted a war with the USSR to help its economy, emphasising the impact of the Military Industrial Complex on aggressive foreign policy which played a huge role in the development of the Cold War. Furthermore it can be argued that it was the misunderstanding and confusion between the two nations which owed more to the development of the Cold War in the years 1945-8.
When Reagan became President he had only one well-defined foreign policy goal: containing the Soviet Union or the "evil empire" as he once referred to it (Reagan 1983). He primarily wanted to stop the USSR from growing larger and to keep other non-Communist countries from becoming Communist. He disliked the decade-long Détente begun by President Nixon and continued by President Ford. Détente is defined as a relaxation of strained relations or tensions between nations, in this case the two nations being the United States and the Soviet Union. Reagan firmly believed that the USSR was using Détente and the SALT talks to take advantage of the United States.
Assess the role of Ronald Reagan in changing East-West relations Argument: Reagan radically put an end to the period of détente and the prospects of an end to the Cold War. After the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, both the USA and the USSR wanted to limit arms production and limit the nuclear threat. Reagan opposed these policies; in his election campaign he openly rejected détente and disarmament. From 1980 to 1984, Reagan was continuously pressurizing the Soviet Union by expanding the US’s defense. Moreover Reagan changed the USA’s image by showing it as superior and prosperous.
Soviet Actions In Europe Between 1945 And 1947 Were Primarily Responsible For The Origins Of The Cold War. Assess The Validity Of This View. There has been a debate regarding whether who had started the Cold War. Historians that follow a Traditionalist or Orthodox view have cited that it was the Soviet’s dominating expansionism regime and its force in spreading communism that was to blame. Another perspective, the Revisionist view initiated by the historian William Appleman Willams regards that the American’s attitude to dispense their ideology of capitalism as well as their tactics in using military means to dominate with world trade was the cause.
Within the readings of John Lewis Gaddis, and Daniel Deudney with John Ikenberry articles, I have come to a conclusion on how Ronald Reagan won the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States at the beginning of Reagans administration was is one of the best times for America in turn most likely anyone could have improved the Freedom and the reasoning with the Cold War at the time. With the understanding of Daniels and johns work I still believe that john Gaddis work on how Reagan’s administration, through the efforts of the staff within the government was able to end and win the cold war against the Soviet Union. John Gaddis discusses how Ronal Reagan at the beginning of his administration denounced the public view on the U.S.S.R of how it was an “Evil Empire”. Thus looking into other ways to detour the Cold War between one another through one of the biggest surprise by Reagan and that was the start of one of the biggest ventures of his time, which was the start of a research and development
“The Case For Democracy” PART 1: Natan Sharansky stated that former president Ronald Reagan and those who supported him, such as: Senator Henry Jackson, were responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union (page 11). Sharansky had been convinced that millions would still be alive if it weren’t for Reagan and many others. In Sharanskys book, he explained the approach that Reagan used in a very simple matter. He explained that the Soviets relied on the West for many things, such as: legitimacy, economic benefits, technology, and much more. (Page 12) Reagan demanded that the Soviet’s “surrender “ (change their behavior) and without changing these behaviors, they would no longer receive the many benefit they were benefiting from, from the West.
Zinoviev’s Letter Munich agreement September 1938 Appeasement policy Conclusion v Regardless of the war, a Cold War scenario was inevitable due to Political, economic and ideological differences. v WW II only intensified a previously existing problem Word Count: 1974 Karan Agarwal 12 E The era post World War two saw great dominance by the USA and the USSR as they possessed greater economic and military might than any other countries in the world at the time. Britain, France and Germany, the pre-war powers lay in ruins at the end of 1945, therefore allowing their dominance and power to shift to the USA and USSR. Bernard Baruch coined the term ‘Cold War’ during a congressional debate in 1947 stating that the situation was just
Modern History Assignment International Studies in Peace and Conflict: The Cold War “Evaluate the view that the ideologies of capitalism and communism influenced policies and strategies in the Cold War.” While the Cold War has come to be defined as "a clash of ideologies" by a majority of historians, the principles of capitalism and communism were exaggerated in political rhetoric by both the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the conflicting ideologies had a formative influence on the early strategies of the two superpowers – establishing a framework that would shape future policy - national and economic interests had a more significant impact on overall Cold War foreign response. However, an assessment of influences on policy making must be more complex than simply ‘ideological’ or ‘economic’. As Martin McCauley writes, "the weaknesses of the orthodox and revisionist analyses are evident: the former pays little attention to the legitimate security needs of the USSR, while the latter ignores Soviet behaviour which gave rise to shifts in American policy." In examining the factors that shaped the various strategies of the struggle, a more balanced post-revisionist approach must be taken.
the Cold War was a contest between the USA and the Soviet Union. It led to the existence of thousands of nuclear weapons, two universal ideologies in conflict, and two different self-images, the United States championing a world made safe for democracy. Its opponent, the Soviet Union advocated world Communism. The United States prides itself on its heritage of freedom, a refuge for persecuted religious groups, a land of liberty that successfully rebelled against the imperial power of Britain in 1776. Its guiding principles were the protection of the individual’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and the establishment of a constitution that embodied the best political idea of modern times, a system of checks and balances so that the president,
Gorbachev, who was the new General Secretary in 1985, was to a large extent contributed to the break-up of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact. Unlike Stalin and his processors, Andropov and Chernenko , he tried to reform Soviet Union by highly promoting democracy among the Soviet satellites through the democratic programs. Among the two democratic programs which he had carried out, Glasnost was the program which led to the break-up of the USSR while the consideration of economic reform led to the break-up of the Warsaw Pact. Glasnost, which means openness, granted the people more freedom. Such as freedom of speech, voting rights, cutting off the power of the communist party, as well as releasing dissidents like Sakharov.